Need help getting started with Hubduino

[jda03806]

I've been working on a relatively complex control setup for a remote location, basically some complex controls of water valves and other things. I needed multiple inputs, so I decided to try an Arduino to measure all of the various sensors I have.

I bought an Arduino UNO R3 kit and have hooked up the basic sensors I wanted to and I can get everything displayed on a local LCD display, so I feel pretty good about that

But now comes the more daunting task for me. I'm not realizing that the Arduino UNO R3 doesn't have native WiFi support. I'm looking into either adding WiFi with an ESP8266 or maybe something else, but it's all pretty daunting as this is really new to me.

I'm trying to figure out if I should buy a different Arduino, and if so, which one, or simply buy an ESP8266-XXX and get it connected up to a Hubitat that way.

A bit more info about my project:
I have power at the location, and can reach WiFi, but Zigbee and Zwave are unreliable. I also don't have ethernet, so I think WiFi is my only option to connect to Hubitat.

I need to hookup about 7 digital inputs to the Arduino and 2 analog inputs. I do some logic on these locally and want to just provide about 5 different variables to my Hubitat.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a decent amount of experience with Hubitat, but very limited with Arduino, although I do know C/C++ quite well and am an Electrical Engineer, so am very comfortable with circuits and wiring.

Thanks in advance!

[aaiyar]

Can I recommend posting a detailed description of your project in the thread @ogiewon started for Hubduino? I've linked to it below. There are many many examples of him helping folks out in that thread - both with sketches and drivers.

[Release] HubDuino v1.1.9 - Hubitat to Arduino / ESP8266 / ESP32 / ThingShield Integration (ST_Anything)

Announcing the release of HubDuino v1.1.7 (aka ST_Anything for former ST users) [UPDATE 1.1.9] This is a minor release to improve support for the latest ESP8266 and ESP32 Arduino IDE Board Support Packages. [UPDATE 1.1.7] This is a significant update to the Parent Drivers. Changes include: MAC Address no longer required when setting up a Parent Device. Only the IP Address/Port is required to help simplify initial startup. This also means that the micro-controller can be replaced with di…

[jda03806]

OK, I've done that. I was thinking that might not be the right place to post, but based on your recommendation I will do that.

[JohnRob]

I've had a Hubduino system running and it worked great. However I came across what I think is a better solution. Where "better" means It doesn't need to use WiFi which adds another piece of hardware.

You might consider looking at PTVO website. It offers free firmware for a TI cc2530 Zigbee radio. I currently have three running on my Hub and one more in process.

I'm using a board like this one with no external antenna. The cc2530 acts as a router as well making my Zigbee network extra solid.