Special developer offer: ESP32 (WIFI +BLE) wireless board

I do have the module fully working at this time. I MAY go ahead and start coding a new library for this module so we have a full Arduino library for it. Not sure. I MAY just hard code some stuff for testing purposes to get M2RET working with it and go back to this later.

In the process of building a library to allow easily adding modules such as ESP32 or the Cellular module to the M2. Hope to have the library ā€œfinishedā€ this week and will start integrating into M2RET. Does anyone have the ESP32 fully working so I can test with that module? Since someone else has been working with the module I havenā€™t started but may do so if no one has by the time I have M2RET converted over. hard to test it if I donā€™t have a library to test withā€¦ :slight_smile:

Currently I have 2 ESP32 modules. An older ā€œBetaā€ one and what I am assuming is the production version. I have the ESP32-AT library installed on the Beta version and I can communicate with it.

What I am curious about is if there is an Arduino Library already built to support it or not? I can write one but looking through the documentation of the ESP32-AT library, that could take a while even if I just include the functions I expect to use. I could just write all of the ā€œATā€ commands to the serial port manually but seems so wrong to do and hard to debug where as having a simplified library would make things much simpler.

(Ie calling a function to get a list of possible hosts and have it return a list is programmatically easier to debug than to manually write out the AT command and handle it in the program manually.)

You say that you have a production version. Where did you get it? I canā€™t find it on the site.

For the new module, does anyone know what ā€œflavorā€ of ESP32 is? I want to know if it has external PSRAM or not.

If they donā€™t respond I do have one if you know how to tell?

Hey everyone, just a quick announcement for anyone interested in this ESP32 Board:

We will be offering these through CrowdSupply platform soon. Check it out:

Stay tuned here for more news or subscribe for updates on the campaign page.

From Josh link it seems to be the one without PSRAM

Just got mine yesterday. Running through the examples for the first time today. EPIC!!! I love it! Now I can connect to the app I wrote for iPad specifically catering to my Subaru BRZā€™s PIDs and not have to be paranoid about the security of the connection.

Come on now, letā€™s see this app. Preferably in action.

Once school is done (In like 14 hours) My security competition is done (April 29th) and my court jury duty is done I will be jumping on this stuff. Getting some basic connectivity with this module will be one of my first projectsā€¦ :wink: I will be sure to post results when I get that far.

Sure you donā€™t want to see the iPad powered-off and face down? :wink:

Ya sure, Iā€™ll get screenshots the next time Iā€™m in the car. It works with any standard OBD-II WiFi dongle, as all Iā€™ve encountered sing to the tune of 192.168.0.10, Iā€™m assuming thatā€™s standard.

When will the Crowdsuply campaign start?

A crowdfunding campaign arrives exactly when it means to. The date is not set yet but we are hoping to launch it soon. As soon as we have a date we will announce it here.

Kudos for the Lord of the Rings reference. :grinning:

I got one of the very early prototype boards long ago and never did anything with it. Well, since SavvyCAN supports wifi based connections now I thought Iā€™d try it out. My first impression is that itā€™s a huge pain in the rear to program that thing. I found out two things the hard way:

  1. You apparently canā€™t use the same Arduino IDE instance to both flash the M2 sketch and the ESP32 sketch just by switching the board type. It locks up the M2. I had to start two copies of the Arduino IDE and have one set to the M2 and the other set to the ESP32 both targetting the same serial port. This is in LINUX so I donā€™t know if Windows has this issue.

  2. For some God forsaken reason I canā€™t start the M2 with the ESP32 module plugged in. Nothing ever happens and the M2 is even locked up. I have to plug the M2 in then push the ESP32 module into the XBee slotā€¦ every time I plug the M2 into USB. This gets old. It especially gets old since after uploading a ESP32 sketch it locks everything up and I have to power cycle the m2. Basically any time a butterfly in Brazil flaps its wings I have to power cycle and start over.

I suspect I might have a faulty module. Perhaps I didnā€™t do it any favors by accidentally letting it roll around in my tool bag for 5 months. But, I like this design better. Thereā€™s a nifty micro connector for an external antenna. I like this. PCB antennas are all garbage, I donā€™t care how well anyone tried to tune them. They donā€™t work worth squat. The SuperB uses the WROOM32 module which usually doesnā€™t have a connector and uses a PCB antenna. Itā€™d be cool to offer the version that supports external antennas as such a version does sort of exist - good luck finding a good source for them.

Anyway, I did eventually get it to sort of work for programming so Iā€™ll get some test code together to make the ESP32 create a known AP that you can then connect to with a telnet program or SavvyCAN to gain access to the M2 wirelessly. Just thought Iā€™d share my struggles in case I could help someone else if they have those issues too. Hopefully I just have damaged hardware or something and nobody else is running into the problems I did.

Hi Collin
Your not alone with the issues of programming the ESP via the M2. I have a similar unit as you do & its not that your unit was rolling around in your tool bag.
Programming using windows after installing a slightly modified pass through program on the M2 & setting the M2 into pass through mode I then needed to use Espressif IDE to upload to the ESP32 module.
I then found as you have that the M2 locks up or if a Moth flies over the shire it locks up.
I would be interested to know what you have done to get around the lock up.
After all of the above problems i shelved it & went onto other projects i have on the back burner now that Savvycan supports TCPIP you have rekindled my interest in the ESP.
I also agree on the miniature aerial connector is a good idea as i will be permanently installing the M2 in the car (metal & glass box) which is not the best for radio signals.
any way enough ranting. On the side i have tried enabling the SPI interface between the ESP & the M2 to try & get away from the serial interface between the M2 & the ESP. The reasoning behind this was 2 fold
1 Faster interface between the M2 & ESP
2 Possible programming the ESP via the SPI interface
So fare no success.

Would be interested in the code you have got working so far if your able to share.

Regards Tony

Is this an issue just with the new boards? I have both the production and the beta board.

Have not had the chance to play with the production board yet but the beta board I had no issues with. Just had to program the module using the Espressif IDE and its good to go. I had it plugged into my M2 for over a month and used it without issue and was able to talk to the Beta module and get good responses.

In a few days I will be revisiting this and getting the up to date version running on both modules. Or attempt to anyhow. Are you guys just having issues with the production board?

No, the one Iā€™m using is an old red one. Itā€™s been a stinker but it very well could be my machine. Maybe linux doesnā€™t like something, I donā€™t know. When I flash the uploader sketch to the M2 sometimes itā€™ll let me push the buttons and I can see the red and yellow light so the sketch is running. But, USB comm is not working unless I donā€™t have the ESP32 attached when I plug in. It might be the machine too - Iā€™m doing this on a laptop and they donā€™t always support quite the same amount of power out the USB ports as a desktop machine would. It could be a power surge issue.

Might be your USB cable too. I have had issues with some boards with certain USB cables. I have not had any issues with my M2 but if you continue to, you may want to try a different brand of cable.