Getting Started with LoRaWAN on SenseCAP K1100 sensor prototype kit (Part 1)

CNXSoft: This getting started guide/review of the SenseCAP K1100 sensor prototype kit is a translation of the original post on CNX Software Thai. The first part of this tutorial describes the kit and shows how to program it with Arduino to get sensor data to a LoRAWAN gateway and display it on Wio Terminal, before processing the data in a private LoRaWAN network using open-source tools such as Grafana. The second part – to be published later – will demonstrate the AI capability of the kit.

In the digital era where IoT and big data are more prevalent, a large amount of data is required to be collected through sensors. To enable the digital transformation, SeeedStudio's SenseCAP K1100 comes with all necessary sensors and equipment including the Wio Terminal, AI Vision Sensor, and a LoRaWAN module. With this plug-and-play platform, makers can easily create DIY sensors for data collection and solve real-world challenges.

Let's define some terms first:

IoT stands for "Internet of Things" and refers to the network of devices connected to the Internet. It allows us to control the use of various devices through the Internet such as turning on-off devices, electrical appliances, cars, mobile phones, communication tools, agricultural equipment, buildings, houses, and even home appliances that we use daily.

LoRaWAN is an acronym for "Long Range Wide Area Network", a radio technology based on the LoRa protocol designed for ultra-low-power long-distance communications. It is becoming more and more popular among IoT developers, such as connecting smart devices.

SenseCAP K1100: Designed by Seeed Studio, it is a compact Sensor Prototype Kit with LoRaWAN and AI designed to help developers and makers create IoT prototypes. The Wio Terminal supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless communication only, but LoRaWAN connectivity can be added through with the Grove LoRa-E5 Module part of this kit. In this review, we will focus on sensor data gathering through a private LoRaWAN network.

Wio Terminal, an Arduino-compatible HMI controller with WiFi and Bluetooth.

Wio Terminal specifications:

Modules part of the kit:

The light sensor uses a photoelectric as a sensing element. It converts the changes in the measured light into an electrical signal.

The temperature sensor relies on the thermocouple method. It consists of 2 metal wires forming an electrical junction. A thermocouple produces a temperature-dependent voltage as a result of the Seebeck effect, and this voltage can be interpreted to measure temperature.

The relative humidity sensor measures the humidity through a polyamine film or acetate polymer. When the film absorbs or loses water, the dielectric constant changes between the two electrodes, and the capacitance can be recorded & converted into electrical signals.

We’ll need the following our getting to measure environmental data and send it to our private LoRaWAN network:

Let's try to use SenseCAP K1100 by connecting the SHT40 sensor module to measure the air temperature and relative humidity, as well as the light and sound values from the sensor and microphone built into Wio Terminal, then connect the board to a LoRaWAN gateway using the LoRa-E5 module.

We’ll also use the Dragino LG308-AS923-TH-EC25 multi-channel LoRaWAN gateway with a 4G LTE internet connection.

Here are the step to follow for the software part

After the Wio Terminal board reads the value from the sensor, it is re-encoded in AES-128 (Advanced Encryption Standard) format and transmitted wirelessly through the LoRa-E5 Module. If it is within range of the LoRaWAN gateway, the data will then be forwarded to the LoRaWAN network, and we’ll have a look at that shortly. In the meantime, here's a short video demo of the data being updated on the display.

At some point, I had an issue during the review while trying the flash the program to Wio Terminal via the Arduino IDE. The uploading part would be stuck forever…

… because the computer would not recognize the Wio Terminal with an error reading "unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)" as shown in the picture below.

Even though I tried to reset the board and enter the Bootloader manually many times, I was not successful while trying the method in the illustration below.

So we decided to contact Seeed Studio to help us with the issue, but their technical support just provided the same answer. It turns out the keywords are "twice very quickly", and initially I pressed the button twice, relatively fast, but not quite enough. Sliding the switch repeatedly, I was able to use the Wio Terminal again. (I can't count how many times I tried!). That means the computer can see the USB port again and we could continue the review with everything working normally. The important takeaway is that if the board hangs, you need to enter the Bootloader mode manually.

Now that we’ve got data from the SenseCAP K1100 kit sent to our gateway we’ll process it through a private LoRaWAN IoT Platform I have installed for personal use. It is based on various software open-source components as explained below:

The SenseCAP K1100 sensor prototype kit is suitable for pupils, students, and experimenters (makers) who want to create prototypes with various sensors, write code (Arduino), and test proof-of-concept (PoC) using a LoRaWAN a wireless connection. However, for more practical applications, industrial-grade sensors are more suitable and reliable. Those are also available from Seeed Studio and other vendors.

I would like to thank Seeed Studio for sending the SenseCAP K1100 sensor prototype kit for this review. It is available for $99.00 plus shipping.

Continue reading "AI, computer vision meet LoRaWAN with SenseCAP K1100 sensor prototype kit".

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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