Accomplished
So far, I have confirmed the use of the XIAO ESP32S3 as the ESP32 platform for this project. The board supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE 5.0), which makes it a good candidate for communicating with the STM32Wx family (I have a XIAO ESP32S3 of my own and have tested BLE services with my laptop, with some starter code from the Arduino IDE). On the STM32 side, I have searched the avilable options and identified that the STM32WB series is most relevant, since it includes an integrated BLE stack and has development boards such as the Nucleo-WB55 that provide convenient debugging and GPIO access through STLINK. I have also set up development enviornments for both platforms: Arduino IDE / PlatformIO for the ESP32S3 and STM32CubeIDE / CubeMX for the STM32. In addition, I have reviewed documentation and example projects for BLE communication on both chips to understand their capabilities and constraints. I also found this video to be helpful with BLE / firmware drivers setup for the STM32WB55.
Progress / Schedule
At this point, the main task underway is finalizing the STM32 board selection and preparing for proof-of-concept testing. The Nucleo-WB55 is the leading candidate, as it is well-documented, actively supported (frequent posts in ST Community forums), and includes the BLE middleware needed for this project. Once the hardware is secured, I will be able to begin prototyping a minimal BLE connection. The plan is to first establish a simple communication channel where one device (likely the ESP32) advertises a BLE service and the other (STM32) connects to it. This milestone is targeted for completion within the next couple of weeks to stay aligned with the overall project schedule.
Devlierables / Next Steps
The immediate deliverables will include (1) finalized hardware selection of the STM32Wx board, and (2) a working BLE proof-of-concept demonstrating connectivity between the ESP32S3 and STM32. The proof-of-concept will serve as the foundation for the kart’s communication features, such as streaming IMU/flex sensor data or sending control commands. Documentation of the configuration steps, code, and test results will also be included as part of upcoming deliverables to ensure reproducibilty and staying on track with our schedule.