We are evaluating this before adding any new hardware to our robot, and
we think this could be useful for other teams thinking about SuperTeam
communication too!
Rule 6.3 recommends that teams “bring some kind of communication hardware
or think about a communication mechanism” for the SuperTeam Challenge.
We are considering adding an ESP32-C3 Mini to our robot and using ESP-NOW as the inter-team communication protocol.
For those unfamiliar, ESP-NOW is a connectionless protocol by Espressif
that allows ESP32 devices to communicate directly without a router, with
very low latency (~1ms) and low power consumption. It operates on 2.4GHz.
Is ESP-NOW an allowed communication protocol for the SuperTeam
Challenge?
Are there any 2.4GHz frequency restrictions at the venue in
South Korea we should consider?
Is there a recommended or standard protocol that organizers suggest
so teams can cooperate more easily regardless of their hardware?
We are aware that ESP-NOW requires both teams to use ESP32 hardware, which
could be a limitation — happy to discuss alternatives if others have
solved this differently!
Hi @Mahmoud , @Dieguinilombrin , @Cort is posible check this, id like you have in consideration this option because the last year the Super Team Chanllenge was a really great challengue for team to work in collabrotive between maze and line that was increible !! But the communication was a problem since my perspective, because some Team solve the challenge directly annunce the Start for the second robot using the voice to judge, so maybe we can copy the system in the Soocer league where have a standard module to compete and standarize the communication protocol between robots in this league, that’s only a personl opinion like a coach from my team because i get the commentary “the challenge is good, but the other team have a diferent module or diferent board, or diferent way to communicate, and all the teams have the same problem” so i think if we standarize with a simple module this the spirit of Super Team will be better because both Team can speak in same technology and focus in solve the chalenge, sharing ideas, testing together and be more productive experience for that moment.
So we investigate diferent options and maybe the ESP32 C3 Super Mini is a good option because:
Can use BT 5.0 - ESP NOW - BLE - WIFI to communicate and connect directly with a microcontroller using UART o I2C, so for team custom electronics is easy to have a module to connect and for Team use LEGO SPIKE, LEGO MINDSTORM have BLE native so can connect directly withot any change in her robots.
Can program the board in Micropython so many team are currently programing in Python or C++ so the learning curve is minimal.
You have a specify diferent module to use in communication so a member a team can start discussion about how send o get packets between robot and test at same time the rest of team is alreay working in solve the challenge.
This is only a personal opinion to improve the compettiton and be more confortable for the teams at moment, maybe your focus is the teams can solve the problem about the communication and i will understead that, but some team loss so much time try communicate and finally leave the challenge at midle, maybe if you define and standard Two months previous to competition the teams have the enough time to adapt the robot to it and help the teams to think can´t adapt the robot to do it and learn and control the technology.
Thank you very much for your attention. This is just an opinion, a suggestion. Thank you for your support and help throughout the competition.
Sorry. I’m not in the committee, so this is not a matter that I have any control over.
That said, I do support the use of an ESP32 C3 Super Mini as a standardized communication module. It’s small, low cost, easy to use, and can communicate with other devices over UART, GPIO, etc and USB.
A few things I’ll like to add…
Lego Mindstorm (EV3) does not have BLE; only Bluetooth classic.
Lego Spike has BLE, but I’m not sure if I would consider it easy to use. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll consider anything related to Bluetooth easy to use [1].
The USB connection on the ESP32 can be a useful interface. Devices with a USB host like the Lego EV3 and Raspberry Pi can communicate with the ESP32 over USB serial without any additional wiring.
[1] Maybe I’m just bad at it, but in my defense, even Lego struggles to get their app to connect to their own devices consistently over Bluetooth.