mqtt News - Page 3 of 9 - CNX Software

November 4, 2022November 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

b-parasite Bluetooth LE plant sensor gets Zigbee support

rbaron’s b-parasite is an open-source hardware Bluetooth LE plant watering sensor that can measure soil moisture and ambient temperature/humidity/light and works with ESPHome, Home Assistant, or any macOS or Linux platforms including the Raspberry Pi boards. It is based nRF52840 multi-protocol wireless microcontroller, so stanvn decided to add Zigbee support to the b-parasite through the “Zigbee Plant Sensor” firmware based on the Nordic Semi nRF5 SDK for nRF52 series of SoCs and working with Zigbee2MQTT. Let’s have a look at b-parasite hardware specifications first: Wireless MCU – Nordic Semi nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F multi-protocol wireless microcontroller with Bluetooth LE 5.0 and 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread) radios, 1024 KB flash, 256KB SRAM Sensors Capacitive soil moisture sensor Sensirion SHTC3 temperature and humidity sensor ALS-PT19 light sensor Power – ~200 mAh CR2032 coin-cell battery estimated to last for a couple of years with readings every 10 minutes The GitHub repository for the board contains the […]

October 31, 2022November 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

SMLIGHT SLZB-06 – A Zigbee 3.0 to Ethernet, USB, and WiFi adapter with PoE support

SMLIGHT SLZB-06 Zigbee Ethernet USB WiFi adapter

Startup SMLIGHT has launched the SLZB-06 Zigbee 3.0 to Ethernet, USB, and WiFi adapter with PoE support that works out of the box with open-source software such as Home Assistant and Zigbee2MQTT. The device combines Texas Instruments’ СС2652Р microcontroller for Zigbee with ESP32 for WiFi, data transfer to Ethernet or USB, and peripheral functions such as LEDs and a button.The design is complemented with Microchip LAN8720 for Ethernet. SMLIGHT SLZB-06 specifications: Wireless SoCs Texas Instruments CC2652P1FRGZR Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 48 MHz with 352KB flash, 256KB ROM for protocols and library functions, 80+8KB SRAM, integrated power amplifier, Bluetooth 5.2 Low Energy and 802.15.4 radios Espressif Systems ESP32-DOWDQ5-V3 dual-core processor @ 240MHz with 448 KB ROM, 520 KB SRAM, 16 KB SRAM in RTC, WiFi and BLE connectivity Connectivity Ethernet RJ45 port with PoE support (IEEE 802.3af) implemented through Microchip LAN8720 10/100M Ethernet controller 2.4 GHz WiFi up to 150 […]

September 6, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Sensirion SCD40 CO2 sensor units for makers: M5Stack UNIT CO2 and TeHyBug ESP8285 device

We just wrote about the Infineon XENSIV PAS CO2 Shield2Go board to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) levels last week, but I’ve just come across two more hardware with a CO2 sensor designed for makers, but based on Sensirion SCD40 sensor instead, and mostly designed to monitor indoor CO2 levels since high concentrations may impact your health negatively. The first one is the M5Stack UNIT CO2 that’s designed to be connected to one of the company’s Core modules through an I2C interface, and TeHyBug portable mini sensor device equipped with ESP8285 WiFi microcontroller, as well as optional AHT10 temperature & humidity sensor and BMP280 pressure sensor, besides the SCD40 sensor. M5Stack UNIT CO2 Specifications: Sensirion SCD40 sensor CO2 Measurement range – 400 ~ 2000 ppm CO2 Sampling accuracy – ±(50 ppm + 5% of reading) Temperature range – -10 – 60°C with 0.8°C accuracy Humidity range – 0 – 95% RH […]

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Theengs open-source tools to decode BLE sensors work on ESP32, Raspberry Pi, Android phone, etc…

Theengs is a manufacturer agnostic open-source set of tools to decode BLE sensors and integrate those into smart home and IoT solutions such as Home Assistant with notably support for autodiscovery to automatically create the sensor. Theengs can be installed on various hardware from ESP32 to an Android phone or a Raspberry Pi SBC, and the solution currently supports close to forty BLE sensors from various companies including Xiaomi, Honeywell, and RuuviTag. There are six components: The Theengs Decoder library developed in C++ for portability and translating data from sensors into human-readable data using the JSON format. The Python-based Theengs Gateway acting as a BLE to MQTT bridge for Home Assistant, OpenHAB, and NodeRED integration. It relies on the Theengs Decoder library and publishes the sensors broadcasted BLE information to an MQTT broker. The OpenMQTTGateway is also BLE to MQTT bridge, but instead of targetting Linux-capable hardware like Raspberry […]

June 8, 2022June 8, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

u-blox XPLR-IOT-1 explorer kit embeds cellular IoT, Wi-Fi, BLE, GNSS, and sensors for IoT evaluation

u-blox XPLR-IOT-1 explorer kit is an all-in-one IoT evaluation platform with cellular IoT, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy, and GNSS, plus some sensors to evaluate various IoT products and enable proofs of concepts such as logistics container trackers, industrial automation, sensor-to-cloud applications, and fleet management solutions. The device’s main module is the u-blox NORA-B106 with a dual-core Arm Cortex M33 microcontroller and Bluetooth LE 5.2 radio that host the application software and control the other modules, namely the SARA-R510S module for LTE-M and NB-IoT cellular connectivity, NINA-W156 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi module, and the MAX-M10S GNNS module. The XPLR-IOT-1 platform is also equipped with an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, and temperature, humidity, pressure, and ambient light sensors. u-blox XPLR-IOT-1 specifications: Main MCU – Nordic Semi nRF5340 dual-core Arm Cortex M33 @ 128/64 MHz with 512 + 64 kB RAM memory and 1024 + 256 kB flash (found in NORA-B106 module) Wireless […]

April 27, 2022April 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

$10 T-Zigbee board combines ESP32-C3 and TLSR8258 for Zigbee 3.0, WIFi and BLE connectivity

LilyGO T-Zigbee board combines ESP32-C3 WiFi and BLE wireless microcontroller and Telink TLSR8258 multi-protocol wireless SoC compatible with BLE 5 Mesh, Zigbee, RF4CE, Thread, 6LoWPAN, HomeKit, ANT, and 2.4GHz proprietary standards. As I understand it, T-Zigbee is designed to act as a Zigbee to WiFi bridge, and is compatible with Zigbee2MQTT and Home Assistant, allowing easy integration into your home automation setup. Based on the hardware, I’d assume it may be usable as a BLE to MQTT gateway as well, in a fashion similar to GL.inet GL-S10 gateway, for people willing to work on the software/firmware. T-Zigbee specifications: Wireless MCUs Espressif Systems ESP32-C3 RISC-V processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Telink Semiconductors TLSR8258 (PDF product brief) Arm Cortex-M0 multiprotocol microcontroller @ 48 MHz with BLE 5 Mesh, Zigbee, RF4CE, Thread, 6LoWPAN, HomeKit, ANT, and 2.4GHz proprietary connectivity Antennas – 2x PCB antennas, 2x u.FL antenna connectors USB […]

February 6, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Review of GL.inet GL-S10 BLE to MQTT gateway with MQTT X open-source client

I started the review of GL.inet GL-S10 BLE to MQTT gateway in December by doing an unboxing and a teardown of the ESP32 gateway and BLE beacon provided. I’ve now had to play with the device and recommended app and software, and it took longer than expected since I encountered several issues during testing, most of which should now be resolved with new firmware, and documentation will be updated very soon. I mostly followed the steps from the detailed user manual for this review. The first time I did was to install the GL-S10 Tool App for Android, then power the gateway while pressing its button to enter pairing mode and soon enough the gateway was detected. Note you should probably not share the MAC address of your devices as there’s no security by default, and anybody would be able to access the information with the tools we’ll use below. […]

December 7, 2021February 6, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

Review of an ESP32-based BLE to MQTT gateway – Part 1: GL.inet GL-S10 unboxing and teardown

GL.inet introduced the GL-S10 BLE to MQTT IoT gateway last month with an ESP32 module offering WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as Ethernet and PoE support. I got offered a sample for review, and just received it together with the optional BLE beacon. So today, I’ll first have a look at the content, and check out the hardware with a teardown. GL.inet GL-S10 unboxing The package shows us the main features with Bluetooth LE 4.2, WiFi, PoE, and external antenna, with GL-S10 described as a BLE IOT GATEWAY connecting IoT devices to the Cloud. The gateway ships with a getting started guide, an antenna, a USB cable for power, as well as the beacon which we can see with a 3M stick tape. On one side, we have the RJ45 connector for Ethernet and a micro USB port for power, while the other side features a reset button, plus […]