Quick start
Connect an ESP32 to Flova and control its built-in LED from a dashboard in about ten minutes.
In this guide, you'll connect an ESP32 to Flova and switch its built-in LED from a dashboard. Before you begin, have an ESP32 board with an LED on GPIO2, a USB data cable, and a phone or computer with Wi-Fi. You can use PlatformIO or Arduino IDE to install and flash the firmware.
1. Create the account and device template
Open the Flova Console and create an account. In Flova, the Device Type is the device template that connects the rest of the platform. Devices, dashboards, queries, automations, and everything else in the platform are connected to this template.
After you sign in, create a Device Type named ESP32 LED and choose Wi-Fi as its setup method.
Add one datastream with these values:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Internal LED |
| Technical key | LED |
| Value type | Boolean |
| Access | Read/write |
| Behavior | Digital output |
| Hardware pin | GPIO2 |
| Active level | HIGH |
| Default and safe value | Off |
Use the technical key LED exactly as shown. The dashboard will use this key to reach the device later. Publish the Device Type version before you continue. Flova cannot create a device from an unpublished version.
2. Upload the universal firmware
Create a project folder, install the published FlovaSDK package, add the universal firmware code, then connect the board over USB and upload it. Choose the instructions for your tool:
See the Flova Firmware repository for more information and examples.
Create a new Arduino sketch and save it in a new project folder, for example flova-esp32. Before installing the SDK, open Tools → Board → Boards Manager, search for esp32 by Espressif Systems, and install the ESP32 board support package. Then open Tools → Manage Libraries, search for FlovaSDK, and install it.
Select the ESP32 board that matches your hardware under Tools → Board, then select the USB serial port under Tools → Port. Replace the sketch with:
#include <Arduino.h>
#include <FlovaSDK.h>
FlovaUniversalEsp32 device;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200);
device.begin();
}
void loop() {
device.run();
}Connect the ESP32 with a USB data cable and click Upload. Arduino IDE compiles the sketch and flashes the complete firmware image, including the bootloader and partition table.
On its first run, the firmware creates a temporary network named like Flova-Setup-*. You'll enter the Wi-Fi credentials during setup, so keep them out of the source code.
3. Create the device
In Console's Devices page, open the same Device Type and choose Add Device. Give the device a name and create it. Console will show a QR code and a manual activation code for the device.
4. Claim the device in the web application
Open the Flova web application and sign in. This is the user space for Flova. It is separate from your workspace in Console and Studio, where you create Device Types and dashboards. Customers and end users use the web application to claim their devices and view the dashboards you create for your products and experiences.
Choose Add device, scan the QR code from Console, give the device a name, and confirm.
If the camera is unavailable, choose the manual activation option and enter the code shown in Console.
The device is now assigned to the signed-in account. Configure its Wi-Fi while the web application is in setup mode. Connect the phone or computer to the network whose name starts with Flova-Setup-, return to the web application, enter the name and password of your usual Wi-Fi network, and submit the form.
The local setup page sends the network settings to the ESP32. After the device accepts them, reconnect the phone or computer to its usual network. The ESP32 saves the settings, restarts, and connects to Flova. In Console, its status should move from setup and sync to online.
If the web application cannot find the board, check that the browser is still connected to Flova-Setup-* and that the device and browser are on the same local network.
5. Build the LED dashboard
Open Studio and choose New dashboard. Enter a name, select ESP32 LED as the device template, choose the Device overview starter, and create the dashboard.
In the editor, open the Widgets panel and add a Toggle to the page. Select the Toggle, open its data connection settings, and choose the option labeled Internal LED. Check that its description includes the technical key LED, the Boolean type, and read/write access. The datastream appears because section 1 created it with those settings.
Wait for the draft to save, then choose Publish. The web application loads published dashboards, so saving the draft alone does not make this control available on the device.
Return to the Flova web application, open the device you claimed, and open its dashboard. Change the Toggle and watch the built-in LED. The web application sends the LED write through FlovaLink, and the universal firmware applies it to GPIO2.
If LED is not available in the Toggle's value source list, check that the ESP32 LED Device Type version is published and that the dashboard uses that same device template. If the dashboard is missing from the device, publish the dashboard and refresh the device page.
If something goes wrong
If the device never comes online, check the setup network first. Then check the Wi-Fi credentials and the device status in Console. If the toggle does not change, make sure the Device Type version is published and that the LED key matches in Console and Studio.