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ESP8266 Basic Interpreter Lowers IoT Entry Bar For Amateur Programmers (esp8266basic.com)
New submitter mmiscool writes: ESP8266 Basic is a project less than 6 moths old. It is open source and designed specifically for the internet of things. The ESP8266 microcontroller costs less than $3, and once the basic firmware is loaded to the device a user can connect to it using Wi-Fi and start programming right inside their web browser. No wires, no software or plugins to install. Just a simple text editor. There is now a community, primarily older folks who fell in love with Basic on the Commodore, who are using it for controlling a variety of projects. The code is amazingly simple and includes commands for interfacing with neo pixels, OLED displays, Temperature sensors, hobby servo motors and of course the blinky LED. It also provides commands for browser widgets that can be used to construct interfaces for the device like textboxes, buttons, sliders and dropdowns. The bottom line is that Basic is not dead, and has finally made its way into the internet of things.
Make last year ran a three-part series on the chip (here's part one), but things have advanced quite a bit since then, when people were first noticing that the ESP8266 is more powerful than the tasks for which it was first marketed.
The cost is what amazes me these days. This thing has two radio cores, two processor cores, and a host of other peripherals, and it's dirt cheap.
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"...primarily older folks who fell in love with Basic on the Commodore, who are using it for controlling a variety of projects...."
There was a time when the C-64, and even the lowly VIC-20, were used for simple Computer Control. JPL for instance used a VIC-20 for positioning parts in an SEU Test Setup, at various Accelerators. How do I know this? I have it. How did I get it?
JPL was running at the Cyclotron, and their Positioner failed. I got the call at around midnight, they were scrapping the Run. Their VIC-20 had died. I needed to know these things. Running this Cyclotron was over $700 an hour, we were over-subscribed, so minutes counted. Others were waiting.
I just happened to have a VIC-20, that I used as a Hot Tub Controller. Very easy to do IO stuff on those things.
Two hours later, my VIC-20 was merrily positioning parts away.
A few days later, when the JPL Run was over, they asked for my VIC-20, for helping Diagnose what went wrong with theirs. No problem.
I got my VIC-20 back a month later, dead. No Hot Tub.
JPL had simply swapped circuit boards, thinking that we wouldn't notice. The Serial Numbers between the PCB and the Case no longer matched.
Aerospace Corp. and Boeing never pulled that kind of crap. Boeing was actually a delight. They gave me a Lichtenberg Tree, from their Electron LINAC, because of the assistance that I gave them, and Rocky Koga from Aerospace is just aces with me.
That's a valid point. Before you connect a "thing" to the internet, it would be wise to think about what happens when it's hacked. Unless the code is written by someone trained in security and then reviewed by someone else well-trained, it is reasonably likely that it will eventually be hacked. Internet-connected TVs have been hacked, wifi cameras are frequently hacked ...
In some ways it's unfortunate timing that the internet has become so pervasive at the same time that simple programming has become so easy you can write software without any training or experience. It's resulted in a lot of very bad and dangerous software on the internet.