It's Alive!!! As explained in my last post, I had to go back to the beginning with this board in order to understand it and development more complex projects. I'm using the Arduino IDE on my MacBook Pro to create a Python3 sketch and flash it (via serial connection over usb) to the ESP32, which has been wired up with an LED on a development board.
The next step was to integrate a switch that would be read by a GPIO, triggering another GPIO to turn on / off an LED. This is what the development board looks like:
You may notice that the red and white wires are attached to a 1/4" instrument jack & cable. This is sent to the physical foot switch plate that I've been working on.
Size DOES matter... But it's not the only consideration. My foot sensor design required a small Microcontroller with power over ethernet and a few GPIO pins for the sensor and possibly an LED or two. In reality, both of these boards are overkill, but work well due to availability, cost, build time, and current knowledge of components and programming. In the future, I'd like to design a small board with only the essential components for the foot sensor.
Living in the moment... Time is a factor, and I don't have all the time in the world to learn new Microcontrollers, coding languages, etc. I need to create stuff now! While Raspberry Pi (RPi)is already becoming a tool in my tool belt, I recognize the benefits of learning the ESP32, as it is becoming more popular and at a fraction of the cost of the RPi. Of course, that meant starting fresh with projects like lighting up an LED. In a nutshell though, syntax is the real difference. The board has GPIO pins, and makes a serial connection to my laptop via USB cable. The big difference to me was that it doesn't have removable storage like the RPi. This required me to learn the Arduino IDE, which had to be updated with a driver for the ESP32 (available from the Climax website) in order to flash the memory.
Another challenge was understanding what all the pins were for on the ESP32... The internet has been the most useful asset for learning how to use ESP32, as it isn't mentioned in any of the book I already had. The pinout chart is probably the most important single piece of information that I needed.
Olimex ESP32-POE-ISO
https://www.olimex.com/Products/IoT/ESP32/ESP32-POE-ISO/open-source-hardware
RaspberryPi
https://www.raspberrypi.org
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The Arduino IDE has been an excellent solution for creating python sketches on my MacBook Pro and testing them with the Raspberry Pi & ESP32-POE-ISO Microcontrollers. Python was an obvious choice since it is native to all of the Microcontrollers used and can be used in TouchDesigner, MSP/MAX, and Processing, and there are a ton of open source libraries and resources available. The main reasons I went with the Arduino IDE is because it was familiar to the other programmers that I've been interacting with as an intern at a startup company. The other reason was because it's open source, easy to use, and is cross platform (meaning it works with OSX, Windows, and Linux). As a creative technologist intern, I have to create prototypes and code them in a way that allows smooth integration into a larger network of devices throughout a 12,000 sq ft space.
When prototyping & debugging, I've been able to quickly alter code and write to the board, which has allowed me to see results almost immediately. A lot of things look great on paper, but until you actually try it/ do it, you don't really know.
Where do I need to concentrate and invest my efforts? With such a broad area of possibilities in this independent study, asking this question is crucial to maximizing time and resources. This early discovery is informed by the numerous possible solutions to any given problem. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcom Gladwell suggests that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master in a given field. At 42 years old, I'm not sure I have another 10,000 hours left to master something new. Since we can't take back time, and we don't know how long we'll live, it's rather impractical to worry about getting in my 10,000 hours anyway. The important part is establishing a direction and moving forward, since there can be no progress without movement.
I still think the 10,000 hour concept is useful if looked at another way. I see it as having a limited amount of hours to invest and understanding that I can't be a master of all things. As a student of New Media, I recognize that I've chosen a broad field. This is exactly the reason that I can't afford to deep dive for very long in any one area. On the other hand, I can't afford not to take the necessary deep dive now and again in order to make progress. Without the occasional concentrated investment in a specific area, it becomes nearly impossible to progress in the larger scope. This is exactly why it's so important to self evaluate and adjust focus. It's all about knowing yourself and seeking self improvement, which also happens to be the first of eleven leadership principles taught to U.S. Marines (11 Marine Corps Leadership Principles (MCTP 6-10B, Appendix B)
My initial focus was on learning TouchDesigner (TD) and using it to do everything on the software end. Of course, that was before I started learning more about Microcontrollers, sensors, actuators, and how to get everything to interact. Sure TD can do pretty much anything, but it's not always the easiest or most efficient way to do something. On the practical side of things, it was necessary to learn more about python anyways, since it was one of the languages that played nicely with Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and the ESP32-POE-ISO boards I've been using. So I looked at the bigger picture and my larger goals with installation art, creative technology, and performance, in order to inform my future trajectory.
Some of the areas that warranted further exploration include: Programming micro controllers with an IDE, using Terminal, using Github, Compiling code, using libraries, debugging, modifying code examples and combining them into larger programs. Most of the solutions I found along the way have come from Tom Igoe's "Making Things Talk" (3rd edition), O'Sullivan & Igoe's "Physical Computing: Sensing and Conrolling the Physical World with Computers", Monk O'Reilly's "Raspberry Pi Cookbook" (3rd edition), and the "Freenove Ultimate Starter Kit for Raspberry Pi Tutorial" that came with the kit.
