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 a supported by my fork whereas others are missing or implemented different. For sure both share, that's 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 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 which means, that music-decoding takes place in software with a dedicated uSD-card and music-output with I2S. I did all my tests on Adafruit's MAX98357A. Hopefully, not only in theory, other DACs can be used as well.

Basic concept/handling

The basic idea of Tonuino (and my fork as well) 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. Even for kids is concept is simple: place an RFID-object (card, character) on top of a box and the music starts to play. Place another object on it and the player plays anything else.

Hardware-setup

So it's about time to have a look at the hardware I used. I'm using an 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€.

• 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.

Getting Started

I recommend Microsoft's Visual Studio Code alongside with Platformio Plugin My project in Github contains platformio.ini, so libraries used should be fetched automatically. Please note: If you use another ESP32-develboard (Lolin32) you 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

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-current is described here: Just have a look at Abb. 4. 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 when next track is played, pause, previous, next is pressed)
• audiobook (loop)
• Folder/playlist (alph. sorted)
• Folder/playlist (random order)
• Folder/playlist (alph. sorted) as loop
• Folder/playlist (random order) as loop