Fast & furious guide to programming the Nano32 (Part 1)
Setting up Espressif’s IoT developmental framework (ESP-IDF) to work used to be labourious with multiple setup instructions depending on which platform (Windows, Mac or Linux) used. Recently, MakerAsia has come up with a quicker/faster way to get started regardless of platform especially there is a need to speed things up when running workshops.
- Install VirtualBox virtual machine
Start by downloading and install the VirtualBox 5.1.6 package and the extension pack.
Click on the ‘VirtualBox’ after installation.
2. Add ‘UbuntuESP32’ virtual machine image
Go to Machine > Add the ‘UbuntuESP32’ virtual machine image file* (about 16Gb!). Remember to copy the image file to a folder (e.g. _VirtualBox).
*This image file is only available for workshop participants.
3. Start ‘UbuntuESP32’.
The virtual machine image provided speeds things up by booting up the Ubuntu 14.04 LTS environment which bundles the Eclipse, Arduino and command-line Terminal applications for use instantaneously.
4. Login to esp32 in Ubuntu
After booting up Ubuntu, the system will prompt you to provide the password. (The password is MakerAsia which is also written on the top left corner of the login screen)
5. Click on ‘Eclipse’ interactive development environment (IDE)
The Eclipse Neon IDE will boots up and provides a more user-friendly interface to edit, compile and flash the program to the Nano32 directly.
6. Get started programming the Nano32
Use the ‘Project Explorer’ box to scroll through different sample projects. The projects that begins with ‘00’ are from Espressif while those from MakerAsia starts with ‘20’.
The next part will describe the different project examples from blinking LED to sending temperature/humidity sensor data to an external webservice such as ‘ThingSpeak’.
