Secure MQTT with ESP32: Hot-Seat Project
The Hot-Seat project was inspired by a simple, real-world problem.
On sunny days, the window behind my desk shines directly onto my workspace, turning it into an unexpectedly warm spot. I wanted to measure how hot it actually gets during the day, and at the same time experiment with secure MQTT communication on ESP32.
That’s how the Hot-Seat project was born.
Technologies Used
Platform: ESP32-WROOM SoC
SDK: Espressif ESP-IDF
MQTT Broker: HiveMQ (MQTTS)
Project overview
The goal of this project was to implement a small IoT gadget that:
connects to a Wi-Fi network
establishes a secure MQTT (TLS) connection
periodically publishes temperature data to a cloud MQTT broker
The focus was on clean setup, secure communication, and simplicity, rather than complex hardware integration.
Device Behavior
The device workflow is straightforward:
Connect to the configured Wi-Fi network
Establish a secure MQTT connection using TLS
Publish temperature readings at a fixed interval
At the current stage, temperature values are simulated. The project is structured so that a real temperature and humidity sensor can be added later without major refactoring.
Source Code:
If this project sounds interesting, the full source code and implementation details are available on GitHub:
