FALK PA-01 Advanced Control Board

Build

• Install Visual Studio Code and open
• From the Extensions window, install PlatformIO (this will take a while)

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/gilphilbert/falk-pa01-advanced.git
code .

To build the firmware click on the PlatformIO tab on the left (little alien) and then select Build under esp32dev. When that completes, select Build Filesystem Image under Platform.

Note: PlatformIO can have issues on MacOS, for now using a virtual machine with Debian installed is the recommended workaround.

Installation

Assuming those both complete, you're ready to flash the firmware

• Connect the Ground, TX and RX connectors on the advanced board to a serial adapter
• Connect the serial adapter to your development machine
• Power up the Advanced Control Board
• While holding down the BOOT button, press the RESET button
• In PlatformIO, click the Upload option under esp32dev or press CTRL + SHIFT + U
  • This will rebuild and upload the code to the Advanced Control Board
  • If you see an error saying you need to install udev rules, follow the link to install the rules then try again
• Once the firmware upload is complete, put the board back into programming mode by holding the BOOT button and pressing the RESET button again
• Now upload the filesystem image by going to the PlatformIO tab and clicking on Upload Filesystem Image (not the OTA one!)
• When the upload is complete, press the RESET button on the Advanced Control Board
• Programming is complete!

Updating the firmware

Once you have the PA-01 connected to your wifi, you can update your PA-01 easily. When you've made changes to the code, simply build the code. If you haven't made changes to the UI, then you can upload the firmware directly using the Web UI: /user/home/project-path/.pio/build/esp32dev/firmware.bin If you changed the Web UI, next you will need to build the File System Image. The File System Image will include the new firmware as a bundle. Navigate to the build folder and use the Web UI to upload the bundle: /user/home/project-path/.pio/build/esp32dev/spiffs.bin Node: to upload firmware in the web UI of the PA-01, go to "Firmware" and select "Update". Provide the new bin file and it will upload the new firmware and restart the unit.

Connecting the PA-01 to WiFi

Press and hold the INPUT button for 5 seconds. The PA-01 will start an Access Point (named on the front of the unit) that you can connect to. Browse to http://192.168.4.1. Click on "Wireless" and select your WiFi network and enter your key. Note: The board is based on the ESP32 microcontroller which only supports 2.4GHz WiFi networks.