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2022-09-23 09:11 from IGnatius T Foobar
Since when is Uber a "well-known troll website"? (Oh wait, that was a
security fail, not a DDoS...)
Right, because I wasn't talking about Uber.
I wonder if Uber could be compromised in a way that would turn the fleet into a flash mob. That would be cool.
I finally got around to restarting "the elevator panel project." When my son was pretty young his grandfather gave him an old Staley elevator panel that had been harvested from a modernization project. About six years ago I added an Arduino and a numeric display and I turned it into an elevator simulator. When everything was ready and working, two things went wrong:
1. I fried the Arduino while permanently soldering it into the project
2. A series of bad mistakes lost the code.
The damn thing has been sitting on my desk for years. My son is still fascinated with elevators (and trains, and other things) at age 24 so I'd better get around to restarting the project. So I brought it down to the bench and started a rewire with a fresh Arduino and a socket for it with screw terminals so I don't burn the damn thing out again.
The buzzer always sounded kind of lame powered directly from the GPIO so I rewired it through a 3.3K resistor and a 2N2222 transistor. It sounds great now. Once I get all the buttons wired back in and the lights and the display, I'll have to rewrite the code. Not a big deal I just have to do it.
All of this was just a build up to say that it felt damn good to be at the bench soldering a transistor. :)
Funny thing is Arduino's are quickly becoming retro tech. Most everyone has moved to ESP32s for IoT embedded stuff. ( even the industrial industry, not just hobbyists )
Yes its similar. You can also program them in python, forth, whatever, or stick with their ' way of doing things '.. Pretty flexible
I tossed all my arduinos, and older ESPs.. Aside from collecting dust, the new stuff is so cheap and so much faster its not worth keeping old ones around. ( other than a RISC-V version and one with a FPGA. thats different )
Wed Jul 03 2024 16:21:01 EDT from IGnatius T FoobarTrue, but I have a couple of Arduino Nano boards left and this project doesn't require a network attachment. ESP32 does seem to be the current hotness since most projects *do* want a network connection now. Those have an Arduino-like programming environment, right?
And it seems that the A4:E5:7C:xx:xx:xx block of MAC addresses is registered to ... Espressif Inc.
So I guess that means the smoker has an ESP32 in it? Does the ESP32 have bluetooth as well as wifi? I wonder if I can re-flash this thing with firmware that doesn't suck?
You would be amazed how much IoT is ESP. They own the market. And it depends. While unlikely its without BT, its always possible.
Sat Aug 31 2024 21:08:28 EDT from IGnatius T FoobarAs I probably mentioned before, I have a bbq smoker with an "app" that can control it, and it's got really awful remote integration through a "cloud" service. In the past I have had trouble keeping it connected so I just logged in to my router to see which access point it was connecting to.
And it seems that the A4:E5:7C:xx:xx:xx block of MAC addresses is registered to ... Espressif Inc.
So I guess that means the smoker has an ESP32 in it? Does the ESP32 have bluetooth as well as wifi? I wonder if I can re-flash this thing with firmware that doesn't suck?
shoot and i meant to include:
Flashing to get BT is only part of it, you would have to re-write the rest of it that monitors the senors, controls the stuff, and communicates... Not that you cant, but its more than just a simple re-flash.
Sun Sep 01 2024 07:06:25 EDT from Nurb432You would be amazed how much IoT is ESP. They own the market. And it depends. While unlikely its without BT, its always possible.
Sat Aug 31 2024 21:08:28 EDT from IGnatius T FoobarAs I probably mentioned before, I have a bbq smoker with an "app" that can control it, and it's got really awful remote integration through a "cloud" service. In the past I have had trouble keeping it connected so I just logged in to my router to see which access point it was connecting to.
And it seems that the A4:E5:7C:xx:xx:xx block of MAC addresses is registered to ... Espressif Inc.
So I guess that means the smoker has an ESP32 in it? Does the ESP32 have bluetooth as well as wifi? I wonder if I can re-flash this thing with firmware that doesn't suck?
So, if you have an Atmel microcontroller it isn't necessarily set up as an Arduino. Is it the same with ESP32? Like they've got some sort of native mode that requires more sophisticated tools, and you have to get the Arduino-like bootloader into it if you want to use that toolchain?
Ya most ESPs have both WiFi and BT. I have heard of them without, but it would be special order, so didn't want to say 'never'
And its not that you 'cant' nor does it take super advanced software.. "hit the hard reset and it reloads from usb" The problem you run into with a 'commercial' board is if you have a way to connect to the chip, then you have to sort out the 'conifg' of all the stuff its connected to and come up with code to run it... If you can connect to the proper pins for the hard reset and feed it data, normally blowing it away and starting over is not a big deal. But id be willing to bet none of those have pads open, so you have to futz with that too. I have not heard of 'locking' an ESP. but i suppose it might be possible
But before you try that, id suggest you get a 10 dollar board + a couple of sensors. play with that first before you risk breaking your smoker.
Mon Sep 02 2024 12:32:54 EDT from IGnatius T FoobarThe smoker has bluetooth and wifi. I didn't know that the ESP has bluetooth, and wondered if it was some sort of external chip that had to add it.
So, if you have an Atmel microcontroller it isn't necessarily set up as an Arduino. Is it the same with ESP32? Like they've got some sort of native mode that requires more sophisticated tools, and you have to get the Arduino-like bootloader into it if you want to use that toolchain?
ooo there is some sort of secure boot ( which i knew about.. to keep people from copying the code, but you dont care about that ) BUT i think there is another level where you can disable jtag and it will only support encrypted OTA updates.. I think it does prevent you from also 're-flashing', not just 'protect the code'
A number of guys in my FORTH group do ESP's ill ask them if im reading this wrong.
Yes it is possible to lock the chip so you cant re-flash at all.. Not just encrypt it ( a safe boot-sort of thing ) to force encrypted OTA updates and hide the code.
Can also file this under "today i learned", tho i guess i shouldn't have been surprised it was an option.
way to connect to the chip, then you have to sort out the
'conifg' of all the stuff its connected to and come up with code
to run it... If you can connect to the proper pins for the
The controller is basically just running three on/off switches: auger, blower, and igniter. And it's monitoring three temperature sensor inputs. So yes I would have to develop a "smoking algorithm" in addition to writing a remote interface that doesn't have cloud suck.
Right, not hard, just the re-flash would not be 'enough' so you have to plan ahead. That is even if it lets you, and after the reading and talking to others in the industry, i doubt it does.
Why not just build a new controller and use their sensors?
Fri Sep 27 2024 09:30:23 EDT from IGnatius T FoobarThe controller is basically just running three on/off switches: auger, blower, and igniter. And it's monitoring three temperature sensor inputs. So yes I would have to develop a "smoking algorithm" in addition to writing a remote interface that doesn't have cloud suck.