Design And Implementation Of A Low Cost Modular Sensor

On the financial side, a key factor for the success of a smart-city initiative is the low cost of the sensors. On the technical side, the units need to be flexible enough to cover different roles, and to be reconfigurable for a distinct target. The capability to interact with an already deployed infrastructure, like a preexistent web-server, is a favorable feature from both the financial and technical point of view.In this paper we exploit an overlooked feature of the ESP8266 WiFi chip, i.e. the AT commands interpreter, to implement a sensor/actuator that meets the above specifications. To test our design, we implement a library that provides a transparent wrapper for AT commands.Using a prototype consisting of a board hosting an ESP01 coupled with an Arduino Nano, of which the cost is around 10 Euros, we evaluate the static properties and the operational stability.