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using the raspberry pico to drive the electronics for a parcel delivery vault.
MiR:
The board is something different, it has an rp2040 and for wifi one can use the extra esp32-c3 soldered on the board.
Both devices talk to each other over a serial port.
From my point of view a much leaner solution than the rp2040w which imho adds a lot of bloat and complexity to the rp2040 code
MiR
Thaddy:
And it has party tricks: either device can be master or slave depending on your mood of plugging in the usb-c powersupply..
I have my red and green markers out of the cupboard to make me remember how to plug in.
Will keep you posted about the project.
avra:
MCU can drive only a very limited current on it's pins, and without care you can easily hear a bang or smell a smoke ;D. You need a driver circuit for high current actuators like solenoids, motors... And driver needs to match an actuator. Also some drivers require 5V logic while most MCUs provide 3.3V. Some MCUs are 5V tolerant on inputs (all inputs can be burnt if not protected properly), but need voltage level convertor to output 5V. You can find lots of drivers on Ali and eBay, and easiest way is to search for <arduino your-actuator-name driver>. However, you can be sure that it will work with your MCU only after reading datasheets of your actuator and driver (or driver chip) and looking at manufacturer's schematics if available. For a newbie, I would recommend searching the net for some example with schematics exactly for your specific MCU, if possible using some ready to use driver from Ali/eBay, and then purchase exactly that driver model. If you just want mailbox notification, you might use Home Assistant with some RF or WiFi integration (ESP32 I/O is best supported but there are other options). There you use MCU's as a dummy plug-and-play I/O and then do all the logic on pc in your favorite programming language. To do almost the same but without Home Assistant, you can use Firmata firmware for your MCU and then communicate with pc using some pc firmata lib. If I had to choose, I would use ESP32 MQTT server if I have 24/7 power available in mailbox, or ESP32 MQTT client that sleeps and just wakes on event and sends data to local Pi MQTT server if I have to power from a battery. Also, if you want your device to run reliably 24/7, you have to run a watchdog and implement a brownout detection.
https://learn.adafruit.com/use-dc-stepper-servo-motor-solenoid-rp2040-pico/solenoids
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mailbox+detector+home+assistant&ia=web
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mailbox+detector+arduino&ia=web
MarkMLl:
--- Quote from: MiR on June 07, 2024, 02:10:02 pm ---The board is something different, it has an rp2040 and for wifi one can use the extra esp32-c3 soldered on the board.
Both devices talk to each other over a serial port.
From my point of view a much leaner solution than the rp2040w which imho adds a lot of bloat and complexity to the rp2040 code
MiR
--- End quote ---
Also leaves the flashable LED on the expected pin. I've got an RP2040W but haven't invested time into it.
When I was sniffing around in the region of Pico + Fuzix + 8266, the potential choices appeared to be /either/ an AT-style interface /or/ Packet Driver... with lots of people leaning towards Packet Driver as an antiquated- if not venerable- standard but not a great deal being done with it.
MarkMLl
MarkMLl:
--- Quote from: MarkMLl on June 07, 2024, 04:00:25 pm ---Also leaves the flashable LED on the expected pin. I've got an RP2040W but haven't invested time into it.
When I was sniffing around in the region of Pico + Fuzix + 8266, the potential choices appeared to be /either/ an AT-style interface /or/ Packet Driver... with lots of people leaning towards Packet Driver as an antiquated- if not venerable- standard but not a great deal being done with it.
--- End quote ---
Just a note to say that I've picked one of these up but haven't invested any time into it yet.
As an overview, it appears to be shipped with either minimal or no code on both chips, i.e. it might flash an LED but there is no comms stuff (unlike the way that most 8266s are shipped, i.e. with a minimal AT command set).
https://spotpear.com/index/study/detail/id/1101.html appears relevant.
Ultimately, I'd like to compare FUZIX on both that and the original Pico project board I've got, and to look at whether it would be possible to put something like a Packet Driver on the ESP32 that an OS might like to use without significant main-chip effort.
This https://hackaday.com/2024/05/14/breadboardos-a-command-line-interface-for-the-pico/ looks interesting for the Pico: extends FreeRTOS with a minimal shell etc.
MarkMLl
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