Tonuino based on ESP32 with I2S-output

Disclaimer

This is a fork of the popular Tonuino-project which means, that it only shares the basic concept of controlling music-play by RFID-tags and buttons. Said this I want to make clear, that the code-basis is completely different. So there might be features, that are supported by my fork whereas others are missing or implemented different. For sure both share that it's non-profit, DIY and developed on Arduino.

What's different (basically)?

The original project makes use of microcontrollers (uC) like Arduino nano (which is the Microchip AVR-platform behind the scenes). Music-decoding is done in hardware using DFPlayer mini which also has a uSD-card-slot and an integrated amp as well. Control of this unit is done by a serial-interconnect with the uC using an API provided.

The core of my implementation is based on the popular ESP32 by Espressif. Having WiFi-support out-of-the-box makes it possible to provide further features like an integrated FTP-server (to feed the player with music), smarthome-integration by using MQTT and webradio. However, my aim was to port the project on a modular base. Said this music-decoding takes place in software with a dedicated uSD-card and music-output is done via I2S-protocol. I did all my tests on Adafruit's MAX98357A. Hopefully, not only in theory, other DACs can be used as well (has to support 3.3 V-level).

Basic concept/handling

The basic idea of Tonuino (and my fork, respectively) is to provide a way, to use the Arduino-platform for a music-control-concept that is derived from the popular Toniebox. This basically means that RFID-tags are used to direct a music-player. Toniebox is based on cloud, Tonuino on a local SD-card. Even for kids this concept is simple: place an RFID-object (card, character) on top of a box and the music starts to play. Place another RFID-object on it and anything else is played. Simple as that.

Hardware-setup

So it's about time to have a look at the hardware I used. It's a ESP32 on a development-board that more or less looks like this. If ordered in China (Aliexpress, eBay e.g.) it's pretty cheap (around 4€) but even in Europe it's only around 8€. Make sure to install the drivers for the USB/Serial-chip (CP2102 e.g.).

• Adafruit's MAX98357A
• uSD-card-reader
• RFID-reader
• RFID-tags
• Neopixel-ring
• Rotary Encoder
• Buttons

Most of them can be ordered cheaper directly in China. It's just a give an short impression of the hardware; feel free to order where ever you want to. I don't earn money with my links :-)

Getting Started

I recommend Microsoft's Visual Studio Code alongside with Platformio Plugin Since my project on Github contains platformio.ini, libraries used should be fetched automatically. Please note: If you use another ESP32-develboard (Lolin32) you might have to change "env:" in platformio.ini to the corresponding value. Documentation can be found here. After that it might be necessary to adjust the names of the GPIO-pins in the upper #define-section of my code.

Wiring

A lot of wiring is needed to get it running. After my first experients I soldered the stuff to avoid wild-west-cabling. Feel free to design your own PCBs.

ESP32 (GPIO)	Hardware	Pin	Comment
5 V	SD-reader	VCC	Connect to p-channel MOSFET for power-saving when uC is off
GND	SD-reader	GND
15	SD-reader	CS
13	SD-reader	MOSI
16	SD-reader	MISO
14	SD-reader	SCK
17	RFID-reader	3.3V	Connect directly to GPIO 17 for power-saving when uC is off
GND	RFID-reader	GND
22	RFID-reader	RST
21	RFID-reader	CS
23	RFID-reader	MOSI
19	RFID-reader	MISO
18	RFID-reader	SCK
5 V	MAX98357	VIN	Connect to p-channel MOSFET for power-saving when uC is off
GND	MAX98357	GND
25	MAX98357	DIN
27	MAX98357	BCLK
26	MAX98357	LRC
34	Rotary encoder	CLR
35	Rotary encoder	DT
32	Rotary encoder	BUTTON
3.3 V	Rotary encoder	+
GND	Rotary encoder	GND
4	Button (next)
GND	Button (next)
35	Button (previous)
GND	Button (previous)
32	Button (pause/play)
GND	Button (pause/play)
5 V	Neopixel	5 V	Connect to p-channel MOSFET for power-saving when uC is off
GND	Neopixel	GND
12	Neopixel	DI
17	BC337 (via R5)	Base	Don't forget R5!

Optionally, GPIO 17 can be used to drive an NPN-transistor (BC337-40) that pulls a p-channel MOSFET (IRF9520) to GND in order to switch off current. Transistor-circuit is described here: Just have a look at Abb. 4. Values of the resistors I used: R1: 10k, R2: omitted(!), R4: 10k, R5: 4,7k

Prerequisites

• For debugging-purposes serialDebug can be set (before compiling) to ERROR, NOTICE, INFO or DEBUG.
• Make decision, if MQTT should be enabled (enableMqtt)
• If yes, set the IP of the MQTT-server and check the MQTT-topics (states and commands)
• In setup() RFID-cards can be statically linked to an action/file.
• Compile and upload the sketch

Starting Tonuino-ESP32 first time

After pluggin in it takes a few seconds until neopixel indicates that uC is ready by four (slow) rotating LEDs. If uC was not able to connect to WiFi, an access-point (named Tonuino) is opened and after connecting this WiFi, a configuration-Interface is available. Enter WiFI-credentials, save them and restart the uC. Then reconnect to your "regular" WiFi. Place to favourite RFID-tag next to the RFID-reader and the music should start to play.

Interacting with Tonuino

Playmodes

It's not just simply playing music; different playmodes are supported:

• single track
• single track (loop)
• audiobook (single file or playlist; last play-position is saved)
• audiobook (loop)
• folder/playlist (alph. sorted)
• folder/playlist (random order)
• folder/playlist (alph. sorted) as loop
• folder/playlist (random order) as loop
• webradio (always only one "track")

Modification RFID-tags

There are special RFID-tags available, that don't start music by themself but can modify things. If applied a second time, the corresponding acting will be reversed. Please note: all sleep-modes do dimming automatically because it's supposed to be used in the evening when going to bed. Well, at least that's my children's indication :-)

• lock/unlock all buttons
• sleep after 5/30/60/120 minutes
• sleep after end of current track
• sleep after end of playlist
• dimm neopixel
• current track in loop-mode (is "stronger" than playlist-loop but doesn't overwrite it!)
• playlist in loop-mode
• track und playlist loop-mode can be activated in parallel, but unless track-loop isn't deactivated, playlist-loop doesn't come into "play"

Neopixel

Indicates different things:

• IDLE: four LEDs slow rotating
• ERROR: all LEDs flashing red (1x)
• OK: all LEDs flashing green (1x)
• BUSY: violet; four fast rotating LEDs
• track-progress: rainbow; number of LEDs relative to progress
• playlist-progress: blue; appears only in playlist-mode with every new track; number of LEDs relative to progress
• loudness: green => red-gradient; number of LEDs relative from current to max loudness
• switching off: red; circle that grows until long-press-time is reached
• buttons locked: track-progress-LEDs in red
• paused: track-progress-LEDs in orange

Buttons

• previous (short): previous track
• previous (long): first track in playlist
• next (short): next track in playlist
• next (long): last track in playlist
• pause/play (short/long): pause/play
• rotary encoder (turning): vol +/-
• rotary encoder (press long): switch off (only when on)
• rotary encoder (press short): switch on (only when off)

Music-play

• music starts playing after valid RFID-tag was applies
• if playing a folder should be played that contains many mp3s, the playlist generation can take a few seconds
• while playlist is generated Neopixel indicates BUSY-mode
• after last track was played, Neopixel indicates IDLE-mode
• in audiobook-mode, last play-position is remembered

Audiobook-mode

This mode is different, as the last playposition is saved. Playposition is saved when...

• next track starts
• first/previous track requested by button
• pause was pressed
• playlist is over (playposition is set back to the first track and fileposition 0)

Webinterface-configuration

Todo; currently under development. Will make it possible to assign actions/files/folders to RFID-tags and configure some things.

FTP

In order to avoid disassembling the Tonuino all the time, it's possible to transfer music onto the sd-card using FTP. Please make sure to set the max. number of parallel connections to ONE in your FTP-client. My recommendation is Filezilla. But don't expect fast transfer, it's only around 145 kB/s and decreases dramatically, if music is played in parallel. Better stop playback then doing a FTP-transfer.

Energy saving

As already described in the modify-section, there are different sleepmodes available. Additionaly, uC will be put into deepsleep after 10 minutes (maxInactivityTime) unless Tonuino doesn't play music, has a FTP-client connected and any input via buttons.

MQTT

Everything, that can be controlled via RFID-tags and buttons can also be done via MQTT. All manual interactions (buttons, RFID-tags) are also sent to MQTT, so everything is always in-sync (unless Wifi/MQTT-connection is broken). In my home-setup I'm using openHAB to encapsulate MQTT into a nice GUI, that's accessible via APP + web. ToDo: Publish sample-configuration for openHAB.