Iboard - Cheap Single board Ethernet Arduino with Radio

tbully

As an update....I gave up on the software method and just did the hardware modification.

All is well now.

One question: How did you guys do the LED and inclusion buttons? Did you carefully solder right to the Atmega chip or is there a better place to grab the needed pins?

What pins did you use for TX/RX/ERR/Inclusion?

gregl

Hi @tbully - i personally never bothered with leds/inclusion button.

My gatway is underneath my staircase near vera and my wifi router, so other than when i make a change, i never see it - so leds wouldnt help me.

When i do an inclusion i do so via software..so no button needed either...

I would like a nice 3d printed case for it one day...still havent boxed the iboard up!

tbully

@gregl said:

Hi @tbully - i personally never bothered with leds/inclusion button.

My gatway is underneath my staircase near vera and my wifi router, so other than when i make a change, i never see it - so leds wouldnt help me.

When i do an inclusion i do so via software..so no button needed either...

I would like a nice 3d printed case for it one day...still havent boxed the iboard up!

Same here, @gregl . I appreciate your write-ups above. They really helped out. I'd like to find a printer and user @jtm312 's design but would like to know how he got the LEDs and Button wired up. Soldering directly to the chip could be difficult without a steady hand.

hugob

I am using the Itead iBoard as a gateway to a Vera Light for a few days now. Without any hardware modifications, only a few changes in header files required. I think the main issue is that you should map the inclusion button and led's to the Ax pins and use the full constructor (with 7 parameters). Beware of the last line in the first snippet. If you use the shortcut constructor (with three parameters), it will use defaults for the other parameters and your defs will be ignored.
To verify my assumptions above, I included a led to the A2 pin and it is blinking as expected on arrival of a packet.
The code below may look intimidating. But I posted the whole thing for easy reference. You can do the software changes in one minute.

Hugo

Snippet from EthernetGateway.ino:

#define INCLUSION_MODE_TIME 1 // Number of minutes inclusion mode is enabled
#define INCLUSION_MODE_PIN  14 //A0 // Digital pin used for inclusion mode button

#define RADIO_CE_PIN        3 // radio chip enable
#define RADIO_SPI_SS_PIN    8  // radio SPI serial select
#define RADIO_ERROR_LED_PIN 15 //A1 // Error led pin
#define RADIO_RX_LED_PIN    16 //A2 // Receive led pin
#define RADIO_TX_LED_PIN    17 //A3 // the PCB, on board LED

#define IP_PORT 5003        // The port you want to open 
IPAddress myIp (192, 168, 178, 66);  // Configure your static ip-address here    COMPILE ERROR HERE? Use Arduino IDE 1.5.7 or later!

// The MAC address can be anything you want but should be unique on your network.
// Newer boards have a MAC address printed on the underside of the PCB, which you can (optionally) use.
// Note that most of the Ardunio examples use  "DEAD BEEF FEED" for the MAC address.
byte mac[] = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE, 0xED };  // DEAD BEEF FEED

// a R/W server on the port
EthernetServer server = EthernetServer(IP_PORT);

// No blink or button functionality. Use the vanilla constructor.
//MyGateway gw(RADIO_CE_PIN, RADIO_SPI_SS_PIN, INCLUSION_MODE_TIME);

// Uncomment this constructor if you have leds and include button attached to your gateway 
MyGateway gw(RADIO_CE_PIN, RADIO_SPI_SS_PIN, INCLUSION_MODE_TIME, INCLUSION_MODE_PIN, RADIO_RX_LED_PIN, RADIO_TX_LED_PIN, RADIO_ERROR_LED_PIN);

Snippet from \Arduino\libraries\MySensors\utility\RF24_config.h

#define MINIMAL
  //#define SPI_UART  // Requires library from https://github.com/TMRh20/Sketches/tree/master/SPI_UART
  #define SOFTSPI   // Requires library from https://github.com/greiman/DigitalIO
  /**********************/
  
  // Define _BV for non-Arduino platforms and for Arduino DUE
#if defined (ARDUINO) && !defined (__arm__)
	#if defined(__AVR_ATtiny25__) || defined(__AVR_ATtiny45__) || defined(__AVR_ATtiny85__) || defined(__AVR_ATtiny24__) || defined(__AVR_ATtiny44__) || defined(__AVR_ATtiny84__)
		#define RF24_TINY
		#define _SPI SPI
	#else
	  #if defined SPI_UART
		#include <SPI_UART.h>
		#define _SPI uspi
	  #elif defined SOFTSPI
	  // change these pins to your liking
	  //
	  const uint8_t SOFT_SPI_MISO_PIN = 6; 
	  const uint8_t SOFT_SPI_MOSI_PIN = 5; 
	  const uint8_t SOFT_SPI_SCK_PIN = 7;  
	  const uint8_t SPI_MODE = 0;
	  #define _SPI spi
		  #else	    
		#include <SPI.h>
		#define _SPI SPI
	  #endif
	#endif
#else

gregl

@hugob - Finally got to try this last night late...Success!

I did also need to add to the EthernetGateway.ino this line to load the Softspi libs...

#include <DigitalIO.h>     <-added this too!
#include <SPI.h>  
#include <MySensor.h>
#include <MyGateway.h>  
#include <stdarg.h>

I also needed to compile it under a newer IDE version due to memory..I used 1.6.5.

hugob

@gregl
Good to hear that you can confirm that this is working. My unmodified IBoard gateway is working for months now without problems. But as I said in some other topic, this board needs a decent power supply.
So all you need for a MySensors Ethernet gateway is this board, a NRF24L01 Radio that plugs in into this board, and a power supply. No mess with cables like in http://www.mysensors.org/build/ethernet_gateway. This board has 7 IO ports in case you want the leds. For $17.50 this is a no brainer.

hugob

OK, I did forget some minor drawback. You need a FTDI adapter to program this IBoard from the Arduino UI.

soward

I'm using this as a gateway w/ 1.5 also with no issue. I do have the LEDs hooked up as well, using an oversized 'recovered' power supply and the PA+LNA radio with no problems. All I need is a nice case...

5546dug

My iboard gw is up and running so far so good!

Using the basic sketch with no LEDs

Question I see only A0 to A5 I/o s where or how can I use t he sketches pins d6 -d9 pins?

I printed the my sensors 3d stl file for the gw and it fits great, but there are the holes for the 3 LEDs and re include button .

Any help would be good maybe just a senior moment eh?

Dwalt

@soward said:

All I need is a nice case...

Print one

Fabien

Switch today to MySensors 1.5 without any problem. Easy to setup softspi with MyConfig.h

Fabien

And test OTA with a sensebender, work fine ! :smiley:

hugob

@5546dug

In the original sketch, you map a variable to a Dn pin. E.g. INCLUSION_MODE_PIN is mapped to pin 3.
The iBoard has no digital ports (Dn) on a connector, but only analog ports (An). Luckily, the analog ports can also be used as digital ports. The modified sketch maps the variables that were mapped to a Dn port in the oririginal sketch, to an An port in the modified sketch. This is the list:

Original
INCLUSION_MODE_PIN 3 // Digital pin used for inclusion mode button
RADIO_ERROR_LED_PIN 7 // Error led pin
RADIO_RX_LED_PIN 8 // Receive led pin
RADIO_TX_LED_PIN 9 // the PCB, on board LED

Modified
INCLUSION_MODE_PIN 14 // A0 Digital pin used for inclusion mode button
RADIO_ERROR_LED_PIN 15 // A1 Error led pin
RADIO_RX_LED_PIN 16 // A2 Receive led pin
RADIO_TX_LED_PIN 17 // A3 the PCB, on board LED

So for the iBoard, the receive LED has to be connected to pin 16 (A2). Etc.

If you carefully look at the code, you will notice that also RADIO_SPI_SS_PIN changed from 6 to 8. That is because the header for the radio chip on the iBoard is connected to a different Arduino pin on the iBoard, than it is on the wiring diagram of the original gateway diagram. But this is just an internal issue. It should not bother you if you build the gateway.

5546dug

@hugob Thanks

envagyok

Hi Guys!
I have got a Wborad Ex board with built in wifi (rak410) from itead.
http://wiki.iteadstudio.com/Wboard_Ex

Unfortunately I can not find anywhere arduino code that would work of the board with wifi.
Does anyone have the same board and could possibly help?

Itead said it works on this demo, but without success .
http://blog.iteadstudio.com/basic-testtutorial-for-itead-wifi-shield-rev2-by-david-morphett/

Thanks:
Gabor

hek

@envagyok

Maybe not the answer you want, but if you want a verified wifi-gateway solution, have a look at this:
http://www.mysensors.org/build/esp8266_gateway

TommySharp

I know this is a basic question but what do I need to buy to program this using USB from my PC? So far I've just tinkered with Nanos which have a usb port on it.... An ebay link would be great!

korttoma

@TommySharp something like this or simlar http://www.itead.cc/foca.html

Dwalt

@TommySharp
I just changed over to the iBoard Ethernet gateway from serial. I used the FTDI breakout board to program it. Very simple to use. The FTDI board is also needed for programming pro minis.

tbully

Hello Everyone. Sorry to bother you. I somehow screwed up my iBoard (hardware / trace modification) sketch/config today and was hoping someone could help me think through this.

I was having a problem with one of my far away sensors from hearing the gateway so I thought I'd increase power. When I compiled and uploaded the code, I started getting: "0;0;3;0;9;radio init fail"

I thought maybe my MyConfig.H file was incorrect. However, I referenced this schematic (and took in to account @gregl 's wiring changes), and my values look OK. The original setup URL referenced by Greg no longer exists on the MySensor page. Mysensors Ethernet

I tried changing the radio and supply on a whim. That didn't make a difference (not surprised as it has been working fine for months before trying to change the power setting)

Here's my sketch followed by my config file. Please help.....

Sketch

/**
 * The MySensors Arduino library handles the wireless radio link and protocol
 * between your home built sensors/actuators and HA controller of choice.
 * The sensors forms a self healing radio network with optional repeaters. Each
 * repeater and gateway builds a routing tables in EEPROM which keeps track of the
 * network topology allowing messages to be routed to nodes.
 *
 * Created by Henrik Ekblad <henrik.ekblad@mysensors.org>
 * Copyright (C) 2013-2015 Sensnology AB
 * Full contributor list: https://github.com/mysensors/Arduino/graphs/contributors
 *
 * Documentation: http://www.mysensors.org
 * Support Forum: http://forum.mysensors.org
 *
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 * version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
 *
 *******************************
 *
 * REVISION HISTORY
 * Version 1.0 - Henrik EKblad
 * Contribution by a-lurker and Anticimex, 
 * Contribution by Norbert Truchsess <norbert.truchsess@t-online.de>
 *
 * 
 * DESCRIPTION
 * The EthernetGateway sends data received from sensors to the ethernet link. 
 * The gateway also accepts input on ethernet interface, which is then sent out to the radio network.
 *
 * The GW code is designed for Arduino 328p / 16MHz.  ATmega168 does not have enough memory to run this program.
 * 
 *
 * COMPILING WIZNET (W5100) ETHERNET MODULE
 * > Edit MyConfig.h in (libraries\MySensors\) to enable softspi (remove // before "#define SOFTSPI").
 *
 * COMPILING ENC28J60 ETHERNET MODULE
 * > Use Arduino IDE 1.5.7 (or later) 
 * > Disable DEBUG in Sensor.h before compiling this sketch. Othervise the sketch will probably not fit in program space when downloading. 
 * > Remove Ethernet.h include below and include UIPEthernet.h 
 * > Remove DigitalIO include 
 * Note that I had to disable UDP and DHCP support in uipethernet-conf.h to reduce space. (which means you have to choose a static IP for that module)
 *
 * VERA CONFIGURATION:
 * Enter "ip-number:port" in the ip-field of the Arduino GW device. This will temporarily override any serial configuration for the Vera plugin. 
 * E.g. If you want to use the defualt values in this sketch enter: 192.168.178.66:5003
 *
 * LED purposes:
 * - To use the feature, uncomment WITH_LEDS_BLINKING in MyConfig.h
 * - RX (green) - blink fast on radio message recieved. In inclusion mode will blink fast only on presentation recieved
 * - TX (yellow) - blink fast on radio message transmitted. In inclusion mode will blink slowly
 * - ERR (red) - fast blink on error during transmission error or recieve crc error  
 * 
 * See http://www.mysensors.org/build/ethernet_gateway for wiring instructions.
 *
 */
#define NO_PORTB_PINCHANGES 

#include <DigitalIO.h>     // This include can be removed when using UIPEthernet module  
#include <SPI.h>  

#include <MySigningNone.h>
#include <MyTransportRFM69.h>
#include <MyTransportNRF24.h>
#include <MyHwATMega328.h>
#include <MySigningAtsha204Soft.h>
#include <MySigningAtsha204.h>

#include <MyParserSerial.h>  
#include <MySensor.h>  
#include <stdarg.h>
#include <PinChangeInt.h>
#include "GatewayUtil.h"


// Use this if you have attached a Ethernet ENC28J60 shields  
// #include <UIPEthernet.h>  

// Use this for WizNET W5100 module and Arduino Ethernet Shield 
#include <Ethernet.h>   


#define INCLUSION_MODE_TIME 1 // Number of minutes inclusion mode is enabled
#define INCLUSION_MODE_PIN  5 // Digital pin used for inclusion mode button

#define RADIO_CE_PIN        3  // radio chip enable
#define RADIO_SPI_SS_PIN    8  // radio SPI serial select

#define RADIO_ERROR_LED_PIN 11  // Error led pin
#define RADIO_RX_LED_PIN    12  // Receive led pin
#define RADIO_TX_LED_PIN    13  // the PCB, on board LED




// NRFRF24L01 radio driver (set low transmit power by default) 
MyTransportNRF24 transport(RADIO_CE_PIN, RADIO_SPI_SS_PIN, RF24_PA_LEVEL_GW);  
//MyTransportRFM69 transport;

// Message signing driver (signer needed if MY_SIGNING_FEATURE is turned on in MyConfig.h)
//MySigningNone signer;
//MySigningAtsha204Soft signer;
//MySigningAtsha204 signer;

// Hardware profile 
MyHwATMega328 hw;

// Construct MySensors library (signer needed if MY_SIGNING_FEATURE is turned on in MyConfig.h)
// To use LEDs blinking, uncomment WITH_LEDS_BLINKING in MyConfig.h
#ifdef WITH_LEDS_BLINKING
MySensor gw(transport, hw /*, signer*/, RADIO_RX_LED_PIN, RADIO_TX_LED_PIN, RADIO_ERROR_LED_PIN);
#else
MySensor gw(transport, hw /*, signer*/);
#endif


#define IP_PORT 5003        // The port you want to open 
IPAddress myIp (192, 168, 34, 13);  // Configure your static ip-address here    COMPILE ERROR HERE? Use Arduino IDE 1.5.7 or later!

// The MAC address can be anything you want but should be unique on your network.
// Newer boards have a MAC address printed on the underside of the PCB, which you can (optionally) use.
// Note that most of the Ardunio examples use  "DEAD BEEF FEED" for the MAC address.
byte mac[] = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE, 0xED };  // DEAD BEEF FEED

// a R/W server on the port
EthernetServer server = EthernetServer(IP_PORT);
// handle to open connection
EthernetClient client = EthernetClient();

char inputString[MAX_RECEIVE_LENGTH] = "";    // A string to hold incoming commands from serial/ethernet interface
int inputPos = 0;
bool sentReady = false;

void output(const char *fmt, ... ) {
   va_list args;
   va_start (args, fmt );
   vsnprintf_P(serialBuffer, MAX_SEND_LENGTH, fmt, args);
   va_end (args);
   Serial.print(serialBuffer);
   server.write(serialBuffer);
}

void setup()  
{ 
  Ethernet.begin(mac, myIp);

  setupGateway(INCLUSION_MODE_PIN, INCLUSION_MODE_TIME, output);

  // Add interrupt for inclusion button to pin
  PCintPort::attachInterrupt(pinInclusion, startInclusionInterrupt, RISING);

  // give the Ethernet interface a second to initialize
  delay(1000);

  // Initialize gateway at maximum PA level, channel 70 and callback for write operations 
  gw.begin(incomingMessage, 0, true, 0);

  
  // start listening for clients
  server.begin();

}


void loop() {
  gw.process();  
  
  checkButtonTriggeredInclusion();
  checkInclusionFinished();
  
  // if an incoming client connects, there will be
  // bytes available to read via the client object
  EthernetClient newclient = server.available();
  // if a new client connects make sure to dispose any previous existing sockets
  if (newclient) {
      if (client != newclient) {
       client.stop();
       client = newclient;
       output(PSTR("0;0;%d;0;%d;Gateway startup complete.\n"),  C_INTERNAL, I_GATEWAY_READY);
     }
   }
   		 
   if (client) {
     if (!client.connected()) {
       client.stop();
     } else if (client.available()) { 
       // read the bytes incoming from the client
       char inChar = client.read();
       if (inputPos<MAX_RECEIVE_LENGTH-1) { 
         // if newline then command is complete
         if (inChar == '\n') {  
           Serial.println("Finished");
            // a command was issued by the client
            // we will now try to send it to the actuator
            inputString[inputPos] = 0;
      
            // echo the string to the serial port
            Serial.print(inputString);
      
            parseAndSend(gw, inputString);
      
            // clear the string:
            inputPos = 0;
         } else {  
           // add it to the inputString:
           inputString[inputPos] = inChar;
           inputPos++;
         }
      } else {
         // Incoming message too long. Throw away 
         inputPos = 0;
      }
    }
  }
}

Config File

/**
 * The MySensors Arduino library handles the wireless radio link and protocol
 * between your home built sensors/actuators and HA controller of choice.
 * The sensors forms a self healing radio network with optional repeaters. Each
 * repeater and gateway builds a routing tables in EEPROM which keeps track of the
 * network topology allowing messages to be routed to nodes.
 *
 * Created by Henrik Ekblad <henrik.ekblad@mysensors.org>
 * Copyright (C) 2013-2015 Sensnology AB
 * Full contributor list: https://github.com/mysensors/Arduino/graphs/contributors
 *
 * Documentation: http://www.mysensors.org
 * Support Forum: http://forum.mysensors.org
 *
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 * version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
 */


#ifndef MyConfig_h
#define MyConfig_h
#include <stdint.h>

// Enable debug flag for debug prints. This will add a lot to the size of the final sketch but good
// to see what is actually is happening when developing
#define DEBUG

// Disable this line, If you are using TX(1), RX(0) as normal I/O pin
#define ENABLED_SERIAL

// Serial output baud rate (for debug prints and serial gateway)
#define BAUD_RATE 115200


/**********************************
*  Over the air firmware updates
***********************************/

// The following define enables the safe over-the-air firmware update feature
// which requires external flash and the DualOptiBoot bootloader.
// Note: You can still have OTA FW updates without external flash but it
// requires the MYSBootloader and disabled MY_OTA_FIRMWARE_FEATURE
//#define MY_OTA_FIRMWARE_FEATURE
// Slave select pin for external flash
#define MY_OTA_FLASH_SS 8
// Flash jdecid
#define MY_OTA_FLASH_JDECID 0x1F65


/**********************************
*  Information LEDs blinking
***********************************/
// This feature enables LEDs blinking on message receive, transmit
// or if some error occured. This was commonly used only in gateways,
// but now can be used in any sensor node. Also the LEDs can now be
// disabled in the gateway.

// #define WITH_LEDS_BLINKING

// The following setting allows you to inverse the blinking feature WITH_LEDS_BLINKING
// When WITH_LEDS_BLINKING_INVERSE is enabled LEDSs are normally turned on and switches
// off when blinking

//#define WITH_LEDS_BLINKING_INVERSE


// default LEDs blinking period in milliseconds
#define DEFAULT_LED_BLINK_PERIOD 300
// The RX LED default pin
#define DEFAULT_RX_LED_PIN 6
// The TX LED default pin
#define DEFAULT_TX_LED_PIN 5
// The Error LED default pin
#define DEFAULT_ERR_LED_PIN 4


/**********************************
*  Message Signing Settings
***********************************/
// Disable to completly disable signing functionality in library
//#define MY_SIGNING_FEATURE

// Define a suitable timeout for a signature verification session
// Consider the turnaround from a nonce being generated to a signed message being received
// which might vary, especially in networks with many hops. 5s ought to be enough for anyone.
#define MY_VERIFICATION_TIMEOUT_MS 5000

// Enable to turn on whitelisting
// When enabled, a signing node will salt the signature with it's unique signature and nodeId.
// The verifying node will look up the sender in a local table of trusted nodes and
// do the corresponding salting in order to verify the signature.
// For this reason, if whitelisting is enabled on one of the nodes in a sign-verify pair, both
// nodes have to implement whitelisting for this to work.
// Note that a node can still transmit a non-salted message (i.e. have whitelisting disabled)
// to a node that has whitelisting enabled (assuming the receiver does not have a matching entry
// for the sender in it's whitelist)
//#define MY_SECURE_NODE_WHITELISTING

// MySigningAtsha204 default setting
#define MY_ATSHA204_PIN 17 // A3 - pin where ATSHA204 is attached

// MySigningAtsha204Soft default settings
#define MY_RANDOMSEED_PIN 7 // A7 - Pin used for random generation (do not connect anything to this)

// Key to use for HMAC calculation in MySigningAtsha204Soft (32 bytes)
#define MY_HMAC_KEY 0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00

/**********************************
*  NRF24L01 Driver Defaults
***********************************/
#define RF24_CE_PIN		   9  //norm
#define RF24_CS_PIN		   10 //norm

//#define RF24_CE_PIN		   3  //gateway
//#define RF24_CS_PIN		   8  //gateway
//#define RF24_CE_PIN		   17 //lcd controller
//#define RF24_CS_PIN		   18  //lcd controller
#define RF24_PA_LEVEL 	   RF24_PA_LOW
#define RF24_PA_LEVEL_GW   RF24_PA_LOW
// RF channel for the sensor net, 0-127
#define RF24_CHANNEL	   76
//RF24_250KBPS for 250kbs, RF24_1MBPS for 1Mbps, or RF24_2MBPS for 2Mbps
#define RF24_DATARATE 	   RF24_250KBPS
// This is also act as base value for sensor nodeId addresses. Change this (or channel) if you have more than one sensor network.
#define RF24_BASE_RADIO_ID ((uint64_t)0xA8A8E1FC00LL)

// Enable SOFTSPI for NRF24L01 when using the W5100 Ethernet module
#define SOFTSPI
#ifdef SOFTSPI
	// Define the soft SPI pins used for NRF radio
    //const uint8_t SOFT_SPI_MISO_PIN = 16;  //norm - scene controller
    //const uint8_t SOFT_SPI_MOSI_PIN = 15;  //norm - scene controller
    //const uint8_t SOFT_SPI_SCK_PIN = 14;  //norm - scene controller
    const uint8_t SOFT_SPI_MISO_PIN = 12;  //gateway
    const uint8_t SOFT_SPI_MOSI_PIN = 11;  //gateway
    const uint8_t SOFT_SPI_SCK_PIN = 13;  //gateway

#endif


/**********************************
*  RFM69 Driver Defaults
***********************************/
// Default network id. Use the same for all nodes that will talk to each other
#define RFM69_NETWORKID     100

// Default frequency to use. This must match the hardware version of the RFM69 radio (uncomment one):
// #define RFM69_FREQUENCY   RF69_433MHZ
#define RFM69_FREQUENCY   RF69_868MHZ
//#define FREQUENCY     RF69_915MHZ

// Enable this for encryption of packets
//#define RFM69_ENABLE_ENCRYPTION
#define RFM69_ENCRYPTKEY    "sampleEncryptKey" //exactly the same 16 characters/bytes on all nodes!




#endif

Iboard - Cheap Single board Ethernet Arduino with Radio

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