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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Launch of Annex WiFi RDS
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| cicciocb Regular Member  Joined: 29/04/2014 Location: FrancePosts: 70 |
Hi All, I want just let you know that there is another updated version of Annex available on the Annex Web Site It contains many improvements and many new functionalities sub as FTP, MQTT, PID, Tones, .... Do not hesitate to test it, it is free and always will be. cicciocb |
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| JohnL Senior Member  Joined: 10/01/2014 Location: SeychellesPosts: 128 |
Aren't you pushing the capabilities of little ESP8266 too far? This module has many quirks and limitations reported on many forums, it was only intended as serial-WiFi converter. ESP32 is a much more capable module for higher language development and doesn't cost much more. Why waste time with ESP8266? |
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| lizby Guru  Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3027 |
That may have been the angle which was originally marketed, but it certainly doesn't mean that that is all it can do, quirks and limits notwithstanding. One thing that I really appreciate about Annex (aside from its ease of use) is its ability easily to "push" changed values to a web page with almost no programmer coding needed and no user refreshing of the page. I eagerly await the release of annex32, which is promised and is apparently in some kind of beta testing, with some previews available. So far, it seems valuable on its own, and at the very least it is a testing ground for Annex32. I suspect that a great deal of the code in Annex for the ESP8266 will be reusable in Annex for the ESP32. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| MikeO Senior Member Joined: 11/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 275 |
Like this previous post I made here , this has proved to be super stable. Mike Codenquilts |
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| cicciocb Regular Member Joined: 29/04/2014 Location: FrancePosts: 70 |
I am not pushing the chip beyond its capacity because it is very powerful and used in a multitude of projects. If this chip has been sold to several million copies, there must be a good reason. It is certainly not easy to program it with Arduino but, with a good programming it is able to replace any microcontroller with the bonus of having a WIFI interface. The limitations you may refer was basically linked to the non-mature SDK but the latest versions are very reliable. This is the reason that pushed me into the development of Annex as my first target was the stability. You'll maybe surprised if I say that there is still 30% of the flash memory available for the implementation of new features. Maybe you should try it and make your opinion by yourself. I don't think I'm wasting my time as the ESP32 version is already developed, and I think that both can live in parallel as the ESP8266 is really adapted for very compact projects. |
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| JohnL Senior Member Joined: 10/01/2014 Location: SeychellesPosts: 128 |
Quote from your latest firmware 1.38 release few days ago. If it was very stable why are you still having "many stability improvements"? People are still reporting stability and memory leak problems with the latest 1.38 firmware. ESP8266 is only a single core processor spending most of its time servicing underlying operating system and WiFi stack. How much time does the processor have available to service Annex basic interpreter and how much time is available for basic applications (as a percentage)? How often do you need to yield control back to operating system and WiFi stack servicing? What is the minimum, typical and maximum latency in responding to basic application interrupts? All of above are hidden from basic users but have significant impact on performance and stability? Look, you have developed a good and promising new development environment that some hobbyists will find acceptable for simple applications. Many others have tried to port complex applications (higher level programming languages) to ESP8266 with similar problems. At least ESP32 is a dual core processor (not perfect), where one core can be dedicated to user applications. It also has much higher hardware peripheral capability for relatively very little extra cost. I'm pleased to hear that ESP32 version of Annex basic is already developed and I hope it will be released very soon. Please keep us posted. Another bit of personal advice. Consider changing your licencing so that you can monetize and fund further development. |
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| cicciocb Regular Member Joined: 29/04/2014 Location: FrancePosts: 70 |
Where are they reporting? I am always eager for feedback! |
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| viscomjim Guru Joined: 08/01/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 925 |
@JohnL, I have been using Annex for several projects lately and can tell you that it is QUITE stable on the esp8266. I have yet to have an unexplainable crash. Any crashes I have encountered have been my programming fault. I have a unit that runs 24/7 for quite some time now without a single crash, albeit not a super complex program. I haven't come across others stating any stability issues as of yet. Cicciob is quite responsive when it comes to any fixes that needed attention. Quite amazing actually. Ciccob keeps adding new and very useful features. These are the latest updates... - Implemented MQTT - Implemented FTP - Implemented PID - Implemented the Tone generation - Implemented support for the PUYA flash memory chip - Possibility to change the MAC address (useful for ESPNOW) - Improved HTML interactions with the addition of 2 new variables - Implemented frequency counter - Implemented some unit conversion functions - Many stability improvements - Many minor changes, fixes The ESPNOW feature seems to be a great way to implement board to board comms without having to add another radio module to your project. Pretty cool! I worked with ESP8266 basic in the past and there were many issues and unexplained crashes that led me to abandon it all together. After rewriting many of those older programs to use with Annex, I have not had a single problem with stability like I did in the past. I agree that the esp32 would be awesome with annex, the esp8266 is so compact it helps keep some projects physically smaller and that little guy is quite capable. My hat goes off to Cicciob for this effort. Just like Geoff and Matherp and others on this forum, the amazing amount of work and effort that is freely shared is simple awesome and I am very thankful to all of them. |
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panky Guru Joined: 02/10/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1099 |
@Cicciocb Great job- can't wait to try out. I have a couple of ESP-01 modules labelled AI-Cloud Inside and with a flash chip with p/n 25Q80AS. The ESP chip itself is an ESP8266EX 322015 P3PU84 - I bought this module some time ago but can not recall or find out if it is a 512K or 1M module - is there any way of finding out? panky ... almost all of the Maximites, the MicromMites, the MM Extremes, the ArmMites, the PicoMite and loving it! |
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| MikeO Senior Member Joined: 11/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 275 |
I believe that the 1mByte Flash. Mike Codenquilts |
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| cicciocb Regular Member Joined: 29/04/2014 Location: FrancePosts: 70 |
The flash should be 1Mbytes so it's ok for Annex. However, the toolkit permit to check the size of the flash installed on the module. cicciocb |
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Poppy Guru Joined: 25/07/2019 Location: GermanyPosts: 486 |
This all looks quite impressive but canīt get it to work properly. Flashing, connecting to router were successfull but webpage does not show up ... before on AP-Mode it did and apparently there is no security, so anyone could access it!?!? All too complicated. Sorry, but as yet not practical at all.  PS: @Cicciocb Donīt get me wrong, I like what youīre doing and made but I simply donīt like what it is!  Edited 2019-09-08 20:37 by Poppy Andre ... such a GURU? | ||||
| panky Guru Joined: 02/10/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1099 |
Spent the last 10 days playing with an ESP8266, outstanding work cicciocb! Quite a learning curve however trying to tie together MMBASIC, ANNEX BASIC, HTML, Javascript and CSS - phew!! I have now an operational system linking a camper/trailer program running on a custom Micromite with MMBasic 5, an on-board ESP8266 and Annex Basic interfacing the Micromite program with a mobile phone linked to the ESP web. I have 2 way interaction going on between the Micromite and the mobile phone. I also have to take issue with those critisising the platform (ESP8266) and the documentation! The ESP has been perfectly stable for me and Annex Basic (1.39) is a pretty easy step from MMBasic. The documentation is extensive and considering it is trying to tie together Annex Basic, html,javascript and style sheets, it is an amazing effort for a new release product. Give it a fair go before you make negative comments, it's worth the effort to open up the internet to hobbyists. panky. ... almost all of the Maximites, the MicromMites, the MM Extremes, the ArmMites, the PicoMite and loving it! |
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| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
Looks interesting but I think I will be going with B4R. They have been supporting the ESP32 for a long time now and there is no licensing restriction such as "hobbyist only". Edit: Create code in BASIC and it spits out C code. Edited 2019-09-08 21:08 by Tinine |
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| Poppy Guru Joined: 25/07/2019 Location: GermanyPosts: 486 |
I do! The security issue is most important at least next to getting it working at all. It is still too complicated but that is no ones fault, first of all it is just the technology itself! It works for me but not satisfyingly fine but that is just my very individual opinion and this does not exclusively bring out positives but I do not question the efforts behind it all, these are great. ... and the big advantage of course is that it is very cheap ... a NodeMCU together with an adaptor-board was less than 5 bucks.  Andre ... such a GURU? | ||||
| cicciocb Regular Member Joined: 29/04/2014 Location: FrancePosts: 70 |
Poppy, just for my personal curiosity, what is exactly that you don't like? Every kind of feedback is always positive, even if negative. For sure have access to internet means html, protocols, javascript, etc. |
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| Poppy Guru Joined: 25/07/2019 Location: GermanyPosts: 486 |
Exactly, as long as it is constructive and not destructive!  First of all, do not feel affronted, it is not my intention to devaluate any of your great efforts!  I just tried to find some easy way to get things satisfyingly running and actually it is not so easy. Of course I got it going but the question for me is what actually makes it easier with your very powerful but therefore overwhelming environment compared to others. Probably I am just missing a simple but effective plot within the instructions just for naive beginners (not for myself). For novices there probably is no difference apparent between your BASIC and any other higher programming language. It is just too big somehow. Imagening this I am not finding a key to it directly. Or was it your intention to address advanced users exclusively?  Of course for really interested and experienced users your RDS is damned fxxxxing great!  Andre ... such a GURU? | ||||
| cicciocb Regular Member Joined: 29/04/2014 Location: FrancePosts: 70 |
Poppy, my intention was (and still is) to provide something that can be easy and powerful at the same time. Of course, there are many features that can confuse beginners. Perhaps you can simply ask the group in the appendix for help and explain what you want to do; someone (including myself) will put you on the right track. After all, it's probably how everyone started. |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3027 |
Done (in my opinion). You may have missed the earlier threads in which Poppy expressed a desire for a clean basic like what was available on early microprocessor PCs. He's not the audience that Annex addresses, and I'm not sure that it's a lack of ability to do any specific thing that bothers him about Annex. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| Poppy Guru Joined: 25/07/2019 Location: GermanyPosts: 486 |
I am just questioning representatively from a novices point of view, not actually for myself. The RDS is great, but it depends on what the original intention is. The "easy" is not as high as the "powerful", but perhaps the way in between is difficult to figure out. I know some people who could probably start up a Maximite but never the Annex under BASIC and therefore all the instructions which are really much do not consider those. So if the intention was and still is to assume some advanced skills then everything is fine within its aim, but otherwise it is still too complicated and not practical. PS: MY point is not about methods and methodology but didactics! Edited 2019-09-10 23:33 by Poppy Andre ... such a GURU? | ||||
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