RoadTest: Particle Mesh Wi-Fi Bundle + Grove Sensor Kit
Author: carmelito
Creation date:
Evaluation Type: Development Boards & Tools
Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True
What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?: Arduino boards like the Yun, MKR1000, Adafruit Feather etc. But having said that, I am not aware of a capable boards that are Mesh capable using thread.
What were the biggest problems encountered?: Rare connectivity issues with the particle cloud, via WiFi.
Detailed Review:
Firstly I would like to thank element14 for the opportunity to participate in this road test, my main reason for applying for the road test was to learn about the mesh network and also figure out the range that we could get between the two boards, and also try out new particle mesh boards. For folks who are hearing about the particle.io for the first time, it is an open-source hardware and software platform for the internet of things(IoT), and is a great way to get started into internet of things if you are new to the IoT world. Particle.io has great documentation and if you get an Argon and Seeed Grove sensor bundle it is great way to get started, and experiment with the various sensors. And if you think you are interested in learning about the mesh network which should ideally be you next step, get a of the particle Xenon.
Unboxing
The unboxing experience was good, and Particle boards and components came in a well packaged element14 box. Each of the Particle Argon and 2 Xenons came in their own boxes as you see in the picture below. This kit came with a lot of components and here is a list of all the components I received for the road test
Argon
The Argon is a powerful Wi-Fi enabled development board that can act as either a standalone Wi-Fi endpoint or Wi-Fi enabled gateway for Particle Mesh networks. It is based on the Nordic nRF52840 and has built-in battery charging circuitry so it’s easy to connect a Li-Po and deploy your local network in minutes.The Argon is great for connecting existing projects to the Particle Device Cloud or as a gateway to connect an entire group of local endpoints. The argon box came with USB cable, a breadboard, two resistors (220 ohm), one red LED, and one photodiode
And here are some features
Espressif
Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 SoC
On-board additional 4MB SPI flash
20 mixed signal GPIO (6 x Analog, 8 x PWM), UART, I2C, SPI
Micro USB 2.0 full speed (12 Mbps)
Integrated Li-Po charging and battery connector
JTAG (SWD) Connector
RGB status LED
Reset and Mode buttons
On-board PCB antenna
U.FL connector for external antenna
Meets the Adafruit Feather specification in dimensions and pinout
FCC, CE and IC certified
RoHS compliant (lead-free)
For more info check out the datasheet section at – https://docs.particle.io/datasheets/wi-fi/argon-datasheet/
Xenon
The Xenon is a low cost mesh-enabled development board that can act as either an endpoint or repeater within a Particle Mesh network.The Xenon is mesh only and designed to function as the endpoint of your IoT network. It is based on the Nordic nRF52840 and has built-in battery charging circuitry so it’s easy to connect a Li-Po and deploy your local network in minutes.The Xenon is best for connecting sensors, motors, pumps, valves, and points of data-interest. Pair it with an Argon or Boron gateway to get all that great data into the Device Cloud.
Features
Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 SoC
On-board additional 4MB SPI flash
20 mixed signal GPIO (6 x Analog, 8 x PWM), UART, I2C, SPI
Micro USB 2.0 full speed (12 Mbps)
Integrated Li-Po charging and battery connector
JTAG (SWD) Connector
RGB status LED
Reset and Mode buttons
On-board PCB antenna
U.FL connector for external antenna
Meets the Adafruit Feather specification in dimensions and pinout
FCC, CE and IC certified
RoHS compliant (lead-free)
For more info check out - https://docs.particle.io/datasheets/mesh/xenon-datasheet/
Grove Shield for Particle Mesh
The kit comes with seven different components that work out-of-the-box with Particle Mesh hardware and let you focus on learning the basics. Working with Starter Kit requires no soldering and minimal wiring, basically for the wiring it come with plug and play cables. Also wanted to mention that when I was unboxing the grove kit and comparing it to the other grove kits that I got for the Arduino and Intel Edison, the sensors are put into antistatic bags and placed in the box, compared to getting a hard plastic light green box which is much easier to store and every sensor has a spot in the box (https://youtu.be/1Rc_OiebDPo).
Here are the features of the sensor that come in the box.
For more info check out - https://store.particle.io/products/grove-starter-kit
Particle FeatherWing Tripler
The Tripler provides space to add-on up to two FeatherWing accessories without any stacking header needs. Compatible with the newest generation of Particle developer kits. The Tripler has three breakouts for each pin on a Feather, as well as plain grid proto holes. In addition, three sets of pins are cross connected with a full strip of connected pads for GND and 3.3V. The bag which came with the trippler contains one Tripler printed circuit board (PCB), and three sets of FeatherWing headers. To test this I also bought an Adafruit OLED wing as you see in the project demo below.
Particle Debugger
The Particle Debugger gives you the power of professional debugging at a fraction of the cost. Using this accessory, you’ll be able to program Particle mesh-ready hardware over common interfaces like JTAG and SWD, using open source tools like GDB.Supports the open source CMSIS-DAP specification and DAPLink firmware developed by ARM. And comes with one JTAG ribbon cable, I currently have not yet tested the particle debugger as most of my tests include flashing code via the web IDE.
Setting up an Argon
To setup your Argon you will have to follow the setps at - https://docs.particle.io/quickstart/argon/ . Basically you will have create an account on Particle website and then use the Android/iOS app to scan the sticker on the Argon, and then connect to your home WiFi and also have it show up in the particle cloud. Here updating the device os on the Argon took me a few minutes , it was done in 3 parts.
My suggestion is to download the Android/iOS app directly from the respective app store, instead of using the online instructions which ask you for your mobile number to send you a text with the app link.
Setting up a Xenon
The setup for Xenon via the Android app can be slightly confusing, basically you need to scan the sticker on the Xenon, it then takes the Xenon a few mins to complete the update, this again is a 3 part update. Once that is done you will have to scan the sticker of the devices that is already part of the Mesh network, which in my case is Argon(at this point don’t forget to press the mode button on Argon for 3 seconds/until the led starts blinking blue) In addition, you will also have to have a your Mesh network password ready to add the Xenon to the Mesh.This took me four tries to figure out.
For more details on the setup check - https://docs.particle.io/quickstart/xenon/
Particle Cloud
The Particle device Cloud is built to work with particle devices and particle devices are pre-configured to communicate with Device Cloud. It's a seamless integration to help keep you moving fast and focused.Device Cloud gives you intuitive and powerful device management features that just work. You can use either the Device Console or Rest API to use these tools to oversee your IoT deployment. In addition to the awesome documentation at - https://docs.particle.io/, here are some features that I found to be real useful from a production stand point, compared to other IoT hardware + cloud platforms out there.
Health Check
Signaling – if you have the Argon and Xenon close to you, you can use this to change/cycle the color of the RGB led.
Ping – this is the fastest way to tell you if you device is online , if it is in a spot that is not reachable
For more info check out - https://www.particle.io/device-cloud/
Trying the function variable sketch using the Web IDE
After trying the blink sketch successfully , and getting the on-board led on the Argon to blink. I used the Grove shield to connect the Argon and then connected the potentiometer(Pot) to A0 pin using one of the grove connector cables. I modified the example function variable program to get the analog value of the Pot as you see in the picture below.
Posting temperature and humidity to the particle cloud using DHT11
The next example I tried is to use the DHT11 which came in as part of the Grove bundle, and I also used to RGB led to remind me if I need to switch on the air conditioner. Ideally I should have used the relay to connect to my air conditioner if the temperature goes above a certain threshold, but I live in an apartment and don’t want my building manger to get mad at me..
Testing the FeatherWing Tripler
To get the FeatherWing Tripler working I have to solder the pin header which came with the Tripler , and to test this I used the Adafruit FeatherWing OLED - 128x32 OLED . The OLED feather wing also has a reset button and three mini tactile buttons called A B and C, so you can add a mini user interface. In my case, I am displaying text when the button is pressed and OLED connects to the Xenon using I2C.
For more info on the OLED feather wing check out - https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-oled-featherwing/overview and https://docs.particle.io/community/feather/
Trying out the Particle Mesh network
Particle Mesh is a wireless mesh network technology built on the Thread networking protocol(originally created by Google-Nest team), and designed to connect the spaces in between existing Wi-Fi and cellular deployments with local networks that are low-cost, secure, and ultra-reliable. Basically, traditional IoT devices that use Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity rely on the cloud to transit between devices. However, Particle Mesh builds gateways to the Internet which in my case is the Argon, and creates a local wireless grid that other devices can join, the other devices here are the Xenon. Particle Mesh provides a local network for every IoT device to understand and connect the world around it. This is my first time trying a Mesh network and I have to say the particle team has made it easy to get start with mesh networking with a combination of Argon and Xenon. Here is a great blog learn more about selecting a role for your devices - https://blog.particle.io/2018/04/20/particle-mesh-102-selecting-a-role-for-your-device/
In terms of range between the Argon and Xenon , I would say I got about 55 meter of range, and for this I had a neighbor move the potentiometer on the Argon from my apartment balcony, and I walked to the closet traffic signal with the Xenon connected to the OLED feather wing. But having said that this is not a line of sight test. In the coming weeks, I also plan on taking advantage of the uFL connector on Xenon board to check if I get a longer range.
Conclusion
Top Comments
A well written and easy to follow review. Thanks for posting.
Kind regards.