antController-fw

Getting started

This project utilizes platformio IDE, which can be obtained by downloading platformio extension for visual studio code.

The project configuration sits in platformio.ini. In order for platformio to recognise it, open the directory that contains it. Then all the dependencies should be automatically installed, and the project should build effortlessly.

In order to get the board working, user must flash both firmware and filesystem partition.

This can be done via platformio GUI. For creating a release binary, a simple helper script has been included. User must run 3 commands from platformio terminal:

# build filesystem image with files from data/ dir
pio run -e antcontroller -t buildfs
# merge firmware binary with the filesystem - merged-flash.bin will be created
pio run -e antcontroller -t mergebin
# flash merged-flash.bin to the ESP
pio run -e antcontroller -t flashall

User can also flash an binary artifact that can be found under Actions tab on repo.

esptool.py write_flash 0x0 merged-flash.bin

Logging

The logs can be seen either via Serial terminal, or on OLED display.

To see the output on serial, there are a couple of possibilities:

• Platformio builtin serial monitor (power socket icon at the bottom bar of VSCode)
• putty (windows)
• picocom (linux only) - picocom /dev/ttyUSB0 -b115200, exit via ctrl + A + X :)

Internet connectivity

This project utilizes WifiSettings library, which will create an hotspot in case there's no valid WiFi configuration. After putting the credentials in, the board must be restarted via button on the webpage.

User can pre-program their own credentials, by creating 2 files in data/ directory:

• wifi-ssid with network name
• wifi-password with password.

Storing your network credentials in an unencrypted file, either on your desktop machine, or esp32's (external and unencrypted!) flash chip is a potential vector of attack, keep that in mind. As always, S in IoT stands for security.

After connecting to the network succesfully, to get the device's IP you can peek through logs on serial port, or check the top bar on the OLED screen (if available).

API description

All the API can be accessed either via HTTP request, or via serial console.

The available endpoints are:

Name	Ch. num	Description
MOS	16	Mosfet bank
REL	15	Relay bank
OPT	8	Optocouplers
TTL	8	5V outputs
INP	16	Inputs
BUT	4(a-d)	Presets from config

Call via HTTP

On the device's IP there's a frontend website available, but user can manually use the device's web API without it.

You can use either a browser or a shell tool like curl

For example, to set all optocouplers to "1", use:

curl 192.168.0.145/api/OPT/bits/127

or navigate to http://192.168.0.145/api/OPT/bits/127

Important note - some browsers (like edge) hide the "http" part which forces the browser
to use "https" - this means encrypted connection which ESP can't handle. In case of trouble,
try to manually edit the https to http on browser bar, and/or use firefox.

Call via Serial

Remember to omit the /api/ part in this case, just type

OPT/bits/127

Which should result in something like:

D: Analyzing subpath: OPT/bits/127
I: API call for tag OPT
I: Parameter: bits, Value: 127
I: Write bits 0x7f on OPT
E: Op result: OK

IO config

Antenna output configuration is stored in buttons.conf file. It has .toml syntax, but esp spiffs editor cannot view .toml files, so it has to be named buttons.conf

Buttons are split between groups, only one button per group can be active, group can also be set to OFF

Loading configuration

The default config sits in /data directory. After editing or on first programming, the filesystem partition must be flashed, using Project tasks -> Platform -> Upload Filesystem Image that can be found in platformio extension sidebar

Editing presets via WebServer

The config can be edited by navigating to <IP_ADDR>/edit, for now user/pass is test/test. The board always loads button.conf file on boot, if it's not present, the config will fail.

Be careful, this functionality is provided by ESPAsyncWebServer and tends to be buggy sometimes.

Config file description

There are 2 kinds of objects there:

[[pin]]
sch =     "Z2-7"    <- custom ID name, based from original schematic
antctrl = "SINK1"   <- name on antcontroller, must be: SINKx, RLx, OCx, TTLx or INPx
name =    "QROS"    <- function name of this pin
descr =   ""        <- optional description for this pin

[[buttons.a]]             <- buttons.<group> 
name =  "160m VERTICAL"   <- name that will be called by `/BUT/<name>`
descr = ""                <- optional description for this pin
pins = [ "Z2-7", "Z1-1" ] <- pins activated by this button, must match <sch> or <name> of a pin.

The config is parsed at the start of the board, if any settings are invalid, the buttons will not function.

Button API

To activate a button preset

/api/BUT/<group[a-d]>/<button_name>

or to reset a group

/api/BUT/<group[a-d]>/OFF