Get Emails & Alerts From Sensors

Intro

Remember that fantastic Arduino project. The one that monitors your environment then shows you a flashing LED. The one that prints a detailed error on a 0.91-inch display. Maybe even buzzes an annoying sound at you. Bet you, all it did was annoy your cat.

If only you could send a notification to yourself. One that will reach you regardless of where you are. Maybe even an email.

Well, with Zentser you can do just that. Zentser helps you create mobile notifications from sensors in five easy steps.

After the setup, you will also be able to view graphs, set up thresholds for Alerts, and export data to run it through AI/ML models.

Let me show you how.

Mobile App:

Zentser for iOS (install) or Zentser for Android (install)

Software:

Arduino IDE (download)

Hardware:

ESP8266 (buy) low-cost microcontroller with Wi-Fi

DHT22 (buy) accurate temperature & humidity sensor

If you haven't yet, download and install Arduino IDE.

Then go to Tools > Manage libraries.

Search for 'Zentser'

Install Zentser ESP SDK and Install additional dependencies

Now go into File > Examples, and scroll down to “Zentser ESP SDK”, and you have the sample template code with all the included libraries.

Install the app for iOS or for Android.

Sign up After installing and launching the app, sign up. You can register by validating your email and creating an account. Alternatively, authenticate with your social Google or Facebook identity.

In the app, create a new device. Before you click the “Create device” button, I recommend editing your “Device name” and “Sensor name” text fields. As a naming best practice:

For “Device name” enter where or what you are measuring. For example, I would enter ‘Basement’ for tracking that the temperature there is above freezing For “Sensor name” enter what you are measuring. Optionally, include the units. For example, I would enter “Temp (F)” Now click “Create device”

Once you see generated code for your device, click on “Export code” to send yourself a copy. You will need to get it over to a computer to program your ESP2866 microcontroller. You can mail the code to yourself or save it in a cloud storage file.

Here’s the hardware I use for my personal configuration:

• ESP8266 - a low-cost microcontroller with Wi-Fi
• DHT22 - an accurate temperature & humidity sensor

Triple-check your positives and negatives before connecting the wires. If you smell a burning smell, you know you fried something. Toss the burnt part and try again.

Now connect your ESP8266 microcontroller to a micro-USB, then plug a regular USB end into your computer.

Make sure to use a data cable USB. Do not use a charge-only USB cable. It won't program your microcontroller

In the Arduino IDE, we will need one additional library with its dependencies for the DHT sensor.

Also, ensure that the connected board is the correct esp8266 and the Port is correctly selected.

Then in the template code, enter your Wi-Fi information so that the board can successfully connect to the internet. Replace everything between the “--- START ---” and “--- END ---” comments with the code that you saved from Zentser mobile application. Then verify the sketch compiles successfully.

After you see that there are no issues in compiling, upload the code to the microcontroller.

You can check on the serial monitor that the information is sent successfully from your sensor to Zentser.

Go back into your mobile Zentser app. You should now see a numeric value presented for your device. If you drill down, you can even see timeline graphs with your temperature readings.

Click on the section "Below and Above Values." There you can edit the thresholds and enable notifications to trigger when the comfort range is exceeded.

Now you can use a similar setup to detect:

• Leaks in the laundry room
• Baby wake up noises
• Flammable and poisonous gas detection
• When to empty the dehumidifier
• and more