Hi there,
I’ve got a couple of IoT Long Range Wireless Temperature Humidity Sensors connected to a AWS gateway and am after a better way of configuring the sensor settings (report interval etc). The AWS gateway is terribly inconsistent in the edit / save process.
I understand I can use Long Range modem, but am unsure of two item:
Thanks in advance for the support.
Scott
Hi Scott,
Configuring settings in the sensors through the AWS gateway is absolutely an emergency use feature when you have no other options. I agree it is inconsistent. I made every change I could to the firmware to make it as reliable as possible but the limited processor on the Gateway can only do so much.
There are a couple of options.
Switch from the AWS Micro Gateway to the IoT Edge Computer which is more robust, has Node-Red pre installed so it can send the data to AWS(or anywhere else), display a local web dashboard, and has much better sensor configuration capability:
https://store.ncd.io/product/ncd-industrial-iot-edge-computer/
Connect a USB modem to your Mac, install Node-Red on the Mac, and configure the sensor that way. The configuration would be identical to configuration process on the IoT Edge Computer. This is the USB modem:
https://store.ncd.io/product/industrial-wireless-usb-modem/
If I had the choice I would go with the IoT Edge Computer and eliminate the AWS Micro Gateway. The AWS Micro Gateway is perfect for large scale applications where you are installing a few sensors in several different locations as it keeps cost down at scale and works reliably day to day to send data to AWS. The downside of the AWS gateway is limited sensor configuration capability, and it’s WiFi only.
Hi Travis,
Thanks for the reply. That information is helpful thanks.
Another quick question for you, do you currently have, or have plans for a temperature and humidity device that can interface with AWS directly, i.e. without the need for a gateway? That would be the ideal solution for my needs.
Scott
An AWS version is not necessary. You can just provision a new thing on AWS IoT, download the Cert files, then upload them to the sensor. If this is something you’re interested in I can create an article. I used AWS IoT to test the MQTT products to make sure MQTTS(TLS) worked as expected.
Hi Travis,
Yes please.
I have a software platform that I am looking it integrate multiple sensors into which are all in different locations (in different parts of the world). As such, the hub (gateway) is really not necessary if I can get data straight from a sensor into AWS (Dynamo DB via shadow monitoring) that would be a better solution with less items / cost.
I need around 15 of these and a guide / article would be helpful.
Here’s a quick and simple article on connecting the sensor to AWS IoT Core:
Thanks for the article Travis.
I have one further question, with my current Long Range temp & humidity device I have set the “node” as a specific ID that aligns with my database ID for the location the device is in.
Am I able to do a similar thing with this MQTT device? Does it also have a Node in the shadow, or perhaps I can edit the “client_id” for the same purposes?
Scott
Hi Scott,
No, the MQTT WiFi sensor devices do not currently have a node ID parameter since it really isn’t applicable.
Travis
Hi Travis,
Is there anything in the device shadow that I can configure? For example can I set the “client_id” for the device and see that in the shadow in AWS?
Hi Scott,
I suppose something custom could be added to the firmware but the MQTT Publish topic the device publishes to can be unique to the device. Also you could use the payload format field on the device to add anything you want to the payload. I would need to know more about this requirement to really provide further insight.
Travis
Hi Travis,
I should be able to report the device serial number as a device id within the SQL query in AWS.
I’m going to buy one a try before bulk buying.
I’ll post the solution here once done.