How did we choose ESP-WROOM-32?
The ESP-WROOM-32 was chosen because it is a good fit for wearable devices and IoT
applications. It is a dual core 32 bit microprocessor that has low power consumption and an integrated wifi and bluetooth feature. It also has 26 GPIO pins and 4MB of flash memory which is more than enough memory and GPIO pins for the application of the smart headband. The microcontroller will be used to collect sensor data and send it to our web application using the integrated wifi feature. The Arduino IDE is compatible with this microcontroller and will be used for programming. Below is an image of the ESP-WROOM-32 and its pin specifications.
How does communication work with ESP32?
The ESP32 can be configured as a wifi station or wifi access point. When set to a wifi station it can connect to other networks, like your router. It can connect to other devices that are also connected to the same network. When the ESP32 is set as an access point you can connect with any device that has wifi capabilities, a router is not needed. To set up the ESP32 as an access point we have to create its own wifi network so that other devices can connect to it. This makes it easy for our laptops and smartphones to connect to. Communication is done through HTTP requests using the Arduino IDE. This makes it easy to send data back and forth with our backend server.
General Update
We have connected the required sensors (pressure sensors, accelerometer and gyroscope) with the ESP-WROOM-32 and programmed it using the Arduino IDE to collect the sensor data. Below is an image of the electrical connections.
We were also able to connect the ESP32 to the wifi network and send the data to a backend flask server. More information about our backend framework will be discussed in another blog post. Keep posted for that!
Next Steps
Finish implementing all of the necessary APIs
Data Storage
Distinguish between large and small (can be neglected) impacts
Improve wiring and determine final placement in headband
Continue testing sensors for large impacts
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