The Resurrection of Steve
Steve has been collecting dust for some time in my workshop. Over the last year I have replaced the TinyBX controller with an esp32 and replaced the level converter with a simpler stable level converter.
I have been spending some of my shed time fixing TODO and making sure that there is progression across all systems. I managed to finally get feature parity on the rust firmware last night (20221218) and impressed the kids by driving it around with the web interface on my mobile phone.
Speed bumps along this update
- Found and eliminated two shorts on the main board
- Replaced the gearbox (wearing out)
- Replaced the power switch , had dry solder connection.
- Rewrote the arduino code in Rust
I endeavor to learn a new programming language every few years and force myself to investigate and discover something different. It is good to get the brain juices flowing and find myself in the uncomfortable position of not understanding how to do things. In this case I am learning Rust and it has become obvious why many people wax lyrical about it. It takes a while to get up to speed but once you grok, it rocks.
The full code for STEVE has been published (finally) and I will be updating it as development continues.
Better interface
The move across to the esp32 running micropython gave me access to a whole suite of libraries and code from the web and straight forward access to my wireless network for debugging an updates. This has made development and testing so much easier.
Web Interface
I have found and coerced a web interface to my will for steve. The esp32 provides a web server that serves up these pages and web socket for data transfer.
Web interface
Landing page
Controller page
The right hand joystick will control the differential drive and motivate steve in the correct(ish) direction. This module need a lot of tuning to make it more usable.
Telnet interface
There is an optional telnet interface (insecure, I know) that gives access to the micropython console. For development this has been invaluable.
Currently I am working on cleaning out the git workspace and cleaning up the documentation. Photographs of steve to follow.
Psssht OUT.