Software Overview¶

HALSER is a development board. While it ships with a basic default firmware for evaluation, most users will develop custom firmware tailored to their specific application.

Development Options¶

Several frameworks are available for HALSER firmware development:

SensESP (Recommended)¶

SensESP is an IoT sensor framework for ESP32 that provides WiFi connectivity, a web-based configuration UI, Signal K integration, and NMEA 2000 support out of the box. It is the recommended starting point for most HALSER applications.

The HALSER default firmware is built on SensESP and serves as a good reference for custom projects.

Arduino¶

The Arduino framework for ESP32 provides a familiar development environment with access to a vast library ecosystem. Use this if you prefer the Arduino API or need specific Arduino-compatible libraries.

ESP-IDF¶

Espressif's official IoT Development Framework offers the most control and performance. Suitable for advanced use cases that require fine-grained hardware control or real-time guarantees.

ESPHome¶

ESPHome is a configuration-based approach to ESP32 firmware. It is well suited for home automation integration and simple sensor applications, though it has more limited support for marine-specific protocols.

Pin Assignments¶

HALSER's GPIO pin assignments differ from generic ESP32-C3 development kits. Always refer to the GPIO Reference when developing firmware.

Default Firmware¶

HALSER ships with a pre-installed default firmware that acts as an NMEA 0183 → NMEA 2000 gateway. It is provided for quick evaluation and as a development reference — see Default Firmware for details.

Getting Started with Development¶

See Custom Firmware Development for a guide to setting up your development environment and building firmware for HALSER.