RSL10 Sensor Development Kit - Review

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RoadTest: RSL10 Sensor Development Kit - Industrial Sensing

Author: andyforeverest

Creation date: 8 Oct 2019

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?:

What were the biggest problems encountered?: I was expecting a programmable platform.

Detailed Review:

Introduction

RSL10-SENSE-GEVK comes in two flavors:

• RSL10-SENSE-GEVK (base version) - this is the version that I have
• RSL10-SENSE-DB-GEVK (debug version)

When I applied for this roadtest I assumed that I will receive a programmable version. And I wanted to use the platform with its sensors to design a baby monitoring device. And as such I read the “RSL10-SENSE-GEVK (and RSL10-SENSE-DB-GEVK) User Guide” - EVBUM2614 - which is an excellent introduction material on starting with this platform. It goes into installing and configuring the IDE (Eclipse-based), programming, debugging  and using the mobile app.

I received the base version and I had to rethink the way to approach this roadtest. The best way would be to describe the mobile app and the way to interact with the board. If anyone can think of a better approach, I would be glad to learn more as I think that the board packs so much power and resources!

Hardware description

RSL10-SENSE-GEVK is filled with sensors! It is hard to believe that so many features were packed in such a small area:

• Based on the RSL10 System-in-Package (SiP)
  • Bluetooth 5 certified
  • Certified to international wireless regulations (CE, IC, KC, MIC, FCC)
• Configurable, low-power sensors
  • NOA1305 (Ambient light) - sensor designed by ON Semiconductor, has a 16-bit ADC and I2C interface;
  • BHI160 (Integrated low power smart hub, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope) -
  • BMM150 (Low Power, Low Noise 3-axis digital geomagnetic sensor)
  • BME680 (Integrated high-accuracy gas, pressure, humidity and temperature sensor)
  • INMP522 (Ultra-low noise digital Microphone)
  • APTF1616 (Programmable RGB LED)
  • N24RF64 (64kB NFC EEPROM)
  • 3 programmable push-buttons
• Supported by the RSL10 Sense and Control app for cloud connectivity

Mobile app

On starting the app, the searching for a board starts. Once a board is discovered, the MAC address is displayed. It might be necessary to reset the board in order to be discovered. The device name is editable.

The second step is selecting the sensor(s) to be monitored or actuator(s) to be controlled (these need to be connected to the board).



For the actuators you can find the following options (brushless DC and stepper motors and LED balast):

[Edit] As stevesmythe rightly pointed out, this part of the app is not for the RSL10-Sense-GEVK board, but for another platform (Bluetooth Low Energy IoT Development Kit base board and daughter boards - more here).

Sensors (built in sensors)

Sensor name	Image	Remarks
ALS-NOA1305		The sensor is read continuously (~ once a second) and the values are updated accordingly
ALS-NOA1306		Unsupported Node
Motion		Unsupported Node
TPS (Touch Pad)		Unsupported Node
Environmental (Air Quality, Pressure, Humidity, Temperature)		The values are not updated continuously. Is it because of the sensor (BME680)?
Gyroscope		The sensor is read continuously (~ once a second) and the values are updated accordingly
Accelerometer		The sensor is read continuously (~ once a second) and the values are updated accordingly
Magnetometer		The sensor is read continuously (~ once a second) and the values are updated accordingly

The app has other features as well:

• create a configuration: select the sensors that you would like to monitor and save the configuration;
• configure receiving channels (BLE, cloud);
• management of brokers (HiveMQ, Cloud MQTT, Eclipse MQTT)

I will try to focus on the last two features in a future post.