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Radio VOC sensor

This document will guide you through the Radio VOC sensor project. You will be able to see dashboard with TVOC, temperature and humidity in Node-RED.

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: Firmware upload​

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

warning

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​

Minimal hardware​

Here is the minimal assembly for VOC sensor.

Step 1: Start with the Battery Module​

warning

Make sure the Battery Module does not have batteries inserted yet

Step 2: Plug the VOC Tag on top of the Battery Module​

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

Full hardware​

The firmware also supports LCD Module, Tag Module, Temperature Tag and Humidity Tag. All values are displayed with nice graph on the display and are also send over HARDWARIO radio network to the Radio Dongle.

Step 1: Start with the Battery Module​

warning

Make sure the Battery Module does not have batteries inserted yet.

Step 2: Plug the VOC Tag on top of the Battery Module​

Step 3: Plug the Tag Module on top of the Battery Module​

Step 4: Plug the Temperature Tag and Humidity Tag into a socket on the Tag Module​

Step 5: Plug the Core Module on top of the TAG Module​

Step 6: Plug the LCD Module on top of the Core Module​

Playground Bootstrap​

danger

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:​

[{"id":"2fc604fc.3b6abc","type":"inject","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"List all gateways","topic":"gateway/all/info/get","payload":"","payloadType":"str","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"x":560,"y":460,"wires":[["a2c10833.24d5d8"]]},{"id":"1e4502b8.2f63fd","type":"inject","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"Start node pairing","topic":"gateway/usb-dongle/pairing-mode/start","payload":"","payloadType":"str","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"x":570,"y":580,"wires":[["795ff5a7.8e266c"]]},{"id":"3d844ce2.932864","type":"inject","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"Stop node pairing","topic":"gateway/usb-dongle/pairing-mode/stop","payload":"","payloadType":"str","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"x":560,"y":640,"wires":[["5967c452.c838bc"]]},{"id":"f202b253.2705b","type":"inject","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"List paired nodes","topic":"gateway/usb-dongle/nodes/get","payload":"","payloadType":"str","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"x":560,"y":520,"wires":[["f0aca138.0b2c3"]]},{"id":"349f02fd.890f6e","type":"inject","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"Unpair all nodes","topic":"gateway/usb-dongle/nodes/purge","payload":"","payloadType":"str","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"x":560,"y":700,"wires":[["2f1c5bb6.53d6f4"]]},{"id":"cf61d75d.4ad8f8","type":"mqtt in","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","topic":"#","qos":"2","broker":"67b8de4a.029d3","x":530,"y":400,"wires":[["a5cb0658.f5d658"]]},{"id":"a5cb0658.f5d658","type":"debug","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","active":true,"console":"false","complete":"false","x":790,"y":400,"wires":[]},{"id":"a2c10833.24d5d8","type":"mqtt out","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","topic":"","qos":"","retain":"","broker":"717f7c18.ba0a24","x":770,"y":460,"wires":[]},{"id":"f0aca138.0b2c3","type":"mqtt out","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","topic":"","qos":"","retain":"","broker":"717f7c18.ba0a24","x":770,"y":520,"wires":[]},{"id":"795ff5a7.8e266c","type":"mqtt out","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","topic":"","qos":"","retain":"","broker":"717f7c18.ba0a24","x":770,"y":580,"wires":[]},{"id":"5967c452.c838bc","type":"mqtt out","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","topic":"","qos":"","retain":"","broker":"717f7c18.ba0a24","x":770,"y":640,"wires":[]},{"id":"2f1c5bb6.53d6f4","type":"mqtt out","z":"dfc861b.b2a02a","name":"","topic":"","qos":"","retain":"","broker":"717f7c18.ba0a24","x":770,"y":700,"wires":[]},{"id":"67b8de4a.029d3","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":""},{"id":"717f7c18.ba0a24","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 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 Dongle and HARDWARIO Gateway.

Radio Pairing​

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

Follow these steps in Node-RED:

Step 1: Click on the Start node pairing button​

Step 2: Receive data​

Insert the batteries into the Radio VOC sensor to send the pairing request (you should also see the red LED on the Core Module to be on for about 2 seconds). If you switch Node-RED to the debug tab on the right, you will see similar pairing response

Step 3: Click on the Stop node pairing button​


success

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

Communication Test​

Follow these steps in Node-RED:

Step 1: Switch to debug tab on the right​

Step 2: Receive data​

It takes up to a minute for VOC Tag to start sending correct values. Once you see other values than zero (0) in the Node-RED debug tab, you can try to breathe on the VOC sensor and you will get much higher values now.

You should then see similar messages:


success

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

Dashboard Setup​

Let's create a Dashboard in Node-RED that will show three gauges with values from the sensors.

You can insert the following snippet in the flow (using Menu >> Import) instead of steps below. However you have to change the MQTT topic based on your radio node address.

[{"id":"7018e288.6b887c","type":"ui_gauge","z":"ddfb24d2.43ab28","name":"","group":"d493d306.06098","order":0,"width":0,"height":0,"gtype":"gage","title":"Gauge","label":"units","format":"{{value}}","min":0,"max":"200","colors":["#00b500","#e6e600","#ca3838"],"seg1":"","seg2":"","x":610,"y":300,"wires":[]},{"id":"c6695f10.80722","type":"ui_gauge","z":"ddfb24d2.43ab28","name":"","group":"d493d306.06098","order":0,"width":0,"height":0,"gtype":"gage","title":"Gauge","label":"units","format":"{{value}}","min":"10","max":"30","colors":["#00b500","#e6e600","#ca3838"],"seg1":"","seg2":"","x":610,"y":360,"wires":[]},{"id":"70a87b55.8df274","type":"ui_gauge","z":"ddfb24d2.43ab28","name":"","group":"d493d306.06098","order":0,"width":0,"height":0,"gtype":"gage","title":"Gauge","label":"units","format":"{{value}}","min":0,"max":"100","colors":["#00b500","#e6e600","#ca3838"],"seg1":"","seg2":"","x":610,"y":420,"wires":[]},{"id":"fbc3fd9a.b2e59","type":"mqtt in","z":"ddfb24d2.43ab28","name":"","topic":"node/836d1983a754/voc-sensor/0:0/tvoc","qos":"2","broker":"83f37d33.4979e","x":220,"y":300,"wires":[["7018e288.6b887c"]]},{"id":"4745398e.bacaf8","type":"mqtt in","z":"ddfb24d2.43ab28","name":"","topic":"node/836d1983a754/hygrometer/0:4/relative-humidity","qos":"2","broker":"83f37d33.4979e","x":260,"y":420,"wires":[["70a87b55.8df274"]]},{"id":"92e3a555.616f58","type":"mqtt in","z":"ddfb24d2.43ab28","name":"","topic":"node/836d1983a754/thermometer/0:0/temperature","qos":"2","broker":"83f37d33.4979e","x":250,"y":360,"wires":[["c6695f10.80722"]]},{"id":"d493d306.06098","type":"ui_group","z":"","name":"Default","tab":"afe7e4c8.941208","disp":true,"width":"6","collapse":false},{"id":"83f37d33.4979e","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":""},{"id":"afe7e4c8.941208","type":"ui_tab","z":"","name":"Home","icon":"dashboard"}]

Step 1: Insert three MQTT input blocks​

Step 2: Insert three Gauge blocks from Dashboard section. You have to open each gauge and set the correct Group and Range values​

Step 3: Connect each MQTT input block with Gauge block​

Step 4: Set-up correct MQTT topics to the three MQTT input blocks​

Step 5: The nodes should look like on the image below​

Step 6: Click on the Deploy and in the dashboard tab click on the small square with arrow that will open Dashboard​

Dashboard​

You will see this dashboard with values from the Radio VOC sensor.


Your project is finished, congratulation!

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