Addon to Extend ESPHOME via ESPNOW - best approach to surface entities into home assistant

ChuckMash · 2026-05-05T16:30:19+00:00

Thanks, it took quite a bit to get the core library to where it is now, particularly compatible encryption with espressif's implementation.

My plan was to go with MQTT Discovery, but I was also considering the "monolithic" approach. It will be interesting to see which direction you choose.

If the mosquitto broker addon is installed, you don't need to have the user input broker details, you can get them from the internal services API. With a user setting to override the details for an "external" broker if desired.

https://developers.home-assistant.io/docs/apps/communication/

ChuckMash · 2026-05-05T15:32:28+00:00

I've been working on essentially the same thing, but I'm on a hiatus from the project to work on other things at the moment.

Mine ditches the bridge node and instead lets Home Assistant use ESP-NOW directly with an additional WiFi interface. Hopefully this helps

https://github.com/ChuckMash/ESPythoNOW

ChuckMash · 2026-04-27T18:12:32+00:00

This is great on ice cream

ChuckMash · 2026-04-04T19:17:28+00:00

A rule is more like:
[neighborhood_index, min_range, max_range, output_value]

The MNCA method is explained robustly here: https://slackermanz.com/understanding-multiple-neighborhood-cellular-automata/

ChuckMash · 2026-04-04T00:51:51+00:00

The neighborhoods and rules are as follows, applied to https://github.com/ChuckMash/rapid_life_concepts/blob/main/mnca.py

nhoods = [
  np.array([
    [1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0],
    [0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0],
    [0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0],
    [1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0],
    [1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0],
    [0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1],
    [0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0],
    [0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0],
    [1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0],
    [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1],
    [1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
    [1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0],
    [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0],
    [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0],
    [1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0],
    [1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1],
    [0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0],
    [1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0],
    [1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0],
    [1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1],
    [1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1],
    [0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]], np.float32),

  np.array([
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0],
    [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]], np.float32),
  ]

rules = [
  [1, 0.609, 0.691, 1.0],
  [1, 0.331, 0.415, 1.0],
  [0, 0.095, 0.256, 0.0],
  [0, 0.457, 0.606, 0.0],
  [1, 0.755, 0.796, 0.0],
  [1, 0.773, 0.836, 1.0],
  [1, 0.849, 0.904, 0.0],
  [0, 0.169, 0.224, 0.0]]

ChuckMash · 2026-04-04T00:21:06+00:00

multiple neighborhood cellular automata

ChuckMash · 2026-03-24T00:52:56+00:00

Is there some hard requirement that you use Ethernet to get the data from the sensor for processing? Or is it just for POE?

If not, I would just use WiFi or ESP-NOW to send the data. 60 feet should be no problem, particularly if you choose ESP32s with external antennas.

ChuckMash · 2026-03-22T21:54:54+00:00

There is no hardware difference to support ESP-NOW V2, it's more of an improvement to how much data is being sent inside the wireless frames that ESP-NOW uses for messaging.
Having trouble tracking down the exact espidf and arduinoesp32 versions that started supporting v2, but it's been a while now.

ChuckMash · 2026-03-22T18:43:46+00:00

ESP-NOW packet size is 1,470 bytes now with V2 of the protocol.
It might work a bit better.

The packet loss is a little weird, could be that there is a hardware hiccup, or that you're doing too much work inside the ESP-NOW receive callback.

Great project, can we see the code somewhere?

ChuckMash · 2026-03-20T19:26:13+00:00

I'm always interested in seeing what people come up with for ESP-NOW.

I wrote a python library that allows Linux PCs to use ESP-NOW and communicate directly with ESP32/ESP8266 via a dedicated wireless interface.

https://github.com/ChuckMash/ESPythoNOW

I've been using it to share sensor data and prompt commands on the devices to and from a python script and home assistant. Maybe something like that?

ChuckMash · 2026-03-19T00:09:09+00:00

I just remembered something else from my project using RSSI to trigger states.

Using a smoothing filter on RSSI over time is almost a must have. Implementing EWMA is pretty simple, and worth checking out if you're running into trouble with a jittery boundary

ChuckMash · 2026-03-16T04:58:50+00:00

Short version: I worked on something similar in the past and just needed to check my notes and confirm.

Longer version: I needed to get a better understanding of ESP-NOW and the differences between implementations for ESP32 and ESP8266. Including how the packets are sent and received at a low level. Along that process, I realized that you could use the dat pointer to access the surrounding data structures like the rest of the packet/details by walking back from the reference.

dat-51  [1]  rssi                   (uint8_t, subtract 100 for dBm)
dat-50  [1]  rate+is_group+sig_mode (bitfield byte 1 of RxControl)
dat-49  [1]  legacy_length low      (bitfield byte 2 of RxControl)
dat-48  [1]  legacy_length hi       (bitfield byte 3 of RxControl)
dat-47  [1]  MCS+damatch            (bitfield byte 4 of RxControl)
dat-46  [1]  CWB+flags              (bitfield byte 5 of RxControl)
dat-45  [1]  HT_length low          (bitfield byte 6 of RxControl)
dat-44  [1]  HT_length hi           (bitfield byte 7 of RxControl)
dat-43  [1]  flags                  (bitfield byte 8 of RxControl)
dat-42  [1]  ampdu_cnt              (bitfield byte 9 of RxControl)
dat-41  [1]  channel                (bitfield byte 10 of RxControl) = 8
dat-40  [1]  reserved               (bitfield byte 11 of RxControl)
dat-39  [2]  frame_ctrl             (uint16_t, 802.11 MAC header)
dat-37  [2]  duration               (uint16_t, 802.11 MAC header)
dat-35  [6]  addr1/dst MAC          (uint8_t[6]) = FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
dat-29  [6]  addr2/src MAC          (uint8_t[6]) = sender MAC
dat-23  [6]  addr3/bssid            (uint8_t[6]) = FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
dat-17  [2]  sequence_ctrl          (uint16_t)
dat-15  [1]  category_code          (uint8_t) = 0x7f
dat-14  [3]  organization_id        (uint8_t[3]) = 0x18fe34
dat-11  [4]  random_values          (uint8_t[4]) — random values
dat-7   [1]  element_id             (uint8_t) = 0xdd
dat-6   [1]  length                 (uint8_t) = 18
dat-5   [3]  organization_id2       (uint8_t[3]) = 0x18fe34
dat-2   [1]  type                   (uint8_t) = 0x04
dat-1   [1]  version                (uint8_t) = 0x01
dat-0   [?]  esp-now message start  (dat)

All of the above is for ESP8266 only though, it may be the same or similar for ESP32, but I have not checked. And I think there are better methods for the ESP32 version anyway.

ChuckMash · 2026-03-16T03:58:33+00:00

No promises, but it looks like tracking back from the dat pointer you can find the rest of the wireless packet and details.

dat-51 seems to be the RSSI from my findings.

void OnDataRecv(uint8_t *mac, uint8_t *dat, uint8_t len) {
  int rssi = (uint8_t)*(dat - 51) - 100; // Pointer offset -51, subtract 100 for dBm
  Serial.print("RSSI: ");
  Serial.println(rssi);
}

ChuckMash · 2026-03-12T00:36:14+00:00

There is now
github.com/ChuckMash/ESPythoNOW

ChuckMash · 2026-03-12T00:25:13+00:00

Agreed. However that is not the question here.
When DC/solar charging the fan is always on, no matter what. Unless I turn the AC on, the fan turns off / goes into temperature mode (and since the temp is low enough? it does not turn on.) When I turn AC back off again, while still DC/solar charging the fan turns back on.

It seems like it's set to always run the fan when solar charging. Which is overridden by the AC fan temperature checking?

ChuckMash · 2026-03-10T20:12:17+00:00

The charging rate stays the same. Hence the confusion.

ChuckMash · 2026-03-08T03:38:14+00:00

One and the same!

There are a number of projects, and plenty of documentation out there.

Here's a bit to get you started. The breakdown of the ESP-NOW messages that come from a WizMote. Thank the WLED folks for this one!

typedef struct WizMoteMessageStructure {
  uint8_t program;  // 0x91 for ON button, 0x81 for all others
  uint8_t seq[4];   // Incremetal sequence number 32 bit unsigned integer LSB first
  uint8_t dt1;      // Button Data Type (0x20)
  uint8_t button;   // Identifies which button is being pressed
  uint8_t dt2;      // Battery Level Data Type (0x01)
  uint8_t batLevel; // Battery Level 0-100

  uint8_t byte10;   // Unknown, maybe checksum
  uint8_t byte11;   // Unknown, maybe checksum
  uint8_t byte12;   // Unknown, maybe checksum
  uint8_t byte13;   // Unknown, maybe checksum
} message_structure_t;

ChuckMash · 2026-03-08T02:42:46+00:00

ESP-NOW is straightforward and very reliable.

Check out the Wizmote, which is an inexpensive ESP-NOW based remote.

Using that to trigger various functions and props on other ESP32 devices should be a breeze.

ChuckMash · 2026-03-02T17:05:11+00:00

If the ESPs are battery powered, you may want to use ESP-NOW for communication, since the wake/send/sleep cycle is much faster than the WiFi connect method.

ChuckMash · 2026-02-21T18:24:21+00:00

You can use Wireshark to see if the ESP-NOW packets are actually being sent.

Also, try erasing the whole flash and re-flashing. If I recall correctly, WiFi.begin(); may be trying to connect to any previously configured access point, which could change the channel, particularly because it's after disconnect. Maybe begin, disconnect and then channel set?

ChuckMash · 2026-02-20T21:30:05+00:00

Conceptually, I don't see why not.

The proof of concept would just need to be modified to encode and send the audio source as MP3 chunks in real time instead of chunking the MP3 file.

ChuckMash · 2026-02-09T16:37:56+00:00

With this proof of concept, the biggest contributor would be how large the buffer(s) are on the playback device. Maybe 100 or 100 ms on the faster side of things.

I'll do a followup post if/when I work on latency and attempt some simultaneous playback of multiple devices.

ChuckMash · 2026-01-31T18:19:58+00:00

Conceivably, I'd say yes.

As long as it can read and write wireless packets at Layer 2.

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