Developing IoT Projects with ESP32: Unlock the full Potential of ESP32 in IoT development to create production-grade smart devices

I started this book, not having any preconceptions of what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well structured it was. It is also remarkably easy to read and comprehend, although it may be a bit beyond the absolute beginner. It is ideal for someone who wants to move away from the Arduino toolkit to using the more complete native ESP-IDF, providing an excellent background for anyone who is uncomfortable with the complexities of this toolkit.The book starts with an introduction to the ESP-IDF toolkit. However, not only does it cover the ESP-IDF plugin in VSCode, it also explains how the ESP-IDF command line works. Then it goes on to describe PlatformIO, introducing both the VSCode plugin and the pio command.The book continues with a standardised structure in the subsequent chapters. Each solution (and there are many) has a well-defined sequence from introducing the concepts, the requirements, project creation, coding the application, and, finally, testing. The whole sequence is thorough, leaving very little for the reader to have to resolve on their own.Each of the chapters covers a specific subject, mostly with several examples addressing various aspects of the topic, although a complex concept like audio in Chapter 5 devotes a full chapter to this larger topic. These subjects get progressively more complex, including using AWS IOT and Alexa as well as AI from the Rainmaker framework. I was particularly impressed by the Machine Learning part, especially when linked up with the Edge Impulse MLOps platform. In the final chapter, all the threads are pulled together in a rather complete Baby Monitor solution that uses the technologies covered in previous chapters.This review would be incomplete if I didn’t mention the imperfections. The book suggests using version 4.4 of the ISP-IDF toolkit, but this hits end-of-life rather soon, in July 2024. However, never fear: I tried many of the examples using the latest V5.1.2 and it all worked flawlessly.

This book is great for who are interested in turning an Arduino project into a iot product or seasoned experts alike. It covers practically everything you will need to get an IOT product up and running in clear-to-understand steps without being spoon-fed. The book is well laid out and covers both hardware and software aspects of iot development. It covers many important things such as RTOS (Real-time operating systems) to IOT security and offers a great understanding of ESP32 IOT development to continue learning upon. The book covers the aspects not always covered such as how to get a project up and running on your computer and how to run machine learning on a ESP32. I thoroughly recommend this book to beginners and readers passionate about learning.

Given the countless hours I had spent getting some of my IoT projects off the ground, I wish I had come across this book (at least the first edition) earlier. My review is about the second edition, though.My thumbs up to the author for focusing on real-world scenarios throughout the book, so regardless of whether you would like to build an audio player or want to delve into machine learning, you will find this book very useful.Since this book is focused on "IoT Projects", it was expected that the author would put some words around IoT in general. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the extra details on IoT solutions, for example, the additional information about Connectivity, Interoperability and Security considerations.If you are new to ESP32, Chapter 1 is an excellent starting point, as there is perfect coverage of ESP32 as a hardware platform for IoT solutions.From a hands-on perspective, Chapter 2 is where it kicks into action, as you can learn about the development tools and eventually build your first application. Of course, if you are already familiar with ESP32, then chapter 2 would be good to skim through to refamiliarise yourself.The book delves into many projects, but to keep this review brief, I will only mention one of my favourites - using ESP32 to connect to Cloud-Based Services (especially the integration with Amazon Alexa). My project is still under development, and I intend to control home automation using IoT + Alexa (for heating, lighting, home audio, etc). Thanks mainly to the clear examples in the book, I quickly completed the Temperature Sensor "phase" of the overall project.Overall, it is a fantastic book, well structured and easy to follow. It would appeal to amateurs and professional IoT developers alike.

For anyone interested in having the very most starting point on developing IoT Firmware for the ESP32, I really DO NOT recommend you to buy this book. This is also NOT a fundamentals book, there are already other books that has been proven timeless in regards to those topics. It is perfect for the intermediate level.Some things that you could expect:• Ingesting an AI model through the edgeimpulse environment, predicting using a premade tflite model, or directly using ESP AFE and esp-sr (speech recognition) whilst understanding the underlaying innerworkings.• Understanding important features such as, creating UI using raw lvgl or through SquareLine Studio, WiFi QR provisioning using esp_qrcode, playing mp3 files saved in SPIFFS, and many more goodies!• A fast walkthrough on how RTOS could be implemented, also libraries to make your code more robust using flatbuffers, miniz, nholmann json, etc.This book encourages not just on using, but being walked through the very underlying concepts swiftly. A really good one!

This book is mind blowingly detailed yet very easy to follow, broken down step-by-step, and clearly implemented examples. It contains valuable references to concepts, tools, libraries and code snippets without fluff or unnecessary information. A must have book for all IoT and edge AI / ML engineers who want to make the most of the infamous ESP32.