ESP8266 WiFi module with arduino for data transmission

[ark5230]

I am using a small camera module giving me image in 256 colour (80 x 60 = 4800 Pixels).
I am able to transmit this data on serial port or on the monitor in the Arduino IDE.
Now I wish to send this 4800 byte of data using WiFi, I procured ESP8266.
I need some guidance as to how to proceed to accomplish this.
I am not very much familiar with web based applications.
Any link to a relevant tutorial or similar project transmitting some data using Arduino + ESP8266 will be of great help.

 

[andre_luis]

Now I wish to send this 4800 byte of data using WiFi, I procured ESP8266.
I need some guidance as to how to proceed to accomplish this.
I am not very much familiar with web based applications.

Web-based applications do not exactly send information, but rather respond to requests. When you mention Arduino, you need to specify the hardware platform currently being used, since a simple PIC/AVR will not have enough internal RAM to store the frames of the image. As for ESP8266 it's a good choice in my opinion, but you may have to learn how to use the LUA script, unless you prefer to do a simple Arduino program to run inside it (which would be my choice).

 

[ark5230]

Thanks for the quick response. The information is really very useful. I am using Arduino Due and it has enough space to store at least two images (60 x 80 pixel 256 color i.e. 1 byte per pixel) where as I am happy with even one image. I just don't know LUA scripts, however my friends can be of help if needed. I am trying to handle most of the things from Arduino. The present plan is to use a LCD module with SD card so there is scope to store some information and final images as well before sending it over the WiFi.
Another thing I am worried is that there is no EEPROM to store some useful parameters in Arduino Due where as the other AVR microcontrollers have such a non volatile memory.

 

[KlausST]

Hi,

there is no EEPROM to store some useful parameters in Arduino Due where as the other AVR microcontrollers have such a non volatile memory.

What exact microcontoller is used at your arduino?
Read it´s datasheet. I´m 99% sure there is internal EEPROM.

Klaus

 

[andre_luis]

Regardless of whether the Due board has embedded EEPROM or not, the amount of SRAM available is quite sufficient to store pictures, which would be more plausible to do through a volatile memory, since the purpose of the firmware is to forward the frame of the camera through a Wifi. Even though this option is a bit more complicated, could even consider saving on file at the ESP8266 board, since either with the LUA script or with its its own Arduino firmware, this module has support for a storing via file system.

 

[ark5230]

The microcontroller is 84MHz Atmel CPU, based on ARM's Cortex SAM3 Architecture.
I have downloaded the data sheet and trying to figure out as to how to go about.
Another thing I am keen is the number of available SPI's as I plan to use
1. Graphic LCD Display.
2. S.D Card
3. IR camera and
4. WiFi module

 

[Aussie Susan]

The MCU data sheet will be of use if you want to get really low level with the Due. However if you have the Arduino runtime in there, then using the libraries that are available is possibly a simpler way to get started.
If you are going to use the ESP8266 for the WiFi interface, why not have a single image frame saved in that which is accessible from the web server software it will contain.
That way the Due can interface to the camera, receive an image, pass it on to the ESP8266 and forget about it. The web server in the ESP8266 can simply replace the old image with the new one (you probably will double buffer to prevent flickering) and then pass that on to whoever might be connected when they refresh the web page.
As for the number of SPI interfaces, the DUE has a hardware interface but also can have software SPI interfaces. Don't forget that an SPI master can (if the design and access requirements are right) talk to more than one slave (just not simultaneously) using the appropriate \SS\ line (which should always be used to provide synchronisation anyway).
SPI may not be the best way to communicate between the Due and the ESP8266 - the UART might be better as you really only need 1-way communication. ALong the same lines, if you have not yet bought the LCD display then you might investigate one with an I2C interface (could be a bit slower but the Due has both hardware SPI and I2C interfaces).
I get the impression that you don't have a great deal of experience with microcontrollers and the like. While your goal is certainly achievable, I would suggest that you start with something less ambitious and work your way up. Even just displaying a fixed image on the LCD graphic display can be a challenge; once that is working then add the camera, then the WiFI module and finally the SD card (be aware that accessing an SD card can be slow, especially compared to the speed of the images coming in from the camera and being processed on the display and WiFi - you will need to work out how to handle the various processing speeds of the different functions).
Susan

 

[ark5230]

@ Aussie Susan
Thank you very much for the prompt and useful reply
You covered almost every thing I was looking for.
As rightly indicated I have very limited exposure to the latest development, however I am tying to cope with the recent technology.
During my PG studies the transistors were just introduced.
Thanks a lot again.