Crank Sensor

[viragored]

Hi - I'm following your prompt to post an issue to ask about a crank sensor.

I'm close to assembling the crankshaft and bearings for my JS Busker, so now would be a good time to get the actual sensor and build it in.
Could you advise what sort of sensor I should get, please? I've not used anything like that before so the more detail you can provide will be good.

[ A little something that may interest you:
I soldered header pins to my esp32-s3 DevkitC board and plugged it into a breadboard. When powered, nothing much happened, no wifi connection made.
After hunting for and failing to find my soldering mistakes, I pulled the board out of the breadboard and again powered it. Wifi connection made as usual and web interface working.
After a few breadboard inserts and removals I confirmed that the breadboard blocks the wifi connection, although Raspberry Pi Pico boards work properly. Damn! ]

[bixb922]

Hello!
I was just in the process of updating the repository with crank sensor information when you posted, so I just finished with that and a new version of the software is out.

Re: the crank sensor:

Here is the summary https://github.com/bixb922/crank-organ/blob/main/doc-hardware/README.md#9-crank-rotation-sensor

For a lot of reasons, it took me a long, long time to find the crank sensor solution. Here are my rantings about that: https://github.com/bixb922/crank-organ/blob/main/doc-hardware/crank-sensor.md, so you can have a good laugh.

Please if post here if there are any comments.

no wifi connection made.

I haven't seen that before. During testing I usually use ESP32-S3 in a breadboard. If the breadboard has a good ground plate, perhaps the signal from the WiFi antenna gets absorbed? Perhaps it works better if you put the ESP32-S3 on the border of the breadboard so that the WiFi antenna is just outside the breadboard? (The WiFi antenna is that little black rectangle on the end of the ESP32-S3 board opposite to the USB connectors).

[viragored]

Now I'm even more in awe of not only your skills, but your perseverance! I think I'd have given up long before reaching a working result.
Now I'll start looking for what suitable rotary incremental encoders/sensors can be bought in NZ (a quick hunt suggests none), or Ali (many, at all sorts of prices!)

I tried the esp32-s3 in my breadboard, with the wifi end sticking out as you suggested. But I got the same result again - no wifi connection, no AP available when plugged in, but all working as normal when not plugged in. I think I can manage without needing the breadboard so shan't bother trying to make it work with wifi.

And now it's dumb question time, sorry...
I don't understand what I need to do to update the software on the esp board to your new version. So far I have:

• cloned the repository from Github into a folder on the Raspberry Pi5
• unzipped the repository to its own sub-folder 'crank-organ'
• on the esp32-s3 web page, clicked "Update Files"
• clicked "Upload to auto-folder" and have the file navigator open

Could you please help me with what to do now - upload the zipped file, upload the contents of 'crank-organ', select some files "(.py or .mpy files. .html and .js files)", or ..... ?
Your guidance will be most welcome.

[bixb922]

I'd have given up long before

I had lots of fun doing this, and learned a lot 😃

no wifi connection, no AP available

I'm out of ideas here. Is it the same power connection (i.e. same USB connector) in both cases? Does it fail on both ends of the breadboard (thinking about a bad connection in the breadboard)? When you connect with mpremote to the USB connector to see the debugging message, what error log do you see there at startup?

clicked "Upload to auto-folder" and have the file navigator open

ohh, I didn't put this into the documentation. On the open file navigator of the "Upload to auto folder", navigate first to the crank-organ/src file, select all files and click Open on the file dialog. Wait until all files have uploaded. Repeat this for the crank-organ/static folder, select all files and click Open on the file dialog.

Plan B: on the command line of the Raspberry PI, navigate with cd to the crank-organ/install folder. Enter:

mpremote run install_software.py

[viragored]

Plan A was easy and quick! After the upload, I rebooted with the 'Reset' button on the 'System' web page so didn't even have to get out of my chair. Well done you!

I only intended to use the breadboard to protect the soldered header pins, so there is nothing connected to the breadboard apart from the ESP. It's the same USB-C cable, which I usually keep plugged into the ESP. The other end is going into the same wall USB supply each time, so the only change is plugging into the breadboard. And I get the same result with each of the 4 breadboards I have.
Here's a pic of the ESP plugged into its wall socket, in a breadboard, and without wifi working.

If I do need something to help with connecting wires and testing, I'll try soldering some female headers onto a proto-board and plug the ESP into that. And if that doesn't work, it'll be DuPont connectors straight on to the pins!