Arduino IoT Cloud 2021 - Getting Started with Arduino & ESP32

Does it make sense to do a report of the various boards mentioned and the pros and cons of each? Cost is a factor for me and AliExpress ESP32's are about 1/4 the price.

Which variant of ESP32 board is the 'best' for IoT?

So I got an Arduino Nano IoT 33 for Christmas and I was following along with the tutorial and I've noticed a couple of things and I'd like to know if something changed to the IoT Cloud or if I'm just doing it wrong.

Using Win 10 with Google Chrome, Edge and FireFox. (all the same.)

The Arduino is picked up by CLOUD IOT, so the agent seems to work.

First: When I add a variable like in the tutorial, there is no onChange line created under void loop() in the sketch. (I can see that the variable is declared as a bool. So I create the void onChange myself.)

Second: When I create the Dashboard and try to link the variable to the switch, it's greyed out and I cannot select it. I've seen this in every browser.

SO now I'm wondering if something changed on Cloud IOT or if I've done something wrong.

Didn't have it set to read and write... 😓 

How did I miss this video?? Adding to my Playlist right now! Thanks Bill.

Great video, Bill. Very clear explanation.

I'm not sold on storing my wifi credentials in their cloud. Nor on opening a long running connection into my network using their agent, assuming that's what it's doing.

I'm interested in their competitors that provide more like a cloud based HomeAssistant, instead of a cloud based development platform.

I did quickly try to connect an ESP32 to Arduino's cloud but it was always marked as "offline". I'll have to try a different ESP32 - this is a Wemos D1 R32, if that makes a difference.

I managed to get a simple script working on my ESP8266. The microcontroller responded when I changed the value of the switch in the dashboard,  which is pretty neat. However, I really don't like storing my wifi credentials on their site but there's no way around that.

I built and uploaded the same code locally using the original Arduino IDE and it worked just fine. So perhaps it's possible to create the device in the Cloud and program it locally without entering any WiFi credentials in their site. I'll try that next. It's cool to see the dashboard widget update in their Cloud when a local sensor is triggered. Edit - I noticed that the microcontroller doesn't get notified when the cloud variable changes.

I've noticed that connecting to the Arduino Cloud's MQTT service can be unreliable; the microcontroller usually connects but sometimes it will fail and never establish a connection until unless restarted.

All of the extra code you have to run to interact with their Cloud will reduce battery lifetime a bit if not plugged in, and it will also increase the startup time if the microcontroller is brought out of sleep mode and then has to update a cloud variable.

Anyway, it has potential. So far it's been more reliable for me than a local ESPHome installation, which was much less consistent and reliable when attempting to connect and install to the microcontroller.

To avoid storing WiFi info in their cloud, it looks like you can do this:

 - In their Cloud, create the thing/device/variable but enter fake WiFi information

 - Download the sketch and copy the contents of the ZIP file into your Arduino folder

 - Use your local Arduino IDE to finish the sketch, including adding your WiFi details to the secrets file

 - Build and upload from your PC to the device

This should work - I tried it over the weekend. Though I couldn't get the device to respond to the variable being changed in the cloud.

@yurkshirelad So you don't trust the encryption? If you really think it is a problem, use one of the boards that has hardware encryption and more, like the Arduino Nano 33 IoT. Without looking, I will bet a coffee or two the secrets tab/file is also encrypted. The solar storm happening in a couple days is far more worrying than whether someone can get your WiFi creds. 

@yurkshirelad You might be interested in this https://store-usa.arduino.cc/products/arduino-nano-33-iot

Posted by: @ronalex4203

@yurkshirelad So you don't trust the encryption? If you really think it is a problem, use one of the boards that has hardware encryption and more, like the Arduino Nano 33 IoT. Without looking, I will bet a coffee or two the secrets tab/file is also encrypted. The solar storm happening in a couple days is far more worrying than whether someone can get your WiFi creds. 

I don't like them storing my WiFi details into their database.

@yurkshirelad They don't, they are encrypted. No different than the hundreds of other sites you log into every day.

I see only RED and GREEN Led's in the list of widgets, I need a YELLOW Led. Anyone have an idea how to accomplish that?

Second question is does anyone know if arduino plans to keep improving the cloud product, it's missing a lot of obvious stuff like various colored leds, labels, color options for labels and text or am I missing something? I am thinking of using esc sequences in an sprintf statement or similar to colorize any text I put in a text output box but they arduino could make it easier if they wanted.