Candle Manager, a new add-on for the Mozilla WebThings Gateway


  • Plugin Developer

    I've been working on an add-on for the Mozilla WebThings Gateway that should make it so easy to upload code to an Arduino that even my mom can do it.

    Steps:

    • Install the Candle Manger add-on. Go to settings -> add-ons, then click on the (+) sign. Scroll to find the add-on and then click install.
    • Change the desired wireless security/encryption password in the settings of the add-on. Setting the password to nothing will disable wireless security.
    • On the things overview page, click on the (+) button. There you should see a new thing called 'Create candle'. Click on the save button next to it.
    • Back on the things page, click on the link icon on the 'Create candle' thing. The wizard will be opened in a new tab. If you get an error, wait a little bit and refresh. The add-on needs some time to boot up.

    .

    Using the wizard

    You are now at the wizard that will help you upload to your Arduino. Plug in your new creation to the Raspberry Pi.
    0_1561498975828_1 connect.png

    Next, choose which .ino file you want to upload. You can your own sketches to this list at the add-on's settings page.
    0_1561498876789_2 choose.png

    If you follow the convention in your code, then some of the #define and variable settings in your code will be turned into an interface. For example, this code is turned into:
    0_1561498998519_3 settings.png

    On you all the settings are to your liking, you can continue to the upload phase. Here, the security password you set in the add-on settings is added into the security defines such asMY_ENCRYPTION_SIMPLE_PASSWD. Next, required libraries are automatically downloaded. It also figures out which bootloader to use by attempting a test upload.
    0_1561499094723_4 upload.png

    Once the upload is done you can check the serial output of your new device.
    0_1561499186851_5 check.png

    Done!
    0_1561499218389_6 done.png

    I used it in a workshop last sunday, and it was very happy with it. Participants didn't need to install the Arduino IDE to upload code, which saved a lot of hassle.



  • This sounds great but I'm wondering what devices/hardware this supports? Does this support everything that is supported by the Arduino IDE?


  • Plugin Developer

    @rmalbers Currently it's focus is the Arduino Nano, but technically it also supports the other Atmel ones, like the Arduino Mega. There is a dropdown in settings where you can select which device you're using.

    Currently it's at version 0.0.6. It's getting quite robust.


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