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Clownfish in Aquarium

Setting up Marine Assistant

So now you have finished building your kit and its time to get things up and running with your Marine Assistant. By the end of this guide you should have added the custom code and will be ready to start adding  sensors. 

Quick Guide...

Getting marine assistant up and running is much easier than the Raspberry Pi, thats because we did most of the Prep work already.

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Here we only need to install and setup the EPS32 and custom code...

Detailed Guide

Most of the prep work has been done on the Raspberry Pi, we just need to add the device into the ESPhome add-on. Once it is added and the Wi-Fi communication is established the custom Marine Assistant code can be added. From there its a case of adding your sensors as needed.

If something comes up that's not detailed below, Google is your friend. If not, Send me us message via the Contact page and we will Help out ASAP.

1. Adding the Sensor module to ESPhome

Click on ESPhome in your sidebar then add device and follow the on screen instructions.

You will need your to input your Wi-Fi name and password, by sure to set the name to "sensor module" and the board type to "ESP32"​.

ESPhome_newDevice.png

Click new Device

Input your Details

ESPhome_newDevice3.png
ESPhome_newDevice4.png

Select ESP32 as your Board

You will then be presented with a option on how you would like to upload the code to the board, the first time this must be done via a cable conected to your computer. Once ESPhome code is running on your board then from that point onwards you can use Wi-Fi.

Once this is all done and correctly installed the sensor module should show in esphome with "online" in the corner, you can also open the logs at anytime to see what is happening and if there are any errors. There are many ways to install the ESPhome software to your device, this is one of many. There are many guides online on how to to this.

ESPhome_Device.png

2. Installing the custom Marine assistant code

The custom code for marine assistant contains all the information needed for the sensor module PCB to function correctly, Information like what sensors are linked to what port or what they are named. Each piece of custom code is explained in more detail on the sensors pages, select your sensor from the menu and the relevant information can be found. ​

Here we will install the complete code but everything is uncommented, meaning there is a # sign at the beginning of each line which in turn means it will be ignored, you can uncomment the individual sensors as you require.

  1. Download the sensor module code from the downloads section here.​

  2. Open the code with notepad++

  3.  In ESPHome click on "edit" under the sensor module device.

  4. Copy the code from notepad++ and paste it into your sensor module device below the code that is already there. Simply add a few spaces below and paste it in.

  5. Click on save and install (Wirelessly), wait for the code to upload.

Now you will need to decide what sensor you would like to add and to which ports. Add them one by one, uncommenting the parts of code as needed. follow the information on the sensors pages.

Tips And Tricks

  • For the First install use a cable and plug directly into your computer.

Troubleshooting

Problem

Solution

I can't see ESP home in my sidebar

Be sure you have the add-on installed as per the guide setting up the PI-hat.

Make it visible in your sidebar... go to settings -> Add-ons -> ESPhome and make sure the slider is checked to show in sidebar.

I can't connect with the cable to do the first installation

Be sure you are using a cable that supports data transfer, some cables only supply power.

Takes a long time to download the first install file.

This can take time (up to 15mins) depending on different factors, If you want to see a status bar to be sure it is working then cancel and close the install window, click the three dots under the sensor module device in esphome then install. select the bottom option to download manually.

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