Armachat-circuitpython

New Armachat based on Raspberry Pi PICO an Circuitpython code

Software working features:

• send message with header and store to memory
• receive message and parse header, store to memory
• display message memory with message details like SNR and RSSI
• count messages in memory by type
• display some hardware details like free memory and power supply voltage, it is good for future battery operation
• Terminal display with messages from background systems
• AES256 encryption
• message confirmation and status change in memory
• boot safe mode

TODO:

• Need much better LoRa library with, CAD, status detection, and INTERRUPT !!!
• contact list
• setup and save configuration
• save memory to flash

##Fixes in this repository

• Much more stable
• Formatting changes in all three files. I'm using the Mu editor, https://codewith.mu/, that has Check and Tidy functions to help standardize formatting. The formatting changes are from using those functions in the Mu editor.
• Configuration values that are changed may be saved to a config.txt file if the file-system is writable.

boot.py

• Pull model information from config.py to obtain the model and keyboard setup information.
• Used the adafruit_matrixkeypad to scan the keyboard.
• Display prompts based on the Armachat model
• Added a progress bar to show remaining time to make a selection for safe and write modes.

code.py

• Added a function named screenSafeText, which removed characters from a string that is a non-printable character. There were some random errors due to received messages having non-printable characters. When the messages were displayed, there would be no font in the font file for them, which would cause the code to crash.
• Added a 0.1 second delay when checking for a key press. I was experiencing skipping screens as the left or right button (bsp, ent) was read twice or more on one key press. This is not a perfect solution but the results in a better user experience.
• Added try/catch blocks around attempts to read or write files. I would have rather used file exists for reads but it appears that CircuitPython's file library does not have an exists function. The use of try/catch blocks appears to be the preferred method to check for a file's existence.
• Created the function radioInit to allow changing of the LoRa radio on the fly.
• Added the CPU Temperature from Kayto's code
• Added the Ping function from Kayto's code
• Allow changing the frequency on the fly
• Allow changing the power on the fly
• Matched LoRa profiles to Meshtastic's profiles

config.py

Now reading and writing to config.txt file to keep settings between reboots

Notes:

• If a new property is added to config.py, it will be written to config.txt if it is one of the types included in config_includeTypes list.
• A property may be excluded by placing it in the config_excludeNames list.

Limitations

• To save configuration changes, the file-system needs to be changed to writable on boot by pressing the ALT key.
• If the config.txt file is edited by hand comments are allowed but the whole line must be a comment. Inline comments are not allowed.
• If a hex, binary. or octal value is in the config.txt file, it will be changed to decimal if the configuration file is saved.
• Currently only str, int, and float types are supported.

BTW: Save memory to flash does work if you change the file system to write mode by pressing the ALT key when booting and pressing the S key when viewing messages.