Meshkit-light video example explanation wanted

[jwktje]

I saw the following video on the Espressif YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/DXsUtH_sciM

I would love to know how the raspberry pi sends commands to the lightbulbs. I’m familiar with MQTT but I’m not sure how the raspberry can send commands on the mesh.

I think this means one lightbulb would be the root node in the mesh to which the raspberry makes HTTP calls via a router? Or is it connected directly to the mesh?

I want to create a similar setup like in the video where a raspberry can control the lights over MQTT so I’m very interested.

Hopefully someone can clarify.

Also, could a regular ESP chip be flashed with ESP-MDF software to form as a bridge to reach lightbulbs that would otherwise be out of range of the mesh?

[ESP_Me-no-dev]

In this demo, the PI/MQTT only collects the information, though adding control through it is not any different than other MQTT implementations. Each MESH device in this case has the code required for it to talk to MQTT if it is the Mesh Master. The same way that the master publishes the updated info from sensors, it can also subscribe to a topic that you could control from phone/pc or anything else that can talk MQTT. If you want your PI to control it all, then you could run an MQTT client as well as the broker and do all controls through that client

[jwktje]

Ah so you mean to say that the ESP-Meshkit-Light is inherently MQTT compatible?
Or can/should we flash custom ESP-MDF code to the Light to make it do this?

[ESP_Me-no-dev]

In the case of this demo, yes, every light is flashed with mqtt capable firmware. MQTT is already in IDF, so building a mesh firmware with added support is easy
Unless you force a node to not be master (or you force particular one to be master), all nodes must be capable of MQTT else you can not guarantee that the master node will be able to communicate.

[jwktje]

Gotcha!
So you can actually just flash it like you would any ESP32 module?
That would be perfect for my use-case. Couple of questions in that case.

1. What is the best place to order a bunch of Meshkit Lights from the Netherlands? AliExpress? Or is there a better online marketplace I should get it from?

2. How do you get at the pins needed to flash it? I'm assuming you'd use a USB FTDI ?

3. Is the Arduino core also supported, and if so, how would you call functions for the actual RGB lighting from there?

[ESP_Me-no-dev]

Sorry, I personally have no idea about possible channels to obtain the bulbs, but I am pretty sure that Mouser has them also.
You flash the bulbs through the Android App, which does it in the OTA fashion, so no pins are required
Arduino is not yet supporting the full MDF. Once all heavy development has concluded, we can look into integrating it with Arduino. As of now there isn't a straight-forward way. The base of the Mesh protocol is supported though.

[jwktje]

ESP-MDF would work fine for my use-case. So Arduino support is not that essential.
Is the Android app the only way to flash custom firmware?

I"m on a Macbook and iPhone. So I would not even mind using FTDI (if that even is possible) or another more manual way of flashing.
If that's not an option, would I need to set up an Android emulator or could I do an OTA flash without Android?

I don't have an Android device to my disposal.

[ESP_Me-no-dev]

While iOS will be definitely fully supported (Desktop also), as of now they are not so much. If you can have an Android emulator be able to access your BT in the Mac, then you could probably try that.the bulb and it's board are capsulated and filled with some sort of technical cement, so you do not really have access to the pins, otherwise Serial flash would work.

[jwktje]

I understand. Thanks for the clarification

So are there docs somewhere of going from a local ESP-MDF project, via the Android app, to the hardware?
Would I generate a HEX file that android opens? Or what is the workflow like?

[rontec]

1. What is the best place to order a bunch of Meshkit Lights from the Netherlands? AliExpress? Or is there a better online marketplace I should get it from?

On taobao.com, search for ESP32-MeshKit-Light which gets you 5 lights for about $64 USD directly from Espressif.
You'll need a freight forwarder to get it from China to the Netherlands. I can recommend one (private message me) if you want to buy a few sets. If you want more than that, contact espressif sales for volume pricing.