This software allows remote control of OutEquipPro AC units like the Summit2 using an ESP32 microcontroller as a WiFi bridge.
- ESP32-C3 (e.g. Wemos C3 Mini)
- Soldering Iron
- Solder
- Thin Stranded Wire (e.g. 22awg)
- Glue, Zip Tie, or Double-Sided Tape
Caution
Do this step before hardware installation.
This avoids frying your devices by connecting your computer's USB port to a microcontroller being powered externally, as would be the case when powered via the 5V and Ground pins on the control board.
- Clone this repo. Open in VS Code with pioarduino.
- Copy
src/config.example.htosrc/config.hand customize as necessary. - Copy
platformio_upload.example.initoplatformio_upload.iniand provide admin credentials for use in future OTA updates. - Build and flash the microcontroller firmware using pioarduino.
- Build and flash the microcontroller filesystem using pioarduino.
Note
Flashing the firmware and filesystem are separate steps. Be sure to complete both of them.
Solder headers or wires onto the control board pads labelled 5V, GND, RX, and TX. The additional CAN_RX and CAN_TX pins can be left unpopulated.
Connect the other ends of those wires to the appropriate pins on the microcontroller, as per config.h. By default, that's:
| Control Board | C3 Mini |
|---|---|
| 5V | VBUS |
| GND | GND |
| RX | 4 |
| TX | 3 |
Once hooked up, secure the wires and microcontroller with some combination of glue, a zip tie, or double-sided tape.
Note
The microcontroller should be affixed in such a location and orientation that the IR shield has one of its LEDs pointed in the direction of the control board. In practice, pointing an LED at the backside of the control board seems to work fine.
Important
Be sure to affix the microcontroller in order to avoid contact with metal, e.g. A/C mounting brackets.
Supply power to your A/C and join the OutEquipAC WiFi network. Your device should detect a captive portal, but if not navigate to 192.168.4.1 to reach the configuration page where you can select the WiFi network that your microcontroller should connect to.
Once WiFi configuration is complete, connect to the microcontroller via your web browser. By default, it should be reachable at http://outequip-ac.local.
An Arduino microcontroller (Lolin/Wemos C3 Mini recommended) interfaces directly with the air conditioner control board over a wired serial interface. This enables full bidirectional communcation and control of the air conditioner. In turn, the microcontroller exposes a web app allowing remote control of the air conditioner over WiFi.
The control board for this model air conditioner has a wired serial interface. In the case of bluetooth-enabled control boards, this serial interface is populated with a bluetooth module. Otherwise, this interface is unpopulated. With a little bit of solder and some effort, a connection can be made for microcontroller use of this serial interface. Conveniently, the control board exposes 5V and ground pins for powering the microcontroller as well.
From there, the Arduino code manages the A/C control board via a binary protocol. The microcontroller queries the control board for updated state every couple of seconds, and sets that state as needed.
WiFi is configured at runtime via NetWizard. On start, if there's no WiFi configuration stored, the microcontroller will broadcast a WiFi hotspot with SSID OutEquipAC with a captive portal allowing configuration. To reset configuration, reboot the microcontroller 5 times in a row, waiting between 5 and 50 seconds between reboots.
A web app offers basic A/C controls (/ on port 80 once WiFi is configured). The web app updates state from the microcontroller every few seconds.
A JSON state dump can be retrieved at /var_dump.
A simple REST API for setting state is available at /set. See code for details.
A web interface for over-the-air updates is made available via ElegantOTA at /update.
Statistics can be periodically reported to InfluxDB via UDP. Disabled by default. Configured via config.h.
A read-write debug interface is made available via WebSerial at /webserial.
A read-only serial log is available via the standard serial interface on the microcontroler.
Caution
To avoid frying your devices, never connect a USB interface to a microcontroller when powered externally, as would be the case when powered via the 5V and Ground pins on the control board.