Version 0.46

This release just addresses a few nagging bugs that have been reported.

New Feature

• All of the controller web pages are now mobile-friendly (responsive) so you can use a phone or tablet to make changes to your settings and actually read the text!

Other Changes and Fixes

• Added missing no car reset to the main loop.
• Increased debounce setting to 10. This should help prevent the system from randomly 'waking' even though a parked car is present.
• Added fix that causes settings to be lost for some users on a firmware upgrade. (fixes Issue #15)

Breaking Changes

• There should not be any breaking changes in this release. However, if previous firmware upgrades caused your system to lose its settings, this may occur one last time as the fix for that issue is included in this update. Future upgrades should not impact your settings unless explicitly mentioned in the release notes.

• If you are upgrading from a version prior to v0.45 and using MQTT, it is recommended that you also review the 0.45 release notes for important changes made in that version relating to MQTT.

If this is your first install, please read the initial installation and first time setup sections of the wiki

This will help prevent any unforeseen issues. The rest of the wiki describes how to setup and use the system. I welcome questions, comments or recommended improvements, but please post those in the discussion area or under the comments section of the blog article linked above or in the YouTube video for this project. Please reserve the issues section of this repo for true bugs or other problems with the firmware.

Upgrading a previous version

IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading from a previous version of the firmware prior to 0.41, it is highly recommended that you upgrade to v0.41 first and do a full reset/onboading before upgrading to this version due to changes due to changes in how data is stored in flash memory. See the release notes for v0.41 for more information.

There have been a few reports that when upgrading to a new release, wifi information or other settings were lost (fix for the issue is in this release). If you are upgrading from an earlier version and find the system does not respond after the restart, check for the initial broadcasting hotspot "ESP_ParkingAsst". If you see it, you must rejoin the system to your wifi and setup the system again. This should not occur since only the sketch is being uploaded and I have been unable to duplicate the issue. But apparently the upgrade impacts the flash memory with some boards.

It is always recommended to note/copy your current settings, such as parking zone distances, before performing any upgrade in the unlikely event that you do have to setup your system again.

You may apply this upgrade via the web application by just downloading the .bin file. See the wiki article Performing Updates and Upgrades for step-by-step instructions. Your settings and options should be maintained when upgrading. See the new troubleshooting section of the wiki if you have problems with the upgrade.

Version 0.45

Home Assistant MQTT Discovery!

This release adds an optional Home Assistant MQTT discovery process. A simply click of a button in the web interface and a new Home Assistant device with all the related entities will be automatically created in Home Assistant... no YAML, no editing of files or any other configuration changes in Home Assistant needed!

Even if you have already manually created the MQTT entities in Home Assistant, you can use this feature to create a new device integration under MQTT in Home Assistant. This will create new versions of the existing sensors, but will also add a couple of new ones (IP and MAC addresses). You can either keep your existing entities and have both available, or remove your existing entities.

This is still considered a BETA feature at this point as it has not been widely tested. Please review the new information under the MQTT and Home Assistant topic in the wiki for prerequisites and information on how to use this new feature.

Other Changes and Fixes

• AP Hotspot no longer continues broadcasting after wifi is joined. (fixes Issue #16)
• Field sizes for MQTT user name and password increased to 64 characters. (fixes Issue #22)
• MQTT topics now include the Parking Assistant IP and MAC addresses. See MQTT section of Wiki.
• Car detection changed from a sensor to a binary_sensor when using Discovery.
• Sensors.yaml in the Examples folder updated with both the binary sensor change and new MQTT topics.

Breaking Changes

• If moving from manually created MQTT entites to the new Home Assistant MQTT Discovery, the original car detection/presence entity changes from a regular sensor to a binary sensor. You may need to update any scripts, automations or dashboard cards accordingly.

If this is your first install, please read the initial installation and first time setup sections of the wiki

This will help prevent any unforeseen issues. The rest of the wiki describes how to setup and use the system. I welcome questions, comments or recommended improvements, but please post those in the discussion area or under the comments section of the blog article linked above or in the YouTube video for this project. Please reserve the issues section of this repo for true bugs or other problems with the firmware.

Upgrading a previous version

IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading from a previous version of the firmware prior to 0.41, it is highly recommended that you upgrade to v0.41 first and do a full reset/onboading before upgrading to this version due to changes due to changes in how data is stored in flash memory. See the release notes for v0.41 for more information.

There have been a few reports that when upgrading to a new release, wifi information or other settings were lost. If you are upgrading from an earlier version and find the system does not respond after the restart, check for the initial broadcasting hotspot "ESP_ParkingAsst". If you see it, you must rejoin the system to your wifi and setup the system again. This should not occur since only the sketch is being uploaded and I have been unable to duplicate the issue. But apparently the upgrade impacts the flash memory with some boards.

It is always recommended to note/copy your current settings, such as parking zone distances, before performing any upgrade in the unlikely event that you do have to setup your system again.

You may apply this upgrade via the web application by just downloading the .bin file. See the wiki article Performing Updates and Upgrades for step-by-step instructions. Your settings and options should be maintained when upgrading. See the new troubleshooting section of the wiki if you have problems with the upgrade.

Version 0.44

MQTT Updates

• Updates MQTT so that initial values are published as soon as boot process completes (instead of after first telemetry period)
• MQTT values are now updated any time car presence detection changes (e.g. car detected to no car detected or vice versa)

If this is your first install, please read the initial installation and first time setup sections of the wiki

This will help prevent any unforeseen issues. The rest of the wiki describes how to setup and use the system. I welcome questions, comments or recommended improvements, but please post those in the comments section of the blog article linked above or in the YouTube video for this project. Please reserve the issues section of this repo for true bugs or other problems with the firmware.

Upgrading a previous version

IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading from a previous version of the firmware prior to 0.41, it is highly recommended that you upgrade to v0.41 first and do a full reset/onboading before upgrading to this version due to changes due to changes in how data is stored in flash memory. See the release notes for v0.41 for more information.

There have been a few reports that when upgrading from 0.42 to 0.43/0.44, their wifi information and settings were lost. If you are upgrading from 0.42 or earlier and find the system does not respond after the restart, check for the initial broadcasting hotspot "ESP_ParkingAsst". If you see it, you must rejoin the system to your wifi and setup the system again. This should not occur when upgrading from 0.43 or moving forward.

It is always recommended to note your current settings, such as parking zone distances, before performing any upgrade in the unlikely event that you do have to setup your system again.

You may apply this upgrade via the web application by just downloading the .bin file. See the wiki article Performing Updates and Upgrades for step-by-step instructions. Your settings and options should be maintained when upgrading. See the new troubleshooting section of the wiki if you have problems with the upgrade.

Breaking Changes

• None

Version 0.43

Fixes

• Addresses situation where rebooting board before initial config file is created could lead to potential boot loop in some rare cases (address Issue #10)
• Adds missing debounce on 'no-car-detected' check, eliminating possible false triggers that would randomly wake up the system even when a car was present.

New features

• While technically not a new feature of the firmware, this release comes with a new troubleshooting section of the wiki that covers how to resolve some of the most common issues that have been reported.

If this is your first install, please read the initial installation and first time setup sections of the wiki

This will help prevent any unforeseen issues. The rest of the wiki describes how to setup and use the system. I welcome questions, comments or recommended improvements, but please post those in the comments section of the blog article linked above or in the YouTube video for this project. Please reserve the issues section of this repo for true bugs or other problems with the firmware.

Upgrading a previous version

IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading from a previous version of the firmware prior to 0.41, it is highly recommended that you upgrade to v0.41 first and do a full reset/onboading before upgrading to this version due to changes due to changes in how data is stored in flash memory. See the release notes for v0.41 for more information.

You may apply this upgrade via the web application. See the wiki article Performing Updates and Upgrades for step-by-step instructions. Your settings and options should be maintained when upgrading. See the new troubleshooting section of the wiki if you have problems with the upgrade.

Breaking Changes

• No breaking changes if upgrading from v0.41 or later
• If upgrading from a version prior to v0.41, please see that version's breaking changes for important info.

Version 0.42

Fixes and New Features

• Attempts to improve compatibility with generic ESP8266 boards (a D1 Mini is still highly recommended for best compatibility)

• Modifies MQTT distance output (if enabled) to distinguish between out of range vs. error (see breaking changes below and MQTT in wiki)

General Release Notes

This project is still in its early stages. As such, it is a work-in-progress. While the firmware should work with any ESP8266 board with at least 4MB flash, there appears to be some current incompatibility with some NodeMCU boards (see Issue #7) . It has only been tested at this point with the Wemos D1 Mini and this is the recommended board for best results.

To see the complete parts lists that have been used and tested in this project, or for complete build details including wiring diagrams, please refer to this article: A New Parking Assistant using ESP8266 and WS2812b LEDs

If this is your first install, please read the initial installation and first time setup sections of the wiki

This will help prevent any unforeseen issues. The rest of the wiki describes how to setup and use the system. I welcome questions, comments or recommended improvements, but please post those in the comments section of the blog article linked above or in the YouTube video for this project. Please reserve the issues section of this repo for true bugs or other problems with the firmware.

Upgrading a previous version

If you are upgrading from a previous version of the firmware, you may apply this upgrade via the web application. See the wiki article Performing Updates and Upgrades for step-by-step instructions. Your settings and options should be maintained when upgrading. If upgrading from a version prior to v0.41, it is recommended that you review the breaking changes from that version, especially if you have more than one parking assistant device.

Breaking Changes

• If you have built automations based on reported MQTT distance, note that the distance now reports a max value of 200" or 5080 mm if the measurement is out of range. Values returned that are greater than 50000 indicates and error was returned from the TFMini.
• If upgrading from a version prior to v0.41, please see that version's breaking changes for important info.

Version 0.41

Fixes and New Features

• Adds support for multiple parking assistants on the same network. Resolves issue #5. See below for more info

• Adds option to display and enter distances in millimeters or inches (per request of my non-US friends!)

• Adds ability to specify MQTT topic, if MQTT is enabled (optional)

• Some general code clean-up and minor fixes

Multi-Device Support

To support multiple devices on the same network, a new onboarding value of Device Name has been added. This device name is used to create the wifi and OTA hostnames, MQTT client name and to assist in identifying which device you are accessing in the web application. Each device you add should have a unique name. See the wiki page First Time Setup for more information on valid device names.

In addition, if you are using MQTT, you can specify a different MQTT topic for each device.

If you are upgrading from a previous version, a default device name of 'parkasst' is assigned (this was the prior hardcoded value). You do not need to take any action unless you wish to change the device name. To change the device name, you must reset and onboard the controller. See Using the Web Inteface for more information.

Unit of Measure

Per request, the web interface now allows you to display and enter parking zone distances in inches or millimeters. When switching units, you must save the settings before the change is reflected on the web interface. See Using the Web Inteface for more information. Note that if you have MQTT enabled, this selection also impacts the parked distance measurement published. If millimeters are selected, the value will be published in millimeters, otherwise it will be published in inches.

General Release Notes

This project is still in its early stages. As such, it is a work-in-progress. While the firmware should work with any ESP8266 board with at least 4MB flash, it has only been tested at this point with the Wemos D1 Mini.

To see the complete parts lists that have been used and tested in this project, or for complete build details including wiring diagrams, please refer to this article: A New Parking Assistant using ESP8266 and WS2812b LEDs

If this is your first install, please read the initial installation and first time setup sections of the wiki

This will help prevent any unforeseen issues. The rest of the wiki describes how to setup and use the system. I welcome questions, comments or recommended improvements, but please post those in the comments section of the blog article linked above or in the YouTube video for this project. Please reserve the issues section of this repo for true bugs or other problems with the firmware.

Upgrading a previous version

If you are upgrading from a previous version of the firmware, you may apply this upgrade via the web application. See the wiki article Performing Updates and Upgrades for step-by-step instructions. Your settings and options should be maintained when upgrading and a default device name of parkasst will be created for your existing device.

Breaking Changes

• If you are working with the source code (.ino), note that version 0.40 changed the TFMini library to add support for 1.8.1 version of the TFMini. This is documented in the source code, but also changes the calls made to the library
• If you already have more than one parking assistant device, you should do a full reset on at least one of the devices and specify a unique name.

Version 0.40

Fixes and New Features

• Adds support for the newer TFMini-s v1.8.1 version. Still supports the older v1.7 version as well, so this new release should support any TFMini-s currently being sold.

• Note that the TFMini-s is required... this firmware will not work with the base TFMini sensor and has not been tested with the TFMini-plus.

General Release Notes

This project is still in its early stages. As such, it is a work-in-progress. While the firmware should work with any ESP8266 board with at least 4MB flash, it has only been tested at this point with the Wemos D1 Mini.

To see the complete parts lists that have been used and tested in this project, or for complete build details including wiring diagrams, please refer to this article: A New Parking Assistant using ESP8266 and WS2812b LEDs

If this is your first install, please read the initial installation and first time setup sections of the wiki

This will help prevent any unforeseen issues. The rest of the wiki describes how to setup and use the system. I welcome questions, comments or recommended improvements, but please post those in the comments section of the blog article linked above or in the YouTube video for this project. Please reserve the issues section of this repo for true bugs or other problems with the firmware.

Upgrading a previous version

If you are upgrading from a previous version of the firmware, you may apply this upgrade via the web application. See the wiki article Performing Updates and Upgrades for step-by-step instructions. Your settings and options should be maintained when upgrading.

Breaking Changes

• If you are working with the source code (.ino), note that this version changes the TFMini library to add support for 1.8.1 version of the TFMini. This is documented in the source code, but also changes the calls made to the library
• Functionally, there are no changes. Upgrading the firmware should keep all your existing settings.

Version 0.34

Important Update:

It appears that a newer version of the TFMini-s is now being sold that is incompatible with the current firmware. Please see this issue and check your TFMini version. A fix is in progress and will hopefully be released soon. You can still install this firmware and access the web application and the controller/LEDs will still go through the normal boot up process, but the sensor will not respond to objects or distances until the fix is released (fixed in release v0.40).

Fixes and New Features

• This release only contains a minor fix that addresses the current version not appearing correctly on the web interface after applying an update. There are no other changes.

General Release Notes

This project is still in its early stages. As such, it is a work-in-progress. While the firmware should work with any ESP8266 board with at least 4MB flash, it has only been tested at this point with the Wemos D1 Mini.

To see the complete parts lists that have been used and tested in this project, or for complete build details including wiring diagrams, please refer to this article: A New Parking Assistant using ESP8266 and WS2812b LEDs

If this is your first install, please read the initial installation and first time setup sections of the wiki

This will help prevent any unforeseen issues. The rest of the wiki describes how to setup and use the system. I welcome questions, comments or recommended improvements, but please post those in the comments section of the blog article linked above or in the YouTube video for this project. Please reserve the issues section of this repo for true bugs or other problems with the firmware.

Breaking Changes

• none

Version 0.33

Initial Release

This is the initial release for the project. As such, it is a work-in-progress. While the firmware should work with any ESP8266 board with at least 4MB flash, it has only been tested at this point with the Wemos D1 Mini.

To see the complete parts lists that have been used and tested in this project, or for complete build details including wiring diagrams, please refer to this article: A New Parking Assistant using ESP8266 and WS2812b LEDs

If this is your first install, please read the initial installation and first time setup sections of the wiki

This will help prevent any unforeseen issues. The rest of the wiki describes how to setup and use the system. I welcome questions, comments or recommended improvements, but please post those in the comments section of the blog article linked above or in the YouTube video for this project. Please reserve the issues section of this repo for true bugs or other problems with the firmware.

Breaking Changes

Well, considering this is the initial release, there are no breaking changes to prior versions! But I always include a breaking changes section in the release notes... so there you go!