License (CNPL v4)

LEADER is released under the Cooperative Non-Violent Public License.

This means you are free to use it for art, education, and civilian research. However:

• NO Military Use: Use by military organizations or for weapons development is strictly prohibited.
• NO Surveillance: Use for state-sponsored surveillance is prohibited.
• Cooperative Only: Commercial use is reserved for worker-owned cooperatives.

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LEADER by OPT-OUT

High-Performance OSC over ESP-NOW System

A zero-latency, router-less wireless network bridge for live performance. Connects ESP32 nodes directly to Pure Data/MaxMSP via USB SLIP and high-speed radio.

Features

• Zero-Latency: Bypasses standard Wi-Fi routers completely.
• Tethered USB Bridging: Flawless bidirectional communication between computers.
• Frictionless Migration: Fully compatible with standard CNMAT OSCMessage. Instantly port your old laggy UDP/Wi-Fi sketches over to ESP-NOW without rewriting your data structures.
• MiniOSC Engine: Background telemetry and automatic channel hopping keeps administrative traffic microscopic.

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System Commands

Address	Args	Description
/leader/ping	-	Returns telemetry: Channel, Uptime, Heap, Sent, Dropped.
/leader/hop	-	Leader forces network to find cleanest channel and migrate.
/leader/nodes	-	Requests Leader to transmit the registry of all active connected nodes.
/sys/node	int, int	Leader reply containing Follower Node ID and milliseconds since last seen.
/sys/ping	int	Sent from Leader. Sets heartbeat MS for all Followers (0 = OFF)
/sys/pong	int	Automatic Follower reply containing its unique node ID.

Quick Start Implementation

ESP32 Hardware Compatibility:

• 100% Variant Agnostic: Native ESP-NOW architecture enables LEADER to run cleanly on all chips (ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3, ESP32-C6).

1. Leader

Plugged into the master computer handling Pure Data. Translates SLIP OSC into high-speed radio broadcasts. Its the DIRECTOR. it sends to every other device and receives from every other device, passing everything to your computer.

#include <LEADER.h>
OSCLeader leader;

#ifndef LED_BUILTIN
#define LED_BUILTIN 2
#endif

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(230400); // enough is enough. pd[comport] limit seems to be
                        // 230400
  // Initialize the LEADER on Channel 1, autoHop = false
  leader.begin(Serial, 230400, 1, false);
  // Enable the built-in LED, blink for 40ms, using active-LOW (true for
  // XIAO...) blink when LEADER is sending data to FOLLOWERS
  leader.setIndicator(LED_BUILTIN, 40, true);
}

void loop() {
  // The library handles all the data, routing, and LED blinking internally!
  leader.update();

  // CIAO! :O)
}

2. Tethered Follower

Plugged into a secondary computer. Acts as a flawless two-way SLIP-to-Radio bridge.

#include <LEADER.h>

OSCFollower theothercomputer;

void setup() {
  // Channel 1, USB SLIP = true, Baud = 1000000 is max...
  theothercomputer.begin(1, true, 230400); 
}

void loop() {
  // Silently routes USB to Radio and Radio to USB
  theothercomputer.update();

  // CIAO :O)
}

3. Standalone Sensor Follower

Standalone... not plugged to a computer (or plugged just for power) read sensors and/or play with actuators.

#include <LEADER.h>
#include <OSCMessage.h>

OSCFollower node;
const int LED_PIN = 2; // Standard ESP32 built-in LED

// 1. The function that runs when "/test" is received
void controlLED(OSCMessage &msg) {
  // Check if Pure Data sent a 1 or a 0
  if (msg.isInt(0)) {
    int state = msg.getInt(0);
    digitalWrite(LED_PIN, state > 0 ? HIGH : LOW);
  }
}

// 2. The callback that catches all incoming radio traffic
void onRadioData(const uint8_t *data, int len) {
  OSCMessage msg;
  msg.fill(const_cast<uint8_t *>(data),
           len); // Pour the raw radio array into CNMAT

  if (!msg.hasError()) {
    // If the address is "/test", trigger the controlLED function
    msg.dispatch("/test", controlLED);
  }
}

void setup() {
  pinMode(LED_PIN, OUTPUT);

  // Channel 1, USB SLIP = false (Battery Mode)
  node.begin(1, false);
  node.enableHeartbeat(1000, 42);

  // Attach the listener
  node.onReceive(onRadioData);
}

void loop() {
  node.update();

  // Send a sensor reading every 50ms
  static unsigned long lastSend = 0;
  if (millis() - lastSend > 50) {
    lastSend = millis();

    OSCMessage msg("/sensor/pot");
    msg.add((int32_t)analogRead(34));

    OSCBuffer buf;
    msg.send(buf);
    buf.end(); // Assemble and pad the array!

    node.send(buf.buffer, buf.length);
  }
}

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Full Documentation

For full architectural diagrams, API references, and Pure Data implementation guides, please download the library and open the included docs/index.html file in your browser. OR JUST GO TO LEADER PAGE