I made some experiments with this amazing module. Now I'm trying to level up my project so I connected it to my Raspberry Pi via UART.
I'm able to send AT commands to make simple connections like I do on my Arduino. How can Linux "see" it like a real WLAN0 interface?
I'd like to use the ESP8266 as an access point to surf the web (maybe bridging the ethernet cable interface).
Is it possible?
No, you can't (easily) make the ESP8266 a true WiFi device for Linux. Although projects like this one here have figured out how to put the device into an ESP8089 mode to use it as a true WLAN interface, it requires modifying the module itself.
You can, however, use the device's AT API to connect to the internet through a UART and send any arbitrary data, or develop your own firmware to pass data back and forth to a server with the ESP8266 - None of these though would allow a seamless TCP connection like an actual WiFi card would, however.
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I've been tasked with figuring out how to get a mobile app to communicate with an MCU then in turn control a stepper motor. Right now I'm trying to get the WiFi module (ESP8266-01) and MCU (NUCLEO-F030R8) to play nice with each other. The catch is I have little to no experience and no education in this field. The closest experience I have is simple Arduino sketches from years ago (IE photo-resistor values driving a stepper motor) and making desktop applications with C#. I am using STM32CubeIDE but if there's a better option I can switch to that.
What I would very much like help on is send and receive simple data between a smartphone and the MCU via the WiFi module. I've read through documentation and other questions but still don't exactly know where to start.
I understand this is probably a large topic in its own right and a short blurb on the internet won't do it (and undoubtedly its multiple subcategories) justice. But I might as well ask.
Sorry if this is too much and thank you in advance.
This project would involve making the following connections.
The UART connection between STM32 and ESP8266.
The WiFi connection between ESP8266 and the mobile.
The application layer protocol between ESP8266 and the application running on the mobile.
For 1, you can actually program the ESP8266 using Arduino IDE and simply connect the UART TX/RX pins of ESP8266 with RX/TX pins of STM32 respectively. You can create a test project in which ESP8266 sends data to STM32 over UART to verify this connection.
For 2, you need to consider the wifi network mode i.e identify whether the wifi connection is going to be ad-hoc (mobile connects to ESP8266 directly) or in infrastructure mode (mobile and ESP8266 connected via a shared access point). You can configure the ESP8266 in both modes. You just have to program the SSID and password of the Wifi network in the ESP8266 (in case of ad-hoc, it is the SSID of the network advertised by ESP8266 and in the infrastructure mode, it is the SSID of the common AP). This wifi functionality is also easily programmable in Arduino IDE for ESP8266.
Finally, once the physical connection has been established between the ESP8266 and mobile device, you need an application-level protocol to connect the application running on the mobile with the ESP8266. You can either use socket connection between ESP8266 and mobile application or use a higher-level communication protocol for IoT devices like MQTT, which is also available in the Arduino IDE.
Final connection diagram could be something like this:
application -> mqtt msgs -> wifi packets -> esp8266 recv pkts -> parse mqtt msgs -> forward data to STM32 over UART
we are doing a project for receiving data from a device using a RS232 to ethernet converter (gridconnect net 232+) onto to a Atmel board. When we connect the converter to the PC, we are getting the output but not when connected to the microcontroller board. We need to know if there has to be some network confirguration to be done on the converter in order to receive it on the microcontroller.
Thanks !
I haven't worked with that board or device, but with any RS-232 communication channel you should check that all RS-232 parameters are set up correctly on both sides. Databits, stopbits, parity settings, etc. Even one setting being off will completely stop RS-232 communications.
Once that is done, I'd hook up a terminal emulator of your choice to simulate the microcontroller side and make sure that you're getting the right traffic from the Ethernet side. You might get lucky at that point and everything might start working. ;)
I've been trying to figure out how to turn my Raspberry Pi into a USB to Bluetooth serial adapter. I want to be able to send data over Bluetooth to the Pi which has a USB thermal printer registered at /dev/usb/lp0.
Using only standard command line apps such as hciconfig, hcitool, rfcomm, and sdptool I have been able to see the Pi as visible, and pair to it from an Android tablet using a Bluetooth SPP app on the Store. However, the tablet disconnects immediately, and no data is sent. rfcomm listen /dev/rfcomm0 1 also waits for a connection forever.
I think I'm able to achieve what I need without custom code, using solely standard command line apps, but I'm not entirely sure. socat will likely be of use to finally connect the sockets.
Figures that I'd get it right after posting. To anyone else looking to do something similar:
Pair with bluez-simple-agent
Create your serial port channel with sdptool add --channel=x sp
Listen for a connection on that channel with sudo rfcomm listen /dev/rfcomm0 x
Cross the streams with socat /dev/rfcomm0 /dev/usb/lp0
Beautiful. It's all so simple now.
I want to control a string of LEDs directly from my iPhone. The LED controller chips talk the i2c serial protocol.
Can I do this with Apple-supported APIs on a non-jailbroken iPhone? Which frameworks do I need to use?
Yes, but you will need an external hardware to do that. iOS does not give you access directly to I2C in the docking connector.
KissBos has a OEM board to do that, with a special firmware. You can connect to their board via WiFi, using a TCP based protocol, or via a RTP-MIDI based protocol (RTP-MIDI is implemented in iOS, you don't have to deal with the protocol details, it's just a MIDI port for your application).
If you want to go through the dock connector, you will need their USB interface (it will transform the USB into RTP-MIDI, which goes in the OEM board)
I'm quite sure that you can't do that. Apple is very strict about what you are allowed to and not. I spent days trying to find a way to get access to the iphone's bluetooth layer and ended up with my head against the wall (only a limited game api is public, else you have to go with the Made For Iphone program). However, you are able to do some stuff using the usb cable, but I guess that the possibilities are limited with that too.
Am I missing something glaringly obvious or is there no way to debug an iOS app which uses an external accessory that's connected via the 30-pin dock without using a bucket load of logs etc. I want to be able to use things such as breakpoints and Instruments.
Is there a way to remote debug perhaps, over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth?
Note: Yes, I asked this very recently and I deleted it because I thought I found the answer.. but the answer was only Instruments has support over Wi-Fi.. not Xcode debugging. So the question still remains...
And so...: Given that I've had no real luck finding the answer, and no one has given me an answer as yet - I take it that it is a big fat NO. :(
Makes me wonder are we just expected to magically guess where bugs occur, or log the crap out of everything while wearing out our dock connectors by continuously moving it back and forth between the device and accessory?
Time to file a bug report I guess.
At CES today, I talked to a developer from Wahoo Fitness that makes an ANT+ accessory for iPhone. They had this same problem, but found a solution.
They found a pass-through dock extender that has a mini-USB port. They used the mini-USB port for debugging while the accessory was connected.
The product they were using is http://www.cablejive.com/products/dockStubz.html
This blog talks about remote debugging iOS with a dock accessory attached
You could connect the external accessory to another iOS device (not the one tethered to the Mac running the Xcode debugger). Then tunnel all your EA framework messages from the accessory connected device to the device running the app being debugged over a pair of wifi sockets. Look at the code for tunneling accelerometer messages from a device to the iOS Simulator (a common trick for debugging game code on the Simulator) for one example of how this could be done.
After further researching, and having seen that people had to do sending strings over Wi-Fi to get around this, I'm concluding the answer is no.
I have filed a bug request for this.
In the mean time, it seems like the Wi-Fi logging, and on-device text logging will be the way to go for now.
Here's my understanding for why just the USB protocol works for some external accessories and doesn't for other external accessories. Looks like a fundamental problem, without an arbitrator, two masters can't talk to a single slave over USB, a serial Master/Slave protocol. So XCode is one master, the iPhone is the slave device. If the external accessory is a master too, one won't be able to connect the iPhone (Xcode slave) to the second master (the external accessory).
Probably the Wahoo Key for iPhone" is a slave device and that's why the dockStubz solution works for such an external accessory.
I have tested the dockStubz. It doesn't work for my external accessory. As suspected, the USB protocol can't be used to have two Master devices controlling a single slave device. Trying to hook up a Mac (Master) (via the mini USB ) & an external accessory (Master) (via the 30 pin connector) to the iPhone 4 (Slave) causes the iPhone to go in loop of connect & re-connect.
Following looks promising too, though expensive: digi.com/support/kbase/kbaseresultdetl.jsp?id=485.
Has any one tried to use USB to Ethernet connectors and use a router to route requests from two masters (XCode & External Accessory) to the slave (iPhone)? I am off to Best Buy to purchase USB to Ethernet cables and hook all three on to my IP router. Will report if it works.
This is what will be needed :
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/IOGEAR+-+USB+Ethernet+Extender/9614781.p?id=1218131339965&skuId=9614781&st=USB%20to%20Ethernet&cp=1&lp=1
http://www.frys.com/product/6103339
So connect XCode mac using the male end into the USB slot of your computer. . Use a ethernet cable to connect this to a router.
Connect the iPhone to the female part of the IO gear connector. Connect it to the router via ethernet cable.
Connect the external accessory with the male connector (Sabrent USB to Fast Ethernet Network Adapter.) Connect it to router.
I am still researching if this will work. Just ordered the parts. Will get it by Friday & will report back then.
Update:
The IOGear male end draws too much current when connected to router. Also, the female end can't charge iPhone when connected to the router even when 5V USB current supplied.
So tried to directly connect the iPhone to the USB slot of the router (used for printers). It does charge the iPhone. Also used USB to Fast Ethernet Network Adapter (BestBuy had one to connect Wii via USB) to connect the Mac to the router. It did connect to internet but couldn't find the iPhone. In the router client list I don't see any login entires for the iPhone. So this experiment was a failure unless someone have other pointers.