Configure the Arduino IDE to Support the Arduino UNO RF WiFi Board

To use the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board, you need to update and install some board drivers.

• Open the Arduino IDE (from Arduino) and update to v2.3.3 or newer.
• Go to the Boards Manager, search “Arduino UNO R4” and click INSTALL.

Controlling the LED Matrix

I am here for the LEDs.

Here’s how to use the onboard LED matrix, which requires the LED_Matrix library. Start your sketches with “#include “Arduino_LED_Matrix.h”, create an instance, and begin it in the setup section of your code.

Here’s an animation example:

#include "Arduino_LED_Matrix.h"   
#include "animation.h"            

ArduinoLEDMatrix matrix;  

void setup() {
  matrix.loadSequence(animation);
  matrix.begin();
  matrix.play(true);
}

void loop() {
}

I learned everything that I know about this from the Arduino documentation: https://docs.arduino.cc/tutorials/uno-r4-wifi/led-matrix/

The cool part is that the library includes predefined frames. You can load these, and the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi displays them without knowing how to code the frames.

#include "Arduino_LED_Matrix.h"

ArduinoLEDMatrix matrix;          

void setup() {
  matrix.begin();                 
}

void loop() {
  matrix.loadFrame(LEDMATRIX_HEART_BIG);
}

Here are the available frames in the LED_Matrix library:

• LEDMATRIX_BLUETOOTH
• LEDMATRIX_BOOTLOADER_ON
• LEDMATRIX_CHIP
• LEDMATRIX_CLOUD_WIFI
• LEDMATRIX_DANGER
• LEDMATRIX_EMOJI_BASIC
• LEDMATRIX_EMOJI_HAPPY
• LEDMATRIX_EMOJI_SAD
• LEDMATRIX_HEART_BIG
• LEDMATRIX_HEART_SMALL
• LEDMATRIX_LIKE
• LEDMATRIX_MUSIC_NOTE
• LEDMATRIX_RESISTOR
• LEDMATRIX_UNO

Going Further

George and I explored this new board together. We had a lot of fun trying out the examples from the Arduino documentation and experimenting on our own. You know that I will be hooking this up to CheerLights soon, but we noticed that the LEDs are only red. We will have to get creative. Then, George had an idea… He said, “Let’s make a CheerLights for emoji. Like, red could be a smiley face.” Great idea. I might just do that.

Twitter/X

According to my own History of the CheerLights Project, I created this project around the idea that anyone on Twitter, ahem, X, could change everyone’s lights. Twitter made the most sense. It was open and had a global reach. And the bonus was that followers of people who joined the project would see the tweets, which caused some of them to join the project. It was a nice, virtuous circle that fueled the growth of CheerLights year over year. 2022 was the biggest year for the project, just hitting its peak at the same time Twitter started to crack. The API access that we have had for over 12 years was cut off, users moved to decentralized platforms, and X’s relevance has been in constant question. Don’t get me wrong. I will always have a special place in my heart for Twitter. I can’t unwind Twitter’s on my professional growth over the last 15 years.

Discord

The CheerLights community got together last year and created a Discord server bot and even released the bot’s source code on GitHub. We did this to increase the number of ways to control the CheerLights network, but as it turned out, this is now the primary way to control CheerLights. Hundreds of our users moved over to the Discord server from Twitter/X. In some ways, Discord is way better. I love being able to chat in real-time with other people who are building CheerLights. A lot of people use Discord. And Discord is constantly evolving and keeping up with the trends by adding admin and community features. In other ways, it is not ideal for CheerLights. Discord servers are not easily discoverable. You have to be in the know. It is hard to attract new users since new users don’t see public mentions of the project. But I am not aiming for perfection. I am aiming for a path forward to keep the project growing. Discord is where we are now. Join us.

How can you help?

Since our Discord server is hidden from public view, we could use your help by making CheerLights discoverable. If you share your project on your blog or social channels, include a link to the Discord server invitation. H

CheerLights Discord Server Invitation Link: https://cheerlights.com/discord

Thank you to everyone who has helped build and grow this project over the last 12 years. This is always my favorite time of year getting to see the creative ways CheerLights gets used and how it enables learning of core IoT concepts.

CheerLights is a fun way to get started with IoT, microcontrollers, and LED lights. If you know how to make CheerLights work, you can build some other awesome IoT projects. CheerLights is a great project to get people interested in IoT. It’s often used as an “Hello, World” project for the Internet of Things, and what you learn can be applied to other project ideas.

To make a Halloween-inspired project, you can take the CheerLights color and illuminate a pumpkin or even a… skull from Pimoroni.

Check out other Halloween CheerLights projects over at the CheerLights blog. Have fun with the idea, build something spooky, and help spread the… fear.

ThingSpeak is an Internet of Things (IoT) platform that allows you to collect, analyze, and act on data from sensors and other IoT devices. The platform provides a web-based interface for users to create and manage channels, which are virtual locations where data from sensors and other devices can be collected and analyzed using the built-in MATLAB analytics app.

With ThingSpeak, you can visualize your data in real-time, generate alerts and notifications based on pre-defined thresholds, and even automate actions based on specific conditions. The platform also includes built-in integrations with popular IoT hardware platforms, such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi, making it easy to connect your devices to the internet and start collecting data.

Top 10 IoT Project Ideas for ThingSpeak

1. Weather Station: Build a weather station using a microcontroller such as Arduino or Raspberry Pi that collects data on temperature, humidity, and air pressure, and sends it to ThingSpeak for real-time monitoring and analysis.
2. Home Automation: Use ThingSpeak to automate your home by controlling lights, fans, and other appliances based on sensor data, such as motion, temperature, or light levels.
3. Smart Agriculture: Monitor soil moisture, temperature, and other environmental variables to optimize crop growth and water usage, using ThingSpeak to collect and analyze the data.
4. Water Quality Monitoring: Monitor water quality in lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water using sensors to collect data on pH, temperature, and other parameters, and then use ThingSpeak to analyze the data and generate alerts for unsafe conditions.
5. Smart Parking: Use ThingSpeak to monitor parking spots and guide drivers to available spots using sensors and real-time data analysis.
6. Industrial Automation: Monitor machine data in a factory or other industrial setting to detect anomalies and predict equipment failures, using ThingSpeak to collect and analyze the data.
7. Healthcare Monitoring: Use ThingSpeak to monitor patients’ health data, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels, in real-time and alert healthcare professionals of any critical changes.
8. Air Quality Monitoring: Use ThingSpeak to collect data on air quality, including particulate matter and pollutants, and generate alerts and visualizations for high-risk areas.
9. Smart Energy: Monitor energy usage in homes or businesses and automatically adjust consumption based on sensor data, such as occupancy or sunlight levels.
10. Smart City: Use ThingSpeak to monitor and optimize traffic flow, waste management, and other city services based on sensor data from a network of IoT devices.

Subscribe to the About Things blog for more IoT news, tips, and projects. If you need help or want to share ideas, connect with me and the community on our Quandary Discord Server.

This version of the On Air Light is cheaper and easier to build than my previous versions.

The SIM800L module is a GSM/GPRS module that can be used to connect to the internet via a cellular network. It has a built-in SIM card slot and can be used to send and receive data over a cellular network connection instead of WI-Fi. ThingSpeak is an IoT platform that allows you to send and receive data from devices over the internet.

In this tutorial, we will use the SIM800L module and ThingSpeak’s API to send data from an Arduino board to be stored in the cloud.

Hardware

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following hardware:

• Arduino board
• SIM800L module

Setting up the SIM800L module

First, let’s set up the SIM800L module. To use the SIM800L module with your Arduino board, you’ll need to connect it to the appropriate pins on the Arduino. The SIM800L module has a number of different pins, including power pins, serial communication pins, and control pins. You’ll need to consult the documentation for your particular module to determine which pins to use.

Once you have the SIM800L module connected to your Arduino board, you’ll need to use AT commands to communicate with it. AT commands are simple text-based commands that are used to control the module and send and receive data. Some common AT commands include AT+CPIN, which is used to enter the SIM card PIN number, and AT+CREG, which is used to check the registration status of the module.

To connect to the internet using the SIM800L module, you’ll need to attach it to the GPRS service and get an IP address. You can do this using the following AT commands:

sendATCommand("AT+CFUN=1", 2000, DEBUG); // Enable full functionality
sendATCommand("AT+CIPMUX=0", 1000, DEBUG); // Set single connection mode
sendATCommand("AT+CGATT=1", 1000, DEBUG); // Attach to GPRS service
sendATCommand("AT+SAPBR=3,1,\"CONTYPE\",\"GPRS\"", 1000, DEBUG); // Set connection type to GPRS
sendATCommand("AT+SAPBR=3,1,\"APN\",\"YOUR_APN\"", 1000, DEBUG); // Set APN
sendATCommand("AT+SAPBR=1,1", 1000, DEBUG); // Enable GPRS
sendATCommand("AT+SAPBR=2,1", 1000, DEBUG); // Get IP address

Setting up ThingSpeak

Now that we have the SIM800L module set up, let’s set up ThingSpeak. To use ThingSpeak’s API with your SIM800L module, you’ll need to create a new “channel” on the ThingSpeak website. A channel is a way to represent a device or a group of devices on the ThingSpeak platform. Once you’ve created a channel, you’ll be given an API key that you can use to access and update the channel from your Arduino sketch.

Sending data to ThingSpeak

To send data to ThingSpeak using the SIM800L module, you’ll need to use the AT+HTTPPARA command to set the necessary parameters for the HTTP request, and then use the AT+HTTPACTION command to send the request.

Receiving a response from ThingSpeak

After sending the request, you can use the AT+HTTPREAD command to read the response from the server. The response will be a string of text, which you can parse to check for any errors or confirm that the data was successfully sent.

Putting it all together

Here is an example of how you can use the SIM800L module and ThingSpeak’s API to send data from your Arduino board to the internet:

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

SoftwareSerial sim800l(10, 11); // RX, TX

void setup() {
  sim800l.begin(9600);
  sendATCommand("AT+CFUN=1", 2000, DEBUG); // Enable full functionality
  sendATCommand("AT+CIPMUX=0", 1000, DEBUG); // Set single connection mode
  sendATCommand("AT+CGATT=1", 1000, DEBUG); // Attach to GPRS service
  sendATCommand("AT+SAPBR=3,1,\"CONTYPE\",\"GPRS\"", 1000, DEBUG); // Set connection type to GPRS
  sendATCommand("AT+SAPBR=3,1,\"APN\",\"YOUR_APN\"", 1000, DEBUG); // Set APN
  sendATCommand("AT+SAPBR=1,1", 1000, DEBUG); // Enable GPRS
  sendATCommand("AT+SAPBR=2,1", 1000, DEBUG); // Get IP address
}

void loop() {
  sendDataToThingSpeak();
  delay(20000); // delay 20 seconds
}

void sendDataToThingSpeak() {
  String cmd = "AT+HTTPPARA=\"URL\",\"http://api.thingspeak.com/update?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&field1=42\"";
  sendATCommand(cmd, 1000, DEBUG); // Set URL
  cmd = "AT+HTTPACTION=0";
  sendATCommand(cmd, 3000, DEBUG); // Send request
  delay(1000);
  String response = sendATCommand("AT+HTTPREAD", 1000, DEBUG); // Read response
  Serial.println(response);
}

String sendATCommand(String cmd, const int timeout, boolean debug) {
  String response = "";
  sim800l.println(cmd);
  long int time = millis();
  while((time+timeout) > millis()) {
    while(sim800l.available()) {
      char c = sim800l.read();
      response += c;
    }
  }
  if (debug) {
    Serial.println(response);
  }
  return response;
}

In this example code, the sendATCommand function sends AT commands to the SIM800L module and reads the response. The sendDataToThingSpeak function is used to set the URL for the HTTP request using the AT+HTTPPARA command, send the request using the AT+HTTPACTION command, and read the response using the AT+HTTPREAD command. The loop function calls the sendDataToThingSpeak function every 20 seconds to send data (the number 42 in this case) to ThingSpeak. You can customize the code to send any data that you want to the fields of your ThingSpeak channel.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned how to use the SIM800L module and ThingSpeak’s API to send data from an Arduino board to the internet. We have set up the SIM800L module and used AT commands to connect to the internet and send HTTP requests. We have also set up a ThingSpeak channel and used the API to send data to the internet.

With these tools and techniques, you can build your own IoT projects and start collecting and analyzing data from your devices. You can use ThingSpeak to visualize the data and create charts and graphs, or you can use the data in your own applications or MATLAB analyses.

If you found this tutorial helpful and would like to stay updated with more IoT and Arduino tips and tricks, consider subscribing to my blog. I post about once per week.

LIFX lets you control the lights with the LIFX Cloud API. The only thing stopping you is the authentication token. The token will be needed to send API requests to the LIFX Cloud API to leverage all of the commands in the HTTP REMOTE CONTROL API. All requests require an OAuth 2 access token.

How to get your LIFX Bearer Token

To get your access token for LIFX, go to: https://cloud.lifx.com/, sign in with the same account that you registered your lights, and click Settings. Under Personal access tokens, click GENERATE NEW TOKEN, enter a label, and click Generate. This will generate a new token that you can use for the LIFX Cloud API. Caution thought. This will be the last time that you see this token. If you lose it, you will have to generate a new API key.

How to use the LIFX Access Token

I recommend using the LIFX token in the HTTP authorization header. It is pretty easy to do. Here’s an example in Python.

import requests


token = "[[app:Token]]"

headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer %s" % token,
}

response = requests.get('https://api.lifx.com/v1/lights/all', headers=headers)

Have fun and build some cool integrations with the LIFX Cloud API!

I had to make some updates for jQuery and Bootstrap. “Software” does not age well. Even a lowly app like mine sitting in a GitHub repository needs attention to make sure they work.

Here are some features of the IoT Debugger App:

• ThingSpeak Data Logger and Channel Browser
• Particle.io Webhooks Manager
• Settings are saved in LocalStorage
• Built using HTML5, Bootstrap, and jQuery

I now host a demo of the app using GitHub Pages. Even if you don’t want to download the app and run it yourself, you can just point your browser to https://nothans.github.io/iot-debugger/app/thingspeak.html and use it from there. To use the app, start by entering a channel number. If the channel is public and has data, you should start seeing data on your screen. You can try ThingSpeak channel 1417. This is the channel that stores the CheerLights colors. Use the app to explore your channel data.

Feel free to suggest new features, submit bugs, and make your own changes. That is the awesome thing about open source. We are building this together. See you on GitHub.

How to use MQTT

Connect your device to mqtt.cheerlights.com:1883 and subscribe to the “cheerlights” topic. When the CheerLights color changes, the color name will be streamed to your device. You no longer have to poll for the latest CheerLights color on the ThingSpeak API.

Here are the valid color names:

• red (#FF0000)
• green (#008000)
• blue (#0000FF)
• cyan (#00FFFF)
• white (#FFFFFF)
• oldlace / warmwhite (#FDF5E6)
• purple (#800080)
• magenta (#FF00FF)
• yellow (#FFFF00)
• orange (#FFA500)
• pink (#FFC0CB)

Check out the CheerLights API documentation for more detail.

Star Wars R2D2 Lamp on Twitch

This news is just in time for an R2D2 Lamp live streaming on Twitch.

Fun aside, the DeepLens device is a really powerful way to learn image and video-based machine learning and artificial intelligence. Once you get ahold of the device, you can follow the workshop by downloading the materials and code from GitHub.