EPaper Meshtastic Map for Black Rock City

BRC Meshtastic Paper

BRC Meshtastic Paper is an tool designed to facilitate the tracking and visualization of individuals’ locations at Burning Man using mesh networks. The tool is tailored to interact with meshtastic devices, either through a serial connection or a socket connection, serving as a digital guide through the activity of the Black Rock City.

Project Description

If you happen to be here and have no idea what I am talking about:

Burning Man is a festival of art, self-expression, and community, set in the sprawling expanse of the Nevada desert. As such, tracking friends or points of interest can be challenging. BRC Meshtastic Paper addresses this issue by leveraging map data, mesh network data, and the meshtastic API. It plots the locations of nodes (people or places) on a map and visualizes the connections between them, essentially creating a real-time GPS guide to navigate the festival grounds.

Hardware

I personally have been using the WaveShare 7.5 (800x480), adjust resolution if you want to use a different one

Amazon (around $50 in Aug 2023) AliExpress (compatible one for less than $20)

Remember to buy an epaper SPI hat

Debug Mode

Debug mode can be activated in BRC Meshtastic Paper by appending the –debug flag while running the program. This mode can be particularly beneficial when you are trying to troubleshoot issues or need to center the map coordinates for a more focused view of a specific area.

To use it, run:

python draw_map.py --debug

Configuration

The config.py file is a central component, employed to set the coordinates for the map, the dimensions of the city, and the map image. To center the map on the screen, you need to adjust the coordinates in the config.py file. Here is an example configuration:

# config.py

MAN_LAT = 40.786400
MAN_LONG = -119.203500

You can modify these values to meet your requirements. For instance, if you want to visualize a different location, you could change MAP_CENTER to a new set of coordinates. Or if you have a different image you want to use for the map, you can change IMAGE to point to your new image file.

Connection Modes

BRC Meshtastic Paper provides two methods to interact with meshtastic devices:

• Serial connection: This is the default mode of operation. When the tool is run, it will attempt to connect to the device over a serial connection.
• Socket connection: If you prefer to connect to the device over a network, you can utilize a socket connection. To use this mode, you need to set the appropriate configuration in the display_map.py file:

# display_map.py

        #interface = meshtastic.tcp_interface.TCPInterface('192.168.0.188')
        interface = meshtastic.serial_interface.SerialInterface()

BRC Meshtastic Paper is here to enhance your Burning Man experience. If you encounter any issues or have suggestions, please raise an issue on our GitHub page.