I was more of a RF/analog engineer before. I did assembly programming in the early 80s. I learn C++ lately and got into playing a little with Elegoo kit using Arduino ATmega328.
I want to control stuffs in the house like dimming lights etc through the smart phone(not through calling, but just WiFi or bluetooth). All simple stuffs. I am thinking of playing with something like this at home, that instead using an IR remote to control dimming of lights etc. I want to use my smart phone(Samsung android) as remote control. The important thing is I can control without having to have line-of-sight like IR remote, that I can control stuffs upstairs in the house.
Any WiFi controller with MPU that I can program like Arduino and can communicate with Android smart phone that acts like a remote control?
Sorry if I said something funny, it's just an idea. I am playing with the Arduino UNO R3 with Elegoo kit, I gone through 10 little projects, it's not that challenging. So I am thinking about instead of spending more time on this, might as well start on something more interesting if I can do it.
Just want to hear a little more. This is the first day I think about this, excuse me of my ignorance.
There are WiFi enabled light bulbs that can be controlled using a phone app. No Arduino required.
If you definitely want to use an Arduino in some way then peer to peer Bluetooth is one option.
If you have an always on PC that can behave as server, then MQTT is another option.
The Arduino UNO WiFi is the same as a Arduino UNO Rev3 but with an integrated Wi-Fi module! The board is based on the ATmega328P with an ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module integrated (datasheet).
[The above taken from here](https://The Arduino UNO WiFi is the same as a Arduino UNO Rev3 but with an integrated Wi-Fi module! The board is based on the ATmega328P with an ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module integrated (datasheet).
So what we come away with is that for example an Arduino Uno Rev 3 basic board lacks WiFi or Bluetooth capability as a stand alone.
Bluetooth is short distance so may or may not work depending on the building construction. Doing what you want to do is normally sone using your home WiFi network. Look for a small inexpensive board like the ESP8266 modules. You will find literally dozens of code samples and examples online.
A simple Google of esp8266 home automation will give you dozens more examples of how this is done. Home automation can be as simple or complex as one chooses.
maybe I am taking too big of a bite. I have the Elegoo UNO R3 kit that use Arduino IDE 2.21. Is there any kit (particular from Elegoo) that use Arduino and with WiFi that I can buy and play with it?
As to Elegoo starter kits. I am not an Elegoo starter kit type but my read is that the kits parallel the Arduino boards for a part.
When it comes to starter kits capable of WiFi or Bluetooth communication most use the ESP8266 chip in conjunction with the chip Arduino uses. That's an Atmega 328P chip. Most to all of these kits and boards are compatible with the Arduino IDE (integrated development environment) . My suggestion was just buy an inexpensive ESP8266 Node MCU board to get where you want to go. The Elegoo UNO R3 kit uses the same Atmega 328P as the Arduino Uno Rev 3 board and as mentioned that chip does not have WiFi or Bluetooth capability. Looking at the Elegoo offerings I am not seeing anything WiFi or Bluetooth compatible. Maybe I am missing something?
I would look at using an esp (8266 or 32) as a web server to interface to a web browser. That way you can use a PC, smart phone, tablet or what ever. You will have to learn some HTML but will give you a lot of flexibility. Here is a slightly complex example from another thread with some follow on posts.
Currently the main problem with home automation is that 99% of household appliances are dumb. This means that in most cases your only option is to switch the mains power going to the appliance using a relay (or triac). You have two switching options, centralized or distributed.
For centralized switching you'll need to rewire the house so that all the power wires radiate out from a single switch cabinet full of relays with perhaps a single Arduino running everything.
A distributed approach means having one wireless controlled microcontroller for every appliance and having it physically close to the appliance. There are lots of commercial switch products that do this. Most are proprietary, however some are open source, for example Tasmota and ESP home.
Systems that have lots of microcontrollers typically have a central hub that acts as the brain of the system sending out commands to the peripheral nodes.
