Project status: Ruuvi Gateway

[otso]

• Related to this: “ Advertisement data is sent via MQTT with topic “Ruuvi/{MAC_ADDRESS}/”. ”
  Is it fixed this way? I could think that it would be beneficial to determine the MQTT topics freely and utilizing parsing of the BLE messages. For example I might want to have different topics for different device types or physical locations or message content.
• Regarding what messages to forward. I would like to see filtering where any part of the BLE message could be used for whitelisting or blacklisting messages.

Minew device has a lot beefier CPU and runs a really lightweight Linux if I recall correctly. We’re limited by the ESP32 which makes such comprehensive configuration impractical.

Bigger topic… I would love to see this device function also as Bluetooth Mesh node with at least Proxy and Relay features, but ideally also Friend feature. I don’t know how easily it would be possible, but It would be great to create a network using e.g. Bluetooth Mesh light bulbs or any other devices and then have this or some of these gateways to get connection to Internet and have custom use cases utilizing the network.

That’s good idea for sure, we’ll keep it in mind for future development

Form factor… I think the USB dongle is great. It’s easy to find USB chargers and even that is often not needed as USB sockets are “everywhere”. I think I would also benefit from PoE, but price is higher priority!

We initially considered PoE and Ethernet, but it would add quite a lot to the cost as the isolation transformer and PoE negatiation component tend to be expensive.

What kind of rough price point are you thinking of?
Do you have idea when the device could get out at least for testing?

The dongle will be priced competitively, we’re aiming to have first prototypes in 2019 and will notify in this thread once they’re available for larger audience,

[Johannes]

Minew device has a lot beefier CPU and runs a really lightweight Linux if I recall correctly. We’re limited by the ESP32 which makes such comprehensive configuration impractical.

I see. Do you see any configuration possible even a static one where I could have each gateway post to predefined topic?

The dongle will be priced competitively, we’re aiming to have first prototypes in 2019 and will notify in this thread once they’re available for larger audience,

Looking forward to that!

[otso]

I see. Do you see any configuration possible even a static one where I could have each gateway post to predefined topic?

A topic prefix configurable over the hotspot configuration interface was at least discussed at some point. Even if it’s not on first version we can consider adding the feature.

It does make subscribing to tags by their MAC address a bit more difficult, as the user needs to wildcard-subscribe to gateway topics to get the tag data unless they know which GW has the specific tag.

[Johannes]

It does make subscribing to tags by their MAC address a bit more difficult, as the user needs to wildcard-subscribe to gateway topics to get the tag data unless they know which GW has the specific tag.

I’d say it is then up to the user. They may keep it same for each GW, but if they have 100 installations (e.g. sites or tenants) where each have 20 GWs, it would be nice to have topic per installation. A bit of hierarchy.

[theBASTI0N]

Hey,

I noticed that some source code was added to the Ruuvi github.

In regards to https://github.com/ruuvi/ruuvi.dongle_nrf.c, what SDK will this be using?

[otso]

Hello,

SDK15.3

[theBASTI0N]

Awesome thanks

[lauri]

Ruuvi Gateway update:

Ruuvi Gateway is Built to Fix All the Bluetooth Sensor Data Routing Issues

All the comments are welcome. If you’d like to be a beta tester, find instructions on the blog post.

[AlanN]

OK sorry going to be honest here. While I understand the practicalities, the antenna for me is an immediate issue.
In certain installations where it can be hidden its likely ideal. Where it is going to be visible it looks like a child’s toy and cloverleaf antenna are notoriously fragile.
Perhaps there are options (rubber dipole, or internal) depending on its intended location ?
OR can the stub be reduced in length and the antenna be covered by a dome, this would retain the performance of the antenna type and improve its appearance and susceptibility to accidental damage

[theBASTI0N]

Awesome work.

The gateway is looking great.

It looks like the antenna would be changeable so depending on the client they could then purchase an antenna to suit their needs. Could you confirm that this will be the case?

Will there be a way to flash the nRF52 module? Will it be done via SWDCLK and SWDIO connection or are you planning on DFU functionality?

[otso]

OK sorry going to be honest here. While I understand the practicalities, the antenna for me is an immediate issue.
In certain installations where it can be hidden its likely ideal. Where it is going to be visible it looks like a child’s toy and cloverleaf antenna are notoriously fragile.

The antenna is detachable, so it’s possible to use other types of antennas as well.

[otso]

It looks like the antenna would be changeable so depending on the client they could then purchase an antenna to suit their needs. Could you confirm that this will be the case?

Yes

Will there be a way to flash the nRF52 module? Will it be done via SWDCLK and SWDIO connection or are you planning on DFU functionality?

Only SWDCLK and SWDIO is planned for now. Adding BLE bootloader just in case wouldn’t be too much of work though

[dgerman]

How about a plastic cylinder with a top cap as a “hiding” cover.

[AlanN]

I was thinking more like a dome similar to a domed cctv camera
However if the antenna is removable/replaceable perhaps not a concern.
I had those antenna as part of a fpv setup for a drone, forever getting broken

[jayland]

I’m using RuuviTags in an industrial (factory) setting, and for me PoE would be the optimal form of connectively/power. If that’s not possible because of the extra cost, what about an unpowered ethernet port?

The concern with wi-fi is it’s unreliability when compared with a hard-wired network connection. With an unpowered ethernet port I would probably use an external PoE splitter/adapter (to 5V) to power the gateway from the existing PoE infrastructure.

[lauri]

what about an unpowered ethernet port

Actually, just a few days ago we decided to add one

See #ruuvigateway on slack.ruuvi.com for more info.

Merry Christmas!

[jayland]

Oh yes! Great decision!!

[lauri]

I just contacted all the approved beta testers and sharing a part of the email in here to keep everyone posted about the project status:

“After the blog post about Ruuvi Gateway, I have received an enormous amount of messages and interest about the project. And that’s good! We have received some really valuable feedback too.

In the beginning of the project, we were planning to keep everything as simple as possible but without making any compromises with the quality of the antennas. However, soon after the initial pre-launch (the blog post), we decided to reconsider the decision of having only wireless internet connectivity on board. The main reason for this was that WiFi networks are not always reliable enough for business customers and may also cause headaches for some consumer users.

So, we decided to take the gateway to the next level by including an Ethernet connectivity (RJ45 port)

Unfortunately, this new feature forced me to start designing the PCB pretty much from scratch and this has caused some delay on the PCB prototyping. The design is progressing well and currently we’re aiming to finally start producing the prototype boards right after our Chinese friends are returning from their long New Year’s holidays.

However, even the PCB layout is delayed a bit, it won’t actually have too much impact on the schedule of the end product because firmware work has progressed well. In addition to the basic functionality, Ethernet firmware support is in the making and next week or the week after you will most probably start to see some progress in the repo.

Note that the WiFi gateway firmware (both ESP32 and nRF52 parts) are already functional and can be tested by flashing them on ESP32/nRF52 dev boards. The hotspot web-UI currently looks not pretty and may have some hidden bugs, but that’s why we’re here to test it and make it better.”

[ptrapnes]

Great update, we walked away using wifi last year and are now only deploying Ethernet based GW’s

[lauri]

Here is the completely redesigned Ruuvi Gateway circuit board with ethernet connectivity: