code

Programming

Firmware and App by Maarten Weyn

This Project currently lacks the whole programming/software part. Luckily Maarten Weyn already made the inverse kinematics work and wrote also an Smartphone App for simple Control of this Robot via BLE. Take a look into his Repository as well: https://github.com/maartenweyn/SpotMicro_ESP32

Quickstart Maartens Firmware

• calibrate your servos (do this before assembly, otherwise you have more work to do). You can find here a quick explanation of how to achieve this.
• install the ESP-IDF in VSCode for the firmware-developement and get Cordova for the app-developement running
• clone maartens firmware-repo and
  • account for the missing relay in his code. You can overcome the relay being in the way in two ways:

    • connect NC instead of NO (always active after power-up, if no signal to the relay) to your PCA9685 V+ (terminal block) and switch it back, once you have a solid code-base that accounts for it.

    • OR do the code-thing right away and leave it as it is...like this: config.h

       #define RELAY_IO    27
      

      main.c -> void app_main()

       ...
       gpio_pad_select_gpio(RELAY_IO);
       gpio_set_direction(RELAY_IO, GPIO_MODE_OUTPUT);
       gpio_set_level(RELAY_IO,1); // 1 = on, 0 = off
      

  • clone the esp-dsp (digital signal processing) component into maartens repo's corresponding component folder
  • compile and flash
• compile the cordova app and flash onto your android phone (or iphone, but i dont own an iphone and cant help here)
• install arduino ide
  • get this firmware for your ESP32-CAM
  • add your local wifi credentials to the configuration
  • flash the ESP32_CAM with this firmware and access the live-stream/cam interface via your webbrowser

Firmware by Guna

An walking gait implementation and voice-commanding was achieved by Guna R. from the slacks #spotmicro-esp32 channel, whis is build upon Maartens software (see Repo above). You definitly have to take a look there as well and contribute: https://github.com/cholan2100/ceasar

Work-in-Progress : still a lot to do

This section currently contains some basic test-programs for servo-calibration and circuit-/module-tests.

Arduino IDE

You can use the Arduino IDE for the developement of your ESP32 programs. A good resource for the setup can be found here:

Setup Arduino IDE

ESP-IDF

The ESP-IDF is the developement framework provided by Espressif. Here's the official documentation how to get started:

Setup ESP-IDF

Quick Installation Guide - Downloads

If you don't want to get into the hurdle to install the ESP-IDF via the official documentation, you can follow this quick installation guide. It has been only tested for Windows 10 machines, so the Steps on Linux or Mac OS X will vary.

For a complete Installation you will need to install:

• Python
• Git
• MinGW-w64
• Visual Studio Code (VSCode)
• C/C++ Extension for VSCode
• ESP-IDF Extension for VSCode (from VSCode Marketplace)

Quick Installation Guide - Steps

1. Install Python by checking the "Add Python VERSION to PATH" checkbox and simply choose the "Install Now" option. If you are interested in a more detailed description how to further setup Python, it can be found here: Official Python Install Guide
2. Install Git
3. Install MinGW-w64 and choose a simpler installation directory path like C:\MinGW\
4. Install VSCode - if you are interested in some more informations about the VSCode Setup than take a look at the Official VSCode Setup Documentation
5. Start VSCode and
   1. install the C/C++ Extension from the VSCode Marketplace
   2. install the ESP-IDF Extension from the VSCode Marketplace. Use the Express Install as mentioned here: VSCode ESP-IDF Extension Github
      1. update some of your system variables
         1. add ";%IDF_PATH%\tools" to PATH
         2. add a new variable named "IDF_PATH" with the value "C:\Users\INSERT_YOUR_USER_DIRECTORY\esp\esp-idf"
   3. add the path to the MinGW C-Standard Libraries Headers to your C/C++ configuration in VSCode
      1. Press F1 for the Command Menu
      2. type and choose "C/C++: Edit Configuration (UI)" and navigate to the "advanced settings" at the bottom
      3. add your path (example below) to the browse.path:
         ${config:idf.espIdfPath}/components
         ${config:idf.espIdfPathWin}/components
         ${workspaceFolder}
         C:\MinGW\mingw64\x86_64-w64-mingw32\include
6. Done!

Starting a new Project

Either open a available project/firmware (like the one from Maarten Weyn or Guna) in VSCode or start your own via:

1. Add a folder to your Workspace "Edit -> Add Folder to Workspace"
2. Press F1 for the Command Menu and type "ESP-IDF: Create Project" - a more detailed description can be found here: Official VSCode-ESP-IDF-Extension How-to-Use
   1. Choose the App-Template
   2. Change "project" within the CMakeLists.txt to whatever you want to call yours
3. Have fun coding!

Everything you need to know, can be found in the Official ESP-IDF API Reference alongside with many linked example-projects to their Github Examples Page.