Wi-Fi Sensor For Rapid Prototyping

February 19, 2023 by Bryan Cockfield 4 Comments

There might seem like a wide gulf between the rapid prototyping of a project and learning a completely new electronics platform, but with the right set of tools, these two tasks can go hand-in-hand. That was at least the goal with this particular build, which seeks to use a no-soldering method of assembling electronics projects and keeping code to a minimum, while still maintaining a platform that is useful for a wide variety of projects.

As a demonstration, this specific project is a simple Wi-Fi connected temperature monitoring station. Based around an ESP32 and using a DS18B20 digital temperature sensor, the components all attach to a back plate installed in a waterproof enclosure and are wired together with screw-type terminal breakout boards to avoid the need for soldering. The software suite is similarly easy to set up, revolving around the use of Tasmota and ESPHome, which means no direct programming — although there will need to be some configuration of these tools.

With the included small display, this build makes a very capable, simple, and quick temperature monitor. But this isn’t so much a build about monitoring temperature but about building and prototyping quickly without the need for specialized tools and programming. There is something to be said for having access to a suite of rapid prototyping tools for projects as well, though.

Fail Of The Week: Epic 312 Weeks Of Fixing A Broken Project

February 17, 2023 by Anool Mahidharia 7 Comments

If a hacker guardian angel exists, then we’re sure he or she was definitely AWOL for six long years from [Aaron Eiche]’s life as he worked on perfecting and making his Christmas Countdown clock. [Aaron] started this binary clock project in 2016, and only managed to make it work as expected in 2022 after a string of failures.

In case you’d like to check out his completed project first, then cut the chase and head over to his Github repository for his final, working version. The hardware is pretty straightforward, and not different from many similar projects that we’ve seen before. A microcontroller drives a set of LED’s to show the time remaining until Christmas Day in binary format. The LEDs show the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds until Christmas and it uses two buttons for adjustments and modes. An RTC section wasn’t included in the first version, but it appeared and disappeared along the six year journey, before finding a spot in the final version.

The value of this project doesn’t lie in the final version, but rather in the lessons other hackers, specially those still in the shallow end of the pool, can learn from [Aaron]’s mistakes. Thankfully, the clock ornament is not very expensive to build, so [Aaron] could persevere in improving it despite his annual facepalm moments.

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ESP32 Web Updater Allows File System Management And OTA Updates

February 17, 2023 by Lewin Day 10 Comments

Earlier versions of the Arduino IDE made uploading files to an ESP32’s SPIFFS filesystem easy via the ESP32FS plugin. Sadly, that’s no longer possible under the rewritten Arduino 2.0 IDE. Thankfully, [myhomethings] has stepped up to solve the problem with a new tool that also adds some new functionality.

The tool in question is the ESP32 Web Updater and SPIFFS File Manager. It features a web interface courtesy of the ESPAsyncWebServer library. Simply dialing into the ESP32’s IP address will grant one access to the interface. Once connected files can be uploaded to the ESP32, or deleted at will. Text files can be created and populated through the interface as well, and the SPIFFS file system can also be formatted if required. Plus, as a bonus, the interface allows for handy over-the-air firmware updates. One need only export a compiled binary from the Arduino IDE, and then load the resulting *.bin file into the ESP32 via the web interface. It does come with the caveat that if new firmware is uploaded that doesn’t include the ESP32 Web Updater itself, there will be no way to do further firmware updates in this manner.

For those working on projects that may need regular file system management, the tool may be very useful. Alternatively, if you just need to do OTA updates on an ESP32, we recently featured a way of doing them through GitHub.

Raspberry Pi Weather Station Features Wireless Sensor Nodes

February 11, 2023 by Anool Mahidharia 3 Comments

Online weather services are great for providing generic area forecasts, but they don’t provide hyperlocal data specific to your location. [Harald Kreuzer] needed both and built a Raspberry Pi Weather Station that provides weather forecasts for the next 7 days as well as readings from local sensors. The project is completely open source and based on a Raspberry Pi base station which connects to ESP32 based sensor nodes and online services to nicely present the data on a 7″ touch screen display.

The architecture is quite straightforward. The ESP32 based sensor nodes publish their readings to an MQTT broker running on the Raspberry Pi. The Pi subscribes to these sensor node topics to pick up the relevant sensor data. This makes it easy to add additional sensor nodes in future. Weather forecast data is collected by connecting to the OpenWeatherMap API. All of the collected information is then displayed through an app built using the Kivy: open source Python app development framework. Continue reading “Raspberry Pi Weather Station Features Wireless Sensor Nodes” →

An Instant Camera Using E-Paper As Film

February 10, 2023 by Jenny List 16 Comments

The original Polaroid cameras were a huge hit not just for their instant delivery, but for the convenient size of the permanent images they delivered. It’s something that digital cameras haven’t been able to replicate, which drew [Cameron] to produce a modern alternative. In the place of the chemical film of the original, it uses a removable e-paper display in a frame. The image is stored in the pixels of the e-paper, which can be kept as a digital version of the photograph until reattached and replaced with another freshly taken picture.

At its heart is an ESP32 with a camera, and the “film” is a Waveshare NFC e-paper module. The device is 3D printed, and manages a very creditable early-1970s aesthetic redolent of the more upmarket Polaroids of the day. Using it is as simple as pressing the button and deciding whether you like what’s on the screen. You can see it in action in the video below the break.

We like his project for its aesthetics, as well as for the very idea of using e-paper as a medium. There’s also something to be said for not having to put a Polaroid print in a clip under your armpit while it develops. Meanwhile if you do hanker for the real thing, it’s a subject we’ve looked at in the past.

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MicroPython ESP32 IDE Makes Life Simpler

February 7, 2023 by Al Williams 49 Comments

In theory, using MicroPython on the ESP32 is easy — just flash an image and connect using a serial port. But that leaves a lot of things you still have to do. You need to move files between the two platforms. You’ll want to manage network configurations. You might want better editing and assistance, too. So there are a number of IDEs made to help you and one we recently noticed was MPY-Jama.

The IDE provides source code editing, of course. But it also allows you to do things like pull information about the network using a dashboard or connect to a WiFi network easily. You can even create your own AP with a simple interface.

Although the front part of the README mentions it is for Windows or Mac, if you scroll down you’ll find instructions for installing under Linux. The IDE is extensible using “Jama Funcs” and can handle the flashing operation from inside the IDE.

Of course, there is an IDE from Arduino (but not the Arduino IDE) that handles MicroPython. You can also find a rundown of several similar alternatives online. If you need some inspiration for a MicroPython project, perhaps you’d like to play a game?

A Commodore 64 accessing an online service

The WiC64 Brings Classic Commodores Online, Google Maps Included

February 4, 2023 by Robin Kearey 29 Comments

A computing platform is never really dead unless people stop developing new software for it. By that measure, the Commodore 64 is alive and well: new games, demos, and utilities are still being released on a regular basis. Getting those new programs onto an old computer was always a bit of a hassle though, requiring either an SD card adapter for the Commodore or a direct cable connection from an internet-connected PC. Luckily, there’s now a simpler way to get your latest software updates thanks to a WiFi adapter called WiC64. This adapter plugs into the expansion port of a classic Commodore and lets you download programs directly into memory. [Tommy Ovesen] over at [Arctic Retro] bought one and explored its many features.

The basic design of the WiC64 is straightforward: an ESP32 mounted on an adapter board that connects its data bus to that of the Commodore 64, 128 or VIC-20. A simple program, which you still need to transfer the old way, lets you configure the device and connect to a WiFi network. Once that’s done, an interactive BBS-style program is launched that allows you to access a range of online services. The WiC64 developers provide these, but since the system is fully open-source there’s nothing stopping you from running your own servers as well.

Services currently available include an RSS reader, several multiplayer online games, and even a radio station that plays non-stop SID tunes. There’s also a direct link to CSDB, an online database of Commodore 64 programs and demos which you can now simply download and run directly on your C64 – in effect, a modern app store for a classic computer.

One feature that really seems to defy the C64’s hardware limitations is a fully functional version of Google Maps. Even with the Commodore’s limited resolution and color depth, it does a pretty decent job of showing maps, satellite photos, and even Street View images.

Using the WiC64 requires no hardware modifications to the Commodore 64, but a custom ROM is available that enables a few convenient features such as LOADing programs directly from a web address. There have been several attempts at getting classic Commodores online, but none so far that managed to get complex apps like Google Maps running. We have seen YouTube videos being played on a Commodore PET though.

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