FW 2.0.0 - WIFI, MODBUS, and Much More!
Although it may seem that EasyTerm development has slowed down, rest assured that nothing could be further from the truth! In recent months, significant work has been done on several new features simultaneously. Although the new firmware release was initially planned to be labeled as version 1.4.0, there are so many new features that not increasing the "major" version to 2 would be a sin!
So, what have you been waiting for? In very brief terms: WIFI and MODBUS.
More detailed below – prepare to be amazed :-)
WIFI - remote control, HTTP, MQTT
With the new Wi-Fi adapter, EasyTerm now offers wireless communication and several technologies that greatly expand its usage possibilities. The first important feature is the ability to control and monitor EasyTerm over the internet – we’ll call this "remote control." Behind the scenes, it uses MQTT technology, making it easy to communicate with EasyTerm from virtually "anywhere" (typically, for example, if it is behind a NAT with a private IP). This makes it possible to comfortably use EasyTerm for automation in environments like Node-RED or Home Assistant. You no longer need to send commands through a COM port and keep your computer on all the time – simply use MQTT integrations in many automation systems and set up a command topic and a response topic. With a simple command, you can configure both in EasyTerm and start communicating!
Given the flexible capabilities of EasyTerm as an HMI terminal, it would be a shame to stop there. Another milestone is the addition of commands for making HTTP requests (GET, POST) and basic MQTT operations (subscribe, publish) outside of just "remote control." This allows you to easily and intuitively, for example, periodically retrieve data via GET operations or MQTT and visualize it through form widgets or graphs. Similarly, you can use existing HMI widgets to send data with customizable content via the mentioned HTTP or MQTT operations. Just set up button or slider actions to these commands, and you can send data to various devices or servers.
This way, you can essentially control and monitor many IoT devices. Furthermore, thanks to the highly configurable interfaces, you can connect almost any sensor and use EasyTerm, for example, as a tool for measuring air quality, monitoring/controlling various processes, and much more.
Check out the following video for a quick demonstration of these new features.
MODBUS RTU - Controlling and Monitoring Industrial Devices
Compatibility with industrial standards should not be overlooked, which is why adding support for MODBUS RTU was an inevitable milestone. This new feature allows EasyTerm (as a master) to seamlessly collaborate with other systems and devices that use the MODBUS RTU protocol.
You only need to get an inexpensive UART<->RS-485 bus converter, and you can control or monitor various industrial devices. This can be done using new MODBUS commands or, of course, by connecting these commands to existing HMI widgets. So why not create a "dashboard" for an industrial machine?
The following operations are supported:
- Reading/writing holding registers
- Reading/writing coils
- Reading status registers
- Reading input registers
Design Improvements
The previous semi-transparent design may have left mixed impressions. Therefore, the new EasyTerm units are shipped with a frame. And it looks sharp!
ActionOnParse
A new command that does the following:
- According to the configured ParseMask parameter, it extracts parts (substrings) from received messages or EasyTerm responses.
- If extraction occurs (the message or response matches the set ParseMask), an action is executed. The action can include a "%s" placeholder, and the extracted part is inserted in place of this placeholder. This is ideal, for example, for automatically sending values read via the communication interface – extracting a value from the response and performing an action like MqttPublish with that content.
Existing Owners Won't Miss Out!
So that existing owners aren’t disappointed that EasyTerm was shipped without a Wi-Fi adapter or frame at the time of purchase, don’t worry! Write to
For more information on the new commands and capabilities of EasyTerm, check out the manual on the downloads page.
