Hackitt and Bodgitt ESP

Hackitt and Bodgitt ESP-GO Software and
ESP-12 Hardware
Last update August 21, 2018
The software (ESP-GO) described in this manual is version 2.5.05 and it currently uses Espressif SDK 2.1.0
from the Espressif forum.
ESP-GO is obtainable either as ROMS which can be flashed to an ESP-12 or similar module or as a
complete project which works in the Windows Unofficial Development Environment.
All information and examples can be found on the blog mentioned in the footer. See also my video
channel at https://wwww.youtube.com/peterscargill
ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 1

Please note: ROMS are stored at https://orthodontic-emergen.000webhostapp.com/ using the OTA
address roms.scargill.net.

Preface
This document explores code written by Peter Scargill (with help from others too numerous to mention -
and of course with open-source libraries and the Espressif SDK) for the ESP8266 and all of this represents
many months of work1.
The software started off life as an extension of TUANPM’s MQTT demonstration software but rapidly
developed from there. Over time I added more and more of my own code and of course bits and pieces
from around the web as I learned more and more about the ESP8266 – one of the most useful and best
value WIFI modules in the IOT world. The code is tested to work with various generic ESP-12 boards
detailed in the blog at https://tech.scargill.net - Article "Home Control 2018" and boards designed by
Aidan Ruff and myself, used in the Nextion project (all on the blog) which incidentally won 2 nd place in
the first ESP8266.com awards in April 2016. Aidan Ruff’s board designs are usually up on the blog or you
can talk to him directly. I am currently using the Chinese Wemos Mini D1 boards which work fine (except
you would need to use an off-board health indicator LED). Note that the Wemos boards program using
DIO mode, most others use QIO mode.
Important: Adding more features and fonts to this software including a large 7 segment font in FLASH
for the ILI display means I’ve long since given up on the original ESP8266 boards with only 512KB of
FLASH –I use ESP-12 based boards with 4MB of FLASH or more (and encourage Itead to put 4MB in all
of their boards so we don’t have to bodge them).
In the folder \espressif\extensa-lx106-elf\extensa-lx106-elf I’ve added a file called libcirom.a which

simply moves a little more Espressif code into ROM, this is referred to in the main MAKE file. You should
be using Espressif SDK version 2.1 because later versions add very little but use up much precious RAM.
I’ve put a copy of this libcirom.a file into my project. Move it into the relevant directory for compiling.
The current software plus SDK, despite its size, leaves a quite reasonable amount of free RAM.
1
This software is free and technically unsupported.

Contents
Hackitt and Bodgitt ESP-GO Software and ESP-12 Hardware.......................................................................1
Preface.....................................................................................................................................................3
Contents..................................................................................................................................................4
In a Nutshell...........................................................................................................................................10
Automatic responses.............................................................................................................................14
Node-Red and MQTT.............................................................................................................................16
Node-Red...........................................................................................................................................16
MQTT.................................................................................................................................................17
The LED Clock........................................................................................................................................19
The LCD Display.....................................................................................................................................20
Now – the PARALLEL LCD!......................................................................................................................22
OLED displays.........................................................................................................................................23
The SSD1306 OLED................................................................................................................................24
The SSD1351 OLED................................................................................................................................26
The VT100 Terminal (and more)............................................................................................................28
ILI9340 – A general purpose screen.......................................................................................................30
When the board initialises, it sends out mqtt xxxx/fromesp/status and payload {powerup}................31
QD_TECH Displays.................................................................................................................................35
Deep Sleep Mode..................................................................................................................................37
Sleep_mode...........................................................................................................................................37
Deep_sleep............................................................................................................................................37
General Commands...............................................................................................................................39
Queries..................................................................................................................................................40
Boards....................................................................................................................................................40
General MQTT/Serial Control Format....................................................................................................41
List of Commands..................................................................................................................................42

adc.....................................................................................................................................................42
ads1115.............................................................................................................................................42
attrib..................................................................................................................................................43
calibrate.............................................................................................................................................43
clock...................................................................................................................................................44
comment...........................................................................................................................................44
cpu_freq............................................................................................................................................44
dawn..................................................................................................................................................46
debug.................................................................................................................................................47
desc...................................................................................................................................................49
dusk...................................................................................................................................................49
electrodragon....................................................................................................................................50
enable13............................................................................................................................................50
enable14............................................................................................................................................51
enable16............................................................................................................................................51
ext......................................................................................................................................................52
flashsize.............................................................................................................................................52
gettime..............................................................................................................................................53
gy30_init............................................................................................................................................53
gy30_read..........................................................................................................................................54
heap...................................................................................................................................................54
hitachi................................................................................................................................................55
hightemperature................................................................................................................................55
hsv.....................................................................................................................................................56
humidity............................................................................................................................................57
i2c......................................................................................................................................................58
i2c_check...........................................................................................................................................59

id........................................................................................................................................................59
in14....................................................................................................................................................60
in_2bounce........................................................................................................................................60
in_14bounce......................................................................................................................................61
in14_count.........................................................................................................................................61
in2_count...........................................................................................................................................62
ina219_begin.....................................................................................................................................62
ina219_getall.....................................................................................................................................63
ina219_getcurrent.............................................................................................................................64
ina219_getvoltage.............................................................................................................................64
invert.................................................................................................................................................65
invertset.............................................................................................................................................66
invertreset.........................................................................................................................................67
ip........................................................................................................................................................67
kelvin.................................................................................................................................................68
led_timer...........................................................................................................................................68
manual_ip (also static_ip from v2.3.20 onwards)..............................................................................69
mist....................................................................................................................................................70
mqtt_host..........................................................................................................................................70
mqtt_pass..........................................................................................................................................71
mqtt_port..........................................................................................................................................71
mqtt_user..........................................................................................................................................72
nano...................................................................................................................................................73
ota_host.............................................................................................................................................74
ota_port.............................................................................................................................................75
otaupdate..........................................................................................................................................75
out0...................................................................................................................................................76

out4...................................................................................................................................................77
out5...................................................................................................................................................78
out12.................................................................................................................................................79
out13.................................................................................................................................................80
out14.................................................................................................................................................81
out15.................................................................................................................................................82
out16.................................................................................................................................................83
xport..................................................................................................................................................84
pass....................................................................................................................................................85
pass2..................................................................................................................................................85
pca9685.............................................................................................................................................86
polling_interval..................................................................................................................................87
port2out............................................................................................................................................87
pwm...................................................................................................................................................88
pwmhsv.............................................................................................................................................88
rainbow..............................................................................................................................................89
readtemperature...............................................................................................................................89
rebootnow.........................................................................................................................................90
reset...................................................................................................................................................91
reset_config.......................................................................................................................................91
rgb_ind..............................................................................................................................................92
rgb_lcd...............................................................................................................................................92
rgb.....................................................................................................................................................93
rgbgo..................................................................................................................................................94
rgbinstant..........................................................................................................................................94
rgbstop...............................................................................................................................................95
rgbset.................................................................................................................................................95

rgbstart /add/stop.............................................................................................................................96
rgbperm.............................................................................................................................................98
romswitch..........................................................................................................................................99
scan....................................................................................................................................................99
set_serial.........................................................................................................................................100
si1132_visible, uv and ir..................................................................................................................101
sonoff...............................................................................................................................................102
ssid...................................................................................................................................................102
ssid2.................................................................................................................................................103
swap................................................................................................................................................103
temperature....................................................................................................................................104
temp_type.......................................................................................................................................104
temperature_port............................................................................................................................105
time.................................................................................................................................................105
timeout_set.....................................................................................................................................106
timeout_clear..................................................................................................................................106
to_nextion.......................................................................................................................................107
to_serial2.........................................................................................................................................108
uptime.............................................................................................................................................108
ver....................................................................................................................................................109
voltage.............................................................................................................................................109
warning............................................................................................................................................110
web_setup.......................................................................................................................................110
wifi_button......................................................................................................................................111
xport................................................................................................................................................111
Appendix 1 – Fonts and Icons..............................................................................................................113
Appendix 1 – Home Control 2018........................................................................................................116

In a Nutshell
So the basic idea here is that you would have a number of ESP-8266-based boards working alongside an
inexpensive central controller – could be a Raspberry Pi2/3 or similar setup with MQTT and Node-Red
(the blog also links to “the Script”(see blog) to install Node-Red, SQLITE, MQTT and various tools onto a
Pi2 or 3 and similar with minimum effort), ESP-GO communicates via serial or (mainly) MQTT commands
over WIFI to control a range of ESP8266-based, reliable devices with facilities. Features of the software
include:
 12v RGB LED strip via 3 MOSFETs with soft fade from one state to the next
 Serial LED strip (tested up to 300 RGB serial LEDs) with soft fade from one colour to the next
 HSV version of above (more intuitive)
 Kelvin temperature shade version of above from 1000-4000K (SAD lamp?)
 LED clock using 60 serial LEDs
 General serial-RGB-LED output to any of the output pins
 A relay (for example) output with ON/OFF and timer operations covering minutes or seconds
(the latter might be useful for watering systems, for example)
 Various temperature/humidity/pressure chips including:
o Dallas DS18b20 – temperature
o DHT11, DHT22 – temperature and humidity
o BMP280 - temperature and pressure

o BME280 – temperature, humidity and pressure
 Two Debounced inputs (gpio2 and gpio14) which can also read a change count and be polled as
well as sending MQTT messages on change
 Support for both a simple LED indicator or a colour-coded RGB serial RGB LED on the board
(gpio13)
 RTC software updated on power-up/logon via MQTT and at regular intervals
 Nextion Serial displays can form a WIFI Touch Display
 I2c expansion on gpio4 (SDA) and gpio5 (SCL). There is code to handle a Hitachi-style LCD both in
simple 6-wire parallel mode or i2c via a cheap port expander, drivers for SEEED displays, 16-
channel PWM control and simple port expansion, 16-bit ADC, 2 types of
temperature/pressure/humidity sensor and a complete NANO-based peripheral (code on
BitBucket and discussed in the blog)– with more on the way
 Dual access-point handling for reliability and an awful lot more – see the list of instructions
 Early signs of SPI extensions – experimental SPI display (using ports 13 to 16)
One of the accompanying board designs on the blog (you can use this software with any generic ESP-12
board) is able to handle either a mains power supply OR a DC-DC convertor and uses the ESP-12, ESP-12E
or ESP-12F modules.
ESP-GO needs the 4MB Flash of the likes of the ESP-12. It will not work with older boards with less FLASH
– if you want to run Sonoffs without modification, consider Tasmota.
Older boards can generally be upgraded with a cheap FLASH chip and a fine soldering iron. I have
blogged how to do this. See https://tech.scargill.net/esp8266-home-control-update/
There is an on-board 3v3 linear regulator on our own board designs to ensure a smooth supply to the
ESP. Extensive experience suggests that the software is rock-solid – however – no guarantees. The
author has 2 houses both of which rely on several of these boards working 24-7 2 and they are in two
different countries so “popping in” to fix is not an option.
In order for this all to work correctly, ESP8266 boards with ESP-GO, at power up will try to log into a
general WIFI access point – clearly you will need to alter the SSID and password of this along with details
of your MQTT “broker” – either by serial commands – or by WIFI setup.
When I set up my boards - I send this serially (115Kbaud) using my terminal program.
{ssid:"wififorus"}
{ssid2:"wififorus"}
{pass:"xxxxxxxxxxx"}
{pass2:"xxxxxxxxxxx"}
2
That does not mean I accept any liability for the software or hardware which is generally designed for our own use
and made freely available to other on which to experiment and enjoy.

{mqtt_host:"192.168.1.19"}
{mqtt_pass:"yyyyyyyyyy"}
{rgb_ind:0}
{reset}
There are other commands you might want to check to do with deciding which input in is used for web
programming (usually GPIO0 – the default) – and whether GPIO2 is an input or an output.
{temperature_port:2} // if you want to use port 14 – use the relevant command.
You must set your access point up, with or without a password. There is a second access point entry for
fall-over. Make the second one the same as the first if you only wish to use one access point.
You should then set up the address and optional port, username and password of your MQTT server. For
my own purposes I use an MQTT broker with username and password on the default port 1883.
This will get you started – the board will log into your access point, then it will connect to your MQTT
server – and it will try to log in. It will do this repeatedly, handing over its ID and description via MQTT
until it gets a response.
It is possible to respond using MQTT from a command line – but it is a lot easier to let my Node Red
NODE handle logging in and responding for you. The node can be installed as npn install node-red-
contrib-esplogin.
My setup is shown here – the incoming MQTT node is subscribed (despite the general term “login” to
esplogon. That’s simple “esplogon” with an ‘o’. The ESP8266 units publish to this topic on power-up.
See http://flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contrib-esplogin for the login node and for my general

purpose NODE-RED timer node NODE-RED-CONTRIB-BIGTIMER…
http://flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contrib-bigtimer
The only output on that yellow login nodeabove that you need to use is the first one and that is fed to an
MQTT output – no info necessary other than the correct MQTT setup – the rest is optional speech
output, log file output and Sqlite output.
With this in place, the boards should log in – get the time and more from the yellow ESPLOGIN node and
that’s about it. The same node will refresh them every day automatically with the time – and of course,
any time they log in (after a power failure for example).

Right now this setup typically runs on a Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 (or similar)– I have also played with the idea
of running Node-Red and MQTT on an Android mobile phone or tablet.
Elsewhere you will find info on the “Nano peripheral” – code for the Atmega 328 boards with all 6 analog
inputs available from AliExpress and elsewhere for around £1.50 sterling. The software is ready to go and
supported by ESP-GO – massively increasing the IO capability of the ESP8266 at the expense of losing
GPIO4 and 5 for I2c control (those pins can simultaneously drive other supported I2c chips).

Automatic responses
Certain MQTT messages are send out automatically from the boards and can be read without having to
actually make requests of the board.
If a DHT11 or DHT22 sensor is selected {temp_type:x} (for values of x read the relevant command) then
readings are currently taken every 30 seconds and stored in variables which can be polled at any time –
however, MQTT messages are also automatically generated.
If using a Dallas temperature chip (which does not do humidity) then only the temperature message is
generated. Output is in degrees C (in case you were wondering if it was very cold here when I took that
reading).
AND NOW – {pressure} if using the BME280 chip – on I2c on GPIO4 (SDA) and 5 (SCL)
GPIO14 is normally used as an input and can be polled. However as a debounced input it also generates
an automatic message on change:
Yes, this example board is called fred {id:”fred”}
Using the command {input45:45} puts GPIO4 and 5 into input mode with pull-ups (survives power
cycling) so they can generate similar trigger messages. Note that any other value (i.e. {input45:0})
returns 4 and 5 to normal use.
GPIO2 can do the same as GPIO14 but it is also used for a variety of other purposes – for example can be
used as the web-setup pin or temperature sensing pin. To enable GPIO2 to act as another debounced
input pin you should first ensure that it is not being used for other purposes.
The relevant commands are {temperature_port} and {temp_type} (temperature_port=0 temp_type=6 if

you want both 2 and 14 for debounce inputs).
For example – let’s say you want automatic readings from GPIO2 (typical) using a DHT22 chip. Set
{temperature_port:2} and {temp_type:1}
From there on – you may see this when monitoring MQTT – in my case – from the pergola. If Node Red
subscribes to “pergola/fromesp/auto_temperature” and “pergola/fromesp/auto_humidity” it will
receive this information regularly.

Node-Red and MQTT
You will see “Node-Red” and “MQTT referred to extensively in here – so what better place to tell you
what they are and why you should be interested.
If you don’t understand MQTT – read the following section first - better yet – Google it and become
familiar with the basics of MQTT – it is really simple and it IS worth knowing about.
Node-Red
When I first took a serious interest in Home Control having developed systems independently in the past
(Appcon in the 1980s) I wanted to use a set of standards - but there are so many of them – some are
really restrictive or expensive to use if you are a DIY type. Many had a large learning curve for even the
simplest things – and I’m sorry – I’m not paying £30 to turn a light on.
After many false starts, it began to make sense to use an inexpensive, powerful tool such as the
Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 to control the house – using the cheapest end-controllers I could get or make. It turns
out that the ESP8266 in its various forms is VERY cost-effective and I think best low-cost solution – and
that is WELL covered in the blog so I won’t develop that further here.
Software was not as straight forward – lots of options – but I like to do my own thing and I’m keen to
learn, so I took a chance when the guys at IBM came up with Node-Red. This runs NodeJS which I’d not
heard of at the time. In a nutshell, an extremely powerful yet extremely easy to use visual interface using
drag and drop but allowing you to program, running on the likes of the Raspberry Pi – also available on
other platforms including the web, Windows PCs and more.
To get a feel for the simplicity of Node-Red I can think of no better example than
https://fred.sensetecnic.com/ - once you sign up for free you can start playing with Node-Red for free
and with no installation. Note that Raspberry Pi now supports Node-Red by default. I have a setup script
described on the blog and called “the Script” to set up a Raspberry Pi or similar (and in fact in my setup I
remove the default Raspberry Pi Node-Red installation and start from scratch, including a wide variety of
“nodes”. Anyway – there are links to documentation and examples on that Sensetronic site. A good
starting point. There are others.
Once Node-Red is set up – for example monitoring an input on a board and sending yourself an email if
something changes – or tweeting – or putting a timer on an output – are all trivial and by and large
visual. If you are used to traditional line by line programming it can be an eye opener, Node-Red is very
reliable and fun to use.

MQTT
The general idea is simple – generally free“Broker” software lets you send messages via the broker – to
any other “MQTT client” on the system – trivial to use - via the concept of a “topic” and a “payload” –
think of them as an address and message – all in simple text.
Fast and efficient, communication is made in this project either serially by sending commands to the
ESP8266 boards or by sending a topic and a payload (with the command in it) via MQTT over WIFI. MQTT
is ideal for IOT applications because it is simple and easy to understand.
You can install an MQTT “broker” or server on a Raspberry Pi for example – or there are public brokers –
it’s a big subject but keep in mind that at the end of the day it is not complicated - the codes overleaf are
my own – not some complex part of MQTT. In the simplest case you send a TOPIC which is a text-based
field – and a PAYLOAD which is also a text-based field. The topic is to identify where the payload must go
to (destination) – the payload is whatever you want. An ESP8266 unit (such as ESP-GO) equipped with
an MQTT client “subscribes” to a topic or topics and the broker both accepts messages and makes sure
they get to who they’re supposed to. So the broker, wherever it is located helps form a comms network
– really WAY easier to use than explain.
To become familiar with MQTT you can mess with MQTT by using a public broker and the free MQTT-SPY
(client). A couple of machines running MQTT-SPY can send messages to each other via the broker. It is
even fun once you grasp it. Certainly it does not need to be any harder than sending text messages. A
client “listens” for a particular topic or topics. There are many explanations of MQTT on the web.
Node-Red and MQTT Together
Together, Node-Red and MQTT make a powerful tool – any device on the system can talk to Node-Red or
to any other device. Personally rather than having a million protocols I like to make everything talk to
Node-Red via MQTT – then it can decide what to send out to whom. With the many “nodes” available
for Node-Red including my own BIGTIMER and others – what you can do is largely down to your
imagination. I usually add SQLITE into the installation as a simple database for logging information that is
not too heavy on writing (excessive writing is not good for SD-based boards such as the PI) and as well as
automatic timing I have devices controlled by mobile phone (Node-Red-Dashboard) and Amazon Alexa
voice control.

The LED Clock
This started as a gimmick but it REALLY looks nice.
A simple command {clock:0} for example will start a serial RGB LED clock on GPIO0 and this will be
maintained through power cycle. The clock knows the time because the central server (Pi or similar)
sends the time in the logon system. The clock uses serial LEDs and needs 60 of them. You can do this
with some RGB serial LED strip – or you can buy a 60 LED ring usually in the form of four quadrants. The
likes of AdaFruit sell them but on EBay, Electronics Lee sells them for less.
http://www.uctronics.com/ring-wall-clock-60-ultra-bright-ws2812-5050-rgb-led-lamp-panel-for-
arduino.html?___SID=U
Around £12 for the entire ring – you just need to solder the bits together. EBay sell plastic disks as well!!
So typically you are looking at 5v, signal and ground – I’ve used variable brilliance lighting to give a wide
bar for hours (5 LEDS) and the single LED is seconds… All looks lovely in the dark!
To end this – set the number to 255 i.e. {clock:255}. Don’t set the clock to use an input.

The LCD Display
The software supports (software) I2c and includes some support for a 2-line
or 4-line LCD – and now – also a parallel version.
So what you’re looking at on the right – the glowing thing at the top is an
FTDI – basically there for me to program with and to provide a little power.
The blue prototyping board is in fact a test board - an ESP-12 with a
regulator running my software as described in here.
The red thing in the middle is an i2c expander – cheap – basically i2c in on
2 wires (the expander has its own pull-up resistors) – 8 IO lines. Here, I’m
using them only as IO and I’m only using 6 of them – the top 4 data lines,
enable and the control line.
The least significant bit is enable, next is the control line, top 4 are MSB
data lines on the LCD.
Essentially – from either MQTT or serial you fire a command at the ESP
board and text appears on the LCD. There are of course some set up and
control commands and I’ve incorporated them into a string.
In the example you see here, this is the string I fire at the display every
second from MQTT
Payload: {hitachi:39,"$1MQTT test$2$i$3Time $t$4Date $d"}
Simple enough, device 39 (in this case) and some text with control signals starting with $

Here is the list of commands:
$$ - shows a dollar on the screen!!

$S - setup – sets up a virgin 20x4 LCD and clears the screen
$s - setup – sets up a virgin 16x4 LCD and clears the screen
$c - clear the screen
$1 – set the cursor to position 1 line 1
$5 – set the cursor to position 9 or 11 line 1
$t - fire out the time
$d – fire out the date
$i - fire out the current IP address
$X - clear the current 16 character line
$x - clear a line of 8 or 10 characters (depending on setup)
$o - display the degrees symbol
$l - display left arrow
$r - display right arrow
$b – display block-out character
$F and $f - turn the LCD backlight on and off – only works if your back panel support it.
$p and $h – temperature and humidity readings – assuming you have a sensor running and wait a couple
of mins before using after power up. Note temperature and humidity readings remain at 0 (zero) until
WIFI and MQTT are connected.

Now – the PARALLEL LCD!
Flushed with success at getting my little I2C–enabled 4-line
display working, it occurred to me during an early start to the
morning – that there’s an even better way for people with no
other use for the output pins.
I have therefore reserved device number 255 to work with the

display in PARALLEL – i.e. no i2c needed.
You need the following (GPIO4/5 reference is correct for our

boards – you may or may not need to reverse these for other
boards)
 GPIO4 – EN
 GPIO4 – CONTROL/DATA
 GPIO12 – data 4
 GPIO13 - data 5
 GPIO15 - data 6
 GPIO16 - data 7
You should ground the Read/Write pin on the LCD – and you
may wish to consider a resistor from the contrast pin to ground –
150 ohms is generally ok – and some LCDs may require separate
wiring for backlighting (I just took the backlighting A to +5v, K to
ground).
Note that the instant you use this – any flashing light on GPIO13 will stop – can’t have it both ways 
This of course leaves you with GPIO2 and 14 for use as inputs – just a thought – GPIO2 as temperature
sensor – GPIO14 as up/down temperature control.

OLED displays
I have the first OLED running – one of those little SEEED SSD1306
OLEDs. Waiting for the AliExpress cheap ones to turn up but
could not resist having a go at an OLED I had lying around – I
imagine the generic SSD1306 OLEDs will work fine. Commands
similar to Hitachi but no backlight. Have added a “g” command
for grey level and numbers 0-11 for lines. If no I2c pull-ups you’ll
have to add your own.
Example: {seeed:$s$g3Hello$g11Hello”}
{seeed:"$sHello there$5$i$6temp:$pc$7Hum:$h%$11$t"}
See also OLED further down – the seeed displays are now
deprecated in favour of standard ssd1306 OLED displays.

The SSD1306 OLED
The SSD1306 displays usually come as inexpensive 128x32 or 128x64 tiny boards. The code works for
both with a minor change in the initialisation and these are REALLY cheap from the likes of AliExpress
and hence well suited to this cost-sensitive project.
With apologies to anyone using the older command sequence I’ve updated this to match other OLED
displays (other than the SEEED one which is now deprecated). These SSD1306 displays in both 128x64
and 128x32 form are cheap and exceedingly useful – you can even buy an ESP8266 board with one build
in!
Numerical arguments are comma or semicolon delimited and the actual number can be missed out if the
required value is 0... if the next character is non-numeric, even the trailing semicolon/comma is un-
necessary - i.e. $P,Hello
 Setup (number 0 for the 32 line display, 1 for the 64 line display. Default 32 line)
 Position (x,y)
 Mono (1 or 0)
 Font (0-12)
 Line (x1,y1,x2,y2)
 rEctangle (x,y,width,height) (foreground colour)
 fIll (x,y,width,height) (foreground and background colours)
 Wipe to background
 Time

 Date
 Address (IP address)
 Graphic (number 1-3 followed by character)
 Version
 RSSI
 Up time
 Name - i.e. ID
 vOlts – see voltage command elsewhere
Example – puts up “Hello” – the time and date and a coloured rectangle
{ssd1306:"$S$P10,10;$C255,255,255;Hello\n$T\n$D$B0,0,255;$I80,80,30,30"}
Or..
{ssd1306:"$S1Hello !!!$P0,10$O$P0,20$V$P0,30$N$P0,40$U$P0,50$R"}

The SSD1351 OLED
The SSD1351 displays usually come as 128*128 full colour boards.
For wiring:
It is assumed only one SPI device is used hence tie CS low and RST to processor reset:
// WEMOS D7 ESP8266 GPIO13 is MOSI (dout)
// WEMOS D5 ESP8266 GPIO14 is clock
// WEMOS D0 ESP8266 GPIO16 as the D/C line.
// 5v power and ground
There is of course no backlight as this is OLED
The “ssd1351” function handles everything in the string using $ to start off special commands - $$ to
show a dollar sign.
required value is 0.. so for example - $C255,0,0; which is colour RED can also be expressed as $C255,,; -
if the next character is non-numeric, even the trailing semicolon/comma is un-necessary - i.e.
$C255,,Hello
 Setup
 Position (x,y)
 Colour (r,g,b)
 Background (r,g,b)
 Mono (1 or 0)
 Font (0-12)
 Rotate (1 or 0)
 Wipe to background colour
 Time
 Date

Example – puts up “Hello” – the time and date and a coloured rectangle

The VT100 Terminal (and more)
I’m making use here of an ILI9340-based display, the
cheap ones from AliExpress etc. at 240*320
resolution. These are REALLY nice for the (low) price
and comprise a full colour LCD.
Until recently I could not get these to work at all on

the ESP8266 as any code for them was for Arduino-
based and not that easy to translate back to C (it’s a
lot easier the other way around).
In an article you’ll find on the blog about a cheap

terminal, I discovered some C code to do a really
FAST scrolling VT-100-subset terminal. This was
stand-alone and so firstly I converted the code to
work in the Arduino environment – I’ve also has it
running on the Arduino itself but of course the
ESP8266 version is much faster and wireless.
In one of those mistaken moments I figured it would

be easy to convert to ESP SPI. Well, it was not and I
spent over 2 solid days before I could even clear the
screen. Anyway to cut a long story short it is now
working exceedingly well – but beware it uses GPIO 13, 14, 15 and 16 and hence uses up much of the
available useful IO on the board. Still – it is VERY fast, has a nice top line and bottom status line and a
scrolling centre region offering a 40 char by 40 line terminal for those with decent eyesight. Commands
for cursor, scrolling and colour are implemented and I’ve added the escape character into my line parser
so it will handle stuff like this….
{ili_set:1}
{ili_text:"\e[35;40mHello there \e[32;40mmate\r\n"}
{ili_status:"All working exceedingly well"}
{ili_title:"\e[37;40mESP8266 Status Monitor"}
{ili_rssi}
The ili_set command if set to 1 will immediately reset the display and enable it to accept messages – this
survives power out and the display will automatically initialise on power-up. Setting the value to 0
disables the display – again through power cycling.
// WEMOS D7 ESP8266 GPIO13 is MOSI (dout)
// WEMOS D5 ESP8266 GPIO14 is clock
// WEMOS D0 ESP8266 GPIO16 as the D/C line.
// 5v power and ground – the backlight should be connected to 3v3 – not 5v.

// CS to ground and RST to processor reset.
So then given the unit name of “thisone” a simple bit of Node-Red directs all MQTT traffic to the display
(along with some colour commands).
tmpPayload=msg.payload;
tmpTopic="\\e[36;40m"+msg.topic+"\\e[32;40m\r\n";
if (msg.topic!="thisone/toesp")
{
msg.topic="thisone/toesp";
msg.payload="{ili_text:\"" + tmpTopic + tmpPayload + "\r\n\"}";
return msg;
}
I’ve deliberately stopped traffic for that unit – as it ends up in infinite loop otherwise. For wiring, the LED
requires +3v3 (don’t connect the LED to +5v – it will look good but soon burn out) and power for the
board need to go to +5v, reset goes either to the ESP8266 reset or via a 4k7 to +3v3…. and then
GPIO14=SCLK, GPIO13=MOSI, GPIO15=CS and GPIO16=D/C - MISO (last pin) is not used.
No, the software does not support a whole other range of boards, just this one – but as it’s one of the
cheapest out there, that’s fine.
The ili_rssi command puts up (in the status line) the current time and date bottom left and a rough signal
strength for this particular ESP along but that only works of course assuming you are using my Node-Red
node which updates the ESP8266 boards with the correct time.
This seems to be surviving constant testing – I even took it for a walk using a battery pack and it survived
going out of signal range and coming back in. Clearly the use of these ports on the ESP8266 stops some
other operations thanks to using their pins… but what a great general purpose MQTT display!
Important note: The {ili_set:1} command survives power cycling – do not leave this on when playing
with the landscape mode or other display boards as it will fire out commands not appropriate to
anything other than the terminal mode. Turn it off if you don’t plan to use terminal mode with the
ILI8340 display.

ILI9340 – A general purpose screen
For the same hardware as the VT-100 terminal (but NOT to be used in conjunction with that terminal
mode), I’ve also added some commands which take the board beyond use as a scrolling terminal. Clearly
these are to be used separately – don’t try to
use them while the board is in terminal
mode.
I’ve completely reduced the commands for

this display to a minimum – and shortened
the commands to “ili”. See also the QD_Tech
Displays.
The screen is initialised with the following

string:
{Ili:”$S”} - i.e. S for setup – this will set up

the chip, clear the screen, put the chip in landscape mode and preset the colour to white on black.
The “ili” function handles everything in the string using $ to start off special commands - $$ to show a
dollar sign.
$C255,,Hello
 Setup
 Position (x,y)
 Colour (r,g,b)
 Mono (1 or 0)
 Font (0-12)
 Rotate (1 or 0)

 Time
 Date
Both this display and the qdtech driver mentioned elsewhere have the following fonts available by
number (default is font 0):
0 calibri16x17
1 digital36x69
2 digital17x32
3 trebuchet
4 calibri21x22
5 calibri32x34
6 petesfont24x28
7 meteocons21x25
8 ms_reference_sans_serif16x16
9 basic8x8
10 assorted1_19x21
11 assorted2_19x21
12 assorted3_19x21
When the board initialises, it sends out mqtt xxxx/fromesp/status and payload {powerup}
This can be used to send $S and any line framework and fixed text to the display. Same for the QDTech.

Typical Node-Red code – choice of manual display init or when the ESP-GO board powers up… you can
use trigger2 and trigger14 messages if those inputs are not used for temperature sensing.

Both the QD_Tech and ILI Displays are able to form simple control systems such as a thermostat display.
Thanks to limited pins on the ESP8266, one of the normal inputs is unavailable when using these SPI-
based displays (in14) but an auto responder on MQTT called “trigger2” will appear on change of state of
gpio input 2 with a value of 1 or 0. Example myboard/fromesp/trigger2 and a payload of “0” or “1”.
Using this single pin you could for example control set temperature on a thermostat, you could even use
i2c temperature sensors, or you may wish for more control and handle sensors elsewhere.
See example on previous page. A touch button cycles through a range of available set temperatures.
To do the latter, there is a command (the change survives power cycling) – topic = myboard/toesp
payload = {input45:45}
Any value other than 45on the right above and gpio pins 4 and 5 work as normal, however with this
command and the value 45, you can turn gpio4 and 5 into inputs which will automatically generate those
auto responders only change of state of the relevant input pin. There are weak pull-up resistors in the
ESP8266 chip so no need to worry about that, buttons can simply ground the two inputs when pressed.
Example of simple Node-Red display code as overleaf “Pergola ILI Display”
Init and frame code example:
msg.payload='{ili:"$S"}'; node.send(msg);
msg.payload='{ili:"$C255,255,255$E0,0,320,240"}'; node.send(msg);
msg.payload='{ili:"$L0,37,319,37"}'; node.send(msg);
Example icons and weather code from a service – icons are in the icon sets available:
function getIcon (x)

{
switch (x) {
case "clear-day" : return "1o";
case "clear-night" : return "1S";
case "rain": return "1v";
case "snow": return "1O";
case "sleet": return "1K";
case "wind": return "1G";
case "fog": return "1F";
case "cloudy": return "1t";
case "partly-cloudy-day": return "1d";
case "partly-cloudy-night": return "1V";
default: return "1o";

}
}
var currently=global.get("weather").daily.data[0].icon;
var tomorrow=global.get("weather").daily.data[1].icon;
var day3=global.get("weather").daily.data[2].icon;
var precip=global.get("weather").daily.data[0].precipProbability;
node.status({fill:"blue",shape:"dot",text:precip});
precip=120-parseInt(precip*120);
msg.payload='{ili:"$C255,255,255$B255,0,0$I260,60,10,120$B0,0,255$I260,60,10,' + precip +
'$B0,0,0";}'; node.send(msg);
msg.payload='{ili:"$P290,52$C255,255,0$G' + getIcon(currently) + '"}'; node.send(msg);

msg.payload='{ili:"$P290,74$C255,255,0$G' + getIcon(tomorrow) + '"}'; node.send(msg);
msg.payload='{ili:"$P290,96$C255,255,0$G' + getIcon(day3) + '"}'; node.send(msg);

QD_TECH Displays
There are some popular and inexpensive QD_Tech displays – LCD – at
128x160 – based on the s6d021 chip. Right now avoid the variety
that say “KMR” on the front as I think these use a different chip.
I’ve now updated the code for these displays to use the same –in-
string controls I’ve put on other LCD boards. That means that the
string “$S” initialises the display. Setup for the display is volatile and
deliberately does not survive reboot – so this is the first thing you do
in initialisation of your display on power up or reboot.
The “qd_string” function handles everything in the string using $ to start off special commands ( $$ to
show a dollar sign).
$C255,,Hello
 Setup
 Position (x,y)
 Colour (r,g,b)
 Mono (1 or 0)
 Font (0-12)
 Rotate (1 or 0)
 Time
 Date
For example – puts up “Hello” – the time and date and a coloured rectangle

This translates to – initialise the display, set the cursor to 10,10, the colour to white and print “Hello2” –
followed by carriage return then the Time, carriage return then the data. Then set the background colour
to blue and fill a rectangle at 180,80 size 30 by 30.
When using the display, GPIO13 will stop acting as a flashing indicator because it is needed to supply
data to the board.

Deep Sleep Mode
Deep sleep deserves a page of its own.
In order to do deep sleep – which can put the processor into low power deep sleep for up to 71 minutes
(4260 seconds) – GPIO16 must be deployed. It should have some kind of pull-up to 3v3
As you may realise by now – GPIO16 is used a lot for a general purpose output. So before any deep sleep
can happen, GPIO16 must be disabled as an output – a record must be stored of this so it won’t turn into
an output on power-up – and a record must be stored that we’re in deep sleep “mode”. This is all done in
the sleep_mode command,
So – how this works is simple for the user…
Sleep_mode
{sleep_mode:1} Once you send that command, GPIO16 is no longer generally usable – this will survive
power cycling. ONLY after issuing this command, you can attach GPIO16 to the RESET line.
{sleep_mode:0} will restore GPIO16 but only after the next power up.
Deep_sleep
{deep_sleep:x} where x is in seconds up to 4260 seconds. Any higher and the value will be truncated. The
instant you issue this command, the processor will turn off – and not wake up until the time specified
has passed. Nothing special about the wakeup – the unit will act as if it is being turned on as normal,
will connect to the WIFI and to MQTT - and proceed about its business.
In a typical application, you might let the unit turn on – wait until you get the first reply from new
instruction {readtemperature?} from the unit (for example) and then send via MQTT a message to turn
the unit off (and get a confirmation) for up to 71 minutes. Simple. Power savings will vary depending on
your boards and setup.
How does this work? Well, an internal real time clock is the only thing left on – and it has a timeout timer
in it - the value you set. When that times out – it simply forces GPIO16 to ground – and that of course
resets the processor. There is a flag we could read to determine how the board reset but as the same
operations need to be done anyway (log onto WIFI, sign on etc., I didn’t bother with any of that – keep it
simple.
Possible issues
One clone used 35-80ma (with obvious peaks well over 150ma when WIFI is operating) generally and
dropped to 14ma on deep sleep – thanks to hardware limitations of the clone which has a USB to serial
convertor and regulator on board – the USB convertor alone can use 10ma. If you want REALLY low
current i.e. possibly as low as 0.1ma according to some, you need boards which do not have these
features.

General Commands
Commands can be sent to an ESP8266 board via 115k serial or via MQTT.
This software specifically:
Given device ID X (a string with no spaces) - the MQTT “topic” will be X/TOESP
The MQTT message will always be surrounded by {} and a colon separates the command and the first
arguments – subsequent arguments use commas. This is all my choice – again not MQTT specific. The
format bears a vague resemblance to JSON.
Why X/TOESP ?? Well, I wanted an easy way for a device to accept messages just for itself – or for
EVERYONE. So let’s say we call a board “fred”.
The board “subscribes” to fred/toesp and toesp (you don’t have to worry about this – just give it an ID –
the software does the rest).
If say the Pi needs it to listen to messages meant for everyone – send to topic “toesp” – If you want to
send a message to that board only, send to topic “fred/toesp”.
And now to the actual message:
Here’s a simple real example:
To turn the relay on (on our original board, attached to GPIO0): {out0:1}
To to turn it off {out0:0}
Simple – you can send a message complete with topic over WIFI using MQTT or just blast the topic
followed by CRLF through the serial at 115k baud.
In the list to follow, * indicates information is subsequently stored in FLASH so for example if you set up a
clock – you want it to start up after loss of power. Also if you set an output ON – general after a power
failure you want it to resume where it left off. Up to now this FLASH info saving has proven 100%
reliable.
Please note: As of Feb 2016 – references to OUT0 may go to output 0 or 16 – this is settable by
command. This is because we want to reserve GPIO0 not only for programming but also for WEB setup –
GPIO0 was only historically used for relays because of the ESP-01.

Queries
Queries (i.e. you don’t want to do something – you just want to return info) have no argument but end
with ? i.e. {time?}
{query?}
Not all commands can be used as queries.
Boards
The software requires an ESP-12 or similar with 4MB of FLASH. Older boards currently work with no OTA
but as the software gets more commands this may not always be the case. Wemos and other similar ESP-
12-based boards work just fine.

General MQTT/Serial Control Format
The general format for commands is:
{command:parameter1,parameter2,parameter3 etc.}
Software supports up to 8 long-integer parameters, any of which might be replaced as appropriate by up

to 2 string parameters. Strings should be quoted, the whole command sits in in braces and integers can
as appropriate be positive or negative.

List of Commands
The following is a list of commands – there are lots of them and there is still room for more. See in
addition to these commands, the special displays etc. earlier in this manual.
adc
Function:
Returns the value of the ADC
Use: adc
Example: {adc?}
Return: Mqtt –adc value. Serial: string containing the ADC value
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
ads1115
Function:
Sets up and returns the value of an I2c ads1115 ADC board
Use: ads:integer value
Example: {ads1115:1} to set up input A0 (2,3,4 for the other 3) then {ads1115:0} to read
Return: Mqtt –adc value. Serial: string containing the ADC value
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no

attrib
Function:
Set or read the optional attrib string of the board
Use: attrib
Example: {attrib:”lamp”} or {attrib?}
Return: Mqtt – nothing. Serial: string containing the attrib if query or OK
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: yes
calibrate
Function:
To calibrate voltage readings on our original board
Use: calibrate:integer_value
Example: To be completed
Return: Mqtt – none. Serial: OK
Query: no
Stored in Flash: Yes

clock
Function:
60 Serial LED clock
Use: clock:integer_value (port number)
Example: {clock:0} (use {clock:255} to kill the clock)
Return: Mqtt –none. Serial: none
Query: no
Notes: Attach 60 serial LEDs to the port – make sure the time is set – will make beautiful serial clock
comment
Function:
Comment field for up to 120 characters (checked)
Use: clock:string value (“some comment”)
Return: Mqtt –comment. Serial: comment
Query: yes
cpu_freq
Function:
Double the speed of the ESP from its normal 80Mhz (80) to 160Mhz (160) or returns the current value
Use: cpu_freq:integer_value
Example: {cpu_freq:80}
Return: Mqtt –none. Serial: OK or string containing speed of chip.
Query: yes

Notes: Uses more power at higher speed! Timings generally unaffected. In a test example of an ESP-01
modified for a larger FLASH (4MBYTE), total power consumption including 3v3 regulator varied between
30ma and 40ma at 80Meg rising to 40ma to 50ma at 160Meg.

dawn
Function:
To pass dawn to the unit – number of minutes after midnight
Use: dawn:integer_dawn
Example: {dawn:400}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no

debug
Function:
To return general information via the serial port
Use: debug
Example: {debug}
Time: 13:56:55 11/08/2016
Time Code: 1470923815
Dusk: 21:08 Dawn: 07:22
On1: 08:00 Off1: 12:00 On2: 15:00 Off2: 23:00 Peak: 23c Off-peak: 19c Frost: 14c
IP: 192:168:1:25
Internal ID: ARPS_00A68508
ID: freddy
DESC: empty
FLAGS:
SSID: wififorus (Active) Pass: xxxxxxxx
SSID2: wififorus Pass2: xxxxxxxx
MQTT Host: 192.168.1.19 Port: 1883 User: admin
OTA Host: www.scargill.net Port: 80
Code Version: 1.5.61
SDK Version: 2.0.0(656edbf)
RSSI: -47
Out0: 0 (0 with invert)

Sensor Type: DHT22
Temperature Port: GPIO2
GPIO13 available for general use: No
GPIO2 is an input
Sonoff setting=0
WiFi button=2
Invert settings=HEX( 4)
Serial2 settings=0
RGB Indicator=1
Electrodragon=0
No LED clock
CPU frequency: 80Mhz
Free Heap: 16584 bytes
Up Time: 0:25:54
Return: Mqtt – none. Serial: debug info
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no

desc
Function:
Set or read the optional description of the board
Use: desc
Example: {desk:”the kitchen lamp”} or {desk?}
Return: Mqtt – nothing. Serial: string containing the description if query or OK
Query: yes
dusk
Function:
To pass dusk to the unit – number of minutes after midnight
Use: dusk:integer_dusk
Example: {dusk:1000}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no

electrodragon
Function:
if set to true, GPIO16 is used as a status indicator (instead of GPIO13) and not it’s normal use
Use: electrodragon:integer_parameter // can be 1 or 0
Example: {electrodragon:1} or {electrodragon:0}
Return: Mqtt – Electrodragon status. Serial: String containing the status of Electrodragon variable
Query: yes
Notes: A quick bodge to allow use of the cheap Electrodragon WIFI boards with 2 relays – see the blog.
enable13
Function:
Enable or disable GPIO13 as a general purpose output – normally used as a status indicator
Use: enable13:integer_parameter // can be 1 or 0
Example: {enable13:1} or {enable13:0}
Query: no
Notes: See rgb_ind

enable14
Function:
Enable or disable GPIO14 as a general purpose output – normally used as an input
Query: no
enable16
Function:
Allows general use of GPIO16 as an output
Query: yes
Note: This defaults to 1

ext
Function:
To pass packages onto another unit, say an Arduino or another ESP serially
Use: ext:string_parameter
Example: {ext:”hello”}
Return: MQTT – none. Serial: {string}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
flashsize
Function:
Returns manufacturer info on Flash size
Use: flashsize
Example: {flashsize?}
Return: Mqtt –Flash size. Serial: string containing flash size
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: Not foolproof as not ALL Flash has the info.

gettime
Function:
Gets the time from an NTP server
Use: gettime
Example: {gettime?}
Return: Mqtt –none. Serial: returns string including time and date from NTP server
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: No daylight saving or local time incorporated – but it works. Not used for anything as boards get
time from ESPLOGIN node including time and dusk/dawn etc (subscribe to “logon” without the quotes).
gy30_init
Function:
Initialise I2c light sensor
Use: gy30_init
Example: {gy30_init:35}
Return: ok
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no

gy30_read
Function:
read I2c light sensor
Use: gy30_read
Example: {gy30_read:35}
Return: Mqtt –light level. Serial: returns string including light level
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
heap
Function:
Return heap size in bytes
Use: heap
Example: {heap?}
Return: Mqtt –none. Serial: value
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no

hitachi
Function:
I2c (gpio4/5) or parallel use of 2 line or 4 line Hitachi-style LCD displays
Use: See section in this manual
Example: {hitachi:39,”Hello”}
Return: Mqtt –none. Serial: OK
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
hightemperature
Function:
To return temperature value * 10 with more precision than temperature
Use: hightemperature?
Example: {hightemperature?}
Return: Mqtt – temperature * 10. Serial: string including temperature
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: See temperature

hsv
Function:
Controls serial WS2812B RGB serial LEDs using HSV
Use: hsv:integer_port,integer_hue (0-359),integer_saturation (0-255), integer volume (brightness – 0-

255), integer_optional_number_of_LEDS (default 10), integer_optional_delay(default and minimum 2)
Example: {hsv:4,300,255,100,10}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: Maximum number of LEDs 300 typically, Delay is in millisecs and is a soft fade from previous
colour to current colour. HSV makes it easier to make a given colour or shade brighter or darker or to
increase or decrease saturation for pastel colours.

humidity
Function:
To return last available humidity value
Use: humidity
Example: {humidity?}
Return: Mqtt – humidity. Serial: string including humidity (if using DHT11 or DHT22)
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no

i2c
Function:
Read a byte - or write a byte or bytes to i2c
Use: i2c: integer_address // for reading a byte from a device – port expander for example
Use: integer_address , integer_return, integer_value1 --- integer_value5
Example: {i2c:39,0,255} or {i2c:39}
Return: Mqtt –value if single argument or arg2==1. Serial: string containing the value or OK
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: Assuming device PDF8574T with address lines high (7) – address is 39. So {i2c:39,0,1} will set the
first output bit high – the rest low. Set outputs HIGH before reading values – {i2c:39} will return the byte
value of inputs and state of outputs. Uses GPIO4 and 5. GPIO4 is SDA, GPIO5 is SCL. This is the opposite
of earlier software (v1).
For standard port output
For special cases - my Arduino code – set param 1 to 1 to indicate return byte expected.
So – {i2c:8, 0,1,12,1}
Address 8, no return expected, 1 means port output… 12 is the port number and 1 is the value
{i2c:8, 1,2,12}
Address, expect return, 2 means port input, port 12 – should return the value of port bit 12

i2c_check
Function:
Reads a list of connected I2c devices
Use: i2c_check
Example: {i2c_check}
Return: Mqtt – nothing. Serial: string containing list of connected I2c devices
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
id
Function:
Set or read the name of the board
Use: id
Example: {id:”kitchen_lamp”} or {id?}
Return: Mqtt – nothing. Serial: string containing the ID string if query or OK
Query: yes
Notes: You should reboot after setting the ID

in14
Function:
Reads the state of GPIO14 which is an input
Use: in14
Example: {in14?}
Return: Mqtt –value of GPIO14. Serial: string containing value of GPIO145
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
in_2bounce
Function:
Integer sets timing for bounce
Use: in_2bounce:integer_value (*25ms)
Example: An mqtt message will be generated when the threshold count is reached after a level change
on gpio2.
Query: no

in_14bounce
Function:
Integer sets timing for bounce
Use: in_14bounce:integer_value (*25ms)
Example: An mqtt message will be generated when the threshold count is reached after a level change
on gpio14.
Query: no
in14_count
Function:
Reads the number of state changes GPIO14 and kills the count
Use: in14_count
Example: {in14_count?}
Return: Mqtt –value of counter. Serial: string containing value of counter
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no

in2_count
Function:
Reads the number of state changes GPIO2 and kills the count
Use: in2_count
Example: {in2_count?}
Return: Mqtt –value of counter. Serial: string containing value of counter
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
ina219_begin
Function:
Initialises an ina219 voltage/current monitoring chip i2c address 0x40 for 32v 2 amp operation
Use: ina219_begin
Example: {ina219_begin}
Return: ok
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: No longer needed 3/10/2017 – called automatically on first use

ina219_getall
Function:
Reads voltage and current from an ina219 voltage/current monitoring chip i2c address 0x40 for 32v 2
amp operation – and returns JSON. With a parameter (0 or 1) it is assumed an SSD1306 device is
attached to the unit and will write in (0) 32-pixel high mode or (1) 64 pixel high mode, the time and date
(date only on 64 high display), voltage, current and wattage on the display.
Avoid calling this more than once per second as display update (expecially 64 pixel) takes time. Excessive
speed could crash ESP8266
Use: ina219_getcurrent or ina219_getcurrent:x
Example: {ina219_getcurrent}
Return: voltage and current values as labelled JASON, optionally displays on OLED
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
Note: Chip initialised on first use of this or the command – NO need for separate $Sx

ina219_getcurrent
Function:
Reads current from an ina219 voltage/current monitoring chip i2c address 0x40 for 32v 2 amp operation
Use: ina219_getcurrent
Example: {ina219_getcurrent?}
Return: value – for example 5000 = 0.5 amps
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
Note: Chip initialised on first use of this or the getvoltage command
ina219_getvoltage
Function:
Reads voltage from an ina219 voltage/current monitoring chip i2c address 0x40 for 32v 2 amp operation
Use: ina219_getvoltage
Example: {ina219_getvoltage?}
Return: value – for example 12000 = 12 volts
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
Note: Chip initialised on first use of this or the getcurrent command

invert
Function:
To invert outputs as a group when using OUTx controls – ignored by RGB and PWM commands
Use: invert:integer-mask
Example: {invert 5} – inverts OUT0:x and OUT4:x controls
Bit 0 = GPIO0 (1) Bit 5 = GPIO13 (32)
Bit 1 = GPIO2 (2) Bit 6 = GPIO15 (64)
Bit 2 = GPIO4 (4) Bit 7 = GPIO16 (128)

Bit 3 = GPIO5 (8) Bit 8 = GPIO14 (256) (added later hence compat)
Bit 4 = GPIO12 (16)

Query: yes

invertset
Function:
To invert individual outputs when using OUTx controls – ignored by RGB and PWM commands
Use: invertset:integer-mask
Example: {invertset:4} – sets invert status of OUT4
Bit 0 = GPIO0 (1) Bit 5 = GPIO13 (32)
Bit 1 = GPIO2 (2) Bit 6 = GPIO15 (64)
Bit 2 = GPIO4 (4) Bit 7 = GPIO16 (128)

Bit 4 = GPI12 (16)

Query: no

invertreset
Function:
To invert individual outputs when using OUTx controls – ignored by RGB and PWM commands
Use: invert:integer-mask
Example: {invertreset:4} –clears invert status of OUT4
Bit 0 = GPIO0 (1) Bit 5= GPIO12 (32)
Bit 1 = GPIO2 (2) Bit 6 = GPIO13 (64)
Bit 2 = GPIO4 (4) Bit 7 = GPIO15 (128)

Bit 4 = GPIO4 (16)

Query: no
ip
Function:
Query th IP address and gatway
Use: ip?
Example: {ip?}
Return: Text containing status i.e. dhcp or static, IP address and gateway IP address
Query: ONLY
Stored in Flash: No

kelvin
Function:
Controls serial WS2812B RGB serial LEDs to VERY approximate Kelvin temperature (i.e. warm and cool)
Use: kelvin:integer_port,integer_temperature (1000-4000),integer_optional_number_of_LEDS (default

10), integer_optional_delay(default and minimum 2)
Example: {kelvin:4,5000 ,10}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: Maximum number of LEDs 300 typically, KELVIN values very approximate. Delay is in millisecs and
is a soft fade from previous colour temperature to current colour temperature – lower value is warmer.
Value of zero will fade the light out – suggest using a longer delay. So for example, to fade out 10 lights
on GPIO4, {kelvin:4,0,10,1000}
led_timer
Function:
To temporarily alter the default 20ms LED timer for RGB/HSV timing etc.
Use: led_timer:integer_value
Example: {led_timer:1000}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: minimum value 20 but is 32 bit so you should be able to make for a ridiculously long timer value

manual_ip (also static_ip from v2.3.20 onwards)
Function:
Gives the option to use a fixed IP address as against DHCP
{manual_ip:1,192,168,1,100,1}
Use:manual_ip:integer 1 or 0, integer first part of address, integer second part of address, integer third
part of address, integer end part of address, integer end part of router/dns address
If the first argument is zero, addressing is DHCP as per default, otherwise you are responsible for setting
the internal IP address of the unit and that of your router/dns
Query: no
See also: IP

mist
Function:
Added to control a typical misting system which might be controlled by a relay
Use:
mist:integer_gpio, integer_on_seconds, integer_off_seconds, integer_repeat_count
Example: {mist:0,5,60,100} - i.e. on GPIO, 100 sessions of 5 seconds misting followed by 60 seconds off
– do this 100 times
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
mqtt_host
Function:
Set the address of the MQTT broker – can be IP or full address
Use: mqtt_host:string_parameter
Example: {mqtt_host:”192.168.0.10”}
Return: Mqtt – nothing. Serial: OK
Query: no
Notes: Needs reboot to take effect

mqtt_pass
Function:
Set the user password of the MQTT broker – if needed
Use: mqtt_pass:string_parameter
Example: {mqtt_pass:”mypassword”}
Query: no
mqtt_port
Function:
Set the port of the MQTT broker usually 1883
Use: mqtt_port:integer_parameter
Example: {mqtt_port:1883}
Query: no

mqtt_user
Function:
Set the username of the MQTT broker – if needed
Use: mqtt_user:string_parameter
Example: {mqtt_user:”admin”}
Query: Yes

nano
Function:
An Arduino-Nano-based universal i2c peripheral
Use: nano: integer_device, integer_command, integer_value1,integer_value2
Example: {nano:9,1,13,1} returns OK serial – nothing MQTT
Example: {nano:9,5,14} assuming a return value of 788, returns {"dev":9,"cmd":5,"unit":14,"val":788}
Return: Mqtt – if 3 parameter query returns JSON else nothing. Serial: JSON or OK
Query: Yes but no question mark needed
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: Device can be changed by a command… current commands are as follows:
SET_OUTPUT 1
READ_INPUT 2 (no pullups)
READ_INPUT 3 (inputs are set to pullup mode – 20k internal pullup resistor)
SET_PWM 4 (values 0-255 only please)
READ_ANALOG 5 (reads 10 bit value back)
SET_ADDRESS 6 (note that address change has no effect until next power-up)
SEROUT 10 - so for example {nano:9,10,”Test 1 2 3” – string will come out of NANO serial
port at 115200
SERVO 2-13 value - where value is 0-180 or 255 to kill that servo. See blog for more.
Support for Dallas DS1802b recently added see blog for Node-Red support…
No changes to this software needed or the Nano code for these various commands, it is all done
in Node-Red.

ota_host
Function:
Set the address of the OTA host – can be IP or full address
Use: ota_host:string_parameter
Example: {ota_host:”www.fred.net”}
Query: no

ota_port
Function:
Set the address of the OTA port – often port 80
Use: ota_port:integer_parameter
Example: {ota_port:80}
Query: no
otaupdate
Function:
To update the code from an OTA server – i.e. any old webserver able to return a .bin file
Use: otaupdate
Example: {otaupdate} – causes a reboot on success
Return: Mqtt –none. Serial: some status info before the unit reboots
Query: no
Stored in Flash: n/a

out0
Function:
Output values to GPIO0 or GPIO16 depending on other settings – i.e. the relay channel
Use: out0:integer_value
0 – off (if command “{invert:1}” then state is inverted (for positive-based relays)
1 – on (see above)
2 – on from dusk till midnight (see above)
3 – on from dusk till dawn (see above)
4 – on from dawn till dusk (see above)
5 – under thermostatic control – see relevant command (see above)
6 – timer. A second parameter determines ON time in minutes – i.e. {out0:6,100}

sets the output on for 100 minutes. If over 10000 in seconds – 10000 – i.e.
10010=10 secs
-1 – toggles the output between off and on. Handy for pushbuttons
7+ under thermostatic control – holding at FROST temperature – for every increase in
the number, frost status lasts one hour. So value 7 means stay at frost temperature for
2 hours then revert to thermostatic control. *
Example: {out0:1}
Return: Mqtt –value of port if query. Serial: string containing value of port if query or OK
Query: yes
Notes: See wifi_button

out4
Function:
Output values to GPIO4

10010=10 secs
Example: {out4:1}
Query: yes

out5
Function:
Use: out5:integer_ value

10010=10 secs
Example: {out5:1}
Query: yes

out12
Function:
0 – off (if command “{invert:16}” then state is inverted (for positive-based

relays)
6 – timer. A second parameter determines ON time in minutes – i.e.

{out12:6,100} sets the output on for 100 minutes. If over 10000 in seconds –
10000 – i.e. 10010=10 secs
Example: {out12:1}
Query: yes

out13
Function:

relays)

10000 – i.e. 10010=10 secs
Example: {out13:1}
Query: yes
Notes: Check enabled13 command first – generally this port is reserved for status indicator

out14
Function:

relays)

10000 – i.e. 10010=10 secs
Example: {out14:1}
Query: yes
Notes: See enable14 – Normally GPiO14 is an input

out15
Function:

relays)

10000 – i.e. 10010=10 secs
Example: {out15:1}
Query: yes

out16
Function:

relays)

10000 – i.e. 10010=10 secs
Example: {out16:1}
Query: yes
Notes: Check your board does not tie GPIO16 to reset. See wifi_button which must be set to 0 for
GPIO16 to work as an output. If you set wifi_button to 0, you must reset the board before this will take
effect and GPIO16 becomes available. Also to enable GPIO16 – you should set the flag to allow it’s use as
an output – this is done by {enable16:1}

xport
Function:
Output values to I2c PCF8574A device 39 (0-7), 38 (8-15) etc for a total of 64 outputs or returns value
Use: xport:integer_value,integer value
0 – off (high)
1 – on (low)
Or
Xport:integer_value
Example: {xout:1,0} - lights up the second bit of a port 39 extender
Return: ok
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no.
Notes: Assuming a PCF8574A port expander starting at address 39 and working down – to gpio4 and 5
for I2c. Note outputs are inverted as it is expected that these open-collector devices will be used with,
say, LEDS connected to VCC. Not stored in FLASH, on power-up the pins are inputs high (off). Do not use
with background I2c operations such as temperature sensors.

pass
Function:
Set the password string of the network
Use: pass:string_password
Example: {pass:”mypassword”}
Query: no
Notes: See SSID. Needs reboot to take effect
pass2
Function:
Set the second password string of the network
Use: pass2:string_password
Example: {pass2:”myotherpassword”}
Query: no
Notes: See SSID2. Needs reboot to take effect

pca9685
Function:
Controls a PCA9685 board from Adafruit or similar
Use: pca9685: integer chip_number,integer_pin_bit(s),integer_on
Example: {pca9685:64,3,4000}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: special command – pin 0 followed by frequency <1600 is setup. Otherwise pins OR’d together so
that 3 means 1 and 2, 0xffff is all
 {pca9685:64,0,1600} setup to 1600 and clear all outputs
 {pca9685:64,0xffff,20} set all 16 outputs to 20
 {pca9685:64,1,20} set first output to 20
 {pca9685:64,2,40} set second output to 40
 {pca9685:64,4,80} etc
 {pca9685:64,8,160}
 {pca9685:64,16,320}
 {pca9685:64,32,1200}
 {pca9685:64,64,2200}
 {pca9685:64,128,4096}

polling_interval
Function:
Polling interval for internal temperature checks
Use: polling_interval:integer_value
Example: {polling_interval:10} (minimum 2 i.e. 2 seconds)
Return: Mqtt –value if query. Serial: value if query or OK
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
port2out
Function:
Set to 1 to make GPIO2 an output
Use: port2out:integer_value
Example: {port2out:1}
Return: Mqtt –value if query. Serial: value if query or OK
Query: yes

pwm
Function:
PWM output on GPIO4,5 and 15. On our boards we have optional MOSFETS on these three for powering
the 12v RGB LEDs.
Use: pwm:integer_red (0-99), integer_green (0-99), integer_blue (0,99), integer_timing(optional min 20)
Example: {pwm:99,40,20 }
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: The Espressif PWM is done under interrupts and no matter what, once you start this up – it WILL
be running in the background. I2C may not work properly and even RGB LEDs may fail. A better way
might be to use a PWM expander board on I2C as discussed in the blog. Not aware of any other adverse
interactions.
pwmhsv
Function:
As for PWM but with HSV values (hue, saturation, brightness)
Use: pwmhsv:integer_hue (0-359), integer_s (0-255), integer_v (0-255), integer_timing(optional min 20)
Example: {pwmhsv:99,40,20 }
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: The Espressif PWM is done under interrupts and no matter what, once you start this up – it WILL
be running in the background. I2C may not work properly and even RGB LEDs may fail. A better way
might be to use a PWM expander board on I2C as discussed in the blog. Not aware of any other adverse
interactions.

rainbow
Function:
Soft-sequences serial WS2812B RGB serial LEDs – a mere novelty but it is hypnotic and BEAUTIFUL
Use: rainbow:integer_port, integer_number_of_LEDS , integer_time_before_fade,

integer_colour_change_speed
Example: {rainbow:4,10,1000,20}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
readtemperature
Function:
Actually triggers a chip read – does not return anything – useful for some deep sleep setups –
Manually triggers the temperature call-back (temperature_cb) which may or may not also read humidity
and pressure
Use: readtemperature
Example: {readtemperature}
Query: N/A
Stored in Flash: N/A

rebootnow
Function:
Reboot the board without storing anything in flash
Use: reboot_now
Example: {rebootnow}
Query: N/A

reset
Function:
Saves any config and resets the board
Use: reset
Example: {reset}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: potentially
reset_config
Function:
Wipes config to defaults and resets the board
WARNING: You cannot use this with other commands as it is going to reset the board to defaults (not
your defaults – the ones in the ROM).
Use: reset_config
Example: {reset_config}
Query: no

rgb_ind
Function:
If 0, use LED on GPIO13, if 1, use RGB serial LED for colours!!
Use: rgb_ind:integer_value
Example: {rgb_ind:0}
Query: no
Notes: switching large numbers of LEDs may cause undulation in PWM outputs due to interrupts – not as
bad as the normal RGB commands however. With small numbers, un-noticeable. See enable13.
rgb_lcd
Function:
A series of functions to work with the Grove-LCD RGB Backlight boards which offer 16-char by 2 line
Hitachi-style LCD but with RGB backlight. Includes _setup, _clear, _cursor, _background and _write.
Use: rgb_ind:integer_value
Example:
{rgb_lcd_setup}
{rgb_lcd_background:255,0,0}
{rgb_lcd_cursor:0,0}
{tgb_lcd_write:”Hi there”}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no

rgb
Function:
Controls serial WS2812B RGB serial LEDs
Use: rgb:integer_port,integer_red,integer_green,integer_blue,integer_optional_number_of_LEDS
(default 10), integer_optional_delay (default and minimum 2)
Example: {rgb:4,255,255,255,10}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: Maximum number of LEDs 300 typically, RGB values 0-255. Delay is in milli-secs and is a soft fade
from previous colour to current colour. See rgbperm if you want this state restoring on power-up.

rgbgo
Function:
fires off serial LED commands as set up by rgbset
Use: rgbgo: integer_port, integer_number_of_LEDs
Example: {rgbgo:4,10}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: Should not be used until the rgbset command has filled in values for your RGB LEDs. In this case
10 serial LEDs on GPIO4 will be programmed.
rgbinstant
Function:
Allow for instant setting of serial RGB lights.
Use: rgbinstant:integer_gpio, integer_red(0-255), integer_green(0-255), integer_blue(0-255),

optional_integer_number (optional default 1)
Example: {rgbinstant:4,255,255,255}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: switching large numbers of LEDs may cause undulation in PWM outputs due to interrupts – not as
bad as the normal RGB commands however. With small numbers, un-noticeable

rgbstop
Function:
Stop the RGB sequencing - see rgbstart and rgbadd
Use: rgbstop
Example: {rgbstop}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
rgbset
Function:
Fills in an array of values for the rgbgo command
Use: rgbset: integer_start, integer_number, integer_red(0-255), integer_green(0-255), integer_blue(0-

255)
Example: {rgbset:0,10,255,0,0}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: In the above example, the buffer will be set so that the first 10 leds (out of max 300) are set to
red. Nothing will happen until the rgbgo command is used.

rgbstart /add/stop
Function:
RGB animation
For a simple test….
{rgbstop}
{rgbstart:4,4} // port 4, number of LEDS
{rgbadd:1,0,4,255,0,0,500} // command, start LED, number of LEDS, r, g, b, delay in milliseconds
{rgbadd:1,0,4,0,0,255,500}
Or for a police-car look….
{rgbstop}
{rgbstart:4,8}
{rgbadd:1,0,4,255,0,0,0}
{rgbadd:1,4,4,0,0,255,1000}
{rgbadd:1,0,4,0,0,255,0}
{rgbadd:1,4,4,255,0,255,1000}
The (1) is a command – other commands include 2 and 3.
{rgbadd:2,50}
Start a loop which will run 50 times
{rgbadd:3} - End loop. Put stuff in the middle. You can have loops within loops.
You MUST put the {rgbstop} at the beginning as this clears out buffers UNLESS you are re-using an
existing buffer.
The port is set and the timer is started with {rgbstart:port,number_of_leds}
Animation will start with the first “rgbadd” instruction and run until power-off or an rgbstop or command
4 (see below).

The system currently handles up to 300 serial LEDs on any arbitrary GPIO output pin (only one at a time
due to RAM restrictions for the buffers) and the animation buffer for rgbadd is maximum 600 16-bit
characters or 1200 bytes.
For example {rgbadd: 1,0,200,255,255,255,2000} takes in total 10 bytes. You probably won’t run out of
animation storage – currently set to 600 bytes.
If you use the command 4
{rgbadd:4}
You will stop the existing sequence and return the pointer to the start without damaging anything – so
for a sequence you wish to use over and over, simply clear the LEDs to whatever state you want at the
end of the sequence and finish with command 4.
To start the sequence over at any time use the start command – you can even use a difference output
next time if you wish:
If you want to STORE this sequence in FLASH – {rgbstore:x} and to get it back {rgbrecall:x} where x is 0-3
– then use {rgbstart:port,number_of_leds} to play it back. Currently there are 4 non-volatile buffers.

rgbperm
Function:
Sets RGB lights as in RGB but stores this info. On reboot – the lights will resume the same state unless
the gpio was set to -1 - this is handy for those using ESPs as RGB house lighting. if for any reason the
controller (unlikely to be on a UPS) reboots it will almost instantly resume the same colour on that GPIO
pin.
Use: rgbperm:integer_gpio, integer_red(0-255), integer_green(0-255), integer_blue(0-255),

integer_number_of_leds
Example: {rgbinstant:12,255,255,255,10}
Query: no
Notes: This command is identical to the rgb command other than the permanent storage of state which
survives power cycling. In the event of a power failure, any serial RGB setting is restored – because these
LEDs have a tendency on power up to enter a random state – not ideal for household lighting (“why
couldn’t you have bought ordinary lights like everyone else”) – with possibly just one LED on – it was felt
better to restore the previous state. If you no longer wish to use permanent RGB – set the port to above
16 or -1.

romswitch
Function:
ASSUMING you’ve already done an OTA, lets you swap back and forth between the old version of code
and the new
Use:romswitch
Example: {romswitch} – causes a reboot on success
Query: no
scan
Function:
Only works in serial – scan for WIFI
Use:scan
Example: {scan} – lists available SSIDs on success
Return: Mqtt –none. Serial: list of SSIDs
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no

set_serial
Function:
Defines how pins 4 and 5 work
Use: set_serial: integer_value
Example: {set_serial:0}
Parameter:
0 - gpio4 and gpio5 work normally.
1 – gpio4 and gpio5 are set to tristate – future use
2 - gpio4 and gpio5 become I/O for the Nextion serial display at 57600 baud. The Nextion itself
must have been set to this speed externally using another source.
Once set, the board will immediately re-boot to set the ports up correctly.
Query: yes
Notes: Needs reboot to work. See command to_nextion

si1132_visible, uv and ir
Function:
I2c device SI1132 as found on http://ameridroid.com/products/weather-board-2
Use: si1132_visible , si1132_uv, si1132_ir
Example: {si1132_visible}
Return: Mqtt –value. Serial: value
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: Needs reboot if board unplugged then replugged as init done on first use

sonof
Function:
If set to 1 – merely reverses on-off ratio for GPIO13 LED indication. This works for original Sonoff and the
new TH10 and 16. Also if you set the web programming button to 0, you can toggle the Sonoffs on and
off
Use: sonoff:integer_value
Example: {sonoff:0}
Query: no
ssid
Function:
Set the ssid string of the network
Use:ssid
Example: {ssid:”kitchen_wifi”}
Query: no

ssid2
Function:
Set the second ssid string of the network (if the first SSID fails the unit will try the second SSID etc)
Use:ssid2
Example: {ssid2:”ceiling_wifi”}
Query: no
swap
Function:
Sets which SSID to try first on next boot (or returns 0 or 1)
Use:swap:integer_parameter 0 or 1
Example: {swap:1}
Return: Mqtt – nothing. Serial: string containing 0 or 1 if query – or OK
Query: yes

temperature
Function:
To return last available temperature value
Use: temperature?
Example: {temperature?}
Return: Mqtt – temperature. Serial: string including temperature
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
temp_type
Function:
To set the type of temperature sensor if any, normally used on GPIO2 – can be 14 – see below.
Use: temp_type:integer_parameter
Example: {temp_type:1}
Return: MQTT – none. Serial: OK
Options:
0 DS18b20
1=DHT22
2=DHT11
3=BME280 on address 0x76
4=BMP280 on address 0x77 – with (as appropriate to model) CSB at 3v3 and SDO at 3v3
5=SHT30 (also processes higher temp resolution – see hightemperature
Query: no
See also: temperature port. BME280 uses GPIO4 and 5 for I2C. Depending on the chip used, see also
{temperature?}, {pressure?} and {humidity?}

temperature_port
Function:
To set the port used for temperature sensing – normally 2 but can be 14.
Use: temperature_port:integer_parameter
Example: {temperature_port:2}
Return: MQTT – value if query. Serial: value if query else OK
Query: yes
Notes: Valid values are 0, 2 or 14. If set to 0 no temperature sensing takes place and hence no auto-
MQTT reporting. If 2 or 14 are set as temperature port- that port cannot be used for input sensing at the
same time.
See also: temp_type
time
Function:
To pass time to the unit – in standard long number form – number of seconds since Jan 1970
Use: time:integer_time
Example: {time:34248792}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no

timeout_set
Function:
A monostable function suitable for watchdog – maybe resetting something if no input in a set time
Use: timeout_set:integer_time_in_seconds,integer_on_time, integer_repeat, integer_port,

integer_invert
Example: {timeout_set:100,10,1,4,0}
In this example –times out in 100 seconds – stays “on” for 10 seconds, turns “off” and repeats, in
this case does NOT invert the output… all this on GPIO4 (here)
Query: no
Stored in Flash: yes including initial state of pin – set timeout to 0 to turn this off (and reboot)
timeout_clear
Function:
Reset the monostable – so something would call this regularly to stop the monostable triggering
Use: timeout_clear
Example: {timeout_clear}
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: See timeout_set

to_nextion
Function:
Send values via software UART to Nextion displays to create a WIFI touch display
Use: to_nextion:string_value
Example: {to_nextion:”t0.txt=\”Hi there\””}
Sends a string to the software serial port suffixed by 0xff 0xff 0xff for the Nextion displays.
You must use the command to set serial2 to value 2 in order to use this.
If you wish buttons on the Nextion to send commands – they must use a tilde as a separator and
use the GET command to ensure the output from the Nextion ends with FF FF FF.
So – for a nextion button…. talking to device fred (might be this one – might be another one on
the network)
get “fred/toesp~{out0:1}”
That would turn GPI0 on, on device fred.
The parser handles \r \n \t and \xZZ where zz are 2 hex digits 0-9 or A-F or a-f
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: See command set_serial

to_serial2
Function:
Send values via software UART to serial2 (if set) on GPIO4/5 at 56k
Use: to_serial2:string_value
Example: {to_serial2:”Hello there \r\n”}
Sends a string to the software serial port for general use
You must use the command to set serial2 to value 2 in order to use this.
The parser handles \r \n \t and \xZZ where zz are 2 hex digits 0-9 or A-F or a-f
Query: no
Stored in Flash: no
Notes: See set_serial
uptime
Function:
returns a string in h:mm:ss since power up – 32 bits so can handle long period. Reset on power up or
system reset.
Use: uptime?
Example: {uptime?}
Return: Mqtt –string value. Serial: string value
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no

ver
Function:
Returns the current version number
Use: ver
Example: {ver?}
Return: Mqtt version number value. Serial: string containing the version number
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no
voltage
Function:
Returns the value of the ADC – converted to voltage assuming use of our board or similar with dividers
Use: voltage
Example: {voltage?}
Return: Mqtt –voltage value. Serial: string containing the voltage value
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no

warning
Function:
Allows a one off light blip on the indicator or colour change on the next OFF period on the RGB indicator
if non-zero
Use: warning integer_r, integer_g,integer_b
Example: {warning:255,0,0}
Query: no
web_setup
Function:
Causes the unit to reset into web setup mode as if you’d pressed the button
Use: web_setup
Example: {web_setup}
Query: no

wifi_button
Function:
Sets which button used for WIFI setup and also determines GPIO0 use –generally use GPIO0
Use: wifi_button: Integer_value
Example: {wifi_button:2}
Query: no
Notes: The DEFAULT is now GPIO0 as the WIFI button. If set to 2, GPIO0 is used for general relay
operations and output 16 is not enabled (legacy). If set to 0, GPIO0 is an input and is used for both
programming (ground BEFORE power-up) and as a WIFI button (ground AFTER power-up) and GPIO16
acts as the general relay output.
When the board is powered up, if the WIFI programming button is held low, you should see a sequence
of + signs on the serial monitor (assuming you have a serial monitor attached at 115,200 baud).
xport
Function:
Sets up ports if using i2c and support for both the PCF8574 and PCF8574A giving up to 128 I/O lines with
8 of each chip.
Use: xport: Integer_value,[integer_value]
Example: {xport:2,2}
Return: Mqtt – port bit value. Serial: port bit value
Query: yes
Stored in Flash: no

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT
OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
I.e. if you blow something up - it's your problem. On the other hand if you improve the code I’d like to
know about it. Please subscribe to https://tech.scargill.net
If you blow the code – and on power-up you see via the serial monitor, +++++ the board sees the web
programming button as being held LOW… if this is deliberate – that’s fine – if not – check the WIFI-
BUTTON command.
For more information:

http://tech.scargill.net
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https://twitter.com/scargill
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https://www.facebook.com/esp8266wifi
https://www.facebook.com/iotstuff/
Google+:
https://plus.google.com/+PeterScargill
General:
http://www.scargill.net
http://www.bedrock.es
http://www.hollyberry-cottage.co.uk

Appendix 1 – Fonts and Icons
Icon fonts are restricted to 62 characters per font to make selection easy – and there are currently 3 sets,
limited for now for use with the QD-TECH 120x160 display (but not for long). The prefix is Z - hence $Zxy
where x is 1-3 or higher as available – and y is the character to pick.
ICON SET 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F G H J I K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
n o p q r s t u v w x y z

ICON SET 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

ICON SET 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Appendix 1 – Home Control 2018

Hackitt and Bodgitt ESP

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Hackitt and Bodgitt ESP-GO Software and

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 1

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 2

In the folder \espressif\extensa-lx106-elf\extensa-lx106-elf I’ve added a file called libcirom.a which

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 3

Node-Red and MQTT.............................................................................................................................16

The LED Clock........................................................................................................................................19

The LCD Display.....................................................................................................................................20

Now – the PARALLEL LCD!......................................................................................................................22

The SSD1306 OLED................................................................................................................................24

The SSD1351 OLED................................................................................................................................26

The VT100 Terminal (and more)............................................................................................................28

ILI9340 – A general purpose screen.......................................................................................................30

Deep Sleep Mode..................................................................................................................................37

General MQTT/Serial Control Format....................................................................................................41

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 4

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 5

manual_ip (also static_ip from v2.3.20 onwards)..............................................................................69

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 6

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 7

si1132_visible, uv and ir..................................................................................................................101

Appendix 1 – Fonts and Icons..............................................................................................................113

Appendix 1 – Home Control 2018........................................................................................................116

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 8

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 10

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 11

{temperature_port:2} // if you want to use port 14 – use the relevant command.

See http://flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contrib-esplogin for the login node and for my general

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 12

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 13

Yes, this example board is called fred {id:”fred”}

The relevant commands are {temperature_port} and {temp_type} (temperature_port=0 temp_type=6 if

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 14

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 16

Node-Red and MQTT Together

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 17

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 19

Payload: {hitachi:39,"$1MQTT test$2$i$3Time $t$4Date $d"}

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 20

$$ - shows a dollar on the screen!!

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 21

I have therefore reserved device number 255 to work with the

You need the following (GPIO4/5 reference is correct for our

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 22

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 23

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 24

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 25

There is of course no backlight as this is OLED

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 26

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 27

Until recently I could not get these to work at all on

In an article you’ll find on the blog about a cheap

In one of those mistaken moments I figured it would

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 28

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 29

I’ve completely reduced the commands for

The screen is initialised with the following

{Ili:”$S”} - i.e. S for setup – this will set up

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 30

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 31

ESP-GO software – Hackitt & Bodgitt - https://tech.scargill.net Page 32

Example of simple Node-Red display code as overleaf “Pergola ILI Display”

Init and frame code example: