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Radio Push Button

This document will guide you through the Radio Push Button project. You will be able to interact with your push button in Node-RED and trigger the IFTTT push notification service when the button gets pressed. You will get the push notification on your smart phone.

Block Concept​

Requirements​

Firmware Upload​

In this procedure we will use the HARDWARIO Playground to upload firmware to the Core Module.

Step 1: Connect the Micro USB cable to the Core Module and your computer​

Step 2: Flash Firmware​

Run the HARDWARIO Playground. In the Firmware tab choose and upload the bcf-radio-push-button firmware to the Core Module:

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Flashing Core Module R1 & R2 For differences of flashing older Core Module 1 and newer Core Module 2 please read Core Module R1 and R2 comparison in the Hardware section

Step 3: Remove the Micro USB cable from the Core Module and your computer​

success

At this point your firmware is successfully uploaded.

Hardware Assembling​

See short video with easy step by step demonstration:

Step 1: Start with the Mini Battery Module​

Step 2: Plug the Core Module on top of the Mini Battery Module​

Step 3: Plug the Button Module on top of the Core Module​

Playground Bootstrap​

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If you are using the new HARDWARIO Playground, then use the Functions tab instead of using http://localhost:1880/. Also the pairing process is now done in Devices tab. For communication test use the Messages tab.

Step 1: Open Node-RED in your web browser​

http://localhost:1880/

Step 2: You should see the empty workspace with Flow 1​

Step 3: Insert the following snippet in the flow (using Menu >> Import) and click in Flow 1 tab​


info

This snippet provides control buttons for gateway/radio commands. These commands are sent over the MQTT protocol.

Step 4: Deploy the flow using the Deploy button in the top-right corner​

Step 5: Open the debug tab​


info

In the debug tab, you will be able to see all the MQTT messages.

Step 6: Click on the List all gateways button. You should see a response like this in the debug tab​


success

At this point, you've got working Node-RED, MQTT, HARDWARIO Radio Dongleand HARDWARIO Gateway.

Radio Pairing​

In this section, we will create a radio link between the Radio Dongle and the Radio Push Button.

Follow these steps in Node-RED:

Step 1: Click on the Start node pairing button​

Step 2: Assembly​

Insert the batteries into the Radio Push Button to send the pairing request (you should also see the red LED on the Core Module to be on for about 2 seconds).

Step 3: Click on the Stop node pairing button​


success

At this point, you've got established a radio link between the node (Radio Push Button) and the gateway (Radio Dongle).

Communication Test​

Follow these steps in Node-RED:

Step 1: Switch to debug tab on the right​

Step 2: Press the button and you should see the counting messages​


success

At this point, you've got verified radio communication.

Enclosure​

Optionally put the assembly into the appropriate enclosure, if you have one.

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You can find more information about the enclosures in the document Enclosures.

Integration with IFTTT​

In this section, we will create an Applet in the IFTTT service. The Applet is a sort of event-trigger mechanism.

Step 1: Open the web-browser and go to IFTTT​

Step 2: Log in to IFTTT service. You can sign up using your Google or Facebook identity​

Step 3: Go to My Applets in the menu and click on the New Applet button​

Step 4: Click on +this in the if this then that sentence​

Step 5: Find a service with the name Webhooks and select it​

Step 6: Click on Receive a web request​

Step 7: Type button in the Event Name field and click on Create Trigger​

Step 8: Click on +that in the if this then that sentence​

Step 9: Find action service with the name Notifications and select it​

Step 10: Click on Send a notification from the IFTTT app​

Step 11: Edit the Notification field and insert the text The button has been pressed on {{OccurredAt}} and push the Create action button​

Step 12: Click on the Finish button​

Step 13: Click on the Webhooks button​

Step 14: Click on the Documentation button​

Step 15: Click on the event field​

Step 16: Insert the name button in the event field and keep the window open​

Step 17: Mobile app​

Install the IFTTT app on your smart phone and sign in using the same account as you just used to create the applet. Allow the app to use the push notifications when asked

Step 18: Click on the Test It button in the web-browser window​

Step 19: You should receive the push notification on your smart phone within a few seconds​

Step 20: Copy this URL to the clipboard for later use​


success

At this point, you've got working notification Applet in the IFTTT service.

Connect IFTTT in Node-RED​

In this section, we will create a link between the button event on MQTT and HTTP request to IFTTT which will trigger the push notification.

Step 1: Switch to your Node-RED flow​

Step 2: Insert the following snippet in the flow (using Menu >> Import)​

[{"id":"e507a379.e9d1d","type":"mqtt in","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","topic":"node/push-button:0/push-button/-/event-count","qos":"2","broker":"b9592cd0.2b74f","x":660,"y":760,"wires":[["5d4d5593.80242c"]]},{"id":"62133f2.84223c","type":"http request","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","method":"POST","ret":"txt","url":"","tls":"","x":1010,"y":760,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"5d4d5593.80242c","type":"change","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","rules":[{"t":"delete","p":"payload","pt":"msg"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":890,"y":860,"wires":[["62133f2.84223c"]]},{"id":"b9592cd0.2b74f","type":"mqtt-broker","z":"","broker":"127.0.0.1","port":"1883","clientid":"","usetls":false,"compatmode":true,"keepalive":"60","cleansession":true,"willTopic":"","willQos":"0","willPayload":"","birthTopic":"","birthQos":"0","birthPayload":""}]

It will look like this:


info

This snippet creates a connection between the MQTT topic node/push-button:0/push-button/-/event-count and an HTTP request. Before passing the message to the HTTP request, we remove the payload parameter since it would be used in the HTTP request body.

Step 3: Double click on http request node and edit the IFTTT URL obtained in the previous section​

Step 4: Save the URL by clicking on the Done button​

Step 5: Deploy the flow using the Deploy button in the top-right corner​

success

At this point, you should get a push notification when you press the button.