HomeHome AutomationHacking ESP8266 smart plug - serial adaper

Hacking ESP8266 smart plug – serial adaper

Digging into Oittm Smart Plug some more.

I was excited to see the dev pads on the Oittm ESP8266 Smart plug.  I finally found some time to open this up and hook up the wires.  My hopes weren’t too high, but since it’s a rather small brand and the plug is built from the modules I hoped for an easy access to the firmware.

Hacking ESP8266 smart plug

I quickly connected the power wires and tested the unit. It powers up the ESP8266 as expected. It was time to run the Tx and Rx connections. I have used an FTD1232 serial to USB adapter.

The hookup guide is pretty simple just follow the table below:

FTD1232Oittm Smart Socket
VCC3.3V
GNDGND
RXTX
TXRX
GNDGPIO 00 (don’t connect yet)

Unplug the FTD1232 serial adapter and pull the GPIO00 low, then power it on, and disconnect the GPIO00 from the ground to enable the flash mode. From there procedure is pretty simple, and if you don’t know how to backup and flash the software using esptool, I have the setup guide here.

Once you have the backup of the original firmware, keep it safe. Just in case you need to flash it back. The Oittm Smart Plug is not a gadget that has a lot of community support, but I took a dive and tried to set up the AFE Firmware. The software supports:

  • MQTT
  • HTTP requests
  • Domoticz

Which is enough out of the box to play with NodeRED and the ESP8266 based gadgets. I picked the ESP8266 version which supports a single relay and flashed it to the Oittm Smart Socket.

It took me a couple of minutes to figure out the correct pin assignments.

  1. LED – GPIO13
  2. Relay – GPIO04
  3. Button – GPIO12

With these in place, I was able to complete the config and add the smart socket to my home automation set up. I talked about the AFE Firmware before and I explained how to use the MQTT and HTTP protocols in this post. Check the software part of this guide to learn how to integrate the device with your NodeRED setup.

The effect?

I have yet another smart socket at home. It was time to add it to some ridiculously overengineered solution. This time I linked Amazon Dash buttons and £8 Tesco torches together to create this awesome effect. You can read more about the smarter storage space here.

Buy Oittm WiFI Smart Socket

Buy it using these links to support NotEnoughTech.

PayPal

Nothing says "Thank you" better than keeping my coffee jar topped up!

Patreon

Support me on Patreon and get an early access to tutorial files and videos.

image/svg+xml

Bitcoin (BTC)

Use this QR to keep me caffeinated with BTC: 1FwFqqh71mUTENcRe9q4s9AWFgoc8BA9ZU

Smart Ideas with

Automate your space in with these ecosystems and integrate it with other automation services

client-image
client-image
client-image
client-image
client-image
client-image
client-image
client-image
client-image

Learn NodeRED

NodeRED for beginners: 1. Why do you need a NodeRED server?

0
To server or not to server? That's a very silly question!

Best Automation Projects

Tuya SDK for beginners: Intro to Tuya Cloud API

0
Working with Tuya Cloud API. A guide to Cloud automation for beginners, get started with REST!

NEST your old thermostat under $5

0
Nest-ing up your older thermostat under $5

Nora – Google Assistant in NodeRED

0
Integrate Google Assistant with NodeRED thanks to Nora - NodeRED home automation

DIY Smart Washing Machine – for about 15 bucks!

0
Learn how to add washing machine notifications to your Google Home on the cheap

Sonoff Zigbee Bridge – review

0
Sonoff line up will soon include Sonoff Zigbee Bridge and more Zigbee sensors - here is the first look

Smart Home

Remotes aren’t done with us yet: SwitchBot Remote

0
If you hate having 20 remotes hidden in your sofa, or your parents despise talking to Alexa to turn the lights on - SwitchBot Universal Remote is here to deal with all this!

We’ve seen this before: SwitchBot K10+ PRO

0
This is an odd one. Building on the success of SwitchBot K10+ they released SwitchBot K10+ PRO - but is the experience actually better?

Is this the smart panel we have waited for?

0
ITEAD has released a new smart panel: Sonoff NSPanel Pro 120 - have they learned the lesson from the terrible launch of the original Pro? Let's see what's new.

Aqara FP1E detects motionless humans

0
This isn't exactly a new device, it's an interaction of the original Aqara presence sensor. Aqara FP1E brings Matter, ZigBee and new triggers to your smart home

SwitchBot S10: cleaning re-imagined!

0
SwitchBot S10 promises unattended vacuuming and mopping so you can focus on things you love and care for. Does it deliver?