Smart Home Gateway with PHPOC Black Part 1: Temperature and Humidity Server

The PHP on Chip Black is a programmable IoT MCU board. In this article series, Raul uses it to develop a smart home gateway prototype.

- By Raul Alvarez-Torrico

In Part 1, he focuses on its integrated web and WebSocket server capabilities. By leveraging the PHPOC platform's PHP-inspired language and robust IoT features, he creates a basic server that interfaces with an AHT10 sensor to monitor temperature and humidity, displaying real-time data on a dynamic webpage.

PHP on Chip (PHPOC) is a PHP-inspired dialect tailored for embedded systems. It supports a wide range of network protocols, incorporating robust security features such as authentication and encryption algorithms. The board comes with an integrated web server and WebSocket server, enabling the creation of real-time IoT solutions for monitoring and control. It offers versatile interfacing options for external sensors and actuators through digital input/ output (I/O), SPI, I2C, UART, and analog inputs, complemented by onboard timers/ counters and a real-time clock.

The gateway we will implement connects to local sensors and actuators, while also linking via Wi-Fi to remote nodes, enhancing its monitoring and control reach. It hosts a web-based user interface to interact with the system.

The PHPOC Black is ideal for web developers familiar with PHP but new to embedded programming, as well as for embedded engineers and hobbyists who are eager to explore PHP in a microcontroller context.

In this article series, I'll demonstrate the development of a smart home gateway prototype using the PHPOC Black. Through this project, I'll introduce the PHPOC language along with HTML and JavaScript to enthusiasts in the latter group, even if they lack prior web server programming experience. To follow along, you'll need basic experience with embedded systems development in C/C++, using Arduino, PIC, ARM, or similar platforms.

THE PHPOC PLATFORM