README.en.md

The web application that drives MicroCoaster layouts. It discovers the connected ESP32 modules, shows their state in real time, and lets you build sequences that orchestrate a whole layout.

Live at app.microcoaster.com.

The application talks to two worlds that do not have the same needs, so it uses two separate channels.

Socket.io towards the browsers. Automatic reconnection, a long-polling fallback, one room per user. It is comfortable on the web side and it tolerates a temperamental network.

Raw WebSocket towards the ESP32s. No extra layer, no transport negotiation: a microcontroller has neither the memory nor the need for a Socket.io client. The modules authenticate on connection, then exchange short JSON messages.

This is also where the system's authority sits. A module never decides to move on its own: it carries out an order from this application, which is the only one that knows the full state of the layout.

The sim/ folder deserves a word: it holds simulators that pass themselves off as real modules. You develop and test the orchestration of a complete layout without having to wire anything at all.

git clone https://github.com/Microcoaster/MicroCoasterWebApp.git
cd MicroCoasterWebApp
npm install
cp .env.example .env

Fill in .env, then create the database:

mysql -u root -p < sql/schema.sql
mysql -u root -p < sql/default_data.sql

npm start           # start
npm test            # tests
npx eslint .        # static analysis

The cycle is the organisation's: an issue describes the work, a branch starts from develop, a pull request comes back onto it and goes through review before reaching main.

The modules driven by this application each have their own repository: Switch Track, Launch Track, Lift Hill, Audio module, Smoke Machine. The common base is the WiFi Manager.

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_{MicroCoaster · Authors: Cybertrist, Yamakajump}