Wireless Debug Display

This repository contains an example application designed for either ESP32-WROVER-KIT, ESP32-S3-BOX, ESP32-S3-BOX-3, or LILYGO T-DECK (selectable via menuconfig) which listens on a UDP socket for data. It then parses that data and if it matches a certain format, it will plot the data in a graph, otherwise it will print the data to a text log for display.

debug_display_box_compressed.mp4

Configuration

You'll need to configure the build using idf.py set-target <esp32 or esp32s3> and then idf.py menuconfig to then set the Wireless Debug Display Configuration which allows you to set which hardware you want to run it on, as well as the WiFi Access Point connection information (ssid/password). It also allows customization of the port of the UDP server that the debug display is running.

Use

This code receives string data from a UDP server. It will parse that string data and determine which of the following three types of data it is:

• Commands: contain the prefix (+++) in the string.
• Plot data: contain the delimiter (::) in the string followed by a single value which can be converted successfully to a number. If the conversion fails, the message will be printed as a log.
• Log / text data: all data that is not a command and cannot be plotted.

They are parsed in that priority order.

Some example data (no commands) can be found in test_data.txt.

A couple python scripts are provided for sending data from a computer to your logger to showcase simple UDP socket sending, as well as automatic service discovery using mDNS.

• ./send_to_display.py: Uses simple UDP sockets to send messages or a file to the debug display.
• ./send_to_display_mdns.py: Uses python's zeroconf package to discover the wireless display on the network and then send messages or a file to the debug display. NOTE: zeroconf may not be installed / accessible within the python environment used by ESP-IDF.

Sending Data to the Display

This display is designed to receive data from any other device on the network, though it is primarily intended for other embedded wireless devices such as other ESP-based systems. However, I have provided some scripts to help show how data can be sent from computers or other systems if you choose.

Assuming that your computer is also on the network (you'll need to replace the IP address below with the ip address displayed in the info page of the display if you don't use the mDNS version):

# this python script uses mDNS to automatically find the display on the network
python ./send_to_display_mdns.py --file <file>
python ./send_to_display_mdns.py --message "<message 1>" --message "<message 2>" ...
# e.g.
python ./send_to_display_mdns.py --file test_data.txt
python ./send_to_display_mdns.py --message "Hello world" --message "trace1::0" --message "trace1::1" --message "Goodbye World"

# this python script uses raw UDP sockets to send data to the display on the network
python ./send_to_display.py --ip <IP Address> --port <port, default 5555> --file <file>
python ./send_to_display.py --ip <IP Address> --port <port, default 5555> --message "<message 1>" --message "<message 2>" ... 
# e.g.
python ./send_to_display.py --ip 192.168.1.23 --file additional_data.txt
python ./send_to_display.py --ip 192.168.1.23 --message "Hello world" --message "trace1::0" --message "trace1::1" --message "Goodbye World"

Commands

There are a limited set of commands in the system, which are determined by a prefix and the command itself. If the prefix is found ANYWHERE in the string message (where messages are separated by newlines), then the message is determined to be a command.

PREFIX: +++ - three plus characters in a row

• Remove Plot: this command (RP: followed by the string plot name) will remove the named plot from the graph.
• Clear Plots: this command (CP) will remove all plots from the graph.
• Clear Logs: this command (CL) will remove all logs / text.

Plotting

Messages which contain the string :: and which have a value that successfully and completely converts into a number are determined to be a plot. Plots are grouped by their name, which is any string preceding the ::.

Logging

All other text is treated as a log and written out to the log window. Note, we do not wrap lines, so any text that would go off the edge of the screen is simply not rendered.

Cloning

Since this repo contains a submodule, you need to make sure you clone it recursively, e.g. with:

git clone --recurse-submodules <your repo name>

Alternatively, you can always ensure the submodules are up to date after cloning (or if you forgot to clone recursively) by running:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Build and Flash

Build the project and flash it to the board, then run monitor tool to view serial output:

idf.py -p PORT flash monitor

(Replace PORT with the name of the serial port to use.)

(To exit the serial monitor, type Ctrl-].)

See the Getting Started Guide for full steps to configure and use ESP-IDF to build projects.

Output

Console Logs:

Python script:

ESP32-WROVER-KIT

debug_display_kit_compressed.mp4

LILYGO T-DECK

ESP32-S3-BOX

debug_display_box_compressed.mp4

ESP32-S3-BOX-3