RepPanel - A DIY alternative to the PanelDue with WiFi support

jay_s_uk

@fractalengineer it's not my project. It's @seeul8er you want

zapta

@fractalengineer, you may find this useful

https://forum.duet3d.com/topic/15198/reppanel-a-diy-alternative-to-the-paneldue-with-wifi-support/213?_=1623794459279

Esp32 Touchdown with its single PCB form factor is easy to integrate in a case, and 200 new ones are coming to the market https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHzU_GXCIkQ

seeul8er

Hi everyone,
I read that in RRF3.4 the support for the old Web-Interface API will be partially removed. I'll see when I find the time to update the code to accept the object model JSONs.
I use RepPanel nearly every time I start/stop a print. Now I'd like to hear from you what are your experiences with the device. Anything that needs improvement? Important features missing?

I just ordered a nicely integrated ESP32 module from China. My hopes are that the additional RAM on that board will remove many limitations we currently have. I am thinking about the max. files per directory, max file length, max path length etc. The additional RAM should also help to remove the random crashes that sometimes appear.

I might also setup a poll to collect some info for future development. I am thinking about ordering more boards in the future and offering them already pre-flashed. That way RepPanel would be more approachable for everyone.

jay_s_uk

@seeul8er it would be good to have SBC support. It currently only works with standalone setups

JohnOCFII

@seeul8er I use the RepPanel regularly. I think my only issues are related to the potential memory issues -- things get flaky occasionally -- sometimes screen presses are not recognized, and I'll have to touch an area repeatedly. Sometimes it works first time in the same area.

seeul8er

@jay_s_uk Is there something special about the SBC mode? Do you know if the standard WebControl REST:API calls will work there (Object Model return)?

jay_s_uk

@seeul8er here you go https://github.com/Duet3D/DuetSoftwareFramework/wiki/REST-API

seeul8er

Happy to announce that the new release of RepPanel v1.2.0 is out!
With support for RRF3 Object Model calls via the PanelDue port and DuetWebControl. Unfortunately, the ESP32 WROOM module does not provide enough RAM to support Duet3D+SBC via Wifi, but a wired connection should work just fine. Updated hardware using the ESP32 WROVER module could fix this.

Changelog:

Support for RRF3.4 (Object Model)
Screensaver (black screen + backlight off) after 60 seconds
Legacy Support for RRF2 type of requests
Improved message box handling

Get it here: https://github.com/seeul8er/RepPanel_ESP32/releases

zapta

@seeul8er said in RepPanel - A DIY alternative to the PanelDue with WiFi support:

I have some ideas on a custom board but found no time to get familiar with electronics design, yet.

Revisit the ESP32 TouchDown port option? It may make this cool project much more available and will leave it to Dustin to deal with the logistics and supply chain issues.

seeul8er

@zapta I do have RepPanel running on an improved hardware platform. It is much more stable, responsive and will also allow for longer file paths etc. I might offer a few pre-flashed modules that are ready to use in the future, once I tested it a bit more.

The ESP32 TouchDown also uses the more "unlucky" hardware. The ESP32 WROOM on there is also low in RAM and the display controller causes increased RAM usage because of required colour conversions - it basically has all the flaws of my current hardware design. The new hardware platform fixes most of those issues.

Fladdie

@seeul8er

That sounds really great. I just got rid of the proprietary electronics on my Craftbot3 printer and installed a Duet3 6HC board instead.
The previous display was also a 3.5 inch display.
alt text
So I am very interested in a latest generation RepPanel.
If you need someone to test it, I hereby announce my willingness

Greetings from Heidelberg

zapta

@fladdie said in RepPanel - A DIY alternative to the PanelDue with WiFi support:

Craftbot3

That's a nice looking printer. For me tethered display works the best, especially when working on the computer. Similar to the FLSUN Super Racer.

seeul8er

Release 1.3.0 is out now!
It is the most stable so far. Thanks to fixes for some memory issues, crashes are now dramatically reduced. Because of that I highly recommend upgrading to it. My own ILI9488 runs super stable now.

Changelog:

Fixed memory bugs - this release is stable and pretty much runs crash free
Less crashes due to low memory
Fixed crashes due to updating items that are not visible anymore
Increased max. directory listing from 16 to 24
Increased max. filename length from 128 to 160
Made scrolling smoother
Removed the Console feature due to low significance and for the benefit of more memory for other applications - can be re-enabled via idf.py menuconfig

Get it here!

bberger

@seeul8er said in RepPanel - A DIY alternative to the PanelDue with WiFi support:

@zapta I do have RepPanel running on an improved hardware platform. It is much more stable, responsive and will also allow for longer file paths etc. I might offer a few pre-flashed modules that are ready to use in the future, once I tested it a bit more.

The ESP32 TouchDown also uses the more "unlucky" hardware. The ESP32 WROOM on there is also low in RAM and the display controller causes increased RAM usage because of required colour conversions - it basically has all the flaws of my current hardware design. The new hardware platform fixes most of those issues.

Do you have exact dimensions for that? Trying to see if it could be a drop-in replacement on my Predator frame..

oliof

@seeul8er I updated a RepPanel I have to 1.3.0 and unfortunately I cannot say it behaves better in terms of stability and responsiveness. It's still only a 20% chance that I can use the hamburger menu selector, and the screen freezes on the "Job" view. It doesn't help that it shows 1193043h 715 as remaining time and just Textin the bottom left instead of the filename or what is expected there. Also, the display goes dark after roughly one minute.

On the serial console, I see a busy loop requesting status, interspersed with the occassional ERROR message:

The serial console keeps running when the screen goes dark.

If I wait long enough, the screen returns for a while, then goes dark again.

oliof

oliof

It looks like you're trying to download dwc2settings.json; the file is called dwc-settings.json in DWC 3.4.0-b6 at least (that's what's running on the machine I am testing this with at the moment).

seeul8er

@oliof said in RepPanel - A DIY alternative to the PanelDue with WiFi support:

The serial console keeps running when the screen goes dark.

If I wait long enough, the screen returns for a while, then goes dark again.

That is not a bug, that is actually a feature. The screen saver kicks in after 60s

I am sorry it does not work right out of the box for you.
On my screen the burger menu works pretty fine. You can also click on the printer status message to open the menu. Usually that is more convenient.

The current release is untested with RRF3.4. It seems like it is not detecting the DWC apiLevel correctly. If you click on the wifi symbol you can see the apiLevel it detected during connecting to DWC. It should be 1 for all firmware versions that do support the object model. If it is detected correctly it will automatically switch to object model requests and things should sort itself out.
Could you post the JSON you receive when connecting to your printer via http://yourprinter.local/rr_connect?password=yourpassword

oliof

@seeul8er if that's a screen saver, there is no consistent way to get the display on again, it's not reacting to touch input.

rr_connect returns "Your Duet rejected the HTTP request: Unknown request". I don't have a password set. No JSON response is generated.

I have shut down things for tonight and will check apiLevel tomorrow.

seeul8er

@oliof Ah that might be the issue here. I use the rr_connect to get the apiLevel from the Duet. Since the rr_connect is not really required my software is missing that information. I'll figure it out.

The screen saver goes away on touch. That will work properly once RepPanel got a "proper connection". So if I fix the above the screensaver will work fine.