How to Build Your Own Anemometer Using Reed Switches, Hall Effect Sensor and Some Scraps on Nodemcu – Part 2 – Software

In this post, we continue exploring the DIY NodeMCU Anemometer project by diving into Part 2 – the software. This article follows the first tutorial, How to Build Your Own Anemometer Using Reed Switches, Hall Effect Sensor and Some Scraps on Nodemcu – Part 1 – Hardware, where the wind speed and direction measurement devices were assembled. Here, we focus on the control software developed for the NodeMCU using the Arduino IDE, explaining how it manages data acquisition, sensor reading, and overall system operation.

The DIY NodeMCU Anemometer uses simple sensors connected to a NodeMCU to measure both wind speed and direction. The control software monitors the rotation of the anemometer over a fixed time interval, calculates the wind’s linear velocity, and reads the vane’s position to determine direction. It then displays the results on an OLED screen, uploads the data to ThingSpeak for online monitoring, and finally places the system into a low-power sleep mode for 15 minutes before the next measurement cycle.

How to Build Your Own Anemometer Using Reed Switches, Hall Effect Sensor and Some Scraps on Nodemcu – Part 2 – Software:

Disclaimer: This anemometer should not be used for professional purposes. It is only for academic or home use.

Note: English is not my natural language. If you find grammatical errors that prevent you from understanding the project, please let me know to correct them. Thank you so much.

Step 1: Installing Arduino IDE, ESP8266 Boards, and Libraries and Your ThingSpeak Account

Installing Arduino IDE and Nodemcu

If you have never installed the IDE the Arduino please read the tutorial in the link – How to install Arduino IDE – where you can find the complete instructions.

Next step, to install the Nodemcu board use this tutorial from the Magesh Jayakumar Instructables which is very complete. How to install Nodemcu no Arduino IDE

Installing Libraries

Next step you must install the libraries that the sketch uses. They are common and you can follow the steps shown below.

ThingSpeak Library – https://www.arduinolibraries.info/libraries/thing-speak

ESP8266 Library – https://arduino-esp8266.readthedocs.io/en/latest/esp8266wifi/readme.html

Creating a ThingSpeak Account

To use the ThingSpeak (https://thingspeak.com/) you must create an account (it is still free for a certain number of interactions) With the DIY NodeMCU Anemometer, you can store all measured wind data online and monitor real-time wind conditions at home, even from your cellphone. By using ThingSpeak, your collected data can be made public so anyone interested can view it, which is one of the platform’s greatest advantages. Simply visit the ThingSpeak homepage and follow the steps to create your account and start uploading your anemometer readings.

Once the account is created, enter this tutorial – ThingSpeak Getting Started – to create your channels. It’s pretty well explained. In summary, you must create a channel where the data will be stored. This channel has an ID and a Key API that should be referenced in the sketch each time you want to record data. ThingSpeak will store all the data in a bank and will show them every time you access your account, in the way you configured.

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