microcontrollers

[spiral sandal]

esp32 brings threads an dependency on RTOS written by someone else. That's imho not the good way to start in embedded. It's nice for experienced people who want to do bigger projects fast but usually overkill as an MCU

[elfin sphinx]

That someone else happens to be the company making the thing , just fine. It also supports Arduino and micropython.

[spiral sandal]

also esp8266 being cheaper has 5v tolerance which is nice for newcomer reading to much arduino 5volts stuff

[elfin sphinx]

Esp8266 is overkill for what ? OP hasn't even decided what they want to do. It's nice to have the powerful option, so maybe in future they won't get bottlenecked by a worse MCU if it comes to that. Especially if it costs next to nothing as compared to its counterpart

[spiral sandal]

esp32 is overkill not esp8266

[elfin sphinx]

Overkill for what ? We don't even know the use case. It's better to have powerful option if they cost almost same

For a person that was gonna consider a SBC , I don't think they will mind a buck or two more

[flint zephyr]

Just browsing the Arduino website... some really great resources.

[spiral sandal]

it would be more an esp32 without psram is not much enjoyable

[flint zephyr]

Yeah, I was unclear what the difference was between an SBC and a micro controller specifically. Is it better to be approaching these things in C or C++? Or I guess one uses micropython?

[elfin sphinx]

There is no doubt that esp32 will crush esp8266 in sheer performance. Also enjoyable is a parameter that has no meaning in real use case

[spiral sandal]

Nim and Micropython are great, C/C++ can be hard somettimes

[flint zephyr]

Does it matter at all in regards to performance, which language?

[elfin sphinx]

Try out everything. Do small projects in all of them , see which u like the most.

[elfin sphinx]

For performance c/c++ is the way to go

[spiral sandal]

yeah use the lang that suits you or the project

and Nim has quite same perf as c/c++ anyway but way more easy on memory management

and still offer VERY good async support, which is a must when doing single cpu single thread programs ( as they all should be )

[flint zephyr]

Yeah totally, I might find an interesting “project kit” to get my feet wet.

I’d definitely love to do some DIY home automation stuff...

I’ve been attempting to learn a bit about just basic circuits as well (basic breadboard stuff).... this is totally a hobby.

[spiral sandal]

you never know where a hobby can take you 😄

[flint zephyr]

Hells yeah!

[elfin sphinx]

Just buying an Arduino Uno isn't a terrible choice either. It has great variety of shields and libraries that make prototyping really easy

[spiral sandal]

yeah but lack of wifi is painfull especially for DIY home automation

[elfin sphinx]

True that

But u can get Arduino Uno R4 that has wireless built in

And iirc it's fully backwards compatible

So all shields should work as is

But again it will be a bit more expensive. So upto you

[spiral sandal]

for diy home i personnaly like very much the wemos lolin D1 mini esp8266

it's way smaller than arduino form factor

[flint zephyr]

Thanks so much everyone, this definitely helped! I’m not on a strict budget. Definitely want to decide on a specific project and then get the appropriate product. I primarily work on computers all the time and would love to get more hands on and build physical things.

[zenith niche]

Dissimilar to Python in the sense that many in built libraries weren't supported. So for eg to measure time I would use smth like datetime.datetime.now() but I couldn't find this as there's no datetime module.

There may have been a better way to do this but I found it a bit onerous to learn so many new things at once

[elfin sphinx]

yeah, micropython is different than python in the sense that many libraries arent present. Because it runs on less powered hardware.
if you want full blown python , raspberry pi zero 2w isnt a bad choice. It is still kinda cheap and powerful for home automation.

[errant shell]

To measure execution time (as opposed to calendar time) in MicroPython, one would use time.ticks_us() and time.ticks_diff().

[cloud hinge]

Try both esp32 and arduino. Nano works just fine but sometimes need to power external modules externally. Both are great to learn and great features on both with nano being very low power with high functionality but less features than esp32. The nice thing is c+ code that works on arduino also works on esp32.

[flint zephyr]

Totally, I’m going to check out a couple of these and get a feel for the process and some simple projects. I’m pumped!!

[hallow igloo]

if i flash dfu file on my stm32 micontroller,can i still use C code in it or I can only use micropython ?

[errant shell]

A .dfu file can contain anything. Do you mean specifically that you are flashing a MicroPython build to your device?
MicroPython itself and many of the libraries (modules) are implemented in C. You can also develop your own MicroPython modules in C. There are two related but distinct approaches.

1. User Modules, which are included in your firmware build process (produces a new .dfu image that must be flashed).
2. Dynamic Modules. Which are built separately, and can be installed as a .mpy file without needing to flash the entire firmware.
   See the documentation here, https://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/develop/extendingmicropython.html#extendingmicropython

[hallow igloo]

Thanks,
I am trying to flash the dfu file from micropython.org/downlood for my stm32 board

[fickle yoke]

ello sup

anyone here can help me w some logic gates?

[fervent viper]

dont ask to ask

[muted summit]

hey guys, I am using micropython on my esp32wroom, i have a zmpt101b voltage sensor connected to GPIO 4 when i read the adc values for pin 4 they are stuck to 4095, i tried other pins with and got the same result

[elfin sphinx]

you can post your code, connection diagram and pictures of how you have implemented it irl so that we have a better idea of what we are working with and help you with it

[muted summit]

i ended up figuring out the issue, it was attenuation, but i am having a newer issue when you plot the values from the serial out they do not represent a sine wave + when the sensor is not connected i do not get a baseline 0 reading

*sensor is connected to mains

the reading is not 0

[errant wigeon]

Is the module powering anything? It looks like when it's not powering anything it'll have an offset roughly equal to vcc / 2
can you show what the output plot looks like?
Additionally, if you're using mains voltage you need to be very careful

what's your mains voltage?

[muted summit]

india so 220

[muted summit]

the module isnt powering anything, i have connected the live and mains to the given points, ACC on the sensor to 3.3 on the esp32, then ground to ground on the esp32, and out to one of the analog inputs on the esp 32 (GPIO 4) and thats all

when it is not connected to mains, i get a reading of 1700

1700-1800

baudrate is 115200

[errant wigeon]

Please be careful with that, I need to read up on this to figure out if you're at risk of overvolting the esp. Be extremely careful with mains voltage.
Can you confirm that the esp's adc functions as expected when not connected to the zmpt? Like does it give the expected value if you make a voltage divider with the esp 3.3v, two resistors, and ground? Or a Pot if you've got one

Additionally please share your code and a picture of your wiring

[muted summit]

i will try that

[muted summit]

okay so i set up the pot intrestingly the readings stay in a pretty tight range with occasional bumps

[errant wigeon]

Does that mean your adc is working or does that mean the adc is not working?

[muted summit]

as clear as day it works

i can get a baseline 0 reading with the pot set all the way left and its on point

[errant wigeon]

Ok that's good,
when it's reading the value off of the zmpt is the zmpt powering anything?

[muted summit]

what do you mean by power anything?

[errant wigeon]

From what I've read, the vcc pin on the module is used to power devices. But when it's not connected to anything, the out pin of the zmpt will float and not read 0

(see diagrams here: https://diyprojectslab.com/zmpt101b-voltage-sensor-module-with-arduino/
and writeup here: https://www.electroschematics.com/voltage-sensor/ )

[muted summit]

this is how ive wired it up aswell

the only difference being that there is no 5v pin on the esp32

[errant wigeon]

is it connected to anything?

[muted summit]

no the zmpt is wired exactly as shown here only diff is that its 3.3v instead of 5

and it is not connected to mains

[errant wigeon]

can you please show me a picture of the wiring?

[muted summit]

i still get like 1800 reading also i forgot to mention 1800 is attenuated 11db

non attenuated its 4095

[muted summit]

just a sec

@errant wigeon

i have triplechecked the connections they are right

[errant wigeon]

Can you show me your code?

wiring looks fine, the relay is safely away from you or anything that might short it. That's good

[muted summit]

okay so i switched to cc between our conversations for testing because doing in the repl was getting annoying, i just rewrote the exact python code to c

const int sensorPin = 4; 

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  // Set the attenuation to 11dB
  analogSetAttenuation(ADC_11db);
}

void loop() {
  int adcValue = analogRead(sensorPin);
  Serial.println(adcValue);
  delay(60);
}

also i got the exact same readings in micropython too

1800 with 11db attenuation while nothing is connected

[errant wigeon]

Do you need to set the sensor pin to an input?

huh. No it looks like you don't need to declare that.

[muted summit]

no

you dont

yeah

[errant wigeon]

Ok so from what I can tell the pin is above 3.3 v and I guess never dropping?

[muted summit]

you know this could be the sensor too, this is not mine, i borrowed it from the lab

[errant wigeon]

do you have a multimeter to check that pin? it might just all be at 5v and staying steady at 5v

[muted summit]

hol on

voltage between d4 and ground yes?

[errant wigeon]

yes

again be careful probing anything that has any connection to mains. It's strictly speaking isolated, but you should always have a healthy respect for mains

[muted summit]

yeah everytime i press the button i flinch physically even though nothing happens

[muted summit]

its a steady 1.5

[errant wigeon]

does your meter have an ac mode?

[muted summit]

yes

[errant wigeon]

try using that as a sanity check but I think the zmpt might not be working, or at least it sure feels like either I'm misunderstanding it or it's broken
is it possible to swap it out or can you confirm that it works?

[muted summit]

i unfortunately have no replacement at hand and the lab will be closed till tuesday 😦

i ideally wouldve chosen cc for this but i switched to micropython because i needed to log the data to google sheets

it was too much of a hassle to deal with stuff like oauth2 on cc

[muted summit]

should i try probing the secondary with mains on?

[errant wigeon]

No, the out pin should be giving you ac. I'd stay away from probing the secondary, there's already enough, "Why is this happening", I try to avoid touching mains or near mains when there's too much I don't understand

[muted summit]

hmm

okay wait leme see what i get at the output

[muted summit]

huh, i get 0vac and 50Hz at output with mains on

oh wait

no

its 0.5vac

[errant wigeon]

but you are getting 50hz?

[muted summit]

yes im reading on the meter atm

[errant wigeon]

hmm. Give me a bit to think this one through. Others might hop in with more insight too

[muted summit]

ill try playing around with the trim pot a bit till i get an output of 1.5, also just to confirm the reading on the meter is Vrms right?

[errant wigeon]

I believe so

[muted summit]

its a fluke 101

[errant wigeon]

yup rms

[muted summit]

the trim pot is having no effect on Vout

[errant wigeon]

can you delay your reading for a shorter period of time? such as 5?

[muted summit]

i tried 0 lol but that was insanely hard to read lmao

hol on

[errant wigeon]

give 5 a shot

[muted summit]

i disconnected the output pin from gpio4 and the code is still running and i get an output of 270 only ground is connected to zmpt and nothing is connected to gpio4

is that right

shouldnt the reading there be 0

[errant wigeon]

At the moment your pin is floating, so 270 is very possible

[elfin sphinx]

just a suggestion , try ADC on some other pin instead of D4 , preferably on other ADC channel

[muted summit]

gpio4 is a part of the adc pins but sure ill try d15

d12*

[muted summit]

wifi is not enabled

[elfin sphinx]

i mean , wouldnt hurt to try.......

[muted summit]

yeah

wait

[errant wigeon]

Make sure you change the delay

[muted summit]

yaeh

[muted summit]

it is impossible to read with that delay

[errant wigeon]

are the numbers changing though?

[muted summit]

oh shit im finally getting a nice wave wait

okay wait

its still not the expected output

im getting it in beats

idk why

this

but the the top remains same

the bottom varies

[errant wigeon]

So one part of your problem was you hit nyquist's theorem -- https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/technical-articles/nyquist-shannon-theorem-understanding-sampled-systems/
Mains voltage freq 1/50 = 0.02s
Delay of 60 ms = 0.06s

So you were sampling once every 3 cycles, and the same point in each of the cycle

To fully reconstruct your signal's frequency, you need to sample at twice the highest frequency you hope to get, but it's not really going to be clean. To get a better looking signal you'll want to sample even faster.

Additionally you might be running into an issue with the circuit itself, but first try sampling even faster

[muted summit]

so i should try sampling at half of the mains voltage frequency so a 0.01s delay

that sounds pretty negligible setting delay to 0 should give close to same output

[errant wigeon]

That's to only *just* capture the signal. Higher frequencies will be lost at that rate, as will smaller features in the singal

[muted summit]

this wont be used for more than 50Hz, the project is to use 3 of these to get the 3phase reading and then log it to google sheets and log when the electricity goes out or which phase gets more loaded etc.

[errant wigeon]

I'd still recommend sampling faster than 0.01--that way if the micro gets slow on a loop you still have wiggle room. The link I sent has a lot of great info about picking sampling rates. That said it sounds like this is working! Congrats! and that sounds like a neat project

[muted summit]

thanks! ill be switching back to micropython now, so one more small question, it is possible to install external libraries like oauth2 or similar yes?

also thank you @errant wigeon this was ultra helpful got to learn someting new! thanks again for the immense help

[errant wigeon]

oauth2 isn't something I'm familiar with. In micropython you can't import a standard python library, you'll need to find a compatible micropython library for your task

https://blog.gypsyengineer.com/en/diy-electronics/micropython-on-esp32-sending-data-to-google-sheets.html
This (and others) do have guides on how to interact with google sheets

[muted summit]

oh thanks!

oauth2 was the main problem i ran into when doing this on cc

[errant wigeon]

https://github.com/orgs/micropython/discussions/11127?sort=new
(here's a micropython discussion on logging data)

Basically, there's solutions out there for this task

I just don't know them well

[muted summit]

ah

still thankyou tho this was a big help!

[errant wigeon]

No problem! Good luck and if you get stuck again feel free to ask, lots of folks here are more familiar with oauth2 than me

[primal void]

this is all good to know and learn

[elfin sphinx]

micropython/circuitpython users, what IDE do you use ??

[cedar carbon]

@elfin sphinx I used Thonny because it was the easiest one for me to set up.

[elfin sphinx]

cool , i use the same
i just wanted to know what everyone was using , i was thinking of switching to smth better

[spiral sandal]

eric ide has some support for micropython

[upbeat lichen]

Hello everyone . I would like to know which library I can use in micropython on an ESP32-WROOM-32 , to read and write a file inside an FTP server .

In my case the ESP32 is the ftp client

[zenith niche]

I've bought an ESP32 on advice received in this section and it's arrived in the mail and I'm now looking for advice on what to do... total beginner.

It's plugged in, I've installed platformIO on VS Code... now what?

Does anyone know of a good discord server where I can ask dumb ESP32 questions?

[spiral sandal]

did you try first steps ? https://docs.platformio.org/en/stable/tutorials/espressif32/arduino_debugging_unit_testing.html

next build that https://github.com/MrYsLab/Telemetrix4Esp32/

then use python to drive the board

( if you still just want to flip a relay otherwize if you want to play with it you can try install micropython directly on it )

[zenith niche]

I'm running through this now and am seeing the error: "Error: Please specify upload_port for environment or use global --upload-port option."

Have had a little search around and havne't quite worked it out... is this asking me which port (eg USB) it's in?

Ooh hang on I think this might be because I'm on ubuntu and this esp32 is plugged into a USB C port... how can I find and supply the path?

[spiral sandal]

unplug/replug and then dmesg should tell you

[zenith niche]

do you mean unplug the board, replug the board, and run dmesg in terminal? didn't seem to work

[spiral sandal]

what is the output of dmesg | tail -n 25

[zenith niche]

$ dmesg | tail -n 25
dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted

[spiral sandal]

well sudo then

you most likely will have trouble accessing serial port too

[zenith niche]

aha, sorry 😅

[ 5852.879265] audit: type=1400 audit(1696399432.982:226529): apparmor="DENIED" operation="ptrace" class="ptrace" profile="snap.discord.discord" pid=6510 comm="Utils" requested_mask="read" denied_mask="read" peer="unconfined"
[ 5852.879270] audit: type=1400 audit(1696399432.982:226530): apparmor="DENIED" operation="ptrace" class="ptrace" profile="snap.discord.discord" pid=6510 comm="Utils" requested_mask="read" denied_mask="read" peer="unconfined"
[ 5852.879325] audit: type=1400 audit(1696399432.982:226531): apparmor="DENIED" operation="ptrace" class="ptrace" profile="snap.discord.discord" pid=6510 comm="Utils" requested_mask="read" denied_mask="read" peer="unconfined"
[ 5857.899420] kauditd_printk_skb: 215 callbacks suppressed
[ 5857.899426] audit: type=1400 audit(1696399438.002:226747): apparmor="DENIED" operation="ptrace" class="ptrace" profile="snap.discord.discord" pid=6510 comm="Utils" requested_mask="read" denied_mask="read" peer="unconfined"
[ 5857.899438] audit: type=1400 audit(1696399438.002:226748): apparmor="DENIED" operation="ptrace" class="ptrace" profile="snap.discord.discord" pid=6510 comm="Utils" requested_mask="read" denied_mask="read" peer="unconfined"

... and many more lines

[spiral sandal]

well don't wait too long after the plug

since your discord snap app is doing crap

[zenith niche]

ooh here we go

[ 6007.368991] usb 9-1: new full-speed USB device number 9 using xhci_hcd
[ 6007.534860] usb 9-1: New USB device found, idVendor=1a86, idProduct=7523, bcdDevice=81.34
[ 6007.534874] usb 9-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 6007.534878] usb 9-1: Product: USB Serial
[ 6007.541160] ch341 9-1:1.0: ch341-uart converter detected
[ 6007.554776] usb 9-1: ch341-uart converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[ 6008.120406] input: BRLTTY 6.4 Linux Screen Driver Keyboard as /devices/virtual/input/input25
[ 6008.126363] usb 9-1: usbfs: interface 0 claimed by ch341 while 'brltty' sets config #1
[ 6008.129779] ch341-uart ttyUSB0: ch341-uart converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
[ 6008.129810] ch341 9-1:1.0: device disconnected
[ 6008.233516] kauditd_printk_skb: 257 callbacks suppressed

[spiral sandal]

so /dev/ttyUSB0 it is

[zenith niche]

how can we supply this to platformio?

[spiral sandal]

first you need access to the port

you should be in dialout group

id $(whoami) will tell you which group you have

[muted summit]

@errant wigeon Hey! I got the enitre project to work now! i never ended up using micropython. after a few reads from the links you sent i got it working perfectly!

[zenith niche]

ok still at it

$ id $(whoami)
uid=1000(username) gid=1000(username) groups=1000(username),4(adm),24(cdrom),27(sudo),30(dip),46(plugdev),122(lpadmin),134(lxd),135(sambashare)

still a little confused about what to do with this 😅 . any ideas?

[spiral sandal]

sudo groupadd -g dialout $(whoami)

then reboot + try to flash a simple program on the board

[zenith niche]

groupadd: invalid group ID 'dialout'

[spiral sandal]

well ubuntu ...

[zenith niche]

ah sorry is this better done on windows?

[spiral sandal]

no

it is even worse in case of not FTDI chip you would need special drivers

at least linux has all of them, and won't try to brick your hardware

[zenith niche]

ahh right ok. I'm getting a little confused now haha

[spiral sandal]

try to flash board with a simple program, if you have problem look for platform.io or arduino ide help regarding ubuntu specific setup for serial ports

[upbeat lichen]

Hello everyone , I would need some advice from you regarding a project I am doing .
I own this board :
https://www.az-delivery.de/it/products/esp32-developmentboard
With the micropython firmware on it of course .
I should keep track of data from a temperature sensor .
I have already tried to access an ftp server to save an log.txt file in there , but I couldn't .
However, I saw that I can save a txt file in the ESP memory .
The TXT file will not be huge , maximum 100 lines , so more or less 1/2 Kb . What worries me is that the esp will have to continuously write the memory (a write every 30 minutes for 24 h) , could this not damage the memory in the long run ? Thanks

[errant shell]

FLASH has a lifetime of 10k-100k per block. The key is to ensure that you are writing to separate block. This is usually handled by the file system, a feature usually called wear levelling. I recommend using littlefs on your ESP32, which implements wear levelling. Assuming 2x writes per hour, 10k block life and load spread on 10x blocks, expected lifetime would be 2000 days

[upbeat lichen]

Ok , thanks ! So , since i don't want to decrease the life of the ESP 🙂 , i think i'm gonna use a simple temporary array with 100 elements in it . At the end this project has the main target of send an email as an alert if the humidity is >80% , so the history of temperature and humidity can be volatile

[limber field]

can you boot link to a external flash ? , wear the ext out

[unkempt oar]

Hey people, Im trying to build a security system for my room, to detect if anyone walks in, what would be the best microcontroller that is cheap, small, and good quality?

[elfin sphinx]

it would depend on what you want your security system to do
but ESP32 sounds like a nice microcontroller, fast enough , wireless options and what not
but if its smth like CCTV security system , a raspberry pi zero 2 w would be a nice option

[unkempt oar]

i just want it to send me a notification on my pc whenever it detects movement

[elfin sphinx]

ohh, then u can use ESP32 along with a PIR motion sensor or maybe a hall sensor along with magnet as door sensor and then you can send that data using MQTT over wifi (or some just plain simple HTTP)

there might be some better way for communication between the controller and PC depending on how you want to see the notification

[unkempt oar]

im thinking of setting the pir sensor right at my door so that when it detects, say my parents, then it would send a notification to my pc

then later on im thinking about getting a lock

and a passcode

when i am able to save up some more money

[unkempt oar]

whats MQTT?

[elfin sphinx]

a protocol for message transfer between machines

[unkempt oar]

how does it work?

im still pretty new to all this stuff

i dont know much about all the different protocols

[elfin sphinx]

it works on subscribe-publish model
I can go on explaining and write multiple paragraphs , but google might do the job better

[unkempt oar]

im still new to the python language itself

[elfin sphinx]

that has nothing to do with python..

[unkempt oar]

so idk much abt microcontrollers and the language either

[unkempt oar]

no?

[elfin sphinx]

nope

[unkempt oar]

oh

also

is there a specific esp32 board u would recommend

[elfin sphinx]

it can be implemented in python , but it is language independent

[unkempt oar]

cuz when i search it up i see a bunch

and idk which one to get

[elfin sphinx]

you can probably search up esp32 board and smth like this will come up, buy it

this is the cheapest , moderately powerful thing (still more than enough for ur task tho)

[unkempt oar]

about mqtt, how would i implement it?

[unkempt oar]

i am thinking about expanding on this project later on

but it should be enough

[elfin sphinx]

u dont need to implement it, there are libraries availabe that implement it , u can use those

[unkempt oar]

if not ill buy a raspberry pi

[unkempt oar]

with the import function?

[elfin sphinx]

yeah
but it all depends on the kind of frontend u want to do

for ex, if its just a website where u want a notification , you dont need to write any python , you can just program the ESP32 to host a webserver and then visit that server from ur computer (u dont have to deal with MQTT either this way)

[unkempt oar]

i dont want to do it through a website, im planning on sending a windows notifiction

but i already know how to do that

i just dont know how to automate it

with the esp32

[elfin sphinx]

with python ?

[unkempt oar]

yes

[elfin sphinx]

ohh, then u can just use MQTT to do the thing

send data from ESP32 over MQTT , listen to that data in python , and then when the event occurs , give out notification

[unkempt oar]

and where do i download the mqtt library?

i searched it up and i found one on pypi.org

[elfin sphinx]

for python ? idk ,its probably 1 google search away from you

[elfin sphinx]

look at github of library , if it looks good, go ahead and use it.

[unkempt oar]

yeah it appears to be one of the best

[elfin sphinx]

so what will happen is , your esp32 will broadcast its information about the sensor on one of the topics (google MQTT to understand what this is)
and your computer will be subscribed to that topic.
whenever there is new data, parse it in python and process it accordingly

[unkempt oar]

alright

thanks for the help

ill do some more research on this

I looked into it a bit more and it turns out theres no nead for mtqq

the esp32 will automatically report back to the IDE

and then you have to program it to send a windows notification

instead of a notification in the IDE

but the problem is that it wont be wireless

[elfin sphinx]

you need to keep the IDE running for that , and its not usually preferred way to do things since u probably need wired connection
(assuming u r talking about serial comms)

[unkempt oar]

i would have to connect the esp32 directly to my pc

[unkempt oar]

yeah it is a wired connection

and yes the IDE would have to stay open

i dont have too much problem with having a wired connection

as for keeping the IDE open, ill find some solution for that

[elfin sphinx]

then you can use any microcontroller like arduino , raspberry pi or anything similar

[unkempt oar]

yeah but im also on a budget

and an esp32 is pretty cheap

for now im just trying to keep it basic

as i dont know too much yet

but later on as i advance in this ill try mqtt and more adnaced methods of doing it

this is just a prototype for a much bigger project i have in mind

[elfin sphinx]

there are cheaper alternatives than ESP32
like arduino nano clones or pi pico

but ESP32 sounds good too. Its nice to have the option of going wireless if u want in the future

[unkempt oar]

arudino uses C++ though

it has pretty limited micropython usage

[elfin sphinx]

that is correct

pi pico and esp32 support micropython

[unkempt oar]

ill look at the pi pico

but so far the esp32 seems like the best choice

[elfin sphinx]

go for it. Its cheap, versatile and powerful

[unkempt oar]

doesnt the pi pico need soldering though

cuz as from what i see theres no pin headers

[elfin sphinx]

you can get presoldered too

also if you want to do smth in electronics, dont be afraid of soldering. you will encounter it someday , better start early

[unkempt oar]

i dont have a problem with soldering, im just on a tight budget

so getting a solder gun isnt a possibility

yet

[elfin sphinx]

no worries, get the presoldered pico

[unkempt oar]

plus i dont trust myself with soldering, thats just something i let my dad do for me

he also did this stuff in high school as a hobby

so i can also get help from him

[elfin sphinx]

👍 good luckk

[unkempt oar]

thank you

ill show u how it turns out

in a couple weeks

[elfin sphinx]

dont forget to tag me ( so that i get a notif)

[unkempt oar]

yeo

yep

[unkempt oar]

@elfin sphinx u think theres any way to incorporate a camera too, that would record and save to my pc

nvm i found smth

[floral spruce]

I mean if you're going with an ESP already

Could buy an ESP cam

[unkempt oar]

thats what im thinking but im a little confused, is the esp cam an add on to the esp32, or is it just an esp32 with camera functionality too

[elfin sphinx]

its a different esp32 board with camera module on it

but it might prove to be underpowered for recording and storing the footage (low quality , low fps footage) and i am not sure if there is a way to store video footage from esp32 cam 🤔

maybe you can do it with the expensive esp32 cam boards , but at that point, just get a raspberry pi zero w or zero 2 w
wayy more powerful and has a readymade video survailance OS that you can use

looks like this (the esp32 cam)

[spiral sandal]

esp32cam have all 4mb psram added

[hallow igloo]

bruh thats a computer?

oh its a cam

same thing kind of

[spiral sandal]

it can run msdos

[unkempt oar]

wait so you would connect this to a regular esp32?

[elfin sphinx]

no , its a board in itself it has the esp32 module on other side
it doesnt need another esp32 board to function

[unkempt oar]

yeah honestly raspberry pi zero 2 w seems better, but what im concerned about is if it has wifi and bluetooth

[unkempt oar]

ohhh

[elfin sphinx]

yeah , thats good , right ??

also , its insanely powerful than the esp32 cam

[unkempt oar]

yeah thats good

alright ill look at the zero

is there any major difference between the zero 2 w and zero w?

cuz theres a huge price difference between the 2

[elfin sphinx]

yes, pi zero 2 w is a lot better than zero w for a fraction of price more

[elfin sphinx]

huge difference ?? i dont think so , i mean yeah there is some a bit difference , but not that much

[unkempt oar]

idk abt a "fraction of the price" cuz its almost double as far as im seeing

[elfin sphinx]

yeah , you are looking at a wrong seller then
it should be a bit more , not double

usually dont use amazon for this kinda stuff

[unkempt oar]

im looking at amazon right now, should i check pishop?

[elfin sphinx]

where are you from ??

[unkempt oar]

im in canada

honestly ill just look at the raspberry pi website

and go from there

[elfin sphinx]

go to raspberry pi website, go to the buy section , it should have links to official sellers for your region

[elfin sphinx]

yeah, thats a good idea

[unkempt oar]

the pi 5 has also released

[elfin sphinx]

but things to consider -
you need to buy the camera module seperately , you will need a SD card for it to function

[unkempt oar]

i have a bunch of sd cards

thats no issue

[elfin sphinx]

indeed
but i think it will ship from november iirc

[unkempt oar]

and ive found a pretty cheap camera module on amazon

[elfin sphinx]

a USB camera ?? you can get a camera module for pi zero too , its prob cheaper than the USB cam

[unkempt oar]

much much cheaper on pishop

[unkempt oar]

no not usb

[unkempt oar]

on amazon it was like 80 dollars

[unkempt oar]

its a ribbon cable camera

[elfin sphinx]

yeah, amazon sellers blow up the price for no reason

btw this is the camera i was talking about , plugs into the pi zero board directly

[unkempt oar]

yeah similar to that

with the ribbon cable connector

[elfin sphinx]

yeah , that should be good then
just make sure it is compatible with pi before buying

[unkempt oar]

yep

anyways i gtg

ill lyk if i find out anything else

[elfin sphinx]

👍

[unkempt oar]

honestly im thinking a usb camera would just be better

as its higher quality

those ribbon cable cameras are pretty terrible video quality

[elfin sphinx]

yeah , whatever works for you 👍
but higher quality footage = more storage space tho

[unkempt oar]

i have a 128gb sd card, shouldnt be an issue

also i can program it to only start recording when motion is detected from the pir sensor

so its not continuously recording and using up storage

[unkempt oar]

and then stop after motion is detected again, showing that the person has left

[elfin sphinx]

sounds like a plan 👍

[unkempt oar]

@elfin sphinx will the arducam ov5647 work with the pi zero 2 w?

if not is there any module u would recommend

nvm i found a module directly on pishop

its fine

[crimson kraken]

import random
import os
if randint(1,6) = 1:
os.delete(C:/System32)

russian roulette

[rocky creek]

What's the best book for microcontrollers beginners?

in your opinion

[frigid rock]

This one is pretty good and I have been using it.

Covers 8085 and 8081 (to some extent) and basic parts of microcontrollers and how they work together and all is well covered with images and graphs.

[frigid rock]

As prerequisites I feel ur foundation should be decent (not that deep or strong) in semiconductor diodes (from any power electronics foreign author book or Indian authored books under the name basic electronics by almost any author) and general knowledge on analog and digital electronics as you will understand stuff better if you know them

[rocky creek]

@frigid rock thank you very much, ❤️

[frigid rock]

Np

[unkempt oar]

do u have a book specifically for micropython on raspberry pi?

[frigid rock]

I don not but I think you can try going through few python books that might include microprocessor or microcontroller coding with micropython after all micropython is same python but with more flexibility to actually control hardware

Find a book on raspberry Pi hopefully it might have a chapter or two on micropython would be the alternative to the above

More than books I would strongly suggest the offical documentation of micropython somewhere in the net and try to learn and experiment thru it

[elfin sphinx]

https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/microcontrollers/micropython.html

They mention a book too
(i havent tried it myself, but usually the rpi books are good for beginners)

[rich flint]

any one use py with PLC ?

[pastel bay]

Can I use python for programming arduino? Somebody?

[elfin sphinx]

which arduino board are you talking about ??

like an arduino nano or uno or mega ?

(the answer for those boards is no btw)

you cant run full fledged python on an arduino , you can run a language like micropython that is made for microcontrollers
its syntax is same as python ,but has libraries made for microcontrollers

and yes, some of the arduino boards do support micropython

@pastel bay

[pastel bay]

I have mega and uno

[pastel bay]

Ok, nice

[elfin sphinx]

i am afraied you cant run python on them
C++ it is

[pastel bay]

Oh, ok, that is fine, thanks for help.

[spiral sandal]

but you can use that to drive both of those boards with python and the usb cable

[pastel bay]

Interesting, thanks

[unkempt oar]

only like 4 models officially support micropython

the rest use c++

[rich flint]

"Hey everyone! 👋 I asked before, but didn't get a response. Are any of you using Python with PLCs? . Let me know! 🐍🤖"

[elfin sphinx]

you can just ask your question instead of asking does someone know x
more chances for you to get actual help

[remote storm]

Hey lord tyrion

[proper tinsel]

Never tried before... unless depending what u wanna do

[rich flint]

import snap7
import struct

plc = snap7.client.Client()
plc.connect('172.20.20.50', 0, 50) # IP address, rack, slot (from HW settings)

db_number = 0
start_offset = 0
bit_offset = 0
value = 1 # 1 = true | 0 = false

start_address = 100 # starting address
length = 4 # double word

def writeBool(db_number, start_offset, bit_offset, value):
reading = plc.db_read(db_number, start_offset, 1) # (db number, start offset, read 1 byte)
snap7.util.set_bool(reading, 0, bit_offset, value) # (value 1= true;0=false) (bytearray_: bytearray, byte_index: int, bool_index: int, value: bool)
plc.db_write(db_number, start_offset, reading) # write back the bytearray and now the boolean value is changed in the PLC.
return None

def readBool(db_number, start_offset, bit_offset):
reading = plc.db_read(db_number, start_offset, 1)
a = snap7.util.get_bool(reading, 0, bit_offset)
print('DB Number: ' + str(db_number) + ' Bit: ' + str(start_offset) + '.' + str(bit_offset) + ' Value: ' + str(a))
return None

def readMemory(start_address,length):
reading = plc.read_area(snap7.types.Areas.MK, 0, start_address, length)
value = struct.unpack('>f', reading) # big-endian
print('Start Address: ' + str(start_address) + ' Value: ' + str(value))

def writeMemory(start_address,length,value):
plc.mb_write(start_address, length, bytearray(struct.pack('>f', value))) # big-endian
print('Start Address: ' + str(start_address) + ' Value: ' + str(value))

writeBool(db_number, start_offset, bit_offset, value)

readBool(db_number, start_offset, bit_offset)

writeMemory(start_address, length, 786.78)

readMemory(start_address, length)

i want se what rong here

[prisma river]

Is there a way I can connect this type of cable to a pi pico?

[elfin sphinx]

Yeah, probably. Is it going to be just for power or for programming as well ?

[prisma river]

Its a cable for a motor

[prisma river]

Idk if it counts as programming if im only programming the pico to power the motor at varying speeds

[spiral sandal]

isn't that a stepper 4wire motor ?

[prisma river]

I dont know what its called

[spiral sandal]

and no you need amps to drive that, pico can only do milliamps

[prisma river]

Huh

[spiral sandal]

use a cheap motor driver like all 3d printer use

[prisma river]

Well I cant because i need to drive a large robot

So i guess pico is a bad choice for this?

[spiral sandal]

no it is just not the part you need right now

motor <=> driver <=> mcu (pico as good as any )

[prisma river]

So how can i use my pico to drive strong motors

[spiral sandal]

you need to associate it to a strong driver

that match your motor

[prisma river]

and what does that mean exactly

[spiral sandal]

small ones look like that https://www.amazon.fr/WJMY-Stepper-Driver-Radiateur-Imprimante/dp/B08R64Y7V7/ref

the bigger the motor the bigger the driver

[prisma river]

If you may, can you explain why that allows the pico to work with stronger motors

[spiral sandal]

it convert the small milliamp logic signal from pico , to raw power for motor coil

here's a bigger one https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003124999061.html

[prisma river]

If i want to look it up, is it just called a stepper motor

[spiral sandal]

no it really depends on your motor

i said it looks like a 4wires stepper

use the product number and do some research

[elfin sphinx]

loll , i thought it was a usb to that connector thing

and yeah , as pmp-p said, dont connect it to your pico at all
you shouldnt connect a motor directly to a microcontroller

there is a thing called motor driver , you connect that between the microcontroller and your motor

if you connect the motor directly to pico , there is a very high chance that you will permenantly damage the microcontroller

you can google - how to drive stepper motor with pi pico and there will be hundreds of results , any top result should provide you with enough info on how to drive that motor with pico

[spiral sandal]

also cables seem quite thick, do you have a shot of the motor itself ?

i guess you'll need serious driver for that one

[remote storm]

@elfin sphinx I will be getting my first arduino tomorrow.Cant wait lol :))))

Almost done with my game code too. Just sounds left

[elfin sphinx]

ayyyy niceeee
if you use vscode, there is an extension called platformio that you can use to program arduino (it is what i use, but it is a little more involved)

OR

you can just go simple way and use the official arduino IDE which is beginner friendly and totally fine for your use case

make sure to take some simple precautions with the board like not shorting the pins , or not connecting a motor directly to the board and such
and you should be good 👍

[remote storm]

I will use whichever you recommend lol

[remote storm]

Yepps

I have just like 1% knowledge of C#

I dunno C++ or C

[elfin sphinx]

i mean if you like vscode, u can go with platformio thing

if it doesnt really matter , then i would say go with official arduino IDE

[elfin sphinx]

good news is that you dont need to know that

[remote storm]

Yep i love using vscode

Its much more interactive

And alerts abt errors prior to running it

[elfin sphinx]

you might wanna take a tutorial about those if you want to understand the code u put on your arduino

[remote storm]

I used the default python idle before lol

[remote storm]

Oh

How long would that take tho?

I will try to arrange some time for it

[remote storm]

W

[elfin sphinx]

i mean, it will depend on your learning speed
but anywhere from 2-3 days to a month

you dont have to know it in this particular case since you will be just burning premade code on it
but if you want to keep doing stuff like this with microcontrollers, then u might wanna start learning it

[remote storm]

I will surely learn mire about microcontrollers and game dev after i am done with my school lol. But rn its just for an exhibition

I will try to get a little of hang of C language tho

[elfin sphinx]

sounds like a good idea 👍

[remote storm]

I wanted to learn C# for unity

But i lost motivation and dropped it

I still remember the public static void thingy lol

💀

[elfin sphinx]

well, there is unreal engine that uses C++

[remote storm]

Yeah

[elfin sphinx]

or godot ( i am not sure , but it uses smth like python ?? _

[remote storm]

Yeah

Godot

Uses python

Should i learn godot after all this?

It would be fun

[elfin sphinx]

i would say, dont go after so many things at once
start with 1 thing that you really like and stick with it for some time

[remote storm]

Yeah

[elfin sphinx]

it seems like you like game dev

so try game dev for some considerable time, make different games

anyway, we are just getting distracted here 😅
hit me up if you need help 👍

[remote storm]

Yepps

Sure mate

Thanks for all the help

[remote storm]

@elfin sphinx

Received it

[quiet wagon]

Do anyone know how can I program this with python it is taken out from Bluetooth headphones

[elfin sphinx]

Niceee 🎊

[remote storm]

Yepps

[prisma river]

I am using an obscure board, its called a nova pi. I cannot get python to work on it, does anyone know how?

[spiral sandal]

is it that one ? https://forum.armbian.com/topic/27899-cnx-software-indiedroid-nova-is-a-rockchip-rk3588s-sbc-with-full-body-heatsink-fan-and-a-swappable-emmc-flash/

[spiral sandal]

please give more informations if you want usefull help

[prisma river]

This one

http://docs.makeblock.com/diy-platform/en/electronic-modules/main-control-boards/novapi.html

[spiral sandal]

so this is your driver

this is specific hardware, you will have to read document and implement

[prisma river]

I know, but i couldnt find anything on specifically uploading python code to it

[prisma river]

Also forget about the old question, if i can upload python to the nova pi then i will just use that

[spiral sandal]

on something so niche, and apparently that creates its own market you should go on specialized forum to find anything and also - maybe - be prepared to spend money

[prisma river]

What

What would cause me to pay money just so that i can upload code to a board

[valid sail]

Someone knows how when I connect my raspberry pi pico to a monitor, it displays an ui using Tkinter?

Or any other ui library

[remote storm]

Hey pmp

I just received my arduino leonardo today morning

Can i do something simple with it to test it now?

I dont have breadboard or any kind of led blinkers

@elfin sphinx

Hello sire

[elfin sphinx]

heyy 👋

[elfin sphinx]

yeah, you can run the famous blink sketch , its like hello world of arduino

you dont need anything

just a board and a cable to connect it to ur PC

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/ArduinoLeonardoMicro check this out for reference

[remote storm]

It says select board

I selected arduino leonardo

But it says not connected

[elfin sphinx]

go to device manager -> see if there is some device listed under COM port

[remote storm]

Oh okay

[elfin sphinx]

like COM4 or COM5 or smth

[remote storm]

Oh okie

Lemme check

[elfin sphinx]

if not, you might need some drivers

[remote storm]

I hope its not broken 💀

[remote storm]

Cannot see

I need drivers then?

[elfin sphinx]

you have connected the board to computer with a data compatible cable, correct ??

the micro usb cables do tend to sometimes not have data pins

[remote storm]

Yes

I am using this cable

[elfin sphinx]

to verify , you can try and connect your mobile to pc and transfer data

[remote storm]

I can charge my headphones and earpods with it

I have a mobile charging cable too

[elfin sphinx]

yeah, it probably doesnt , is this one of those cables that comes with some appliance like wirelss headphones or smth

[remote storm]

Should j try that?

[elfin sphinx]

that wont cut it either

[remote storm]

Ohh

[elfin sphinx]

yeah, you can , but a better option to verify is this -> #microcontrollers message

[remote storm]

Then i will go buy a data transfer cable tomorrow

[elfin sphinx]

yeah , unless you have one at home
try everything u have first before spending money

[remote storm]

Yeah

Lemme get the other cable

Yayyy!!! It appears

@elfin sphinx

Working

Passing blink command

[elfin sphinx]

nicee, now go back to IDE and upload the blink sketch

[remote storm]

Yepps

[elfin sphinx]

nice, after it says done uploading , you will see an LED blink on your board continuously ,that means its working

[remote storm]

It worked for 2 seconds

Now gives some error

[elfin sphinx]

what error ?

[remote storm]

Device code: 0*44

[elfin sphinx]

can you show a picture ??

[remote storm]

Yeah

[elfin sphinx]

of the error screen

[remote storm]

Here

Connecting to programmer: .
Found programmer: Id = "CATERIN"; type = S
Software Version = 1.0; No Hardware Version given.
Programmer supports auto addr increment.
Programmer supports buffered memory access with buffersize=128 bytes.

Programmer supports the following devices:
Device code: 0x44

It blinked but displays this is nred color now

[elfin sphinx]

press upload in the IDE again , and keep pressing the red reset button on the board untill it shows some progress of uploading

these usb emulating arduinos can be tricky to upload code to sometimes

[remote storm]

Ohh

[elfin sphinx]

also make sure you are directly plugged into the PC and not through any USB hub or anything

[remote storm]

Oh yeah

I am directly plugged in

[elfin sphinx]

gud

[remote storm]

Still gives this same error

It blinks beautifully tho

All 4 lights

In pattern

I mean 3 lol

[elfin sphinx]

interesting
did you hold the button down the whole time untill it gave the error ?

[remote storm]

No

I pressed it

And then took my finger off immediately

[elfin sphinx]

and then hit upload ?

[remote storm]

Yeah

Lights blink again

But still gives this error

All 3 blinked

[elfin sphinx]

if it gives error, it means the upload is not successful

[elfin sphinx]

thats fine

[remote storm]

Yeah

I think i should get a proper data cable tomorrow

[elfin sphinx]

no , its not about data cable

your board has been recognised

meaning the cable is correct

its the upload process thats a bit tricky for these kind of boards

let me see if i can find some video of what i want to say

[remote storm]

Yeah

[elfin sphinx]

btw, just so u can see the progress and output , do this ->
File > Preferences > Show verbose output during: upload(check)

[remote storm]

Btw i am storing it in a plastic container with foam on the ground and cardboard on both sides to hold it in place

Is it good storage?

I made it a tiny enclosure

[elfin sphinx]

yeah , sounds good 👍
i just chuck mine in a small plastic box

[remote storm]

Oh lemmw try

[remote storm]

Ohh

I have one more question

Can this board survive 8hrs of continuous work?

Since my exhibition will be 8 hrs long

Or even 9

[elfin sphinx]

what you want to do is , keep pressing and realsing the button and simulteneously press the upload button ( like while u r pressing and releasing the reset button )
and as soon as u see some message like , uploading ------- 0% or smth , release it immediately

[elfin sphinx]

never tried it with this particular board, but it should be just fine

[remote storm]

Yepp 🫡

I will try rn

Give me a sec

Opening ide once again

[elfin sphinx]

btw, do you have arduino 1.X IDE or 2.X IDE ??

[remote storm]

Some nightly version

Can different versions cauze the problems too?

Lemme check the version real quick

Good thing i didn’t update windows earlier lol

Or i would be stuck out for hrs

[elfin sphinx]

dont use nightly build, it can be buggy
try this

[remote storm]

That explains it lol

[elfin sphinx]

thats.... uhhhh unrelated

[remote storm]

Lemme uninstall this one

Yeah

[elfin sphinx]

it can be that , but it might not be either
but its good to get a stable version anyway

btw, we can do this tomorrow too if u want , its over 12.30 am already haha

also ,there is a whole server for arduino people if you would like to join
https://discord.gg/zUHymENv

[remote storm]

Yeah sure mate

[remote storm]

Ohh i was alr there the day i ordered lol

[elfin sphinx]

ohh nicee

[remote storm]

Yeah

Ngl someguy keeps asking to not ask for help

Pretty rude 💀

[elfin sphinx]

is he a helper ?

[remote storm]

Yeah

Knowledgeable role

[elfin sphinx]

yeah , some of those middle level people in arduino community are really toxic

[remote storm]

He was like dont write messages back and forth

Just edit your old messages

💀

[elfin sphinx]

most of them are cool ,but some are just really realaly toxic

[remote storm]

Yeah

[elfin sphinx]

but in general u would find help there wayy more quickly

than here

[remote storm]

Yeah

The python community is so good

I absolutely love it

[elfin sphinx]

yea, this server is good

[remote storm]

I would literally pay a subscription to stay stay in this server if there was one

Lmao

Nvm gn bro

Sweet dreams

[elfin sphinx]

good night 👋

[remote storm]

Imma try the steps u gave me

Yepps

[unkempt oar]

hey guys, is there any ide you would recommend for me? i ended up buying the esp32 btw

[elfin sphinx]

For beginner the official arduino IDE is just fine

there is vscode extension as well called platformio which is pretty good
but it might not be as straightforward as the arduino IDE for beginners

[remote storm]

Got it set

@elfin sphinx

[elfin sphinx]

yep, looks good

but i think you should get the programming part done before putting that on

[remote storm]

Yeah

I was just testing if it goes in the pin slots lol

[unkempt oar]

will it work with any board

or only arduino boards

[elfin sphinx]

no , not only arduino boards, a lot of other boards are supported like ESP32, ESP8266 and a LOT more

[unkempt oar]

currently im using mu editor, which also has micropython for esp32, have u tried it?

[elfin sphinx]

I usually use the thonny IDE for circuitpython or micropython.

[unkempt oar]

ill take a look at thonnyt

ive heard its good

[remote storm]

@elfin sphinx Yoo

#include <Keyboard.h> 
// Emulating keyboard or mouse functions only work on 32u4 or SAMD micro-based boards.
void setup() {
  //Start serial connection
  Serial.begin(9600);
  //Configure pins as an input and enable the internal pull-up resistor,
  pinMode(2, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(3, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(4, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(5, INPUT_PULLUP);
  Keyboard.begin();
}
void loop() {
//If corresponding button is pressed
  if (digitalRead(2) == LOW) {
    //Send an ASCII 'W',
    Keyboard.write(87);
    Serial.println(“W was pushed”);
  }
 if (digitalRead(3) == LOW) {
    //Send an ASCII 'A'
    Keyboard.write(65);
    Serial.println(“A was pushed”);
  }

 if (digitalRead(4) == LOW) {
    //Send an ASCII 'S',
    Keyboard.write(83);
    Serial.println(“S was pushed”);
  }

 if (digitalRead(5) == LOW) {
    //Send an ASCII 'D',
    Keyboard.write(68);
    Serial.println(“D was pushed”);
  }
 else {
    Keyboard.releaseAll();
}
}

Is this the code for controller module?

And can i use it?

[remote storm]

@elfin sphinx heyyy

You there?

[elfin sphinx]

before that , were you able to upload the blink code ??

[elfin sphinx]

^

[remote storm]

Yepp

I am able to upload the code

It works really well

And i donnt even have to use the pygame module to integrate it with my game

It works just like keyboard

@elfin sphinx

Can you help with multiple outputs?

Like if i press button connected to 2nd pin

It gives multiple outputs

I just want like 1

Sometime my character keeps jumping because of this issue

If i press the buttoon connected to pin 2 (assigned as S)
It gives output as SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I just want like 1 S

Due to this my player keeps jumping continuously

@elfin sphinx

Ohh nvm lol. You are playing counter strike

Tell me when you are available

[elfin sphinx]

yeah hi , i am back

You might want debouncing for your switches

a hack you can do is to use delay(50); at the end of your loop

like, as the last line in your void loop()

also , the code u have sent above uses the buttons only, not the joystick on it

to use the joystick, you might want to add some more code using the Joystick arduino library

[remote storm]

Oh i want to use the buttons only

My game has no function for joystick

Its like mario lol

@elfin sphinx

Btw

Is this a good clone?

My friend wants to buy one

It has no branding

And looks pretty bad lol

[elfin sphinx]

but its not like the one you have (you have leonardo , the picture is of an UNO)
if uno is what they want then yeah , its fine

[elfin sphinx]

yeah, clones are like that only , but they mostly get the job done

[remote storm]

Yeah

Can you suggest some other website too?

To buy in india at cod

Or this is the only legit one

Hey i dunno what happened but my arduino went mad for some time

[elfin sphinx]

ill dm you some

[remote storm]

It keot typing random things on my arduino ide and my laptop screen stopped working

My touchpad disconnected as well

💀

I got scared

[elfin sphinx]

yeah , now its acting as a keyboard, and if you have pressed some button then it might do that

[remote storm]

Yeah

[elfin sphinx]

the usual thing to do is to press and hold RESET button

[remote storm]

Yeah

My laptop went black then restarted itself lol

Bro couldn’t handle a small arduino chip

😭

[elfin sphinx]

what might have happened was the arduino just spammed your PC input with insane number of letters

[remote storm]

I will add the delay now

[elfin sphinx]

you should add delay in the loop

yeah

[remote storm]

Yeah

Couldn’t even backsapce

Cauze everything just stopped working

[elfin sphinx]

there are other legit ones too , but i like this one

[remote storm]

Oh np lol

If it works i wilk just tell him to order from here

He was genuinely concerned that how my arduino looks so good even as a clone and the arduino uno r3 he is ordering looks ugly

💀

[elfin sphinx]

yeah, the clones are focused on making the board as cheap as possible ( i think you can get a SMD version of UNO even cheaper)

[remote storm]

Yeah

[elfin sphinx]

this ^
works exactly the same but the main IC is SMD version instead of DIP (what u sent above)

[remote storm]

Ohh

Btw he wants make a ultrasonic sensor

Can he use this one for it?

[elfin sphinx]

yeah , the sensor works just fine with uno

[remote storm]

So he can go for this one too

Then i will ask him to buy this one

Its just arduino uno

Right?

[elfin sphinx]

yes (as long as he doesnt want the keyboard to act like a keyboard or mouse)

[elfin sphinx]

yeah
specifically Arduino UNO R3

there is Arduino UNO R4 as well which is a latest release , much more capable and expensive
but for ultrasonic sensor interfacing , the R3 (we were talking about above is just fine)

[remote storm]

This is the one right?

He is buying this one then

Thanks for the help

[unkempt oar]

what does // mean?

oh wait

isnt // for division

floor division

[elfin sphinx]

in python ? yes

in C++ ? no

in C++ , // is for comments

[unkempt oar]

oh wait thats c++?

i thought it was python

makes sense hes using an arduino

[remote storm]

Yeah

[unkempt oar]

about c++, i have a matrix keypad for my esp32, but just about every tutorial i can find is in c++ and not python, anyone know why??

its one of these

i literally cant find ANY code or tutorials for this in python

[elfin sphinx]

by python you mean full fledged python or micropython ?

https://peppe8o.com/use-matrix-keypad-with-raspberry-pi-pico-to-get-user-codes-input/
an exapmle to use the module with micropython and raspberry pi pico

matrix keypad module in micropython
google this and there will be many results ( the link above is first result from the search as well )

[fervent viper]

model name?

[unkempt oar]

micropython

[elfin sphinx]

did you check #microcontrollers message this out ?

[unkempt oar]

not yet

im in school right now

when i get home

but will it also apply to esp32 as well?

[elfin sphinx]

you might have to change the pin definition , but the logic should remain the same

[unkempt oar]

the code would also stay the same right?

[elfin sphinx]

you would need to change the pin numbers in your code , but everything else should remain as is

[unkempt oar]

alright

thanks

[unkempt oar]

@elfin sphinx i have a pir sensor

but it has no diagram

for the pin layout

is there some sort of standard for it or something?

[elfin sphinx]

interesting , how about on the other side? there might be pin names on the other side ?

but its pretty straightforward
it has 3 pins -
one is +VCC , one is ground and remaining one is digital output
usually all these modules follow the same pinout, but you should verify yours before using so that you dont destroy your module

[unkempt oar]

ive checked both sidest

there is nothing

also on my board there is no VIN pin?

[elfin sphinx]

one of those 3 pins is a VIN pin

[unkempt oar]

there is a 5v pin instead

[elfin sphinx]

can you post pictures ??

[unkempt oar]

are they the same

[unkempt oar]

im at school rn

when i get home ill send

[elfin sphinx]

that is probably your vin pin then

[unkempt oar]

but can i use it in the same way

as the vin

[elfin sphinx]

99.999999% yeah
not saying 100% coz i dont want u to burn ur module

usually on sensor modules like these
VIN , VCC , 5V, 3.3V etc all represent the input voltage module needs to work

[unkempt oar]

so if the tutorial im watching needs me to use the vin pin i can just plug it into the 5v?

[spiral sandal]

from left to right vin 5v-12v , vout , gnd , it has its own voltage regulator on the top right so yes it can be plugged directly

[unkempt oar]

alright thanks

should work now

i was trying it out before but i think i got the wiring wrong

also another question

if i have a resistor for 220ohm and i need one for 330ohm

will it still work?

i have a 1k and 10k ohm too

[alpine estuary]

Most likely this will work what circuit are you trying to power?

[unkempt oar]

this wasnt the issue

turns out im just an idiot

i completely forgot to flash micropython firmware lol

i was wondering why my editor wasnt detecting anything

thats why

[open topaz]

Anyone here having any experience with Pi Pico's and the picod library? Can't get i2c to work: The pico.i2c_read() function for example only takes in a channel (0 or 1), the i2c address of the device to read and a count parameter. What about the register I want to read?

[odd hornet]

Hey, forgive me if this isn't relevant or good to post. I recently bought a smart watch from some chinese vendor, I've been trying to figure out if there is a way to make my own firmware for it, does anyone have experience with this. I get this might be a Java question but I figured you were smart and diverse people

[elfin sphinx]

i doubt its java, firmware probably uses C++

if its just a normal commercial smartwatch (not open source, made for commercial purposes) , its probably very hard/almost impossible to do so

[spiral sandal]

tbh unless you have full LCD specs to control the screen bus you should give up

it will be easier to build your own with a ST7789/ST7735

[odd hornet]

Yeah I can't find any data on it. Being told most smartwatch from China use the same hardware though. I started looking at open source systems that use ESP

[elfin sphinx]

lcd specs is just 1 part of writing firmware, you also have to know what mcu it uses, its memory size, how to burn programs to it and whatnot
then you would actually have to write the actual framework which depending on complexity can take anywhere from weeks to months

its just a lot of hassle which is probably not worth it

[odd hornet]

Yeah, thanks for that though

[elfin sphinx]

a photo of smartwatch and its box might be useful to see if we can find smth

[odd hornet]

It's a G20-153A

1 sec

[elfin sphinx]

yeah not sure how you would go about this tbh

[odd hornet]

Woah, how did you find that?

[elfin sphinx]

https://xgody.com/products/xgody-g20-multi-function-smart-watch-bracelet-health-management-high-waterprof-sport here

[odd hornet]

What site did you use

Man, I looked everywhere for that info and found only BMW datasets and Bellshill on the g20 summit

[elfin sphinx]

if you only searc G20-153A , yeah that comes up
just add smartwatch after that haha
so search term is G20-153A smartwatch

you can prob do some digging around and try to figure some more things out , but idk if its worth it tbh

[odd hornet]

Hmmm I'm thinking wait for the opensource ones to catch up. I may know a thing or two but I don't trust my ability to build one myself ... atleast at this point, plus I have no tools or components to speak off anymore

[elfin sphinx]

👍

[odd hornet]

Thanks guys anyway

[odd hornet]

I found really interesting but basic microcontroller set ups with round lcds for smartwatch projects. I've seen ones with esp, pi and other boards. Has anyone experience with these? I know they're bulky and on ebay they don't seem to come with battery or casing unless you pay extra. My idea was to create a system that connects the watch. My phone and a cloud server I'll create. And measure like biometrics and have some cyber aesthetic. Like a plastic forehead band which measures rudimentary EEG, from fp1 to ap1 or something. Mainly for aesthetic purposes and to trick my ignorant friends I'm smarter than I actually am xD ahahahhahagagga

I haven't played around with micropython either, I was thinking of using that over c++ however, anyone got delusion shattering advice for me?

Maybe if I want a good eeg signal I better use c++

Sorry just expressing thought aloud and maybe pandering a little ... maybe a lot... meh, has anyone done similar things

[quiet wagon]

We all know that mobile phones can transmit electromagnetic waves then why can we access the hardware that does it with python or any other language

[hallow igloo]

hello

i want to know does this work correctly ?

and does it generate the 2.4ghz in its output ?

[remote storm]

@spiral sandal hey 👋

Long time

Needed help with arduino nano

Its not mine but my friend’s

He said he cant upload the sketch to it

I tried too

Same problem

Tried upgrading the drivers

Still wont work

[ruby lintel]

check ur computers drivers

check if u have the necessary drivers installed for arduino

then check if u com port is correct

if both are correct

then check if the code is working

u can see that on a arduino simulator

[errant wigeon]

Also verify that the cable you're using is a usb cable that has data, and isn't just a usb charging only cable

[ruby lintel]

ya thats also important

then connect all the components to the arduino that u have mentioned in the code

like if u plan on using specific sensors and stuff

get the pins connected

cus thats what happend with me

tbh

then try uploading the code

[remote storm]

I solved it lol

Seeing it late

I used the old bootloader of atmega 328

[ruby lintel]

hmm

[hallow igloo]

hi, i have a question if anyone was solving similar problem, i flashed micropython to nucleo F446RE board using STM32CubeProgrammer with .hex file provided for this board, I am loading main.py file through powershell console and ampy app and everything is working well. Now I would like to have possibility to use libraries that are written in C++, did anyone was doing same thing?

[errant shell]

You can expose APIs to Python by writing C bindings around your C++ code. See the MicroPython git repo for examples

[hollow pilot]

Hello everyone.
I'm relatively new to this and I've been trying to make a fun project to use a dc motor using an Arduino Uno R3 and the Shield with Python.
I've got my Arduino and uploaded the telemetrix firmware into the board.
I've been trying for a long time now to just start then engine and print the values of positions of the encoders and time stamp next to it.
My plan is to store these values in a csv and I'm kind of stuck rn as the dc motor doesn't even spin 😂
Thanks for your future advices!

import sys
import threading
import time
from telemetrix import telemetrix


# Encoder pins
Encoder_A = 2
Encoder_B = 7

PIN_DIRECTION = 12
PIN_PWM = 3
PIN_BRAKE = 9
PIN_CURRENT = 0


board = telemetrix.Telemetrix()

board.set_pin_mode_analog_input(Encoder_A)
board.set_pin_mode_analog_input(Encoder_B)

board.set_pin_mode_digital_output(PIN_PWM)
board.set_pin_mode_digital_output(PIN_BRAKE)

class Motor:
    mutex = threading.Lock()

    def __init__(self):
        self.ticks = 0
        self.position = 0
        self.time = 0

    def encoder_callback(self, data):
        Motor.mutex.acquire()
        if data[2] == 1:
            self.ticks += 1
            self.position = self.ticks 
            self.time = time.time()  
        Motor.mutex.release()

    def StartMotor(self):
        self.board.set_direction(PIN_DIRECTION, telemetrix.HIGH)
        self.board.set_pwm(PIN_PWM, 200)

    def speed(self, speed):
        self.board.analog_write(PIN_PWM, speed)
        self.setPoint = speed

    def run(self):
        for i in range(0, 256, 5):
            self.speed(i)
            time.sleep(0.25)
            print(f"Position: {self.position}, Temps: {self.time}")

    def StopMotor(self):
        self.board.set_direction(PIN_DIRECTION, telemetrix.LOW)
        self.board.set_pwm(PIN_PWM, 0)
        self.speed(0)

Motor_start = Motor()

[tight wave]

My goal is when button A or B is pressed anytime throughout the whole function, it switches to a new process (screen). I am currently trying to use threading, but it is not working, and I am honestly not sure how I can get my plan to work.

def buttonB():
    if button_b.read():
        clear()
        play()

def buttonA():
    clear()
    howToPlay()

#Creates Main Title Screens
def main():
    t1= _thread.start_new_thread(buttonB, ())
    # Creates Game Ttile Screen
    clear()
    display.set_pen(GREEN)
    display.text("Blink of an Eye", 30, 25, 240, 5)
    display.update()
    time.sleep(2)
    clear()
    screen = 1
    # Switches between two "screens" 
    while True:
        #How To play Title Screen
        if screen == 1:
            display.set_pen(YELLOW)
            display.text('''How To Play: Press 'A' ''', 15, 35, 240, 4)
            display.update()
            time.sleep(1)
            clear()
            screen = 2
        
        # Play Title Screen
        elif screen == 2:
            display.set_pen(MAGENTA)
            display.text('''Play: Press 'B' ''', 15, 35, 240, 4)
            display.update()
            time.sleep(1)
            clear()
            screen = 1```

Please assist me on how I may write a piece of code that allows the code to constantly check in the function to see if button a or b is being pressed, and when it gets the hey, this button was pressed, the code no longer checks and it moves to another function. I would also like to clarify that this code has other functions that use the same button for different reasons, so I only want it to work within the one function so it doesn't interfere with the other code. (I have the same problem for the rest of the code, but I thought I wouldn't add it because it is the same problem).

[loud current]

what hardware a raspberry pi should have (at least) to be able to host a website decently?

like a personal website
(portfolio, todos, blog)
On django

[tacit forum]

May be way off base but when you define Motor_Start to call Motor() Class is it calling the functions you defined? Not familar with threading library or telemetrix so may be wayyyy off. Also are you executing Motor_Start?

[elfin sphinx]

depends ™️

but a raspberry pi 4 8 GB would be a solid choice without knowing too much details about your exact use case

with that said , i have tried hosting with rpi zero w 2 and it works just fine but eats up resources

so say if you had smth like nginx reverse proxy , db and whatnot on the same pi , you should opt for smth with more power like rpi 4

[loud current]

would that support something like postgres?
or should i stick with sqlite3?

[elfin sphinx]

i cant recall if i have used it , but it should be pertty low resource hungry , so i would say its totally fine to with postgres

[loud current]

mm
thank you

[mild pivot]

I use lighttd on a rapsberry pi with a mariadb as a backend under ubuntu pi, works great (even though admittedly most of the code it runs is still from my perl days)

[craggy basin]

no reason it shouldn't work with postgres unless you have metric tons of records, like millions

[undone turtle]

Hi is there anyone who has had previous exprience with merging two intel hex files?

[verbal shoal]

Hi, I'm new to all of this and I'm following a tutorial with micropython and I ran into an issue. I'm not sure if this is the right place to be, but i figured it was worth a shot. Can anyone help me? When I run the program to find my i2c address it comes up blank. Following this tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Kr_3xHjqE

[elfin sphinx]

you have to save the code to the pico

also , make sure you have selected the correct micropython rp2040 interpreter in the bottom right corner

[verbal shoal]

I saved it to the pico and switched the interepereter and it still doesn't work.

[verbal shoal]

sorry i didnt mean to send that

[errant shell]

Which I2C slave do you have connected? How is it wired up? Do you have pullups on SDA/SCL?

[wraith gazelle]

I have a microphone with an aux cord, what device can I use to transmit what I say to a computer over wifi?

[nocturne aurora]

hi i'm new to coding and i'm coding a pressure sensor on a rasberry pi on bread board but my code doesnt work can someone help me pls ?

that's the line 77 of the bme280

i'm using micropython

[spiral sandal]

maybe scan the i2c bus first, could be a pullup problem

[nocturne aurora]

i've done a from bme import * and that worked

[sweet kayak]

i am stuck with a script to control a GPIO pin on raspi-
i want to watch a NO switch and on trigger, check the state of the GPIO and invert it.
if the GPIO is HIGH-> make it LOW, if the GPIO is LOW -> make it HIGH

https://paste.pythondiscord.com/GL2Q

here is the teminal outout. i tried to put breadcrumbs in the script to trace what its doing, and annotated the places where i pushed the button.
https://paste.pythondiscord.com/PWKA

[tulip cargo]

hi everyone

https://paste.pythondiscord.com/YM4A

the fist iteration work so well but in the second iteration the program crush and I got this error msg

MemoryError: memory allocation failed, allocating 2048 bytes
MicroPython v1.21.0 on 2023-10-05; Generic ESP32 module with ESP32```

I have cleared the "reading_list_total" but I got error? Idk why in the first iteration it can hundl the all 20s value but in the second it crushed after 5s

I am using esp32

[desert valve]

Bros can you recommend a good tutorial for basic python arduino control?

[spiral sandal]

i was very happy with this one https://mryslab.github.io/telemetrix/ and it supports all sorts of boards not just the uno/mega

[desert valve]

Thanks you

[mental cove]

looking to get into hobbyist mechatronics, and from my research, I have a choice between using micropython and arduino. I would prefer to use micropython, but many projects I want to work on will require fast code, and of course python is much slower than any compiled language. what do the limitations of micropython look like in practice in this field?

[spiral sandal]

like in any field : write/test/debug with python-> if success compile (maybe partially micropython can use compiled modules) to Nim/C/C++/whatever -> use

[mental cove]

oh alright, didn't know that was possible, thanks. thought python can only be run by interpreting in real time

[spiral sandal]

that's true for untyped python

but why would you need duck typing in an embedded program

[mental cove]

what does untyped mean?

[spiral sandal]

i=0;i="";i=[] in the same scope of somefunction(i) with those

with mypy you can write i:int=0 it will check scopes for you

and later would be super easy to compile

[mental cove]

oh damn didn't know that was a thing, thanks

and how would I go about compiling to another language?

[spiral sandal]

tbh it is very easy to translate typed python to Nim

and Nim likes embedded

[mental cove]

I'm assuming I can use some software service to automatically translate my typed python code?

[spiral sandal]

sure but as always it won't be perfect "out of the box"

[mental cove]

understandable, how could i fix potential translation errors if I don't know how to program in Nim/C/C++?

[spiral sandal]

by changing the python code to be simpler to translate i guess

[mental cove]

okay then hahahahah thanks for all the help

[spiral sandal]

but micropython will forbid most of weird things anyway like multiple inheritance and MRO exploration/modification, it is a sane lang

[mental cove]

alright I'll keep that in mind, thanks

[torpid verge]

For the part of code that needs to be fast, Micropython has several options: a native decorator to compile into machine code. A viper decorator that needs type hints and a subset of python, and compiles to very fast machine code. An asm decorator to write code in assembly. Or you can code in C and add that as a module or compile it into your own version of the Micropython runtime, to be called from Python code.

[mental cove]

thanks a lot, I'll check those options out!

[elfin sphinx]

but i suggest learning C++ for embedded stuff since it supports a larger variety of boards as well as you get to know the memory management stuff

[zenith niche]

I've bought an ESP32 following advice received here, and have got it connecting to my wifi network following this guide https://deepbluembedded.com/esp32-connect-to-wifi-network-arduino/

I now want Python to tell it to do something. What's the best way to get an ESP32 receiving instructions from a python script?

[spiral sandal]

best way i've found is https://github.com/MrYsLab/Telemetrix4Esp32

you can also control telemetrix from a web page with python wasm which make it awesome for mobile android/safari15 -> host smartphone apps on your lan, no root/install required

[valid sail]

if in the Python standard libraries and microlibraries (https://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/library/index.html) the Socket module comes with Micropython. Why when I import it return an error that says: ImportError: no module named 'socket'? (Im using a Raspberry Pi Pico)

[elfin sphinx]

raspberry pi pico does not have wireless capabilities

[elfin sphinx]

someone pinged ??

[limber field]

is AI smart enough to optomize a linux micro kernal for assorted microcontrollers

[elfin sphinx]

a publically available AI ??
i think not since , it cant even give some proper working regular code let alone optimized code

[zenith niche]

Beautiful, tyvm. I'm a little confused about how it works tho. Mind if I ask a few dumb questions?

The description reads "Because the servers were written using the Arduino ESP32 Core library, installation is managed via the Arduino IDE and Library Manager.". Does this mean it's incompatible with PlatformIO? I've got ESP32 (kinda) going with it and don't wanna further confuse myself haha

Does this thing make a local server on the device running full python? Or on the ESP32 or elsewhere?

[nova yoke]

pico w

[elfin sphinx]

yes, but that is a totally different board (same family but different board )
which is not what OP has

[nova yoke]

ok

[elder mango]

doubt

cant solve a basic math problem

imagine a linux micro kernal

[spiral sandal]

it works fine on platform.io, already tried that on esp8266/32. you can run python (including micropython) anywhere you need . it is not running on the board, there's only a light socket server there and that means you can get plenty of room (except on UNO R3) for your own code ( like extra libraries for special devices )

[spring willow]

Hello! I’ve got a quite simple idea, and just wondering if it is possible. I’m thinking I’ll buy some microcontroller and connect a few buttons to it, and then make the buttons to computer inputs for my PC. Is it possible?

[elfin sphinx]

totally possible

[spring willow]

Will esp8266 be able to do the job?

Or should I use pi pico?

I’m completely new to this :)

[elfin sphinx]

pi pico can do USB HID natively , so get that

esp cant do USB HID

[spiral sandal]

it is possible of course you will have to choose one method like usb hid hardware / usb hid software or digistomp / usb i2c / wifi-telemetrix or serial/(telemetrx-firmata)

also you have to clarify exactly what you mean by "inputs" for the pc

[spring willow]

Alright, thank you. I’ll buy the needed things and test different methods :)

[spring willow]

I’ll probably get a pi pico though

[elfin sphinx]

btw, that question was kinda imp , like what you mean by "inputs" for PC tho

[spiral sandal]

the usb-i2c hack is also quite cheap and usefull, since it is both input/output and can interface a lots of other things than just buttons

in fact it's a nice addition to the tools sched, for when your pi is busy

[spring willow]

Interesting 🧐

[spring willow]

I’m thinking of it as new inputs like from game controllers etc, not sure though

[elfin sphinx]

ahh ok , then a pi pico would be perfect for that
in fact there are projects where people have made macropads / gamepads with pi pico

[clear jolt]

Hi

[elfin sphinx]

hello

[clear jolt]

do you have a circuit board?

[elfin sphinx]

yes

one of them is in my laptop

you probably have one too in the device you are using discord on

[clear jolt]

...

[elfin sphinx]

? did you want help with something ?

[hardy adder]

Should I buy raspberry pi Pico to learn micro programming?

[elfin sphinx]

sure , if you already know python then you can easily program the pi pico with micropython (subset of python for microcontrollers)

[hardy adder]

What IDE should I use?

Like, My usual pycharm or there is another ide for that?

[elfin sphinx]

I use thonny , works great

[hardy adder]

Oh

Do I need to download that?

[elfin sphinx]

yes

iirc the website is thonny.org

[hardy adder]

Thx bro

[hardy adder]

Also is subset and libraries different?