More remote control options via wifi with the ESP8266 NodeMCU

This will be COOL! Last night I successfully programmed the NodeMCU ESP8266 board using the Arduino IDE.  This handly little board already has the Arudino built-in, wifi, and 5V power supply via USB.  10 I/O pins will make for easy control of the Gates transmitter (If I choose to go this route), AND it can monitor the meters, AND it can put it all on a web page for easy control via mobile device or a browser.
This is the little fella:

HiLetgo 2pcs ESP8266 NodeMCU LUA CP2102 ESP-12E Internet WIFI Development Board

With little effort, I managed to to get the Arduino IDE application to talk to the board (had to replace the LUA firmware) and now it’s just a matter of programming what I need!

Arduino IDE talking to the wifi module.

Here’s an example of what’s possible using a browser for pin control.  Later today I’ll add code to measure the voltage on some input pins.

Sample browser screen with the ESP8266 as a web server.