This week I spent a lot of time trying to establish solid wireless connection between the esp32 and our python program. Initially we planned to use ESP-NOW, a lightweight communication protocol to send packets, but I found out that it only works for python environments for microcontrollers. So it’s best for device to device communication, but doesn’t work to talk with our python program running on an operating system. The next easy option to set up software-wise would’ve been wifi, but since CMU wifi requires a certificate, and devices without browsers need to connect to CMU-DEVICE not CMU-SECURE, I didn’t see an easy way to communicate through wifi.
So, I set up the script for bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication on the eps32. It seems to be working on the esp32, but I still can’t get the python program to connect. The next step is to use a BLE scanner on my phone to debug this issue.