TOP 30 List of Exciting IoT Project Ideas For Your You Can Do At Home
Basic to Advanced Level
Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most popular terms used in the digital world. Who would have thought that our modern world usually revolves around technology? For instance, you can see simply see it at your home, such as lights, digital appliances, electronic door locks, and many more.
What is the “Thing” in IoT? It can be any sensor, actuator, item, gadget, or device that collates and transfers data through a network without human intervention. The Thing automatically performs the job as programmed by the creator.
With this, we present the top 30 best IoT projects ideas that you can create at home. In this list, the level of difficulty ranges from basic to advanced. You can learn how to control an LED from a web server, home automation, and many more.
Each project has a complete step-by-step tutorial that you can easily follow. What are you waiting for? Let’s start building!
1. Controlling LED using NodeMCU and Google Firebase (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Basic
This IoT-based project is a perfect start for beginners as it is very basic. In this project, you will learn to set up a Google Firebase and control your LED that is connected to NodeMCU GPIO wirelessly.
Firebase is a database platform created by Google that creates, manages, and modifies data generated from any web services, android applications, sensors, and many more.
If you want to know about Firebase, you may visit its website through https://firebase.google.com/. As you finished establishing your device on Google Firebase, you can finally control it anywhere.
2. Controlling LED with NodeMCU Webserver (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Next on our list is a project that allows you to build a web server to a host webpage and remotely controls any appliances. It uses ESP12E NodeMCU as a webserver, but any ESP module will do for this project to work.
First, let us get to know what is a Webserver and how does it work? A Web server stores and processes web pages and delivers them to a web client. A web is a browser installed on our cellphones and computers. Then, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) allows the web server and client to exchange information.
3. Controlling a WS2812B RGB LED Matrix with Blynk
Level of Difficulty: Basic
What is RGB LED? RGB LEDs are famous for their beautiful color, brightness, and lighting effects. With this, several users used it for their designs or artworks. Some use RGB lights for their kid’s playroom, kitchen, and anywhere they prefer.
In this project, you will learn to apply Neo pixel Based RGB LED matrix shield, Arduino, and Blynk and produce animation effects and colors that enable users to manage it through the Blynk App.
4. Controlling Servo Wirelessly
Level of Difficulty: Basic
This is another basic project that is perfect for beginners. It allows you to control Servo Motor over Wi-Fi using a Webpage. It includes Arduino Uno, Servo Motor, and a Webpage with a slider. Using the ESP8266, you will produce a bond between the servo and the web through the IP address. Then, as you move the Slider on the web page, the servo automatically works as planned. You can also set your router as Port Forwarding and still control the Servo anywhere using the internet.
5. IoT Weather Station
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
This IoT Weather Station is an amazing IoT project, as it allows users to monitor weather conditions and access live reports through a webserver. Also, it is perfect for beginners as it has basic applications. You will collate the weather data through ESP32, DHT11, and BMP180 sensor and it sends the data to the webserver.
The data collated is live online; thus, you will no longer need to rely on weather forecasting news reports.
6. Reading Data from the Internet with Arduino
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Unlike the projects above that only updates data to the internet, this project allows you to read from the internet. Here is a step-by-step process that helps you read data from the internet using an API. Using an ESP8266-01 Wi-Fi module with Arduino Uno, you will be able to read the time, date, temperature, and humidity from the internet. Then, it will be sent to an Arduino board and present results on the 16*2 LCD screen.
In this project, you will learn to interface ESP8266 with Arduino and read different data from the Internet using APIs. Now, let’s start with the ESP8266-01 module. To program the ESP8266 we will utilize Arduino IDE and write codes that permit API to read JSON files by an HTTP request. After that, we will extract only the required data from the JSON file by phrasing it. Then, we will print the phrased information using serial communication.
The serial lines allow us to connect to Arduino; thus, Arduino can read the data sent from ESP8266. After the process, the information will be displayed on the LCD screen.
7. Publish Data to Google Firebase
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
This project is suitable for you if you want to monitor sensor data in actual time anywhere. Since microcontrollers have small internal memory, it limits us to save generated data from sensors for a long period. Thus, the Google Firebase Cloud can serve as a platform to store those data.
This project will interface some controllers to connect to the internet and exchange data with Google Firebase cloud. It uses temperature & humidity sensor DHT11 and a NodeMCU ESP8266 Module to input the actual temperature and humidity on Google’s Firebase database server.
8. Patient Health Monitoring System (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
At this time, a Health Monitoring System is a must. With the lack of these systems, several people suffer from various health issues. With this, you greatly highly benefit from this project as you will be prepared for any health issues and also help other people, especially your loved ones. Also, you can use this system for a start-up business as demand increases.
This Health Monitoring system allows you to record a person’s heart rate and body temperature. It also sends an email/SMS once those readings got critical conditions. The pulse rate and body temperature are stored on ThinkSpeak and Google Sheets for easier access. Moreover, it has a panic button for the patients to alert their relatives via email/SMS for emergency purposes.
9. Water Quality Monitoring System (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
From the name itself, this IoT project monitors the quality of your water remotely. It is a perfect project for people in the agriculture sector as it can also monitor soil moisture, pH of water, temperature, and many more.
In this project, we will use the Arduino Uno, NodeMCU, Gravity Analog pH sensor, DS18B20 temperature sensor, and Soil moisture sensor. Using the NodeMCU board, we will connect the system with the Internet to facilitate data transmission. With this, you will know about a variety of sensors and serial communication between the Arduino and NodeMCU.
10. LoRa Communication between ESP32 and Arduino (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
What is LoRa? LoRa, introduced by Samtech company, is a wireless radiofrequency that transmits bi-directional information long-distance and consumes less power. This IoT project uses two LoRa modules as transmitter and receiver to transfer data between Arduino and ESP32.
Throughout this project, you will learn to interface LoRa module SX1278 with ESP32 and Arduino Uno. The ESP32 LoRa (transmitter) setup gets weather information in any given city from an API and sends it to the Arduino LoRa (receiver) setup. After that, the Arduino LoRa displays the data on a 16×2 LCD. Also, An OLED is connected at ESP32 to display the temperature and humidity from the sender.
11. Publish Data to AWS Cloud
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
In this project, you will learn to send data to Amazon AWS with the use of Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is popular among emerging IoT applications, especially with those involved in computations, as it easily collects, logs, analyzes, or reports a set of data.
The DHT11 sensor is used to read the value of temperature and humidity. Then, it will connect to the AWS IoT service and update the sensor values using the AWS IOT SDK. Once completed, the data will be displayed in the Amazon IoT console.
12. IoT-Based Electricity Energy Meter
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
This project is perfect for people who constantly indulge in worry about their electricity consumption. With this IoT-Based Electricity Energy Meter, you can monitor energy usage anywhere and receive an email/SMS once your consumption reaches its threshold value.
Using Arduino and ESP8266 Wi-Fi modules, you can build a Smart Electricity Energy meter to monitor energy usage and bill and receive email/SMS. Also, we will use Current Sensor ACS712, which enables you to measure energy consumption, and the IFTTT platform to send email/SMS notifications.
13. IoT-Based Smart Jar
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
This IoT-Based Smart Jar lets you track your stocks by being accessible from the internet. It helps you monitor your supplies and plan to restock them.
At the top of the jar, it has an ultrasonic sensor that uses ultra-sonic reflected waves. It detects how much space is left in a filled jar. The NodeMCU detects the sensor and updates the data on the webserver.
14. Event Management System (IoT-based)
Level of Difficulty: Basic
The IoT-based Event Management System is a light project yet interesting. It allows you to collate and send the log and entry data directly to a server that handles all the validity, authorization, and management. With this, the event process becomes smooth as butter.
In this project, you will learn about interfacing RFID use a NodeMCU with EM18 RFID Reader module, RFID Cards, and 16*2 Alphanumeric LCD.
15. Smart Irrigation System (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Another suitable project for the people in the agriculture industry, the Smart Irrigation System. As most of the farmers own large divisions of land, monitoring each portion be difficult. In some instances, there are uneven water sprinkles, which lead to bad crops and an increase in their financial expenses/loss. With this, the IoT Smart Irrigation System helps with the efficiency of farming.
In this project, you will have a wide scope of automation. It uses ESP8266 NodeMCU Module, Water Pump Module, Relay module, Soil Moisture Sensor, and DHT11 Sensor. The system allows to irrigate water-based moisture levels and sends data to the ThinkSpeak server for the user to monitor the conditions of their land. It will also have a water pump to sprinkle water on land depending on its condition, such as its moisture, temperature, and humidity.
16. Smart Parking System (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Nowadays, Smart Cities continuously rise due to smart technologies. This Smart Parking System IoT project may help you get at par with the demand in the industry. This project has a quite similar approach to other parking systems that builds a smart parking solution. It uses an ultrasonic sensor to detect an automobile and automatically opens or closes the gate. In this project, we will use the ESP8266 NodeMCU to manage all peripherals attached to it.
17. Solar Power Monitoring System (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
This project allows you to optimize the energy from solar power by monitoring it in real-time. It is a necessity to constantly monitor your solar power to get the best out of it. This Solar Power Monitoring System can also be used for a large solar power plant and monitor each panel of its power output and identifies dust buildup. It will prevent erroneous instances during operation time.
In this project, we will use the MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) battery charging technique as it helps reduce charging time and enhance efficiency. It will help you monitor the output voltage, current, and power of the panel through the ESP32 IoT development board.
18. IoT-Based Air Quality Index (AQI) Monitoring System
Level of Difficulty: Basic
As air pollution rapidly increases, this Air Quality Index Monitoring System can be helpful to gather data about the air quality in our places and find ways to resolve it. If you are an environmentalist, this monitoring system can also globally raise awareness for people.
In this project, you will be able to monitor the air pollution level in cities and save it on web servers for future use, especially for research. We will use an ESP32 with Nova PM SDS011 sensor, MQ-7 sensor, and DHT11 sensor. To calculate the Air Quality Index, it will measure the concentration of PM2.5, PM10, and Carbon Monoxide. The overall AQI determines the worst sub-index. All AQI values will be published on the Adafruit IO cloud for easier access.
19. Contactless Body Temperature Monitoring (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak makes it extremely difficult for all people to move spontaneously and work, especially now that we are fighting a virus that cannot be seen with our naked eyes. It is hard to identify who already contained the virus; thus, there are several restrictions, including physical distancing. Constantly checking the body temperature of people became a practice to avoid further spreading of the virus.
This contactless body temperatures project allows you to measure the body without any physical contact. In addition, it sends alert notifications when a person attains high temperature through email with their image attached to it. In this project, we will use a Raspberry Pi, MLX90614 IR temperature sensor, and Pi-Camera.
20. Surveillance Robotic Car (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Are you interested in building a robotic car? Well, this project perfectly suits you. It is a project where you will build a web-controlled surveillance robotic car with the use of Raspberry Pi and a webcam. It is inexpensive with several configurable options and can be constructed in a few hours.
What we are going to use in this project are Raspberry Pi, a USB web camera, and two DC motors with Robot chassis to build this Robotic car. The camera will be placed on top of the car to record live video footage that is controllable from a web browser. You can move the robot in any direction you want using the buttons on the webpage. Moreover, we will use a “Motion” to get live footage from a USB camera and use “Flask” to send commands from a webpage to Raspberry Pi while using python to move the robot.
21. Smart Keychain (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Basic
Do you often misplace your key and frantically search around your house? Fret not, as this IoT project allows you to track your keys instantly.
In this project, we will create an IoT-Based Smart Keychain using ESP8266-01, Buzzer, and Battery. Once have this keychain, attach it to your keys, and then that’s it. Just open your phone and go to your Keychain Webpage to click the alarm button to find your key.
22. Biometric Attendance System (IoT-Based)
Let’s make the attendance system more effective and efficient. With this Biometric Attendance System, people can use their fingerprints for their attendance. The system uses Arduino, which scans for fingerprints and validates the identification of a person. Then, it inputs the data to a cloud platform like ThingsBoard, using the ESP8266 Wi-Fi module. Authorized personnel may view and analyze the information through a dashboard online.
23. LoRa-Based GPS Tracker (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Nowadays, GPS trackers are commonly used for navigation, mapping, tracking, and many more. The main feature people consider about it is its battery expectancy and monitoring range. With this, the LoRa is a great choice due to its lower power consumption and has a wide range of distances.
In this project, you can build GPS tracking using Lora by incorporating a Transmitter that accurately reads the location data from the NEO-6M GPS module and transfer it to Lora. The information will be displayed in the 16×2 LCD of the receiver. It performs peer-to-peer communication between the transmitter and receiver to keep things simpler and economical.
24. IoT-Based GPS Location Tracker
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
GPS is commonly used nowadays, especially in navigating, mapping, tracking, and many more. This GPS location tracker is IoT-based that uses NEO-6M GPS Module. Its key components are the NodeMCU, OLED Display Module, NEO-6M GPS Module, and 3.7 to 6V booster circuit.
Furthermore, it has its own local webserver that displays location details. The webserver has a direct link to check locations through Google Maps. With this, you just need to input your destination to the GPS tracker, and then it will accurately navigate you. Aside from interfacing with NodeMCU, you will also learn about PCB designing.
25. Arduino-Controlled Window Curtains (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Upgrade your window curtains and create these Arduino-Controlled Window Curtains. It is a simple IoT project that automates motorized blinds and makes it automatically opens and closes at a precise time. Moreover, you can take command from Google assistants through voice command.
26. Voice Controlled Smart Rocket Igniter (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Control your rocket using Alexa voice commands! This project is a NodeMCU-based rocket launder with a plywood chassis, precise relay-based control mechanism, and unique launching and reloading mechanisms.
The rocket has simple components. The nichrome wire, in the form of a heating coil, is responsible for launching the rocket. It acts as the rocket igniter. With simply commanding Alexa to launch your rocket, it will automatically fire it.
27. Control AC Fan Speed with Smart Phone (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Build an IoT-based AC and control its speed using your smartphone’s Android application. The most crucial component in this project is the fan regulator circuit, which increases or decreases the speed of an AC Fan based on one’s preference.
28. Smart Wi-Fi Video Doorbell (IoT-Based)
Secure your doorsteps using this Smart Wi-Fi Video Doorbell. This ESP32-CAM-based Smart Wi-Fi doorbell allows users to get notified once someone presses the doorbell button. It directly sends you a message with a link to video footage to see the person on your door. It is easy to assemble as it is powered by AC Socket. Moreover, installing this device can help you combat possible threats.
29. ESP8266-based Smart Plug (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Smart plugs may be available in the market; however, they are a bit expensive. With this, we present you the ESP8266-based Smart Plug IoT project that guides you to build your own Smart plug. It can simply be plugged into any socket and connect the actual load into the socket of our device. Simply turn on the main switch of your pocket, and then voila, you can control your load using your smartphone.
30 Voice Controlled Home Automation (IoT-Based)
Level of Difficulty: Advanced
Want to test your IoT skills? Try working on this home automation project!
In this project, you will build a practical home automation board that fits into our AC power units on our walls while keeping it concealed inside. It must not interrupt the work of our power unit switches and must be able to manually turn on and off.
Moreover, it should control the same load with voice commands using Google Assistant. Use a timer to automatically turn on or off any load during a preset time.
Conclusion:
Overall, we have tackled 30 IoT project ideas within a range from beginner to advanced level. Technologies keep becoming more advanced; thus, more opportunities definitely await us. Stay tuned for more IoT projects.