STM8 and Internet

[MykolaLevun]

Hello,

How can I put STM8S on the Internet using Wi-Fi?

[Peter BENSCH]

You could only use the STM8 for very simple tasks because, firstly, there is and won't be no STM8 with WiFi and, secondly, its processing power is no longer up to date. Theoretically, you could connect a WiFi module serially to the STM8 to achieve this, but this module would have to contain a complete WiFi stack. At least I am not aware of any good solution for this at the moment.

What do you actually want to achieve with it, what should the STM8 do on the Internet?

Regards
/Peter

[MykolaLevun]

Hello,

A system (sensors, actuators) will be built on the basis of a microcontroller. It should be possible for the system user to configure system parameters using a program on a computer or a program on a smartphone. I need to link a system and a program (on the computere or on the smartphone) to configure the system.

[Peter BENSCH]

That sounds much easier than it can be realised. Even if you were to use a Bluetooth module, the effort required to connect it to the STM8 would not be negligible. Even with a 32bit MCU such as the STM32, this is an extensive task. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend a simple solution.

[AScha.3]

Hi,

For such complex project (and your actual state of knowledge) better look for some examples with ESP8266 or ESP32 on Arduino... and good luck !

[MykolaLevun]

What can be used in this case or is it easier to solve the problem using STM32?

[Andrew Neil]

---

@MykolaLevun wrote:

 is it easier to solve the problem using STM32?

---

No:  as @Peter BENSCH said, this is not an "easy" project - doing WiFi (or, in fact, any other wireless protocol) is not "easy".

As the others have suggested, Arduino and/or ESP8266/32 are probably the "easiest" ways to proceed.

EDIT:

Or look at WiFi modules which are designed to connect to a microcontroller; eg:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/17146

The ESP8266 WiFi Module is a self contained SOC with integrated TCP/IP protocol stack that can give any microcontroller access to your WiFi network. The ESP8266 is capable of either hosting an application or offloading all WiFi networking functions from another application processor. Each ESP8266 module comes pre-programmed with an AT command set firmware, meaning, you can simply hook this up to your Arduino device and get about as much WiFi-ability as a WiFi Shield offers (and that's just out of the box)! The ESP8266 module is an extremely cost effective board with a huge, and ever growing, community

But the question then becomes, what's the point of the STM8?

The module has an ESP32 on it, which could do everything the STM8 could do - and more:

This module has a powerful enough on-board processing and storage capability that allows it to be integrated with the sensors and other application specific devices through its GPIOs with minimal development up-front and minimal loading during runtime. Its high degree of on-chip integration allows for minimal external circuitry

Other modules, and other suppliers are available.

[Philipp Krause]

No need to add an ESP module to an STM8: there actually is an ESP module that already has an STM8: The ESP-14. It combines an ESP-8266 Wifi-Controller with a STM8S003 CPU. That way you can do most of your stuff on the STM8, and only power-up the more power-hungry ESP-8266 when you actually need the WiFi connection.

[Philipp Krause]

> But the question then becomes, what's the point of the STM8?

> The module has an ESP32 on it, which could do everything the STM8 could do - and more:

I can think of some reasons:

1) One can power downthe ESP part when the connection is not needed to save power, while other processing continues on the STM8.

2) The STM8 offers more I/O, including more ADC channels.