Description

This repository holds the code for the LU Player Tracker board. You can find the PCB repository here.

This board shows the player count and locations in real time by lighting up the respective world RGB LED and seven segment display. The player location and count is sent via MQTT from a Darkflame Universe private server.

Darkflame Universe is a server emulator for the defunct LEGO Universe MMO. You can find more info about the project here

Setup

In order to flash the board and get a working product, there are a few steps that need to be taken.

Environment setup

There are multiple ways to setup the development environment. I would recommend reading Espressif's documentation

However, the quickest and most straightforward way is to use the ESP-IDF Tools Installer (For Windows).

Config

1. Navigate to the code directory and create a file called credentials.h
2. Open the file and add the following

// MQTT
#define  BROKER_ADDR  "mqtt://<brokerIP>"
#define  BROKER_UNAME  "<brokerUname>"
#define  BROKER_PASS  "<brokerPass>"

// WIFI
#define  WIFI_SSID  "<WIFISSID>"
#define  WIFI_PASS  "<WIFIPass>"

Example

// MQTT
#define  BROKER_ADDR  "mqtt://192.168.0.0"
#define  BROKER_UNAME  "UserName"
#define  BROKER_PASS  "password123"

// WIFI
#define  WIFI_SSID  "wifissid"
#define  WIFI_PASS  "wifiPassword123"

3. Save and close the file

Flashing

1. Open the ESP-IDF 5.0 CMD (if you used the installer) and navigate to the code directory.
2. In the code directory, run idf.py set-target esp32s3
3. Then run idf.py build
4. Once that has finished building, find connect the board to the PC via the USB connection and note the COM port

NOTE: The USB does not supply power. You will also need to connect the power cable to the board to flash.

5. Then run idf.py -p COM# flash where # is the COM port number
6. If nothing failed, your board is now flashed and you can disconnect the USB cable

Server Side

You will need the following setup:

• Functional Darkflame Server (running on Linux)
• MQTT Broker
• Tracker script

The last two items are covered below.

Installing MQTT broker

1. run sudo apt install -y mosquitto mosquitto-clients

2. run sudo systemctl enable --now mosquitto.service

Configuring Broker

1. Open the broker config file using
   sudo nano /etc/mosquitto/mosquitto.conf

2. Add the following line to the top of the file
   per_listener_settings true

3. Add the following lines at the bottom of the file

allow_anonymous false  
listener 1883  
password_file /etc/mosquitto/passwd  

4. Set a username and password for the broker by running sudo mosquitto_passwd -c /etc/mosquitto/passwd YOUR_USERNAME

5. Restart the broker with sudo systemctl restart mosquitto

6. Make sure its running with systemctl status mosquitto

Install The Script

1. Clone the this repository and follow these instructions

Last Step

1. Allow tcp port 1883 through the firewall

Use

Power Supply

The board is powered via the 5.5mmx2.1mm barrel jack on the left side of the board. It requires a 5V 2A supply.

The USB does NOT supply power, and is only for flashing and serial in/out

Connecting to WiFi

Currently only available on the wifiConfigAP branch

The board will allow you to enter your WiFi credentials via a website broadcasted by the board.

1. Power on the board

2. Then, while holding down the MODE button, briefly press the RESET button.

   Its easier to press the reset button with a small flat object like a LEGO 1x4 tile

   

3. Keep holding the MODE button until you see two solid dashed lines in the seven segment

4. Your board should now be broadcasting a hotspot with the name LU Player Tracker

5. Connect to the hotspot with the password LUisthebest

6. Navigate to 192.168.4.1

7. Enter your WiFi's SSID and password and click save

8. You should get message saying your credentials are saved

9. Power cycle the board by either briefly pressing reset, or unplugging/plugging in the barrel jack

10. A couple seconds after reboot, you should see the seven segment change to showing numbers and the world LEDs turning on (if they are populated)

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Credit to FutronBob for the map layout that inspired this project