2020 International Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE)

September 25-27, 2020, Istanbul, Turkey

A New IoT Application for Dynamic WiFi based

Wireless Sensor Network

Fatih Ertam
Ilhan Firat Kilincer Orhan Yaman Abdulkadir Sengur
Department of Digital
Department of Department of Computer Department of Electrical-
Forensics Engineering,
Electrical- Electronics Technology, Electronics Engineering,
Firat University
Engineering, Firat University Firat University
Elazig, Turkey
Firat University Elazig, Turkey Elazig, Turkey
[email protected]
Elazig, Turkey [email protected] [email protected]
[email protected]

Abstract— The Internet of Things is the technology that allows

the exchange of data between objects through various such as information, location, temperature, orientation,
communication channels. With the development of wireless motion, vibration, acceleration and humidity by sensor devices
communication technology, data can be controlled remotely from or RFID readers. This layer is the lowest layer of the IoT
the devices. Thanks to the dynamic structure of the Internet, the structure. The network layer provides secure data transfer over
Internet of Things makes an important contribution to the sensor networks. It collects data from various sources and
growth of the IT sector and the development of the technology directs them to the target device. This data is transmitted using
world. In this study, a wireless sensor network based method is wireless network technology such as 3G, Wi-Fi, and
recommended for internet of objects. Wireless access devices in Bluetooth, infrared. The support layer protects the application
the campus networks and ESP8266 devices are connected to each security architecture, such as cloud computing, by encrypting
other and a large network of wireless sensors have been the encryption protocols and securing an overlay. The
developed. Data from the temperature and humidity sensor application layer is the top layer that provides services
connected to ESP8266 devices can be monitored via the wireless according to the content of the objects processed in the sub-
network in the campus area. The data from the ESP8266 layer and according to the request of the person [3].
modules used in the study are collected on a server and
monitored and reported in real time. It is a significant advantage One of the most important areas of IoT is wireless data
that the proposed method is a dynamic wireless sensor network communication. Wireless network technology is technology
and low cost. Considering the advantages that the developed that communicates one or more wireless devices in the same
system can be easily used and low cost in existing Wi-Fi environment. In addition to traditional Wi-Fi networks, Wi-Fi
networks, it is seen that there is an important study in the sensor networks are widely used in many applications that
literature. require low power consumption. Studies with Wi-Fi sensor
networks are frequently used in IoT applications [4]. Wireless
Keywords- IoT, Wireless sensor networks, WiFi Network,
sensors; It has been used in many areas such as personal health
ESP8266, Smart systems.
monitor, location detection with sensor networks, motion
detection, intrusion detection for military applications and still
I. INTRODUCTION continues to be widely used. Wireless sensor networks
The internet of objects first appeared in Cambridge typically consist of small nodes. These nodes have detection,
University in 1991 [1]. In the Internet of Things (IoT), calculation and wireless communication [5]. In his master's
physical objects and the virtual world are integrated into each thesis, Hasan [6] developed a system for remote monitoring of
other by a network [2]. Physical objects are detectable, the systems of the elevator using the technology of IoT. In the
operable and connectable robots, electronic goods and devices developed system, the data of the elevator control system is
on earth. Virtual objects are stored in the world of transferred to the elevator company providing technical
information, can be processed and accessible devices. A services via the internet network. In his thesis, Selma [7] has
device included in the Internet of objects has features such as developed a real-time remote monitoring system to monitor
communication capabilities, optional detection, diagnostics, the vital signs of chronic, handicapped or elderly patients
data acquisition, data storage and data processing. These using the technology of wireless sensor networks and objects.
devices collect various physical data from the environment The architecture of the system proposed in the literature is
and transfer them to information and communication networks given in Figure 1.
[1,2]. Thaker [8] used the ESP8266 module to implement
In the literature, four different architectural models have wireless sensor networks with a Linux-based web service.
been proposed in studies with IoT [3]. These layers; detection Various internet access is offered using Wi-Fi networks
layer, network layer, support layer and application layer. The communication. Raspberry Pi is used as a master server in the
detection layer generally detects and collects physical states system and connects sensor nodes via Wi-Fi on the wireless

This work was supported by the FUBAP (Firat University Scientific

Research Projects Unit) under Grant No: TEKF.18.13.

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978-1-7281-8292-6/20/$31.00 ©2020

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sensor network. It collects sensor data from different sensors. system with IoT using ESP8266. A website using the
Data is displayed through an embedded Linux-based Web ESP8266 Wi-Fi module is to switch between two sources of
Server. energy, solar and wind energy. Data is wirelessly transmitted
to the ESP8266 module that controls energy sources via the
Transferring the signals received from the patien ts to
Layer 1
the access poin t via WiFi modu le
website. Srivastava et al. [12], in another study, proposed an
IoT-based garden irrigation method using the ESP8266
module. In this study, a sensor module has been formed by
using water flow sensor, soil moisture sensor, temperature
Layer 2 Real-time storage of data sensor and pH sensor. The data received from the sensor
module enables the user to remotely monitor the ESP8266
module with the Arduino device. The user is able to run a
remote irrigation system. Pukhanov [13] developed a Wi-Fi
Layer 3 Emergency alert and patient access system
based application for drought detection and early warning
system in his master's thesis. A sensor network has been set up
using ESP8266 modules to detect over-arid regions in the
Fig. 1. Architecture of the system proposed in the literature [7] African continent. There are many researches developed by
using the ESP8266 module in this study [14-19].
Singh et al. [9] has developed an Arduino-based intelligent
irrigation system using a water flow sensor, soil moisture The following sections of the study are planned as follows.
sensor, temperature sensor and ESP8266 Wi-Fi module. For The topology of the system proposed in Chapter 2 is given and
an Arduino-based controlled irrigation system, economical data transmission, data collection and monitoring steps are
and easy operation is recommended. The designed system explained. Section 3 provides the sensor nodes used in the
utilizes sensors such as water flow sensors, temperature application. The temperature and humidity values from the
sensors and soil moisture sensors to address various DHT11 sensor on the nodes are transferred to the Windows
environmental factors such as the amount of moisture, Server 2012 server. The data on the server using Python
temperature and water needed by the products. Field et al. [10] programming language and Google Chart technology are
The data center temperature monitoring and real-time warning monitored in real time.
system were proposed by the ESP8266 based wireless sensor
network. The proposed IoT system was developed to monitor II.PROPOSED METHOD
the temperature at different points in a data center. The general scheme of the topology of the proposed
Temperature data is made visible via the cloud-based system is given in Figure 2. For the infrastructure of the
dashboard to send SMS and e-mail alerts to pre- defined proposed system, the campus local network and Wi-Fi
recipients. It informs the users when the temperature rises network of the campus were utilized.
above the safe working area. Srivastava et al. [11] developed
an application for controlling the hybrid energy

Sensor Node WPA-PSK

WIFI_SENSOR_SERVER
Access
Point
DHT11 ESP8266 Switch WLAN Controller

Firewall

Local Area Network İnternet

Computer

Computer
WPA-PSK
Switch Sensor Node
Switch
WPA-PSK Access
Point
Access
Point ESP8266 DHT11
Phone

Fig. 2. Topology of the proposed system

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 The proposed system consists of data transmission in TABLE I. FEATURES OF THE ESP8266 WI-FI MODULE AND DHT11
general, data collection and data acquisition. In the data SENSOR
transmission step which is the first step of the system, the flow Module / Sensor Parameters Values
chart in Figure 3 is used. MCU 32bit TenSilica L 106
Clock Speed 80MHz/160MHz

3.0V ~ 3.6V
RAM <36Kb
Publication of WIFISENSOR SSID on campus network ESP8266 Operating Voltage
and set up a central WIFI_SENSOR_SERVER Operating Current 80mA (Average)
Available GPIO pins 10
Typical Price $3 - 10

0°C ~ 50°C
Humidity Range 20-80%
Temperature Range
Connecting humidity and temperature sensors to ESP Accuracy
±5% (Humd), ±2°C
8266 modules DHT11 (Temp)
±1% (Humd), ±1°C
Repeatability (Temp)
Typical Price $1 - 5

Transfer of data to the central WIFI_SENSOR_SERVER

via WiFi campus network To test the method, the temperature and humidity sensor
DHT11 is connected to the ESP8266 modules. The data
received from the sensors is transferred to the WI-
FI_SENSOR_SERVER server and stored. By accessing the
Display data with code written in Python
server via any device connected to the local network, the
temperature and humidity values in the sensor nodes are
Fig. 3. Flowchart of data transmission monitored. To test the proposed method, two temperature
humidity sensor nodes are formed. These sensor nodes are
According to the flowchart shown in Figure 3, the WI- shown in Figure 4.
FISENSOR SSID broadcast is generated in the access points
broadcasting on the campus Wi-Fi network to transmit Sensor
traffic. In addition, in the proposed method, the ESP8266 ESP8266 Module
DHT 11 Temperature
and Humidity Sensor
module is integrated in the DHT11 module, which is a
humidity and temperature sensor. The Microsoft Windows
Server 2012 operating system was installed on the WI-
FI_SENSOR_SERVER server to enable data collection. For
data collection, the ESP8266 module transfers the humidity IP Address = 191.168.1.14
and temperature data received from the DHT11 sensor
connected to it to the central Wi-Fi_SENSOR_SERVER Battery
server. To display the data, data are stored in the program
written in python on the server installed on the Wİ-
Fİ_SENSOR_SERVER server.
Fig. 4. Sensor node developed for the proposed method
III. APPLICATION RESULTS
Identity information and password are defined for each
In this study, a new method based on wireless sensor node given in Figure 4. The ESP8266 modules use these
network is proposed. A dynamic wireless sensor network has credentials when connecting to the wireless LAN. Thus, the
been developed by incorporating ESP8266 Wi-Fi modules security of the wireless local network is ensured. Temperature
into wireless access points on campus networks. The features and humidity data from the nodes are transferred to the server.
of the ESP8266 Wi-Fi module and DHT11 sensor used are A status monitoring interface was developed as in Figure 5
given in Table 1. using the Python programming language and Google Chart
To test the method, the temperature and humidity sensor technology on the server.
DHT11 is connected to the ESP8266 modules. The data
received from the sensors is transferred to the WI-
FI_SENSOR_SERVER server and stored. By accessing the
server via any device connected to the local network, the
temperature and humidity values in the sensor nodes are
monitored. To test the proposed method, two temperature
humidity sensor nodes are formed. These sensor nodes are
shown in Figure 4.

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