Firmware and software installation

Bradipograph needs two pieces of software to run: the firmware that gets flashed onto the bradipograph itself, and the control software that gets run on your computer.

Obtain the feeder

Currently, the control software (the "feeder") is only built and tested on x86_64 linux; a statically-linked executable is available here. After downloading it and marking it executable, you should be able to run it:

./bradipo-feeder --help


Usage: bradipo-feeder [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]

Commands:
  calibrate        Calibrate the bradipograph from scratch
  set-arm-lengths  Re-calibrate just the arm lengths
  set-max-hang     Set the maximum vertical hang
  set-min-angle    Set the minimum hanging angle
  move             Move to a coordinate
  svg              Draw an SVG file
  square           Draw a square showing the drawable region
  query            Query the current bradipograph status
  help             Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
      --simulate <SIMULATE>  If set, simulates a bradipograph and draws its output to an svg file at the given path
  -h, --help                 Print help

The feeder should also run on Windows and macOS, but you'll need to figure it out yourself; the source code is here.

Flash the firmware

  1. Install espflash by following its installation instructions.

  2. Download the latest bradipograph firmware and the partition map.

  3. Connect your ESP32-C3 (part number 5 in Materials) to your computer with a USB cable. Your device should show up as a serial port; note its name. (On my linux system, it's usually /dev/ttyACM0.)

  4. Flash your device:

    espflash flash <path/to/bradipograph> -p </path/to/serial> --partition-table <path/to/partition.csv>

    where you'll replace <path/to/bradipograph> with the location of the bradipograph firmware you downloaded in step 2, <path/to/partition.csv> with the location of the partition map you downloaded in step 2, and </path/to/serial> with the serial port that appeared in step 3.

  5. With your ESP32-C3 still plugged in, test it by running the feeder. It should find your bradipograph device and see that it hasn't been calibrated yet:

    ./bradipo-feeder query
calibration: Uncalibrated

With the firmware set up, you're ready to proceed with assembly.