Launch the Arduino IDE

You should already have the Arduino IDE running from the previous step. If not, launch it now.

• Check that ESP8266 USB cable is connected.

• Check that the Board and Port settings are correct, as shown in Arduino IDE Installation.

Our next step is to download an Arduino Sketch (program) that reads the air quality data from the sensor and sends it to ThingSpeak.
We need to change some configuration setting in the Arduino Sketch to identify the ThingSpeak Channel for your sensor.

Configure the IKEA_ESP8266_ThingSpeak.ino sketch

• File ... New

  • Select all the text and delete it.

  • Click the following link and download the file. (Be sure to remember where you saved it.)

    • IKEA_ESP8266_ThingSpeak.ino

  • In the Arduino IDE, use File ... Open to open the file you saved.
    When prompted to save the file in a folder, click OK.

  • Find the following line of code:
    define SECRET_CH_ID 123 // "Channel ID"

    • • In your web browser, go to https://thingspeak.com/channels

      • Click on the "Air Quality" channel you created

      • Click the "API Keys" tab

      • Copy your Channel ID displayed near the top of the page.

      • In the Arduino IDE, replace 123 with your ThingSpeak ChannelID

  • Find the following line of code:
    #define SECRET_WRITE_APIKEY "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" // "Write API Key"

    • • From https://thingspeak.com/channels, copy the "Write API Key"

      • In the Arduino IDE, replace XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX with the Write API Key.

Save, Compile and Upload the Arduino Sketch

• In the Arduino IDA, click
  File ... Save
  and save your modified Arduino sketch somewhere you can access it again in the future.

• The, click
  Sketch ... Upload

  • Wait for the Arduino compiler to run and upload the program to the ESP8266.

  • If everything is OK, the last line in the status window, at the bottom of the Arduino IDE, should be:
    Hard resetting via RTS pin...

Check to see that the sensor data is collected

In the Serial Monitor, you should see repeated messages like:

Receiving:....................Done.

Received PM 2.5 reading: 9

Current measurements: 9, 9, 9, 9, 9

...

AirQuality = 9.60 ug/cm3

This indicates that the ESP8266 board is collecting air quality sensor data from the IKEA sensor.
If you are seeing an error message, such as
"Not receiving sensor data. Check wiring!"
"Received message with invalid header"
be sure that the wiring is correct and the connectors for the IKEA sensor and fan are fully inserted into the IKEA circuit board.
Disconnect/re-connect the USB cable.

If you continue to see error messages, ask for assistance.

Check to see that the sensor data is sent to ThingSpeak

If you see a message in the form of "Problem updating ThingSpeak channel. HTTP error code -XXX"
check that you've edited the Arudino Sketch with the correct ThingSpeak SECRET_CH_ID and SECRET_WRITE_APIKEY for your channel.

If you continue to see error messages, ask for assistance.

LED error messages

The blue LED on the ESP8266 board (not the green/yellow/red LEDs on the IKEA sensor) blinks to indicate status and errors:

• 1 blink - data successfully sent to ThingSpeak - everything is working correctly.

• 3 blinks - connected to Wifi - upon startup or after a disconnect for some reason

• 5 blinks - unable to send data to ThingSpeak - problem!

• 10 blinks - unable to receive data from IKEA sensor - problem!