Sending Simple Data to Antares with the MQTT Protocol

In this project, you will be directed to send simple data from ESP8266 to Antares IoT Platform using WiFi connectivity with MQTT protocol.

Prerequisites

The materials required follow the General Prerequisites on the previous page. If you have not prepared the requirements on that page, then you can visit the following page.

General Prerequisites ESP8266 Wi-Fi

The additional materials specific to this project are as follows

1. Antares ESP MQTT Library. This documentation uses the Antares ESP MQTT library version 1.0.

If you have not installed Antares ESP MQTT version 1.0, you can follow these steps.

Antares Wi-Fi MQTT

Follow These Steps

1. Launch the Arduino IDE application

2. Opening Sample Programme

You can open the programme code in the Arduino IDE via File > Example > Antares ESP HTTP > AntaresStoreData.

Below is the AntaresStoreData sample programme code.

/*
  This code will deploy data to your Antares project device with the following structure:
  (Note that nesting the JSON object can only be done up to 2 levels using this library)
  {
    "temperature": random-int,
    "humidity": random-int,
    "wind_speed": random-float,
    "rain_level": random-float,
    "location" : {
      "latitude": "static-string",
      "longitude": "static-string"
    }
  }
  For more information please visit https://antares.id/id/docs.html
*/

#include <AntaresESPHTTP.h> // Include the AntaresESP32HTTP library

#define ACCESSKEY "your-access-key" // Replace with your Antares account access key
#define WIFISSID "your-wifi-ssid" // Replace with your Wi-Fi SSID
#define PASSWORD "your-wifi-password" // Replace with your Wi-Fi password

#define projectName "your-project-name"   // Antares project name
#define deviceName "your-project-name" // Name of the device 

AntaresESPHTTP antares(ACCESSKEY); // Initialize AntaresESP32HTTP with the access key

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);      // Initialize serial communication
  antares.setDebug(true);    // Enable Antares library debug mode
  antares.wifiConnection(WIFISSID, PASSWORD);  // Connect to WiFi using provided SSID and password
}

void loop() {
    // Variables
  int temp = random(25,30) ;  //Create a random integer value for temperature
  int hum = random(75,90); // Create a random integer value for humidity
  float windsp = float(random(20, 30))/3.33; //Create a random float value for windspeed
  float rainlv = float(random(0, 20))/6.99; //Create a random float value for rainlevel
  String lat = "-6.8718189"; //Create a string value for latitude
  String lon = "107.5872477"; //Create a string value for longitude

  // Add variable data to storage buffer
  antares.add("temperature", temp); // Add temperature data to the Antares payload
  antares.add("humidity", hum); // Add humidity data to the Antares payload
  antares.add("wind_speed", windsp); // Add wind_speed data to the Antares payload
  antares.add("rain_level", rainlv); // Add rain_level data to the Antares payload
  antares.add("location", "latitude", lat); // Add location latitude data to the Antares payload
  antares.add("location", "longitude", lon); // Add location longitude data to the Antares payload

  // Send from buffer to Antares
  antares.send(projectName, deviceName); // Send  data to Antares
  delay(10000); // Transfer data for every 10 seconds
}

3. Set WiFi Credential and Antares Credential in Program Code

Change the HTTP Protocol parameters in the following variables *ACCESSKEY, *WIFISSID, *PASSWORD, *projectName, and *deviceName. Adjust to the parameters in the Antares console.

#define ACCESSKEY "your-access-key" // Replace with your Antares account access key
#define WIFISSID "your-wifi-ssid" // Replace with your Wi-Fi SSID
#define PASSWORD "your-wifi-password" // Replace with your Wi-Fi password

#define projectName "your-project-name"   // Antares project name
#define deviceName "your-project-name"   // Name of the device 

The *Access key parameter is obtained from your Antares account page.

Access Key Location on Antares Account Page

The WIFISSID parameter is obtained from the name of the Wifi / Hotspot that is currently being used by you. for example in the image below.

The WiFi SSID being used.

The *PASSWORD parameter is obtained from the WiFi password you are currently using.

The parameters *projectName and *deviceName are obtained from the Application Name and Device Name that have been created in the Antares account.

Application Name Display

Device Name Display

4. Compile and Upload Program

Connect the ESP8266 WEMOS D1R2 with your computer and make sure the Communication Port is read.

On Windows operating systems, checking can be done via Device Manager. If your ESP8266 WEMOS D1R2 is read, the USB-Serial CH340 appears with the port adjusting the port availability (in this case it reads COM4).

Device Manager image on Windows.

Set up the ESP8266 WEMOS D1R2 board by clicking Tools > Board > esp8266 in the Arduino IDE, then make sure the one used is LOLIN (WEMOS) D1 R2 & mini. Select the port according to the communication port that is read (in this case COM4). The result will look like the following picture.

Image of Tools Menu on Arduino IDE

After all the setup is complete, upload the programme by pressing the arrow icon as shown below. Wait for the compile and upload process to finish.

Image of the Verify and Upload icons in the Arduino IDE.

The Tick icon on the Arduino IDE is just the verify process. Usually used to Compile the programme to find out whether there are errors or not. The Arrow icon on the Arduino IDE is the verify and upload process. Usually used to Compile the programme as well as Flash the programme to the target board.

If the programme upload is successful, it will look like the following image.

Arduino IDE page image after successful upload.

After uploading the programme, you can view the serial monitor to debug the programme. The serial monitor icon is shown in the following image.

Image of the Serial Monitor Icon in the Arduino IDE.

Set the serial baud rate to 115200 and select BothNL & CR. The result will look like the following image.

Make sure the serial baud rate matches the value defined in the programme code. If the serial baud rate is not the same between the programme code and the serial monitor, the ASCII characters will not be read properly.

Serial Monitor Image

5. Check Data in Antares

After uploading the programme successfully, then open the device antares page and see if the data has been successfully sent.

The data sent from ESP8266 with HTTP protocol is in the form of temperature, humidity, wind_level, rain_level, and location variables containing latitude and longitude.