Is anyone using the OTA stuff with their Homie nodes? That is the killer feature as far as I am concerned - being able to update remote node firmware without touching the node is a huge win!!
I have just ordered 5 WeMos D1 Minis so will be having a play as soon as they arrive from China!
Thanks for Homie @marvinroger - awesome bit of work!!
Yes I think the design choice is fine, just good to make it a bit clearer
in the documentation. The chipid is something that it comes with out of
the factory, is that right?
This is actually the most easy part to implement, just take a look at the BootOta.cpp file. 
Yes, and the final device ID Homie for ESP8266 is using is a merge of the ESP8266 chip ID and flash chip ID, because one chip ID was not enough to generate an 8 chars-long string.
You guys should really take a look at ESPEasy - itās a great framework for the ESP8266 which will do all that you seem to be looking for and much more. Itās very complete and can handle all the popular sensors right out of the box. OTA too!
Best of all is that you donāt need to write a single line of code if you donāt want to!
Iām not the author - just a very satisfied user - take a look.
N
Interesting! But itās more than a framework, itās a whole firmware. If you donāt like to code, ESPEasy is a great choice, but if you do, I guess you can do way more with Homie. Anyway, it targets different people. 
Thanks for the heads upā¦ I also did see someone wrote an even more comprehensive one but it was mainly in german so I didnāt give it a try.
The ESPEasy doesnāt look like it supports relays though does it?
Like Marvin said, if you like to ātinkerā a bit and be able to do custom things then something like Homie is pretty cool.
Hi Tommy,
I think itās fair to say that the 8266 is more suited for use with input sensors than output devices like relays regardless of software used. Having said that, ESPEasy certainly supports relays, servos and so on.
Itās also a very easy to code custom modules if you want to - the framework is completely modular.
N
I donāt agree. I am at least similarly interested in switching on a light than knowing the temperature of a room, if not more.
Anyone able to suggest a good ESP8266 board that has a built in relay? Iām trying to get a compact little package for controlling my garage door.
Something like this looks pretty cool but is a little on the expensive side especially once shipped all the way to New Zealandā¦
For the garage door I really just need a relay to close a circuit which will then fire a relay in the garage door motor itself, so just replicating the push of a manual button. And then I need some inputs to sense if the door is open and I thought a distance sensor to work out if the car is actually in the garage or not
Check out the Wemos Mini D1 + shields - they have a site which just links you to their Aliexpress store.
I have just ordered a few of these, plus some relay and OLED shields. I hope to do exactly the same as you and build a garage door controller!
http://www.wemos.cc/Products/d1_mini.html
http://www.wemos.cc/Products/mini_shields.html
I have had confirmation the Homie framework runs just fine on these little boards as well.
Hey Ben, yeah just been reading up on themā¦ Will grab a few and see how I get onā¦
Always a pain to have to wait like a month for delivery though
UPDATE : Okay just ordered 5 with relaysā¦ Got 2 garage doors and an electric gate, plus need to control a ventilation fan behind the fridge and one extra just as a spare
I also like to switch on lights and open garage doors - however I have found the 8266 not so suitable for this. The 8266 is VERY sensitive to fluctuations on the power supply and other em interference. I have found it is difficult to stop it resetting when you try to open a garage door or operate a heavy motor.
Another irritation with the 8266 is that the initial state of the gpios is not well defined on boot - this is not a problem if you are simply measuring temperature but if you have your garage doors connected you will likely have a few crazy moments with doors opening and closing when you do not expect it! Thatās just my two pence worth.
Stumbled upon the link again if anyone is interestedā¦
Thanks for the info, Iāll hopefully get a relay up and running some time soon and see if I experience the same issues.
Did you just say German? Itās Russian actually.
I discovered Homie-ESP8266 only very recently, and itās great! Kudos to @marvinroger for a) having invented it, and b) being incredibly responsive to suggestions ā itās a real pleasure to experience how well this project is being maintained!
FWIW, Iāve written a bit of a summary on my baby-steps with Homie.
ESPEasy is cool, I have 4 nodes working with it so far (still testing), all of them controlling relays (@TommySharp).
What I miss from its functionality is to drive an output (relay for example) directly from an input (button) connected to the very same node. Iād like to keep local functionality intact and use the controller (openhab) as an extra.
(Iād like to avoid the path: button-node-wifi-controller-wifi-node-relay.)
Homie seems a reliable solution for this issue!
You can buy opto-isolated relay boards pretty cheap. Three wires needed to connect, thatās all.
Thanks a lot! Also, great blog post.
Since Iāve followed the instructions found here, I hevenāt experienced any resets.
And Iāve found some really detailed instructions about shielding ESPs from high voltage stuff like relays and motors, I do hope Iāll find it again to shar with you.
In ESPEasyās framework it is possible to set GPIOās state at startup as far as I know.
The latest version of ESPEasy (v91) contains a ārulesā function which will enable you to drive gpio outputs based on inputs.
N