IOT based queue management system with nodeMcu (esp8266)

Question

I want to create a queue management system used on counters in shops or banks as my data-structure project. I know HTML, CSS, some JavaScript and C++. This is for my DSA project in my institute. I am so confused as how am I to send and receive events with my nodemcu acting as the server. The users can connect to the wifi type in ip, load the page and check. If it is there, turn on the counter? Also if they are admin they can log in by using a simple password (same for all admins) and use it to deque people? What do I need to study so that I can do this with the nodeMCU? I am not saying feed me everything. I want to learn this, make it myself. Please help me. I do know how to use nodeMCU and arduino without any type of connections with motors and stuff.

I tried searching online for books or courses or YouTube tutorial. Everything has been ruined by people who make 5 minute video and dash through the code explaining nothing. I did find the documentation and learning the basics right now but I need guidance from a human source and I couldn't find any open forum or discord community.

Answer 1

There is a number of, uh, core functionalities you need to learn. What you want to achieve is something along the lines of a "WiFi Portal", I have built quite a few from scratch that do what you describe and it's a low/medium(ish) level of difficulty depending how complex you want it to be.

Here is a list of some basic things you want to use/need (it's for esp8266)

• ESP8266WiFi - basic wifi connectivity and/or setting up and access point (AP)
• ESP8266WebServer - handles sending html page(s) to the client browser and receiving input from the browser i.e. form submissions/Ajax
• DNSServer - optional but needed if building a portal with a hotspot (i.e. automatic captive portal you get when you connect to a hotel/airport/restaurant wifi)
• ESP8266mDNS - enables you to run a zero conf aka Bonjour discovery so instead of using an ugly IP address for the user to type they can use domain like url "somename.local", "checkin.local" etc
• LittleFS - small file system so you can store files/data in the ESPs flash like the html pages and also any log data for the admins to retrieve/edit etc.

These are the basic building block components that you will need.

I could give you my class/library but if you really want to learn try it first yourself and if you get stuck or need some guidance just ping me a message on my site (link in my profile) and I'll be happy to help, I do it all the time and also always need volunteers (victims :-) to try some of the stuff I experiment with.