FuckCombustion Community Enail Project (Name TBD)

[Stu]

Ok ... so here's a video with a demo

Here's a link to the source code on GitHub: https://github.com/J-Cat/fc-enail

Anyone is free to download/modify/use the source, but it is not free to use commercially in existing or derivative forms (it's free for personal use though!)

If anyone has extensive experience with Raspberry Pi's, NodeJS, Typescript, Redux, React, Socket.IO, Apache Cordova, etc., then let me know if you want to help out with the code. This is a stack I work a lot in these days so I'm pretty fast at it ... I'm doing something a little different here though with redux managing the state on the server/hardware as well ... it fits well due to the nature of the hardware and the fact that the hardware controls are essentially a "client".

I'd like to get it down in size (maybe 2/3 the width) which should be achievable if I can either:
a) get a board built with sockets on one side for the modules
b) get a board built with build-in modules (ie. replicate the OLED/I2C, rotary encoder, and push button on it's own board ... the OLED/I2C one is the complicated one here )

Next steps:
1) write code for running "scripts" (ie. up-temps, down-temps, etc.) ... re-using some of the e-nail magic code here ...
2) write code for running auto-tune and saving profiles (not sure I really want to make this accessible without the mobile app ... unless I default the naming "profile 1", "profile 2", ... and only allow re-naming in the app ... think it might be a pain to implement the writing logic with 2 buttons and a rotary encoder!)
3) write mobile app/client

If anyone has some ideas for the user interface look/feel, I'd appreciate some feedback!

That's fuckin' awesome, @JCat.

 

[Hippie Dickie]

@JCat - indeed, awesome work.

i have a question about the temp ramp up speed: is the Omron throttling the current - maybe to avoid overshoot? my heater (0.3 ohm - 12" length of 1/8" wide nichrome ribbon), with a fresh charged battery pack, can increase temp at 37°F/sec - but there is quite a bit of overshoot (75°F or so - i need to decrease the full power cutoff temp).

i never got into Linux or Raspberry Pi systems. i kind of went through that phase when minicomputers emerged - i.e. the PDP-11 in the 1970s, writing an op sys, device drivers and such like ... seemed like the right thing to do at the time ... these days i prefer being closer to the hardware/chip level, with a decent macro assembler.

 

[JCat]

@JCat - indeed, awesome work.

i have a question about the temp ramp up speed: is the Omron throttling the current - maybe to avoid overshoot? my heater (0.3 ohm - 12" length of 1/8" wide nichrome ribbon), with a fresh charged battery pack, can increase temp at 37°F/sec - but there is quite a bit of overshoot (75°F or so - i need to decrease the full power cutoff temp).

i never got into Linux or Raspberry Pi systems. i kind of went through that phase when minicomputers emerged - i.e. the PDP-11 in the 1970s, writing an op sys, device drivers and such like ... seemed like the right thing to do at the time ... these days i prefer being closer to the hardware/chip level, with a decent macro assembler.

The Omron uses PID control ... I've implemented this in typescript as well, but the results were not good enough in my opinion, and I never got the auto-tune algorithm working correctly, so I ended up abandoning that pursuit in favour of this direction.

The Omron w/ RS-485 interface (one-off order ~$100 CAD w/ shipping ... ie. $75 USD). For $75 you are getting a lot IMHO ... it performs amazingly well ... I've read up on their algorithm, and they are using a 2-DOF algorithm, with a bunch of enhancements I imagine ... at any rate, the precision is phenomenal. Also using the Omron as the temp controller, and just signalling it, I can use built-in protections and safety features there so you don't end up in a scenario where your coil is all of a sudden glowing red and >1000F! All-in-all, for the cost, it seems like the way to go. The only disadvantage is the extra physical size and potentially the uneccesary display etc. as one could do it instead as an all in one display ... oh well ...

The classic PID algorithms for these types of heaters are a high-speed switching. The PID algorithm calculates the on/off cycle times for the heater and rapidly switches it on/off to achieve temp stability (this is what all e-nails are doing ... some better than others!) The percent output is based on the amount of time it spends on per cycle. For example it might turn on say for 250ms every 800ms ... and say on for 100ms (these #'s are just random by the way).


On another note, I implemented the script running process! It only processes the single script I have in the JSON file right now, but all the data structures, the redux store, and all the actions in the reducer are there, and it actually works! I can trigger the running of the script by "double-clicking" the button

Much prefer the way this up-temps vs the enail magic device I built, or doing it manually with the on/off button. The PID controls the up-temps much more gracefully so the whole experience is smoother and just awesome!

Another video to follow later tonight!

My current script does the following:

1. Loop the following 3 times
- Feedback Step: change icon to flashing "drop", sound "bell"
- Move Temp: Increase temp by 35F
- Wait for Temp to be reached (-1F offset) -- timeout of 60 seconds
- Feedback: change icon to "cloud"
- Wait 5 seconds
- Feedback: change icon to "drop" and sound "bell"

2.
- Wait 5 seconds
- Move temp -105F (ie. back to original temp)
- Feedback: change icon to "home" and sound "complete" sound


Here's what the script file looks like (so I can add more manually until I create the client/mobile app): (sorry about the formatting ... all the indentation is being removed when I post to the forum!!!!)

[{
"title": "Up 35x3",
"step": {
"type": "sequential",
"steps": [{
"type": "loop",
"count": 3,
"steps":[{
"type": "feedback",
"flashRate": 1,
"icon": "drop",
"sound": "bell"
}, {
"type": "movetemp",
"value": 35
}, {
"type": "waittemp",
"offset": -1,
"direction": "UP",
"timeout": 60
}, {
"type": "feedback",
"icon": "cloud"
}, {
"type": "timer",
"timeout": 5
}, {
"type": "feedback",
"icon": "drop",
"sound": "bell"
}]
}, {
"type": "timer",
"timeout": 5
}, {
"type": "movetemp",
"value": -105
}, {
"type": "feedback",
"flashRate": 0,
"icon": "home",
"sound": "complete"
}]
}
}]

 

[JCat]

Ok ... so finished the script running stuff!

I created 3 scripts (copy/pasted and modified my first one in the JSON) and I've done some refactoring cleanup of the code.

Apart from that, I implemented the 3 displays:
- Home
- Scripts
- Settings

Click the rotary encoder to switch between displays.

Both the home and scripts screens are fully functional.

In the home screen the rotary knob controls temperature and clicking button turns on/off the heater (I may use this at some point to allow "recording" of scripts).

In the scripts screen the rotary know cycles through scripts available and the button runs/cancels the script.

The double-click of the button runs scripts on the home screen and starts/stops the heater on the scripts screen.

The settings screen isn't implemented yet, but I'm thinking simple. ie. Just network to start with, where you click the button to scan for a network, then select with the rotary encoder, then enter the password (using rotary encoder/button to enter password ... scrolling alpha-numeric ... lol ... this will suck to implement but will be nicely re-usable on other devices of the like that I build ... pretty much all these raspberry pi based devices need a network setup function that you can ideally control from bluetooth or onboard hardware ...


Anyways ... just going to record a video and upload and post


A call out to hardware guys out there: If someone wants to help out with the hardware, we could maybe make a plan to put some of these together for the members. All the work for assembly, even though I've made it so little to no soldering is required, is still very time consuming. Ideally I would like to build a "socketable" circuit board, or alternately just a custom board with all the required modules built in (this is out of my scope though ... that's a LOT of TINY soldering of components ... I understand the electronics and the schematics, but actual assembly I don't know ... maybe you can design these things and get them built in small batches for a reasonable cost in China? Really out of my realm of expertise here.



Also a call out to all graphics guys out there ... could really use some help designing how the functionality of the home screen will work. A phone has somewhat limited real-estate, and I'd like to get a feel (mostly for placements/style of elements) on the 2 primary screens. I'm just not sure what is a good mix of functionality and ease of use w/ big buttons etc


Here's a couple pics while I'm working on the video

 

[JCat]

Ok everyone ... I know this is a double post ... but the other one is long enough already!!!!

So here's the video

 

[maxvapor710]

Regarding your WiFi password input, we currently use AP mode and a captive portal on our unit, but as we start running out of space on our flash we have looked into implementing an interface like this:

https://github.com/filmote/WiFiManagerGUI

 

[JCat]

Regarding your WiFi password input, we currently use AP mode and a captive portal on our unit, but as we start running out of space on our flash we have looked into implementing an interface like this:

https://github.com/filmote/WiFiManagerGUI

Thanks! That should save some time ... port this code to typescript for the OLED input

Might make that a priority

Have the mobile client stubbed out and all communication working now ... mobile app should be running some time this week

 

[JCat]

So just a quick post before I call it a night (just having too much fun! )

Here's a screenshot of the mobile app (running on PC, not on a physical phone yet ... I'll get it on my iPhone as an actual installed app--not using a hosted site--in the next day or two)

So far, just the main screen. So you can:
- monitor temperature (receives data from e-nail every 1/2 second give or take)
- change the set point using the slider
- start/stop the heater
- run/stop the current script

Like I said ... could use some help on look/feel the graphic design!

 

[Hogni]

@JCat, pretty awesome indeed!

Suggestions:

- 220v version suitable
- Fahrenheit <-> Celsius
- choice of language (I'd do a translation of all menu points to German). Am pretty sure there are some guys who'd do the same to Spain, French, Italian or what else).
- A bigger AIO sleek (touch-)screen which works together with the dial knob.

Could imagine @pxl_jockey would be willing to help to do the graphic design when he'll come back from the hospital and recover from his surgery?

 

[pxl_jockey]

Yes! I would like to contribute on this project for sure and have indeed created GUIs for software & devices in a past life. My surgery scheduled last week fell through, but it’s back on for Wed-14th unless something happens. It’s a 16 hour affair so requires 2 full crews of highly skilled people being available concurrently.
I’m trying to not have expectations for anything anymore because the universe just laughs at me.
I have nothing to bitch about, I’m not dying (or even in additional pain) because I had a little procedure 3 weeks ago that temporarily blocks this nerve cluster. I’m just tired of laying around and waiting.

Since I’m not sure exactly how long recovery & rehab will be and my spine is only part of the picture atm, you guys can imagine how much I would hate to let everyone here down or keep you all waiting. I’ve heard 18 months and I’ve heard six, and a few in between. And I have no expectations, remember?!

If I’m able to and the need is still there, I will happily make a GUI. Could do a couple of themes or at least have a few colour palettes available, if folks want it. It would be my genuine pleasure to do something for this community that’s given me so much. Thanks @Hogni for tagging me, I might have missed it!

 

[JCat]

@JCat, pretty awesome indeed!

Suggestions:

- 220v version suitable
- Fahrenheit <-> Celsius
- choice of language (I'd do a translation of all menu points to German). Am pretty sure there are some guys who'd do the same to Spain, French, Italian or what else).
- A bigger AIO sleek (touch-)screen which works together with the dial knob.

Could imagine @pxl_jockey would be willing to help to do the graphic design when he'll come back from the hospital and recover from his surgery?

Thanks!

To address the above:
- 220V version ... only requirements are:
- USB power module needs to instead be a 220V one (I'm just using a small USB adapter and used quick connects to connect to the prongs! ... not real elegant, but it works!
- coil needs to be 220V
- plug in back would be different for 220v
- everything else works on 220V including the Omron)

- F vs C - already supported. (if you change it on the omron it just "works" ... was planning on having that as a setting in the mobile app)

- language: yes, this could be done if there is an interest really (right now I'm focused on functionality, so further down, if we make refined GUI this could then include localization support very easily)

- touch screen: yes, this could be done. this is really up to the community. I see this as adding significant cost (50% or more) with little added value. Honestly, once I have things dialed in, I don't spend much time doing anything fancy on the GUI ... mostly just changing temp, running scripts, and starting/stopping heater (when I leave I don't leave it on ... I can do this remotely now a few minutes before I go out to the shop if I like). None of these common functions require much of a UI. As well, this would potentially add to the size of the device, and that is something I was trying to avoid (I was planning on decreasing the size by 30% or more, not increasing it! )


Thanks for the offer @pxl_jockey ... a "non-programmer" designing a GUI is always a better idea!

 

[JCat]

Ok ... so running pretty stable now ... mobile app is 100% working (and installed on my iPhone as an actual app) but only for the home page. You can do the following from the app right now:
- monitor the e-nail temperature, set point, status (running/stopped) and script status
- adjust the set point up and down
- start/stop the heater (using this to power on from in the house a few minutes before coming out ... or 5-10 minutes if the VROD is setup and not the d-nail Halo)
- scroll through/select the current script (you swipe left/right ... could change this to a drop-down ... but I figure this is better because most people won't have dozens of scripts ... probably most will use <10. I use a few ... but then again I only have a D-Nail Halo and VROD that I use ... like to get one of those 710 opaque quartz bangers soon though
- run/cancel the selected script
- receives updates <1 second increments ... socket.io is extremely efficient at this and extremely robust from my experience
- uses MDNS/bonjour to advertize itself on the network and the mobile app uses this to determine it's URL (this does require that they are on the same network though!).

Here's a screenshot from my phone of when I powered it on in the house before coming out ...

Next steps:
- WiFi connect from device/OLED display

- Security around connection between mobile app and device. I think I'm going to keep this simple ... when you connect to the device, if you haven't before, it generates a key for you that it displays on the OLED display, which it then encrypts with a private key certificate and sends it back to you for storage in local storage. It then uses this key moving forwards. This means that anyone with physical access to the device could establish a connection to it; however, if they have physical access to it, I think securing WiFi access is a moot point!

- Scripts Management page: Need to be able create/edit/delete scripts. This will be one of the more complicated pieces ... to build a user friendly "workflow"/"process flow" editor for use on a phone I'm sure I'm spending more time on messing around with things sizing right on the display, and the acceleration on the rotary encoder, etc. Getting some of these things "just right" can be time consuming.

- Settings Management page: I'd like to be able to manage the following from this page:
- Temperature Units (Fahrenheit or Celcius)
- Temperature Offset (you can offset your temperature by a certain # of degrees to compensate for any discrepancies in the reading from your thermocouple). You can actually adjust a couple different parameters based on readings at different known temperatures and that will make it even more accurate. Think I'll leave this to just the single setting though ... if you really wanted to go beyond that you could use the Omron menus
- Auto-tune and ability to save/load "profiles" (essentially a snapshot of your PID settings for different nails you connect such as a d-nail halo vs a vrod vs a 710 banger etc.)
- Network settings maybe. Maybe an AP mode.

- Fallback on Mobile App so if it can't find the device using last known address, or MDNS/bonjour, it prompts for a server name/IP (and port optional).

- Create schematic, parts list, and instructions for building/assembling unit.

- Once development is relatively stable create a packaged version of the SD card/OS for re-use by others. (also at the same time document the steps to set this up. what needs to be installed above the raspbian dependencies, with apt-get, that are required by the application)

I'm sure there's more ... but that covers some of it

Hope you guys are all enjoying watching the way I work ... I go on rolls like this at work as well (not just side projects! )

 

[JCat]

Here's the video I recorded last night before going to bed

 

[JCat]

Ok, so here's the updated mobile app with some refinements ... NOW all the basics are done:
- Added "presets" (5 clickable on home page). Configurable on "Settings" page. Stored on enail device itself, not on mobile device.
- fixed the look/feel some
- made it deal with device orientation properly
- fixed the slider

 

[Hogni]

JCat, looks great on the first view!

 

[PoopMachine]

I need this in my life. Are you planning to offer kits or is someone else going to take up that mantle?

Youre making so much progress on this its crazy and Mrs P really doesnt care for the Kube.

 

[JCat]

I need this in my life. Are you planning to offer kits or is someone else going to take up that mantle?

Youre making so much progress on this its crazy and Mrs P really doesnt care for the Kube.

Thanks ... that's just how I work ... when I start something my manic side often takes over and these are the more positive results of that ... it's starting/stopping that are REALLY difficult for me

I've been thinking about what to do with this exactly ... I have a friend (partner on another venture), that is opening up small-scale manufacturing here in the North, and would like to start doing this type of stuff potentially, so that might be one avenue (as I could get the hardware then assembled w/ cheap enough labour costs). This is longer term though ...

In the shorter term, I wouln't mind getting some devices out into the wild at some point, but time/resources will be a factor. I also don't want to push out too many if it is going to cause a lot of support, so I want to make sure everything is stable and rock-solid and easy to configure before I would ship out too many.

If someone wants to work with me on this, to start assembling hardware to handle my software, that's a possibility too (my area of expertise is the software).

The goal price point if I was to start shipping these out pre-assembled and ready to go I believe would be around the $300 mark ... just guessing. Parts in it are ~$200 as a one-off or in small #'s, but those could likely be brought to <$150 in moderate quantities.

I'd also like to finalize the hardware ... probably the next version ... if not as a pre-assembled circuit board, then at least standardized parts and assembly and a standard 3D printed case to house all the components (that would save a ton of time on assembly and might make the whole thing more feasible)

 

[maxvapor710]

I mention before I am happy to design a circuit board for you guys just give me a final list of all the components we could probably get it put together this weekend, they would probably only cost a few dollars each if we got like 50 of them made.

If you wanted them populated with components already we could probably get that done as well depending on the cost of your BOM.

I know most people around here probably don't care, but be wary of selling completed electronic device that plugs into the wall without certification. If you sell something that isn't assembled for a kit people put together themselves its a different story and its usually fine.

If you wanted to add MQTT over Secure WebSocket support to the software we could probably even integrate it with our current dashboard when we get time.

 

[Hogni]

What a great project! And a good example how this community works. Even professional competitors like @maxvapor710 are willing to bring in their technical knowledges and possibilities.
And it's crazy how fast @JCat did that job of choice of materials, assembling and programming. But I'm pretty sure there still are some bugs or space for improvements at least.

What's about a 2nd plug for another coil to switch from one device to the other (coil 1 <-> coil 2)?
I don't mean to drive them parallel but just to avoid permanent plugging and unplugging of two devices.

What the heck did the girls from HexNail do all the longtime beside of gluing and dabbing?

I'd be interested in a raw (pre-assembled?) DIY kit with high-quality components, a larger AIO screen and a worthy heavy dialing knob like the knobs of better HiFi components in the old days
Would like to (let) build my own wooden enclosure.

 

[Sick Vape]

Wow.
That looks interesting. I am with @Hogni with my dreams about a possible unit (also the second coil plug sounds interesting to me). In reality I will probably get the cheapest version.
In my dreams it would be a finished product.
But if it is more legal a DIY kit is cool too. I dream pre assembled no soldering required, just some cables to plug and screwing glueing, drilling, whatever.

 

[JCat]

Alright everyone ... more progress ... actually pretty damn far along! At this point, it really is a fully functional beta, really only missing a couple features. (profiles/auto-tune and script editor)

What's been implemented in this update:

• Network menu/connection on the device
  • Can view nework
  • Connect to WiFi network and enter password
  • Save settings (otherwise on reboot they revert)
• Security - This is really cool the way I've done this ... really like it ... I will explain this in detail, but all services are now secure so the mobile app or anyone else can't access them unless they have a token signed by it's private key in it's asymmetric private/public key pair
  
• Robust options for connecting to device from app. ie. cache's last address, uses bonjour/mdns to try to find the device which advertises itself on the local network, or failing that it then prompts you for a URL. This allows for all possible scenarios from super easy connection to exposing it outside your network with a registered DNS name and port forwarding through your firewall

And what's left (with some details):
- Profiles Menu which Includes:
- Autotune
- Save/Load Profiles (these are your parameters/PID settings so you can tune/adjust for each different nail you connect)
- Script Editor
- You need this to create the scripts or "workflows" (unless you like editing JSON files )
- To elaborate more on what a script is, the following are the supported steps in a script:
- Sequential
- Loop - loops through a set of sequential steps a fixed # of times
- Set Point Adjust - adjust the set point by a certain amount
- Wait - Waits for the set point to be reached. Can offset this (ie. I offset mine so they start the next step @ -1 ). Also has a timeout parameter.
- Feedback - provide feedback though audio (wav files), icons on the OLED display, flashing the main LED.
- Timer - waits/delays a specific amount of time
- Apart from that all steps also support "messages" so you can have custom messages show up on line #2 of the OLED display when it is running instead of the elapsed tim timer.



And here's some pictures of the network connection and the authentication flow

Connect/auth flow:

1. You launch the app and it will either find the device automatically, or it will prompt you if it can't find it. (you can get the URL from the Network settings on the device)
   
   
   
   
   
2. Once you enter a URL and it successfully connects, if you have never authenticated before (ie. it doesn't have a valid token already), it prompts you as follows, and at the same time this triggers the device to generate and display a "passcode"
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Once you enter the passphrase and it verifies correctly, the device will generate a token which is encrypted using private x.509 certificate stored on the device. (a new certificate should be generated and installed on every new device). This token is then sent back to the app and it is stored for re-use later (ie. you only have to do this once per year as I've set the token to expire after 365 days)
   
   

And here's the new menus for viewing your network settings and connecting to a WiFi network.

1. There is a Network menu under the Settings menu, and within the network menu is the following:
   
   
   
   
   
2. If you select the View you see the following:
   
   
   
   
   
3. If you use the connect option, it scans for WiFi networks for you to choose from (blanked out to hide personal info )
   
   
   
   
   
4. And here's the password entry screen. I've opted for an old-school like photocopier style entry (with a really limited display ...). What it does is you can use the enter/back buttons to move forward/backwards and you use the rotary encoder to change the selected character. Works pretty well! (although admittedly a little clunky by nature ).
   
   
   
   
   
5. And once you connect it takes you to the "View" network screen to show you your network connection information. You must then "Save" it from the network menu, otherwise when the device reboots your previous settings will be reverted. (this is by design and I quite like!)
   
   
   
   
   
6. And finally, apart from some bug fixes, the main display, when running a script changes to displaying the script title and the ticking elapsed time by default. (you can override the ticking time on a step-by-step basis w/ custom messages you put in the script ... these could take variables too ... however, although they seemed like a good idea, when I opened the JSON file earlier to put some stuff in there, I couldn't think of anything that would be better than the elapsed time!--especially since you have other feedback already through audio/OLED icon, timer, the set point and the current temperature)
   
   

So that's probably it for a little bit Just going to try to enjoy using/testing it for a bit, and start thinking about the remaining features while I refocus my energy on another paying gig

 

[Hogni]

Great @JCat

times for beta-testing seem not so far away I ignorant guess?

Perhaps you shoud make a short summary of all functions as a point of orientation for brainstorming?

 

[exmex]

Where and when can i get one of these! Also i volunteer as a beta tester hahaha Awesome work everyone, this is awesome!

 

[damm]

Sounds like some basic instructions for someone to assemble their own would be great. I think DIY would be much better than waiting .. and waiting .. for someone to stop dabbing and do the work you already paid them to do.

 

[JCat]

Quick update ... rewrote a huge chunk of the core code. Friday night everything pretty much just stopped working ... couldn't figure out why ... but the code in the base package I guess had gotten to such a point that nothing worked (rotary dial would trigger the button, the button would trigger the rotary dial, ... nothing was working right..) So I thought it might be hardware, and swapped out the rotary dial. No luck. So then I swapped out the Raspberry Pi Zero. Still no luck. This was strange. So wrote small programs to test individual components, and realized they were absolutely fine.

So ... didn't take me long to realize that NodeJS is a single threaded architecture by nature ... however, it is also a distributed architecture (thus "Node") ... so ... the solution was to spawn off a "node" for each heavy input/output item (ie. Omron E5CC, rotary dial, button for fun, and OLED output). This freed the main thread to perform it's work of orchestrating everything and communication (both with the other processes for input/output through communication channels and with clients ... ie. mobile ... over http)

The end result is the whole system is now super snappy and responsive. The display and rotary dial can now really work well, where before there was a lot of lag. Really very happy.

Apart from that, I took it upon myself today to write the code for "auto-tuning" from the mobile app (see pics) as well as adjusting the PID settings manually (the new settings are reflected immediately in the app though when the auto-tune finishes.) I will likely add the ability to save "profiles" tomorrow (ie. name your settings when you save them and then load them after at will ... so you can auto-tune for your favorite nails in your favorite environmental conditions ... and then pull them up later at will for a better more responsive experience)

Sounds like some basic instructions for someone to assemble their own would be great. I think DIY would be much better than waiting .. and waiting .. for someone to stop dabbing and do the work you already paid them to do.

That's the opinion of some and I respect that, which is why I will post the instructions. It is time consuming though, and I don't think it worthwhile until I get it in a stable enough state that the instructions are reasonable to follow. If one is handy enough to do it with basic instructions, at the point it's at now, then they should be able to do so simply based on my above posts and a few quick questions ... all the code is on GitHub.

However, unless you are a software developer, and familar with the platforms, then I would expect it needs to be a little more.

There are 4 main things that someone needs to be familar with right now to deal with it in this beta state:

1. Raspberry Pi hardware, and basic soldering/wiring skills. (and I don't mean by doing something that looks like the insides of some other e-nails with glue and such ... I expect people to respect their abilities and only do things the PROPER way in a a way that is SAFE!)

2. Familiarity with the Linux operating system (Raspian Lite in this case ... these are running shell only .... no GUI as it's best to keep it lean. So familiarity with bash is a must.

3. Familiarity with NodeJS and NPM package manager.

4. Basic understanding of programming and JSON notation to be able to get in and edit the appropriate config files (and script file right now too since no editor for that yet)


All that being said, I plan on providing more thorough instructions, parts lists, etc. And likely a pre-loaded Raspbian distribution so you can literally just install it. Nice and easy (package will be a NOOBS install) I feel that once it's solid, and I package up the software, that will make it a lot easier for some.

There's also no way for me to distribute the iOS package right now ... although I am looking at doing so at some point. So unless you have a Mac and an Apple Developer subscription, you are out of luck for iOS.