Accomplishments

This week, I worked on adding an LED characteristic for BLE on the STM32. This allowed me to verify that I could send data from the ESP32 to the STM32 besides simply establishing a GATT client/server connection. Additionally, I spent some time reading the Donkeycar’s documentation to begin writing code to move the brushless DC and servo motors.

Contrary to what I thought, the STM32 doesn’t directly send the PWM signals to the motors. The Donkeycar’s expansion board has a PCA9685 controller that sends servo signals to the motors via I2C. I then spent some time modifying the STM32 IOC file to provide the HAL for I2C with 7-bit slave addresses.

Progress / Schedule

Currently, I am on track with my tasks. I’ll ensure to have functional motor code this week, so that Caitlyn can integrate her IMU logic with the system once basic movement recognition is finished. In parallel, I will be trying to flash my code onto the board’s as Nick finishes verifying them.

Next Steps / Deliverables

• Finish writing I2C setup code to move Donkeycar’s wheels.
• Integrate simple IMU motions for forwards/backwards movement on the car.
• Flash STM32 and ESP32 code on PCB boards after verification is done.