Prerequisites:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- ESP32 development board<\/a> ( you can buy any on aliexpress.com ). This is needed in order to directly access BLE sensors.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dev.krasi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/esp32.jpg\")
<\/li>- Home assistant and MQTT configured<\/a>.<\/li>
- Installed esphome console tools<\/a> ( Linux or Mac OS X preferred, can’t help a lot with Windows, sorry ).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The yaml file (configuration file for esphome)<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
You need this file to be used as configuration basis for esphome. Tweak as you see fit and make sure your MQTT credentials are correct. Save as
esp32-ble.yaml<\/code> or anything you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNote: You might have to replace “nodemcu-32s” with the board you have, check esphome documentation. In general, it should work with almost all ESP32 boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
esphome:\n name: ble_mqtt\n platform: ESP32\n board: nodemcu-32s\n\nwifi:\n ssid: \"my-wifi-2ghz-network\"\n password: \"my-wifi-password\"\n\n ap:\n ssid: \"ble_mqtt hotspot\"\n password: \"my-ap-password\"\n\ncaptive_portal:\n\nlogger:\n\nota:\n password: \"ota-password\"\n\nmqtt:\n broker: IP_ADDRESS_OF_BROKER\n port: 1883\n username: USER\n password: PASSWORD\n topic_prefix: ble-sensors\n\nesp32_ble_tracker:\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nFirst installation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
It must be done via cable, afterwards we can use OTA updates. Connect the ESP32 to the computer and execute<\/p>\n\n\n\n
esphome esp32-ble.yaml run<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIt will start compiliing the file, downloading required packages. When it’s done it will ask you how to install. Select the USB port where it’s connected. If you don’t see it, check your connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When esphome tries to access the port, press the boot ( or flash ) button on the ESP32 board, wait a second or two and depress it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now it should start writing. If it still doesn’t, please check how to properly enter flash mode on your ESP32 variant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it’s done, you should see a lot of logs, similar to this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
INFO Waiting for result...\nINFO OTA successful\nINFO Successfully uploaded program.\nINFO Starting log output from ble-sensors\/debug\nINFO Connected to MQTT broker!\n[15:12:57][I][ota:269]: OTA update finished!\n[15:13:02][I][mqtt:202]: MQTT Connected!\n[15:13:02][I][app:059]: setup() finished successfully!\n[15:13:02][I][app:105]: ESPHome version 1.15.2 compiled on Oct 25 2020, 15:09:54\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:443]: WiFi:\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:303]: SSID: 'my-wifi-2ghz-network'\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:304]: IP Address: 192.168.88.51\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:306]: BSSID: 64:D1:54:A7:7C:43\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:307]: Hostname: 'ble_mqtt'\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:311]: Signal strength: -61 dB \u2582\u2584\u2586\u2588\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:315]: Channel: 6\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:316]: Subnet: 255.255.255.0\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:317]: Gateway: 192.168.88.1\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:318]: DNS1: 192.168.88.1\n[15:13:02][C][wifi:319]: DNS2: 192.168.1.1\n[15:13:02][C][logger:185]: Logger:\n[15:13:02][C][logger:186]: Level: DEBUG\n[15:13:02][C][logger:187]: Log Baud Rate: 115200\n[15:13:02][C][logger:188]: Hardware UART: UART0\n[15:13:02][C][esp32_ble_tracker:530]: BLE Tracker:\n[15:13:02][C][esp32_ble_tracker:531]: Scan Duration: 300 s\n[15:13:02][C][esp32_ble_tracker:532]: Scan Interval: 320.0 ms\n[15:13:02][C][esp32_ble_tracker:533]: Scan Window: 30.0 ms\n[15:13:02][C][esp32_ble_tracker:534]: Scan Type: ACTIVE\n[15:13:08][D][esp32_ble_tracker:544]: Found device 18:BE:D0:6A:85:55 RSSI=-91\n[15:13:08][D][esp32_ble_tracker:565]: Address Type: RANDOM\n[15:13:40][D][esp32_ble_tracker:544]: Found device A4:C1:38:F6:CA:AF RSSI=-66\n[15:13:40][D][esp32_ble_tracker:565]: Address Type: PUBLIC\n[15:13:40][D][esp32_ble_tracker:567]: Name: 'LYWSD03MMC'\n[15:14:12][D][esp32_ble_tracker:544]: Found device A4:C1:38:86:F3:2F RSSI=-72\n[15:14:12][D][esp32_ble_tracker:565]: Address Type: PUBLIC\n[15:14:12][D][esp32_ble_tracker:567]: Name: 'LYWSD03MMC'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nNote the Found device lines. In my case it discovered several 3 BLE devices, two of which are my Xiaomi thermometers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Write down the MAC addresses of all devices you want to add ( mine are A4:C1:38:F6:CA:AF<\/em> and A4:C1:38:86:F3:2F<\/em> )<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Add the following to the yaml file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sensor:\n - platform: xiaomi_lywsd03mmc\n id: \"ble_01\"\n mac_address: \"A4:C1:38:86:F3:2F\"\n temperature:\n name: \"ble_01_temp\"\n humidity:\n name: \"ble_01_humidity\"\n battery_level:\n name: \"ble_01_battery\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nName them as you wish and set your mac addresses from before. If you have different types of BLE sensors, please check esphome documentation on the platform and how to properly add it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For some devices, this is not enough, sadly. For my case, I have to add additional parameter, bindkey , which is used for payload decryption, so that we can find out the values ( obviously it’s encrypted ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Home assistant and MQTT configured<\/a>.<\/li>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dev.krasi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screenshot-2020-10-25-at-16.09.51.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n