Connecting to wifi

[JeffKiper]

I have a customer that wants to make a system. Think garage door opener. That functional part is simple. They want to connect it to the customers WiFi simple like everyother device on a home network. Im drawing a blank of making it simple to connect. Imagine your middle age neighbor connecting an HMI/PLC to their WifI. Do you have any ideas how to make this happen without having them install HMI software on a PC etc etc.????



The HMI will just use a tag variable so they can send emails for alarms or text. That part is simple in my eyes the network is my hang-up.

 

[controlconcepts]

From a member here IFE I think? ( sorry chemo brain 9 th cycle today memory blows some time's, by the way have been meanibg to say hope your last scan went well. I believe we may be fighting the same thing had my liver biopsy in march so hope you are doing well and keep up the good fight. he has a very simple app Suppanel look in app store it will work from a phone and connect to most AB and Modbus or a few other drivers. Easy to setup but not alot of security but for home use works great.

 

[BryanG]

I am a bit confused on whether you have an HMI and want that on WIFI, or if you are starting from scratch.

Starting from scratch, this is a typical Home Automation thing, if you web search 'garage door wifi' (I know that it isn't actually a garage door ) you will get plenty of hits. They do the WiFi bit by the device talking to their servers, your phone/computer talks to their servers, and their server joins the ends together. It does mean you have to have an Internet connection for it to work. Personally I don't like relying on someone else's servers to be available. I go with the ever trusty Raspberry Pi and Node-Red. The Pi has the IO and can connect to WiFi, I program web pages in to Node-Red that can be accessed by anything with a web browser on the local network. For more control I use MQTT on the Raspberry Pi, there any many industrial devices that now talk using MQTT.

 

[Ken Moore]

My home was built with a Sears garage door opener. I replaced it with a Genie brand, a couple of years ago. It is on my home wifi, and I can open it with an app on my phone. The app also shows, door status, and who opened or closed it. It's called the Aladdin system. You scan a barcode on the opener, add you wifi information and send it to the opener via wireless (it has to been in setup mode). Maybe you could buy one of these and modify it to your needs.

Edit: It is not on the internet, you have to be on my home wifi, for the phone to work.

 

[JesperMP]

You need a Router with both Wifi and LAN.
The PLC and/or HMI uses the Router LAN IP as the 'gateway'.

Then there are several possibilities.
PLC webserver or HMI webserver. Use a webbrowser on the smartphone to access the PLC or HMI.
HMI with VNC server. Use a VNC client on the smartphone to access the HMI.
PLC with integrated OPC UA server. Create an OPC UA client for the smartphone.

 

[widelto]

@Jeffkiper Try this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIBQKl_Sots
This project uses Raspberry pi pico w.

 

[Ken Roach]

They want to connect it to the customers WiFi simply, like every other device on a home network.

Let's take a step back and think about how we connect things to our home network.

Camera devices often have a pushbutton + app + QR code method. The app derives your WiFi credentials from your phone, and creates a QR code that the camera-equipped device reads.

Bluetooth-equipped devices often take an pushbutton+app approach too. You pair to them under pushbutton control, then the app derives your WiFi credentials from the phone and sends them to the device over Bluetooth.

Many devices that are equipped with an ESP8266 microcontroller do an AP -> Client mode switch.

They come out of the box as an Access Point with default credentials, often with the SSID "ESP01AB" where the name has two bytes of the MAC ID in it. You log into them as a WiFi client with a PC or phone, open up a default embedded webserver (or a purpose built app), and then give them your WiFi credentials manually. When they reboot, they go into WiFi Client mode and connect to the wireless LAN.

If I was told "I need you to connect this lightweight system to a LAN and make it easy and cheap but not write your own app" I would probably buy a Mikrotik mAP lite access point. It starts up out of the box as a tiny router and WiFi Access Point, but is easily configured using a web browser to be a WiFi Client. Thirty bucks retail.

 

[mikeexplorer]

Does he want something like this? This is a 4 inch HMI connected to a home network wireless via a WIFI repeater. The HMI also runs on battery power. I have a model railroad layout controlled by a PLC connected to my home network.

 

[mikeexplorer]

A video of my PLC controls and Model Trail layout


https://youtu.be/mKK62bzAvpE