ESP32 - Preferences.h - store values to memory - esp32

I have a ESP32, programmed using Arduino IDE.
In my code I have 2 variables: sName (string) and nScore (double).
This pair of variables, needs to be written to the EEPROM into the higscore namespace. So far it would be easy, open the namespace, and write the values..
but here comes the tricky part: The namespace highscore has 20 values: 10 names and 10 scores. I need to write the value to the namespace only if it is higher than those already present, and to add it to the correct spot in the high score table, shifting all the other values.
How should I do this?
Currently I am thinking of loading all the values on startup and storing it in 2 arrays. Then whenever something is changed in the array, write it down.
But I am not sure that this is the proper way of doing this.

Assuming that you want to minimize the number of writes to EEPROM,
the best way would be to assign 10 addresses of EEPROM, one for each highscore holder, and then have a separate variable in EEPROM to denote the order of the highscores.
eg:
ADD1: NameA
ADD2: NameB
ADD3: NameC
....
and then an
int ord = 231
Which would mean
1.NameC
2.NameA
3.NameB....
This way if someone new comes into the Scoreboard, rewrite only the address of the player with least score (eg: order 3 -> NameB) and rearrange the ord variable.
Since you have have 10 entries, your ord variable could be something like 7562931048, where 0 would be the highest scorer.
In any case you'll surely have to load all the scores(maybe just the numbers) into ram while startup(or at a later time) to compare.

Related

How do I interpret a python byte string coming from F1 2020 game UDP packet?

Title may be wildly incorrect for what I'm trying to work out.
I'm trying to interpret packets I am recieving from a racing game in a way that I understand, but I honestly don't really know what I'm looking at, or what to search to understand it.
Information on the packets I am recieving here:
https://forums.codemasters.com/topic/54423-f1%C2%AE-2020-udp-specification/?tab=comments#comment-532560
I'm using python to print the packets, here's a snippet of the output, which I don't understand how to interpret.
received message: b'\xe4\x07\x01\x03\x01\x07O\x90.\xea\xc2!7\x16\xa5\xbb\x02C\xda\n\x00\x00\x00\xff\x01\x00\x03:\x00\x00\x00 A\x00\x00\xdcB\xb5+\xc1#\xc82\xcc\x10\t\x00\xd9\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x12\x10\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00$tJ\x03\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01
I'm very new to coding, and not sure what my next step is, so a nudge in the right direction will help loads, thanks.
This is the python code:
import socket
UDP_IP = "127.0.0.1"
UDP_PORT = 20777
sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, # Internet
socket.SOCK_DGRAM) # UDP
sock.bind((UDP_IP, UDP_PORT))
while True:
data, addr = sock.recvfrom(4096)
print ("received message:", data)
The website you link to is describing the data format. All data represented as a series of 1's and 0's. A byte is a series of 8 1's and 0's. However, just because you have a series of bytes doesn't mean you know how to interpret them. Do they represent a character? An integer? Can that integer be negative? All of that is defined by whoever crafted the data in the first place.
The type descriptions you see at the top are telling you how to actually interpret that series of 1's and 0's. When you see "unit8", that is an "unsigned integer that is 8 bits (1 byte) long". In other words, a positive number between 0 and 255. An "int8" on the other hand is an "8-bit integer", or a number that can be positive or negative (so the range is -128 to 127). The same basic idea applies to the *16 and *64 variants, just with 16 bits or 64 bits. A float represent a floating point number (a number with a fractional part, such as 1.2345), generally 4 bytes long. Additionally, you need to know the order to interpret the bytes within a word (left-to-right or right-to-left). This is referred to as the endianness, and every computer architecture has a native endianness (big-endian or little-endian).
Given all of that, you can interpret the PacketHeader. The easiest way is probably to use the struct package in Python. Details can be found here:
https://docs.python.org/3/library/struct.html
As a proof of concept, the following will interpret the first 24 bytes:
import struct
data = b'\xe4\x07\x01\x03\x01\x07O\x90.\xea\xc2!7\x16\xa5\xbb\x02C\xda\n\x00\x00\x00\xff\x01\x00\x03:\x00\x00\x00 A\x00\x00\xdcB\xb5+\xc1#\xc82\xcc\x10\t\x00\xd9\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x12\x10\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00$tJ\x03\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01'
#Note that I am only taking the first 24 bytes. You must pass data that is
#the appropriate length to the unpack function. We don't know what everything
#else is until after we parse out the header
header = struct.unpack('<HBBBBQfIBB', data[:24])
print(header)
You basically want to read the first 24 bytes to get the header of the message. From there, you need to use the m_packetId field to determine what the rest of the message is. As an example, this particular packet has a packetId of 7, which is a "Car Status" packet. So you would look at the packing format for the struct CarStatus further down on that page to figure out how to interpret the rest of the message. Rinse and repeat as data arrives.
Update: In the format string, the < tells you to interpret the bytes as little-endian with no alignment (based on the fact that the documentation says it is little-endian and packed). I would recommend reading through the entire section on Format Characters in the documentation above to fully understand what all is happening regarding alignment, but in a nutshell it will try to align those bytes with their representation in memory, which may not match exactly the format you specify. In this case, HBBBBQ takes up 2 bytes more than you'd expect. This is because your computer will try to pack structs in memory so that they are word-aligned. Your computer architecture determines the word alignment (on a 64-bit computer, words are 64-bits, or 8 bytes, long). A Q takes a full word, so the packer will try to align everything before the Q to a word. However, HBBBB only requires 6 bytes; so, Python will, by default, pad an extra 2 bytes to make sure everything lines up. Using < at the front both ensures that the bytes will be interpreted in the correct order, and that it won't try to align the bytes.
Just for information if someone else is looking for this. In python there is the library f1-2019-telemetry existing. On the documentation, there is a missing part about the "how to use" so here is a snippet:
from f1_2020_telemetry.packets import *
...
udp_socket = socket.socket(family=socket.AF_INET, type=socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
udp_socket.bind((host, port))
while True:
udp_packet = udp_socket.recv(2048)
packet = unpack_udp_packet(udp_packet)
if isinstance(packet, PacketSessionData_V1): # refer to doc for classes / attribute
print(packet.trackTemperature) # for example
if isinstance(packet, PacketParticipantsData_V1):
for i, participant in enumerate(packet.participants):
print(DriverIDs[participant.driverId]) # the library has some mapping for pilot name / track name / ...
Regards,
Nicolas

ASCII control of VFD

All,
I am a new user here, and thought I would see if the experts could help me with something I am new to.
I have been given the following statement to try and solve:
The Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) is connected to the PLC by RS485 communication. The speed of the motor (M2) can be adjusted by sending the following command:
STX N DATA ETX , with each separate value having the <> symbols around them.
Data : Length of data is 1 byte, in which the value of S (Slow), M (Medium) or F (Fast) can be sent.
N : Node number of the VFD, with a data length of two byte ASCII.
My question is, how would I type to send this data? It doesn't say whether to use a specific data type to represent, so surely I could just type the data as it is, e.g. STX 1 S ETX?
Othwerside, I'm not sure how to combine the byte representations of the data, representing them in hex, binary or decimal. I'm not sure what is meant by two byte ASCII, is this not UNICODE-16? Also, I'm not sure if I need to send the values of STX or ETX with the data string or not
I hope someone can shed some light on this.
Thanks in advance.
Since the frequency goes from 0-50 Hz, I think we should send data in this range.
So if we want the frequency to be half maximal, we will send 25.
To send this to VFD, we first need to split that number into 2 and 5
The message should read STX 2 5 ETX?
Now we look at the ASCII code table and find 2 and 5.
0x50 = 2
0x53 = 5
We convey everything in a message that reads
STX 0x50 0x53 ETX
The aforementioned S7-300 is recommended for operation. You can also solve this through his TIA portal.
All,
I managed to figure this out with a bit of digging. I simulated it using Siemens S7-300 on TIA portal, and set up communications on a module. I sent the values I wanted using a "move" block, to a value set in the Data Block.
I repeated this for the Node value, making sure the correct data type was chosen, and sent the data through a Send_ptp command block.
Must have got a bit flustered and tired the other night when I was trying it. Hopefully it might help someone in the future.

How should i find size in OMNet++?

I need to find packet size sent by each node in OMNeT++. Do i need to set it by myself or is there any way of finding the packet size which is changing dynamically.
Kindly tell me the procedure of finding the Packet size?
I think what you're trying to say is, where can you find the "inherent" size of a packet, for example of one that has been defined in a .msg file, based on "what's in it".
If I'm right: You can't. And shouldn't really want to. Since everything inside an OMNeT++ simulation is... simulation, no matter what the actual contents of a cPacket are, the bitLength property can be set to any value, with no regard to the amount of information stored in your custom messages.
So the only size any packet will have is the size set either by you manually, or by the model library you are using, with the setBitLength() method.
It is useful in scenarios where a protocol header has some fields that are of some weird length, like 3 bits, and then 9 bits, and 1 flag bit, etc. It is best to represent these fields as separate members in the message class, and since C++ doesn't have* these flexible size data types, the representation in the simulation and the represented header will have different sizes.
Or if you want to cheat, and transmit extra information with a packet, that wouldn't really be a part of it on a real network, in the actual bit sequence.
So you should just set the appropriate length with setBitLength, and don't care about what is actually stored. Usually. Until your computer runs out of memory.
I might be completely wrong about what you're trying to get to.
*Yes, there are bit fields, but ... it's easier not having to deal with them.
If you are talking about cPakets in OMNeT++, then simply use the according getter methods for the length of a packet. That is for cases where the packets have a real size set either by you or in your code.
From the cpacket.h in the OMNeT 5.1 release:
/**
* Returns the packet length (in bits).
*/
virtual int64_t getBitLength() const {return bitLength;}
/**
* Returns the packet length in bytes, that is, bitlength/8. If bitlength
* is not a multiple of 8, the result is rounded up.
*/
int64_t getByteLength() const {return (getBitLength()+7)>>3;}
So simply read the value, maybe write it into a temporary variable and use it for whatever you need it.

Open CL Kernel - every workitem overwrites global memory?

I'm trying to write a kernel to get the character frequencies of a string.
First, here is the code I have for kernel right now:
_kernel void readParallel(__global char * indata, __global int * outdata)
{
int startId = get_global_id(0) * 8;
int maxId = startId + 7;
for (int i = startId; i < maxId; i++)
{
++outdata[indata[i]];
}
}
The variable inData holds the string in the global memory, and outdata is an array of 256 int values in the global memory. Every workitem reads 8 symbols from the string and should increase the appropriate ASCII-code in the array. The code compiles and executes, but outdata contains less occurrences overall than the number of characters in inData. I think the problem is that workitems overwrites the global memory. It would be nice if you can give me some tips to solve this.
By the way,. I am a rookie in OpenCL ;-) and, yes, I looked for solutions in other questions.
You are experiencing the effects of your uses of global memory not being atomic (C++-oriented description of what those are or another description by the Intel TBB folks). What happens, chronologically, is:
Some workgroup "thread" loads outData[123] into some register r1
... lots of work, reading and writing, happens, including on
outData[123]...
The same workgroup "thread" increments r1
... lots of work, reading and writing, happens, including on
outData[123]...
The same workgroup "thread" writes r1 to outData[123]
So, the value written to outData[123] "throws away" the updates during the time period between the read and the write (I'm ignoring the possibility of parallel writes corrupting each other rather than one of them winning out).
What you need to do is either:
Use atomic operations - the least amount of modifications to your code, but very inefficient, since it serializes your work to a great extent, or
Use work-item-specific, warp-specific and/or work-group-specific partial results, which require less/cheaper synchronization, and combine them eventually after having done a lot of work on them.
On an unrelated note, and as #huseyintugrulbuyukisik correctly points out, your code uses signed char values to index the array. To fix that, do one of the following:
reinterpret those char's as unsigned chars for array indices (and reinterpret back when reading the array.
upcast the char values to a larger integral type and add 128 to get an offset into the outArray.
Define your kernel to only support ASCII characters (no higher than 127), in which case you can ignore this issue (although that will be a potential crasher if you get invalid input.
If you only care about the frequency of printable characters (but can also have non-printing characters in the input), you could perform a run-time check before counting a character.

How do you allocate memory at a predetermined location?

How do i allocate memory using new at a fixed location? My book says to do this:
char *buf=new char[sizeof(sample)];
sample *p=new(buf)sample(10,20);
Here new is allocating memory at buf's address, and (10,20) are values being passed. But what is sample? is it an address or a data type?
let me explain this code to you...
char *buf=new char[sizeof(sample)];
sample *p=new(buf)sample(10,20);
This is really four lines of code, written as two for your convenience. Let me just expand them
char *buf; // 1
buf = new char[sizeof(sample)]; // 2
sample *p; // 3
p = new(buf)sample(10,20); // 4
Line 1 and 3 are simple to explain, they are both declaring pointers. buf is a pointer to a char, p is a pointer to a sample. Now, we can not see what sample is, but we can assume that it is either a class defined else where, or some of data type that has been typedefed (more or less just given a new name) but either way, sample can be thought as a data type just link int or string
Line 2 is a allocating a block of memory and assigning it our char pointer called buf. Lets say sample was a class that contains 2 ints, this means it is (under most compilers) going to be 8 bytes (4 per int). And so buf points to the start of a block of memory that has been set aside to hold chars.
Line 4 is where it gets a big complex. if it where just p = new sample(10,20) it would be a simple case of creating a new object of type sample, passing it the two ints and storing the address of this new object in the pointer p. The addition of the (buf) is basically telling new to make use of the memory pointed to by buf.
The end effect is, you have one block of memory allocated (more or less 8 bytes) and it has two pointers pointing to it. One of the points, buf, is looking at that memory as 8 chars, that other, p, is looking at is a single sample.
Why would you do this?
Normally, you wouldn't. Modern C++ has made the sue of new rather redundant, there are many better ways to deal with objects. I guess that main reason for using this method, is if for some reason you want to keep a pool of memory allocated, as it can take time to get large blocks of memory and you might be able to save your self some time.
For the most part, if you think you need to do something like this, you are trying to solve the wrong thing
A Bit Extra
I do not have much experience with embedded or mobile devices, but I have never seen this used.
The code you posted is basically the same as just doing sample *p = new sample(10,20) neither method is controlling where the sample object is created.
Also consider that you do not always need to create objects dynamically using new.
void myFunction(){
sample p = sample(10,20);
}
This automatically creates a sample object for you. This method is much more preferable as it is easier to read and understand and you do not need to worry about deleting the object, it will be cleaned up for you when the function returns.
If you really do need to make use of dynamic objects, consider use of smart pointers, something like unique_ptr<sample> This will give you the ability to use dynamic object creation but save you the hassle of manual deleting the object of type sample (I can point you towards more info on this if you life)
It is a datatype or a typedef.

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