Can I use particle photon like Arduino to control water level on a tank (Without Internet/cloud connections)?

General
1

Can I use particle photon like Arduino to control water level on a tank (Without Internet/cloud connections)?

Imagine when the particle photon is ready to switch off the valve which fill the tank with water but surprisingly the Internet connection was off and the water will be spilling out.

2

Yes.
Have a look at threading and system modes in the docs :wink:

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3

So, can I use photon particle to switch on/off a relay without the need of internet connection? I mean I want to check water level of a tank, if the water level is low the valve will be activated and the tank will be filled with water up to the high level, but imagine that the particle photon got lost connection so the water will be spilling out.

Thanks

4

Yes, you can - but wait, the same answer was already given - sorry :flushed:

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5

Thank you. , I asked you because I saw in a web page the comparison between ESP286 vs Photon and that the photon does not function without connection to internet and particle.io cloud.

6

No idea where this misinformation comes from. Can you give us a link, so we might put the matter straight?

Here you can find more of the real wisdom
The official documentation
And the two topics mentioned by @Moors7
"system modes"
“threading”

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7

Here is the bad comparison:
https://www.element14.com/community/blogs/linker/2015/10/07/wifi-platform-comparison-things-vs-photon

So in manual mode can I use the photon like an arduino?

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8

You can always use a Photon “like an Arduino”. Manual mode just disables automatic Wifi and Particle Cloud connection. You can still manually control these processes.

There are quite a few issues with that post from element14.

< rant >
It’s shocking how uninformed people can be, especially when they could have found the correct information easily.
< /rant >

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9

thanks a lot!

10

thanks a lot!!

11

thanks a lot!!!

12

The part about the cloud being required was already corrected an I left a comment about other not quite correct statements :wink:

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13

look at this :

14

Ahh look, another dissatisfied person spreading their conclusions of their unsatisfactory experience as if they were hard facts.

Good thing @Dave replied to help sort it out.

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15

As well as being someone who’s had the device for less than a week, over a year ago. Things have kept on improving.
In my experience, not being able to OTA has to do with poorly written user firmware, not much of anything on Particle’s end.

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I use Photon module’s in manual mode all the time! To be 100% honest I am not sure why though… I mean really without a cloud back end it’s pretty much just an Arduino module. Oh wait I forgot that development on a Photon is easier and faster than Arduino with OTA flashing, no environment setup thanks to WEB IDE, etc :heart_eyes: That might just be opinion but I can develop quicker on a Photon module than my associate developing the same thing on an Arduino module.
We should have a race one of these days :slight_smile:

Oh and er if you need a relay board check out ControlEverything.com I have to appear like I’m working while I’m on here :joy:

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Thanks a lot.

18

wait, what did I do? :confused:

19

A year ago you replied to the ridic…reddit post linked above :wink:

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3 posts were merged into an existing topic: Work for WIFI without using the cloud (Cellphone- photon-cellphone via Wifi)