💬 Sensebender Gateway

[FotoFieber]

@tbowmo
No, I don't have to hack the core. I use the serial API. From an architectural point of view, I don't see the need to change anything in MySensors. A serial controller can be built for under 20€ Including the radio. Why should I add complexity to support more than one radio support with one cpu in MySensors, if I can have the functipnality with the abstraction layer of the serial API? Please keep MySensors s simple as possible.

[Anticimex]

@FotoFieber simple for who? Simplicity also involve maintenance and code complexity. What about testability and regression testing? Nobody gets paid for maintaining mysensors.

[tbowmo]

@FotoFieber

But you ditched the sensebender Gateway, as it doesn't support multiple radios at the same time? Now you are saying that you would keep it as one radio per gateway?

This doesn't make sense :)

[FotoFieber]

@tbowmo
Maybe the design of the sensebender gateway doesn't make sense to my architectural viewpoint....

[alexsh1]

@FotoFieber This is a question for the MySensors dev team. Sensebender can handle both radios. Currently, there is a software restriction.

[alexsh1]

@FotoFieber No, you do have to hack the core if you want both radios to be handled properly, i.e. to handle message queues with corresponding radios. For example, sending a message is done via rfm69 only and not via nrf24l01+

[Anticimex]

The architecture we use would place this kind of situation to the controller to solve. One gw per network. So one gw for nrf and one for rfm.
HW is cheap, and library should be kept simple.

[FotoFieber]

@Anticimex
One gateway per radio, that is what I think is best. :+1:

What I try to do, is to implement a controller with arduino due for up to three serial gateways. If there would be a solution for ethernet&rfm69 I may not have invested time in this. :laughing:

[tbowmo]

@FotoFieber

Well sensebender GW supports rfm69 with ethernet ;)

[FotoFieber]

@tbowmo
Yes, that is really nice. :+1:

My other goal was to have a new MQTTClientGateway, as it existed with MySensors 1.1 (which is not only a gateway, but a controller too). It would have been really painful to add it to MySensors 2.1.x, as I would have to patch core files. It is much easier, to throw hardware at it. :laughing:

[alexsh1]

@tbowmo More practical question. I have received the GW and it already has MySensors 2.1.0 software. Excellent service by Itead. Can you please help me how to map LEDs in the GW sketch? I can see that they are connected to pins 38, 41, 42, 39, 40 as LED1, LED2, LED3, LED4 and LED5. Thanks

[tbowmo]

@alexsh1

you should be able to use LED_BLUE, LED_GREEN etc. defines (or even just LED_1, LED_2..) in your sketch, to access the different LED's on board the gateway. That is, if you are using the SenseBender GW hardware support files in arduino (installation instructions are here https://github.com/mysensors/ArduinoBoards)

Also, look at the board definition files, located here https://github.com/mysensors/ArduinoHwSAMD/blob/master/variants/mysensors_gw/variant.cpp
and here https://github.com/mysensors/ArduinoHwSAMD/blob/master/variants/mysensors_gw/variant.h

[alexsh1]

@tbowmo Excellent links, many thanks. BTW the board is working with the standard arduino samd, the problem I suppose comes with things LEDs.

[tbowmo]

@alexsh1

You might be able to compile with the standard arduino zero BSP files. But the IO mapping is not the same at all.. I have swapped some pins to make routing a bit easier. Also the SPI channels are configured a bit differently than the standard arduino, if I remember right. So I will advise to use the mysensors gateway BSP files..

[alexsh1]

@tbowmo it is already done. Thanks to your link I have now Sensebender Gateway board added.
Waiting for an ethernet board now, it has stuck in the post

[Fabien]

@tbowmo : Did you try to use this board with platformio ?

[tbowmo]

@Fabien

No, platformio is still on my bucketlist.. There is just not hours enough for everything :)

[Fabien]

@tbowmo Ok I will install arduino IDE to upgrade it to 2.1.1
Please post here iwhen you have more information. I think I will try but I have no experience with this architecture.

[delivereath]

Has anyone designed a case for the sensebender gateway ?

[tbowmo]

@delivereath

I designed one in freecad for the GW and a nrf24l01 with lna/pa and external antenna.

But I still have some fine tuning to do before releasing it, as the lid locking mechanism didn't turn out like expected.