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EFM32ZG Sensor-Puck connection...

RWReynolds

Ok, has anyone else tried to work with the SensorPuck.

 

I have the Sensor-Puck connected to the EFM32ZG. And I've managed to configure Simplicity to recognize the puck for debugging. But there is no example software for the puck and I can't seem to locate the correct source code for the sensor-puck at SL. I found a link that says it's for the source code for the Sensor Puck firmware, V1.0. But I can't get it to compile. Missing includes and such. I found versions of some of the files but i wouldn't be willing to burn the image even if I could get it to compile.

It's at the very bottom of this page.

Sensor Software | Silicon Labs

 

And if I can get it compiled or not, can I read it from the J-TAG - I/O header if ti's in I/O mode. Not really finding any docs on that.

 

Any help appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Rick

  • 0

    Hi Rick,

     

    The sensor puck works out of the box with android (and IOS too I guess) if the app is downloaded. If you wanted it to work with (say) raspberry pi or beaglebone black then a Bluetooth LE to USB adapter could be used.

     

    As I understand, you're trying to connect it directly to one of the Silicon Labs boards, right? I need to check, but personally I think a good way to do that may be to avoid the sensor puck's microcontroller and directly connect to the I2C connection on the sensor puck (cutting any tracks where needed). I suggest that because your primary concern are the sensors, not the microcontroller on the sensor puck, if you are not using the Bluetooth LE functionality. I'm on a mobile device but will check the layout and schematics in more detail when I'm near a PC tomorrow.

  • 0 in reply to shabaz

    Thanks for the reply Sahabaz...

     

    Yeah, at about 41:00 on the webinar video from the Vertical Farming Challenge front page Matt Saunders from SI Labs gives a short tutorial on how to connect the puck to the EFM32ZG. Mainly so you can program the EFM32G210 micro on the puck. You're supposed to be able to get the original source code that comes on the puck and import it into SimplicityStudio. I got the devices connected and configured SimplicityStudio to recognize the puck's micro. But I can't find any source code that I trust. I don't want to brick the puck.

     

    I don't really care so much about the smartphone apps. They're cool and a good way to test the device. But I'd like to see if I can connect the puck to the EZR32WG via the JTAG connector, should be similar to the EFM32ZG. The JTAG on the EFM32ZG can be configured as a serial I/O device. I want ton know if the puck can do the same. Then you could read all the sensors and use them for feedback on the EZR32WG for control. Also, if you had the source code you could see exactly the message protocol between the puck and the smartphone app. Then you could easily use the BLE for a Pi or something else. That would be interesting as well.

     

    I just need reliable puck source code and to know about the JTAG connector on the puck and can it be used for I/O like the EFM32ZG.

     

    Cheers,

    Rick

  • 0

    OK, here's an update on the situation with the sensor-puck.

     

    The great news... I entered a tech support ticket with Si Labs yesterday and received a response today. I lke their support model just fine. Very comprehensive ticketing system and a quick response. Can't ask for any more than that. image

     

    The good news... They sent me updated files on developing for the puck through the JTAG port on an EFM32 device. This document shows that if you get things setup correctly you can get to the source code for the puck's firmware from inside SimplicityStudio. It specifies the EFM32WG but I will try it with the EFM32ZG and see how she goes. They also sent a document explaining how to consume the data "advertisements" from the puck. Advertisement simply being a data packet. Along with the additional documentation, they provided the following source code:

    • Source code for the Android smartphone client.
    • Source code for a Win PC based command line logger that must be used with a BLE dongle.
    • Source code for a log merge tool. For merging logs acquired from several different pucks.

     

    Once I work my way through all this I'll update this post again and let folks know how it goes. Even though you can't read the puck directly from the EFM32 controller board, I still think it might be quite useful. I have an RPi and the EFM32ZG talking serially using the expansion header. I bet I can get a BLE dongle working on the Pi and consume the puck data from there. Then I can connect the Pi to the EZR32WG serially and acquire data from the puck. Then wireless back to the central EZR32 board for logging and out to the cloud. Nice! If it works. lol...

     

    Cheers,

    Rick

  • 0 in reply to RWReynolds

    Ok, another update on trying to read the sensor-puck from an RPi. No luck so far. image

     

    I acquired a PLUGABLE USB 2.0 BLUETOOTH ADAPTER, which may be the whole problem. I have source code, and Windows binaries, from SiLabs for sensor-puck logger software. Here's what I've tried so far:


    1. First I just wanted to get the provided software working on Windows. I can't even seem to find usable drivers for the Plugable dongle for Windows 7, 8.1 or 10. So, no go on using the SiLabs binaries.
    2. I have ported the source code to Linux C. Trying to use BlueZ and rfcomm to talk to the dongle has been iffy at best. I can scan for the puck and I get a MAC address but no name, or at least (unknown) for the name. If I cat /dev/rfcomm0 with the dongle inserted, just to make sure it's there at all, it just blocks and sits there. I'm pretty sure it's at least aware of the dongle because if I remove it then cat reports "no known path to host".
    3. SiLabs explains that the puck is a transmit-only device and that the logger application is receive only. I think that means there's no real pairing occurring. But I can see in their source code that they are transmitting to the puck and doing discovery. So, I'm not sure what all that means. This is my first foray into the BLE world.

     

    So basically I'm stuck. I would really like to get this working on the Pi. I'm hesitant to go back to SiLabs because all of the info and source code was provided on an as-is basis with no support offered. I guess I should at least go ask.

     

    Anyone have any suggestions here?