Published September 11, 2018 © GPL3+

Prototyping with WolkAbout IoT Platform, Zerynth and XinaBox

By integrating Zerynth enabled XinaBox development boards and WolkAbout IoT Platform, IoT prototyping is made much simpler and faster.

BeginnerFull instructions provided30 minutes718

Prototyping with WolkAbout IoT Platform, Zerynth and XinaBox

Things used in this project

Hardware components

XinaBox OC01

Software apps and online services

Zerynth Studio

WolkAbout IoT Platform

WolkAbout IoT Platform demo account

Story

Introduction

XinaBox’s modular and easy-to-code hardware allows users to assemble an electronic circuit in minutes, without soldering, wiring or hardware knowledge. By integrating their versatile development boards with WolkAbout IoT Platform, boards are enhanced with the Cloud functionalities and users are provided with everything they need to build a connected product. Hence, IoT prototyping is made much simpler, cheaper and faster.

This tutorial explains how to interact with WolkAbout IoT Platform using XinaBox electronics with the onboard Zerynth license.

Hardware Setup

Connect the xChips according to the photograph in Fig. 1, making sure that the xChip name and XinaBox logo are all visible from the same side.

Ensure that the switches on the IP01 xChip are in position “B” and “DCE”.

Zerynth Setup

If you are already familiar with Zerynth, virtualise your device and jump to Connecting the Device section.

For those of you who are using Zerynth for the first time, follow these steps:

Download and install the Zerynth Studio using the Installation Guide for additional assistance
Continue with the Getting Started guide paying close attention to the Connect, Register and Virtualise your Device section
Once your device is properly virtualized in Zerynth Studio as a XinaBox CW02 (ESP32) board, you can continue to the next step

Connecting the Device

In Zerynth Studio, in the navigation menu on the left side:

Select the Examples tab
Search for Texas
Under PCA9536 choose remote control wolkabout weather station

You will be presented with the description of the example, as well as the code:

Click on the Clone button

Enter the title of the project and description, or leave it at its default value and click on the Create button.

Now that you've had a jump start to your code, you still need to make some changes in main.py module.

Enter the SSID and password of your WiFi network

Fig. 5

After that, you will be required to enter the device key and password
To do that, go to WolkAbout IoT Platform and create the device by following the next section.

WolkAbout IoT Platform Setup

This section will guide you through the process of importing device manifest, creating a device from that manifest and creating dashboard to display the information received from the device on WolkAbout IoT Platform demo instance.

Go to WolkAbout IoT Platform demo instance and log into your account
If you don't have an account, you can register here
Click on Device Management in the application menu
Click on Device Type Management tab

You will jump to Device types page which should subsequently contain the list of types you have created on the Platform

There are two ways in which you can create your template: creating one from scratch or by importing
Choose Import and navigate to the CW02-SW01-OC01-deviceType.json located in the folder where you created your Zerynth project or copied from the project's attachments
You can now create a device from the device type that was imported
Click on the Create device button to do so
CW02-OC01-SW01 device type will already be selected, so just click on the Next step button
Proceed by entering the device name, in this example XinaBox CW02
Tick the Create Default Semantic checkbox to be able to create widgets for this device
Click on the Save button

You are now presented with the device key and password that are needed for connecting your device to the Platform, so use one of the options to save this information, for example, email.

You have now completed the process of creating a device on WolkAbout IoT Platform.

Let's now proceed with entering these credentials into the code.

Open your email, or any other option you used to store device credentials
Copy the device key and password to the code in Zerynth Studio

Change the Device to XinaBox CW02 (ESP32)

Click on the Verify button to make sure there are no errors in the module

If no errors are present, click on the Uplink button and wait for the process of sending bytecode to complete.

Now that your device is ready to connect to WolkAbout IoT Platform, create a dashboard with widgets to display the data received from your XinaBox CW02 device.

Click on Reports and Visualisation tool in the application menu
Click on the + button
Enter the name for your dashboard, for example, XinaBox CW02 Dashboard
Set the scope to the previously created device
Click on the Save button

Now, you can start adding widgets to the dashboard.

Click on the + Add widget button
Add a Reading widget for Temperature, Humidity and Pressure
Add an Actuator widget for Switches 1 through 4

The dashboard is now ready to receive information sent from the device and control the state of on-board switches.

If you turn on your device and go to the dashboard, you should be able to see the data WolkAbout IoT Platform is receiving from your XinaBox CW02 device and control the state of switches on OC01.

You can also view your dashboard and control the state of the switches by using mobile app on your Android or iOS device.

Conclusion

That’s it! You are now exchanging data from your Zerynth enabled XinaBox CW02 board and WolkAbout IoT Platform. Enjoy!

CW02-SW01-OC01-deviceType.json

[
  {
    "name": "CW02-SW01-OC01",
    "description": "Xinabox's CW02, SW01 and OC01 xChips",
    "guid": "c11eeb59-7cd3-4944-b8d5-6241be73119d",
    "deviceType": "STANDARD",
    "protocol": "JSON",
    "connectivityType": null,
    "firmwareUpdateType": null,
    "feeds": [
      {
        "name": "Temperature",
        "description": null,
        "reference": "T",
        "unit": {
          "name": "CELSIUS",
          "guid": "7c805d10-a879-11e9-83cd-0a0027000005"
        }
      },
      {
        "name": "Humidity",
        "description": null,
        "reference": "H",
        "unit": {
          "name": "HUMIDITY_PERCENT",
          "guid": "7c8080a3-a879-11e9-83cd-0a0027000005"
        }
      },
      {
        "name": "Pressure",
        "description": null,
        "reference": "P",
        "unit": {
          "name": "MILLIBAR",
          "guid": "7c807980-a879-11e9-83cd-0a0027000005"
        }
      }
    ],
    "actuators": [
      {
        "name": "Switch 1",
        "description": null,
        "minimum": null,
        "maximum": null,
        "reference": "0",
        "unit": {
          "name": "SWITCH(ACTUATOR)",
          "guid": "7c8088a0-a879-11e9-83cd-0a0027000005"
        }
      },
      {
        "name": "Switch 2",
        "description": null,
        "minimum": null,
        "maximum": null,
        "reference": "1",
        "unit": {
          "name": "SWITCH(ACTUATOR)",
          "guid": "7c8088a0-a879-11e9-83cd-0a0027000005"
        }
      },
      {
        "name": "Switch 3",
        "description": null,
        "minimum": null,
        "maximum": null,
        "reference": "2",
        "unit": {
          "name": "SWITCH(ACTUATOR)",
          "guid": "7c8088a0-a879-11e9-83cd-0a0027000005"
        }
      },
      {
        "name": "Switch 4",
        "description": null,
        "minimum": null,
        "maximum": null,
        "reference": "3",
        "unit": {
          "name": "SWITCH(ACTUATOR)",
          "guid": "7c8088a0-a879-11e9-83cd-0a0027000005"
        }
      }
    ],
    "alarms": [],
    "configs": [],
    "attributes": [
      {
        "name": "CONNECTIVITY_TYPE",
        "dataType": "ENUM",
        "validationRegex": "^(MQTT|HTTP)$",
        "options": [
          "MQTT",
          "HTTP"
        ],
        "defaultValue": "MQTT",
        "required": true,
        "readOnly": true
      },
      {
        "name": "FIRMWARE_UPDATE_ENABLED",
        "dataType": "BOOLEAN",
        "validationRegex": "^(true|false)$",
        "options": null,
        "defaultValue": null,
        "required": false,
        "readOnly": true
      },
      {
        "name": "FIRMWARE_VERSION",
        "dataType": "STRING",
        "validationRegex": null,
        "options": null,
        "defaultValue": null,
        "required": false,
        "readOnly": true
      },
      {
        "name": "FILE_DIRECT_DOWNLOAD_ENABLED",
        "dataType": "BOOLEAN",
        "validationRegex": "^(true|false)$",
        "options": null,
        "defaultValue": null,
        "required": false,
        "readOnly": true
      },
      {
        "name": "FILE_URL_DOWNLOAD_ENABLED",
        "dataType": "BOOLEAN",
        "validationRegex": "^(true|false)$",
        "options": null,
        "defaultValue": null,
        "required": false,
        "readOnly": true
      }
    ]
  }
]

Credits

WolkWriter

17 projects • 33 followers

With WolkAbout IoT Platform, we give you proven technology to develop powerful IoT applications and control your business ecosystem.

Prototyping with WolkAbout IoT Platform, Zerynth and XinaBox

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Introduction

Hardware Setup

Zerynth Setup

Connecting the Device

WolkAbout IoT Platform Setup

Conclusion

Code

CW02-SW01-OC01-deviceType.json

Credits

WolkWriter

Comments

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Prototyping with WolkAbout IoT Platform, Zerynth and XinaBox

Prototyping with WolkAbout IoT Platform, Zerynth and XinaBox

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Introduction

Hardware Setup

Zerynth Setup

Connecting the Device

WolkAbout IoT Platform Setup

Conclusion

Code

CW02-SW01-OC01-deviceType.json

Credits

WolkWriter

Comments

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