Connecting the P2 Eval Board with Wifi
lozinski
Posts: 76
I am trying to figure out wifi connectivity. Bits an pieces information are all over the place.
It would be great if you had a single page that walked a buyer through the steps. Buy the eval board. Buy the wifi board. Here is how to plug it in. Here is how to provide power. Here is what you have to flash. Here is the Taqoz Forth or Python to connect to it. Here is how to make sure it is all working
So let me take a shot at it. I will get it wrong.
The P2 Eval board seems like the obvious choice. It has a usb port in the upper right hand corner. Easy to get started.
For Wifi access, I think I need this board.
https://www.parallax.com/product/parallax-wx-esp8266-wifi-module-sip/
It would be helpful if that page explicitely said: "For P2 Eval board wifi access".
Is that the 2mb or the 4mb version mentioned in he flash documents? Where do I get the other one?
How much free space is available after flashing it. Is it already flashed, or do I have to do it myself?
Will the current on the usb port support the wifi card, or do I need to use the second usb port off of a powered usb hub?
. This header accepts the Parallax WX WiFi Module (#32420S). When using
wireless programming switch off the USB Reset “USB RES” feature
So add a link to that. Or better yet copy that text into this new page describing wifi connectivity.
There are two edge headers which do not have 5V routed to them.
Wait a minute, so what do I have to do to power the wifi board?
And then where is the Taqoz code and Python code to talk to the wifi board.
On github I saw the web page for the wifi board software. I presume that it comes preinstalled. Which means that I will have to figure out how to install MQTT on it. And others may want to figure out how to install Python or Javascript on it. All sounds quite painful.
The good news is that I can get started by just running MQTT on my desktop and plugging in over the usb port. But it would be really helpful to have a single page that describes how to achieve wifi connectivity.
I hope that helps.
Sorry to bother you.
Comments
So, do you wish to program the flash with the WiFi
You'll also want one of these if you're connect to a Rev C Eval board, or the P2 Edge Breadboard ("the JonnyMac")
-- https://www.parallax.com/product/p2-wx-adapter-add-on-board/
@JonnyMac, thank you. It would have be so painful to wait a week for the delivery, and then need to wait another week. I am in EUrope.
@DigitalBib:
See, I do not even know what questions to ask.
I do not wish to program the flash or the ESP board. I want it to all just work off the shelf.
I want Parallax to ship me a ESP board with Javascript and Python and MQTT all preinstalled.
I can dream can't I.
But since that is not going to happen, I have to program it somehow. Please tell me the best way to do this.
I am used to logging to Unix and doing stuff, but I think on this board, I have to flash. I do not think I download files to it. I am not quite sure how the ESP board works Nor do I want to learn. My focus is on learning this gorgeous P2 chip!
And just for full disclosure, this path looks way too painful. Bad documentation is a sign that not many people have gone down this path. Initially I can just run MQTT on my desktop, and talk to the board over some kind of terminal emulation. I still have to figure out exactly how to do that.
Still, I would like to know the answer to these questions. And others will have the same questions. Long term I need to take this path? (The question mark is a subconsious freudian slip. So I left it as is.)
I think that @VonSzarvas is the expert on the WiFi module; hopefully he can chime in with suggestions. For example, can we have it plugged into the Eval board and communicate with it via PST? I'm thinking the answer is now because they want to share the primary RX/TX pins.
Maybe, but I think it's more of a problem that people who do know how to do these things don't want to be bothered documenting -- and FWIW, I don't consider demo code equivalent to documentation. Code shows what, documentation describes why and how.
So just to help the documentation person understand what you are dealing with.
What is PST?
What are those pins? Receive? Transmit? Who are they sharing it with?
I am asking not because I really need to know right now, but my point is that your wifi documentation needs to target people like me. I am quite new to all of this. But it is a great education, and one really can do miracles with this chip. So I really do not want to waste my time trying to figure out this wifi stuff.
And for the record, I thought about ditching your chip when there was not good wifi solution. It was a big red flag. It is such an obvious need. How can it not be in place? I thought. Of course i also know the answer. What a huge capital investment to get this far. And congratulations for not taking on investors. That should be a huge selling point.
Thanks for the help.
Chris
VonSzarvas has a thread called loadp2 update for P2 wireless programing, that might answer some of your questions. PST means Parallax serial terminal. If your a newbie to the microcontroller game in general it might seem daunting, best thing to do is work with some of the demo's, do you have a P2 accessory kit?
thank you.
Here is the link.
https://forums.parallax.com/discussion/173017/loadp2-update-for-p2-wireless-programming
I almost bought the board last night, but we will be travelling, I do not want it to arrive when I am gone.
There really is a huge amount to learn to join this community. Thank god everyone has been hugely helpful.
Anything Parallax can do to reduce the barrier to entry is a great idea. The classes for educators makes a lot of sense.
The first line scared me off completely: "I wired up quickly"
I am not an electrical engineer. I have no skills with electrical circuitry. My Undergraduate thesis was with Professor Weiss at MIT. He went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics for Gravity Waves, but I almost did not graduate because the electrical circuit part of my project only worked once! Fortunately I recorded the data!
I guess I will not buy the Wifi board. Pity!
I doubt you can come far with anything microcontroller related if you’re not willing to string some DuPont cables between components. It's just an occupational hazard. For all things digital especially (sensors, actuators, displays) this is usually not a big issue, otherwise the bazillion of successful Arduino projects wouldn't have happened. Likewise the Parallax-based projects of course. Arduino is just a few orders of magnitude bigger.
However the P2 documentation is currently lacking, even for the more or less initiated (as I consider myself). This is actively being worked on AFAIK however it will be some time before all this is fleshed out. If you aren't willing to invest some time into research (and asking here), you won't become happy. If you want simple to reproduce recipes, the Arduino and Raspberry Pi are the better options.
I am reading widely, and asking lots of questions. I will post another one in a minute.
I am not averse to some wiring, but give me a break, not for wifi access.
Maybe dramatic stories are not a good idea. I thought it would be entertaining, but
in some sense it portrays my hardware skills as worse than they are.
And the other chips do not give you 8 cores that can talk to each other. This chip while new, is way better. I do not know of anything else as good. And if they do not get upset at all of my questions, the documentation will improve quickly I am sure.
It is also really good that they are owned by real people, not by some investor class. We all benefit from that in world class customer service. Thank you.
I don’t understand what distinguishes WiFi access from any other form of digital interconnect. You need to connect two pieces of silicon over one of the various established protocols such as I2C, UART, SPI or something like that. And transfer data. That’s it. It is not more or less difficult wrt to the wiring.
Good Question.
I believe I can just plug in a USb cable and talk to my desktop computer.
That is good enough to get started.
I am perfectly comfortable plugging in a wifi circuit board to a "header".
Or even buying something else that I plug one into the other into the header. Sound simple.
The difference is all in my mind. Among web developers, we think that every computer is connected to the internet. So it should be really easy to do. We think that this is the most important connection one can make.
Of course the electrical engineers correctly see it s just one of many possible connections.
We are both right.
Chris
Wires. Because behind every great notion is a rats nest just waiting to happen! Lol.
Jumpers are basically the only way to get a GPS, DS3231 RTC, DS18B20 temp module, DHT22, RS232 interface, and a blinkly board talking during earl dev.
I think I am going to have nightmares tonight.
Actually I laughed.
Culture shock. I will try to adapt.
When it comes to microcontrollers, if you're looking for everything to be plug-and-play, you're going to be disappointed. Jeff's image is not the thing of nightmares, but of dreams coming true.
That picture was the “neat” version. You should have seen it when I was debugging it on the JonnyMac board and none of the wires were bundled!