Note: LEVOLOR recently announced their solution for automation. A Hub, new 15-channel remote and new phone app. I suggest you take a look on their website. I plan to continue supporting Wevolor for existing users (like myself). Wevolor requires the 6-channel remote and has not been tested with the 15-channel. The Levolor hub is not required for Wevolor to operate.
If you want to buy your own ESP32 board and install the Wevolor code the following guide should help.
If you bought an ESP32(I use these, but all the ESP32 boards I've tested have been ok other than they have the LED on a different pin so the LED may not indicate as the instructions state), you downloaded the Arduino IDE for programming the ESP32, and you also downloaded this remote-loader project (wevolor_OTA.ino sketch), then you should be ready to load the board.
Is There a Subscription Required to Run the Wevolor I Build?
The Wevolor communicates with a messaging server which sits between IFTTT and the device. There's cost I have to cover to host that, and that is increasing as more users get devices. While I don't ask users to sign up to a subscription, a small contribution periodically to help me pay for that will always be appreciated.
Note: It has to be the downloaded version of the Arduino IDE and not the online one, and you have to set the 'Additional Board Manager URLs:' to 'https://dl.espressif.com/dl/package_esp32_index.json' in the preferences:
The 'Board Manager' (Tools menu under 'Board') will then let you add ESP32 as a board and select 'WEMOS Lolin32' as the specific ESP32 board.
The Tools settings, assuming the board above is being used, should be as shown (board & partition scheme are both important). For different boards these settings still work in my experience (I've tried the DevKitV1 and Lolin32 Mini).
Note: The 'Port' will depend on the system you are using (Mac, PC, Linux). It should be populated automatically with the correct port when the ESP32 board is plugged into your system's USB port.
Go to 'Manage Libraries..' in the Sketch menu to install the required library...
...search for and install the ESP32httpUpdate library.
Load the wevolor_OTA.ino sketch (copy and paste to a new project is easiest) into the Arduino IDE and change the WiFi details to yours. It will be pre-configured to download the most recent stable Wevolor code. Hit the Upload button.
It should upload to your board, and execute. The remote-loader downloads and installs the Wevolor code from the server over-the-air(OTA) automatically. If that works correctly, it should result in the latest build of Wevolor installed and ready to go. The board will restart and you can follow the instructions for configuring and setting up.
The remote-loader (wevolor_OTA.ino sketch) is the easiest way to download the Wevolor code, but if you want to get the source code for the Wevolor, let me know.
What if I bought a different ESP32 board?
As it states above, all the ESP32 variants I've tried have been fine. The only issue is the 'bright blue LED' referenced in the instructions may be on a different pin and not indicate what the instructions say. Not a big deal, but once your Wevolor is configured, and operating normally, you can send it a command to try different LED settings
Go to https://wevolor.com/myWevolor and once your Wevolor's unique ID is entered, navigate to the 'Wevolor Setup and Commands'. The 'Local Status and Commands' page will display and the top panel allows navigation to the Wevolor setup (and installation of code updates too). Click the 'Wevolor Setup' link and the setup page on your local network will display. That shows you what IP address your Wevolor is sitting at - something like 192.168.1.123 probably. Add to the end of that IP address '/_status?ledpin=-22' or '/_status?ledpin=2'. If the bright blue LED on your board slowly flashed and then goes off that's it, you've reprogrammed your board for its LED pin and polarity. The '-' sign says the LED is active LOW(making the pin LOW/off turns the LED on), if that's omitted then it's active HIGH. The Lolin32 value (default) is -5, the Lolin32 Mini is -22 and the DevKitV1 is 2 (active HIGH). If it flashes but then remains on you have the pin number right, but the polarity wrong. Again, the function of the LED is handy for indicating whether the Wevolor is in setup mode, but is not essential for operation, so it's fine to leave it as is.
Where can I get a plastic enclosure for my board?
I print them on a 3D printer with PLA filament. If you have a printer I can send you the file. I have files for Lolin32 boards or Devkit V1. Let me know if you have a different board.
'Levolor' and 'Levolor Premium 6-channel Remote' are trademarks of LEVOLOR Inc. Arduino, IFTTT, Amazon Echo and Google Home are trademarks of the respective organizations.
