guidance please

[TSMSTSA]

Hi! My students are continuing to work on their project. They have modified it to be an emergency/panic button system as our building does not have these, and currently we would have to dial the entire phone number to reach anyone.

We are good with getting this built and sending the message to a phone number, but now we are presented with the need to have this as a working stationary display when we are not present. The issue is that we do not want to leave a phone there to display the message when the button is pressed.

I know you can send messages to be displayed on an OLED screen, but is it possible to set it up so that when we press the button, the sms text is sent to and displayed on the OLED screen?

We understand that this will require another board and power supply because it can not be connected to the same one as the button, but are unsure what to purchase and how to begin to make this work. All of our research seems to assume the OLED screen and the button are on the same board. We have the Pro ESP32 - S2 Development Board for the button and were planning on setting it up like listed here: https://www.instructables.com/Magic-SMS-Button/.

Any direction, advice, or pointing to what to purchase and how to set up the other side with the OLED screen?

Thank you so much!!

[T_Mo]

I'm not sure I understand your situation.

From that Instructable and your description, I gather that you have this use case:
- You have an ESP32-S2 board connected to a button.
- Someone presses the button, and the ESP32 board sends a message via WiFi, into the internet, destined for the Twilio service.
- Twilio gets your message and sends a SMS to the phone number you've registered.

If this is correct, then what specifically are you wanting to add?

[TSMSTSA]

Hi! Thank you for the response. Ideally, in the real situation, we would not have to add anything. The issue is that for display, the device has to work without any of my students present, therefore no phone. Due to this situation, we have to come up with a way for the button to be pushed and have it display the emergency message on something other than a phone. This is where we were thinking of an OLED display. So just thinking visually, the button might be in the lower left of the display and the display screen would be in the upper right. When the button is pressed, it sends the SMS message to the OLED, acting as a receiver to display the message. I'm not sure how to make this happen, without the display being hooked to the same board as the button.

[T_Mo]

Sorry, I 'm still confused. I don't know which end of the system you want the display to be.

I presume you're pushing a button somewhere and you want an indication to appear somewhere else?

Can you describe in step-by-step manner how you want this system to operate from the user's standpoint?

[TSMSTSA]

Sorry, Im probably not explaining it correctly.

Picture a science fair display board

On the left side, we will have a small partial wall with a push button installed to simulate an emergency/panic button.

On the upper right side of the board, we would like to have an OLED display. (on the opposite corner of the board, diagonal from the button)

When the viewer pushes the button, we would like the OLED to display "Emergency Services needed in Room 414"
The display would last for a set number of seconds and then reset to a blank screen, for the next user to test the system.

When the kids go into their interview with the judge, they want to revert the program to where, when the button is pressed, it sends an SMS text message to a phone. This is how it would be in real life.

We need the OLED display because there is a period where the device has to be operable and on display without the student being present. Without the students present, there will not be a phone, as we are not willing to leave a phone out in public.

Does that make sense?

[T_Mo]

So the OLED is just for unattended demonstration purposes, but the actual project for the judges sends a SMS message to a phone?

[TSMSTSA]

The OLED display is for the preliminary rounds when judges look at the displays without the students.

For the secondary rounds, the students will be there. The plan is to set the program so when the button is pressed the text goes to one of the student's phone.

[T_Mo]

Do you want the remote display (on the other side of the board) to use a wireless link? That would simulate a SMS message in a more effective way.

You could use something like a pair of Feather CPUs, each with LoRa radios. One has the button and transmits, the other has the display and receives.

You could maybe use WiFi-to-WiFi, but I don't have any experience with that as a point-to-point link.

Shouldn't the students be doing this design themselves?

[TSMSTSA]

They have the design, I just help support them with the background and act as a safety net. I think I have an idea of how they can handle it :)

I appreciate your responses though, it helps me further know where to focus them and more questions to probe their thinking with.