LoMesh Mesh-Capable Radio Aims to Simplify RS485-to-Industrial Internet of Things Projects
Running on the 915MHz spectrum for license-free operation in most regions, the modem aims to be a plug-and-play IIoT solution.
A crowdfunding campaign for a ready-to-run LoRa radio with built-in mesh capabilities and an RS485 serial interface is preparing to launch: LoMesh.
"Operating over the 915 MHz, license-free Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) bands, LoMesh leverages the spread-spectrum modulation of LoRa to achieve reliable, long-range, high-sensitivity communication — over a multi-hop mesh — even when faced with significant RF or physical interference," the project's creators claim. "You can use basic AT commands or a MODBUS register map to configure and control its complete wireless mesh stack. This combination of simplicity and flexibility is key to reducing development and deployment times for projects that depend on robust communication in harsh environments."
"LoMesh's modem — which, thanks to its RS485 interface, can talk to any device with a serial port — will arrive factory-provisioned for guaranteed out-of-the-box connectivity but with full support for custom configurations."
Designed primarily for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), the LoMesh offers a multi-hop mesh radio stack with support for assigning devices to different virtual networks, control over AT commands or a MODBUS Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) profile, repeater functionality, support for unicast, multicast, and broadcast messaging, and with a dynamic sink node setting for gateway operation.
Pricing for the modem has yet to be confirmed, with more information — and a link to be notified when the campaign goes live — available on LoMesh's Crowd Supply page.