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ESP32-based devices with LoRa / LoRaWAN wireless network

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One way of long-range and low-power data transmission is LoRa wireless technology. Since the Internet of Things market (with ESP32 – based solutions) is mainly covered with short-range Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and long-range with 3G / NarrowBand-IoT technologies, LoRa oftens is omitted or simply unknown by IoT users. Below you will find a short representation of what LoRa is and how can it be used.

What is LoRa / LoRAWAN network?

LoRaWAN® network architecture is deployed in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways relay messages between end-devices and a central network server. The gateways are connected to the network server via standard IP connections and act as a transparent bridge, simply converting RF packets to IP packets and vice versa. The wireless communication takes advantage of the Long Range characteristics of the LoRa physical layer, allowing a single-hop link between the end-device and one or many gateways. All modes are capable of bi-directional communication, and there is support for multicast addressing groups to make efficient use of spectrum during tasks such as Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) upgrades or other mass distribution messages.

Source: https://lora-alliance.org/about-lorawan

Industrial use of LoRa & ESP32-based solutions

One of industrial IoT devices, supporting LoRa wireless technology is ESP32 based eModGATE from TECHBASE. Economical, ESP32-based solution can serve as an end-point in any installation or works well as a gateway, gathering data from scattered sensor mesh across the installation. For more information and also Raspberry Pi based solutions check Industrial IoT Shop with all the configuration options for eModGATE.

eModGATE with ESP32
Check eModGATE options

Industrial Raspberry Pi with LoRa support is a must

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As the remote application market is growing rapidly, technology also needs to progress, ensuring greater range and transmission speed while reducing energy consumption. Technological progress makes it possible to create innovative standards for new, sophisticated applications that facilitate our life and work. One of wireless connection choices can be LoRa technogoly.

Source: https://behrtech.com/blog/6-leading-types-of-iot-wireless-tech-and-their-best-use-cases/

What exactly is LoRaWAN?

LoRa (Long Range Radio) technology with low data throughput allows IoT and M2M applications to communicate wirelessly over 15 kilometers, with a battery life of more than 10 years. LoRa allows you to connect millions of wireless nodes with compatible gateways and has several key advantages over other wireless solutions. For example, it uses spectrum spreading modulation with the ability to demodulate a signal 20 dB below the noise level.

LoRa uses license-free sub-gigahertz radio frequency bands like 433 MHz, 868 MHz (Europe) and 915 MHz (Australia and North America). LoRa enables long-range transmissions (more than 10 km in rural areas) with low power consumption.[4] The technology is presented in two parts: LoRa, the physical layer and LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network), the upper layers.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoRa

Compared to 3G and 4G cellular networks, LoRa technology is also better scalable and more cost-effective for embedded applications. It has a much greater range than other popular wireless protocols, which allows devices to operate without amplifiers, reducing the total cost of the application.

Thanks to scalability, reliable communication, mobility and ability to work in difficult external conditions, the LoRa module is perfectly suited for use in a wide range of wireless monitoring and control applications that do not require high transmission speeds. Examples of applications may include smart city (street lighting sensors, motion sensors), energy (intelligent measurement of electricity / water / gas consumption) and industrial / commercial / home applications, among others HVAC, intelligent devices, security systems and lighting.

LoRa Coverage
LoRa coverage. Source: https://lora-alliance.org/

Use of LoRa in industrial automation

Use of wireless connection makes life and work easier for us every day – from radio stations and GSM to Wi-Fi wireless networks, Zigbee, short-range Bluetooth connectivity and LoRa. With the spread of internet access, the possibility of using wireless connectivity for a new type of service and application has opened. Terminology such as M2M (Machine to Machine) – remote communication between devices and IoT – a network of applications and devices communicating with the Internet have been created.

Device equipped with LoRa module is delivered with a LoRaWAN protocol stack, so it can be easily connected to the existing, fast-growing LoRa Alliance infrastructure – both in privately managed local area networks (LAN) and public telecommunications networks to create wide area low power WAN (LPWAN) on a national scale. LoRaWAN stack integration also allows connection to any microcontroller, such as LoRa Gateway from TECHBASE.

More about LoRa Gateway
UP Board Squared ModBerry M2000

New ModBerry M2000 based on Aaeon’s UP Squared x86 board

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First Industrial IoT device based on UP Board

In 2017, the first unit that entered the ModBerry series was a device called ModBerry M1000, utilizing the capabilities of Aaeon’s UP Board platform. The solution uses Quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor with 4x 1.44GHz frequency (boost up to 4x 1.92GHz), up to 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC on board. The platform also features USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000Mbps for faster communication and supports various operating systems, e.g.: full distribution of Microsoft Windows 10 Pro/Home/IoT, Microsoft Windows 10 IoT Core, Linux and Android.

To read more about Industrial ModBerry solutions, visit: https://modberry.techbase.eu/

New base platform for Industrial ModBerry device

New addition to TECHBASE’s Industrial IoT Ecosystem is Modberry M2000, powered by Aaeon’s UP Squared development platform, to maximise the performance of Gateway Layer and provide the best data management for end-point layer, built with Industrial Moduino ESP32 devices.

ModBerry M2000 is an industrial computer series designed for the needs of automation, telecommunications, remote supervision and monitoring. ModBerry M2000 comes a choice of processor: Dual-Core Intel N3350 2×2.4GHz or Quad-Core Intel N4200 4×2.5GHz, 2/4/8GB and 16/32/64/128GB eMMC on-board with possibility to expand the storage even further with SATA3 & M.2 slot.

ModBerry M2000 platform can be extended with supported ExCard modules, including physical industrial interfaces: RS-232/485 ports, Digital I/Os, Analog I/Os, Relay, Ethernet, 1-Wire, USB, CAN; and wide range of wireless communication modules: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth GPRS/3G/LTE, for energy-efficient NarrowBand-IoT/LTE cat. M1/NB1, GPS, Wireless M-Bus, LoRa, ZigBee and many more.

ModBerry device and be equipped with dedicated iMod software platform to support standard protocol, such as MQTT, MODBUS, SNMP, M-Bus and many custom protocols. iMod – an innovative software platform allowing for quick start-up and full exploitation of device capabilities without the need for writing programs. A fully configurable system is reflecting typical C-L-V (Convert-Log-Visualize) use. Of course, the PLC software for creation of algorithms in the ladder system with the capability of operation on ModBerry device services the MODBUS protocol is also available.

To order sample devices, visit our new Industrial IoT Shop and ask our Sales Department via chat about new ModBerry M2000: 

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Connection protocols & MQTT data management solutions

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Various data connection protocols & MQTT data management solutions

To take full advantage of the TECHBASE’s Industrial IoT Ecosystem’s capabilities, you can build your own installation, depending on project requirements, choosing from variety of Gateways (Gateway Layer) to control data collected from an array of Moduino edge devices (Sensor Layer). Moduino can be programmed in one of open software platforms, e.g. MicroPython to gather the data and send it, using MQTT standard protocol, further to Gateway and/or cloud service.

Both Moduino ESP32 and Pycom-based Moduino supports open & free libraries, shared by Pycom, tested and approved by constantly growing ESP32/Arduino community. TECHBASE company has plans to provide an open-source platform for managing services & remote configuration and control of endpoint Moduino devices using MicroPython.

MQTT Data Management

Wide range of protocol support

All TECHBASE’s solution can be empowered with iMod software incl. protocol support for industrial interfaces, e.g. M-Bus, Modbus, SNMP, MQTT. iMod software works seamlessly with Node-RED using MQTT protocol, allowing use of bacnet and direct control over devices I/Os with Google’s platform-neutral protobuf – extensible mechanism for serializing structured data and zeroMQ controls to connect the code in any modern language, on any platform. The protocol drivers library can be expanded with CODESYS development system to support PROFIBUS, CANopen, EtherCAT, PROFINET and EtherNet/IP.

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ModBerry M500 upgrades to Raspberry Pi 3 B+

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The latest version of Raspberry Pi development board, Raspberry Pi Model 3 B+, is now available as a platform for ModBerry M500 industrial computer series. Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ (Plus) offers has more computing power and much greater possibilities in the field of wired and wireless communication.

The biggest new feature introduced in 2016 is the Raspberry Pi 3 wireless support. Now the creators took a step forward and refined the solution. The new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ – supports two-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and new 5 GHz), Bluetooth version 4.2  and Ethernet over USB 2.0 (up to 300 Mb / s). Upgraded ModBerry M500 series is powered by s more powerful heart, in the form of a Broadcom BCM2837B0 quad-core processor clocked at 1.4 GHz. Power-over-Ethernet support has also appeared, and heat dissipation has been improved.

ModBerry M500 on Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

ModBerry M500 vs ModBerry 500(CM3)

Standard ModBerry 500 series is based on Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3, an industrial version of commercial Raspberry Pi branch, with flagship Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. Used Compute Module is more suitable for custom products, such as our ModBerry 500 industrial computer, which can be adapted to customer’s need with wide range of extension modules from TECHBASE. ModBerry equipped with CM3 can be configured to support chosen number of RS-232/485 serial ports, Digital and Analog I/Os, various setup of Ethernet/USB ports, CAN interface, 1-Wire and wireless modems: 3G/LTE, GPRS/EDGE, GPS, LoRa, ZigBee, Wireless M-Bus, NarrowBand-IoT and many more.

The updated M500 availability

Currently the updated M500 samples, are available on demand. Please contact TECHBASE’s sales department via https://modberry.techbase.eu/ contact form with specific requirements to receive an offer that will suit the project’s needs. Since the M300 update is still under the development, the development, specific datasheets will be available in mid-June. The pricing of each unit may vary on the basis of configuration and order quota.

ModBerry expands to the latest NanoPi & OrangePi platforms

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Introduced in November 2017, the ModBerry M300 series, based on NanoPi NEO revolutionised the economic segment of Industrial IoT devices and proved, that automation and monitoring can be done effectively with low expenditure on industrial installations.

Read more: http://linuxgizmos.com/automation-controller-runs-linux-on-a-nanopi-neo-sbc/

https://www.cnx-software.com/2017/11/15/techbase-modberry%E2%80%8B-m300-linux-iot-gateway-%E2%80%8Bis-powered-by-nanopi-neo-board/

To ensure constant development of TECHBASE’s solutions and cutting-edge technology, the NanoPi platform part of ModBerry series is expanded by updated ModBerry M300 N2 product, based on NanoPi NEO2. The new addition features Quad-core Cortex-A53, twice more RAM than previous version of NanoPi NEO and Gigabit Ethernet for fast communication.

For even wider range of communication interfaces and application possibilities, TECHBASE offers now ModBerry M300 N2+ based on the NanoPi NEO Plus2. M300 N2+ is equipped with 8GB eMMC, features more USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet port like M300 N2 and is supported with onboard Wi-Fi/Blutetooth 4.0 to ensure many channels of data management.

ModBerry M300 series can optionally support an external 2.5″ SATA hard disk and 2242 SSD storage units with M.2 interface thanks to onboard JMS567 USB to SATA controller. With extra storage space, data management of specific installations would be more convenient than sending all unprocessed data into cloud or directly to user.

OrangePi capabilities

To meet the Industrial IoT market demands the ModBerry family joined new embedded computer platform, offering adjustable solutions for every industrial installation. ModBerry M300 O1/O2 series is formed by two OrangePi module boards offering different approach to IoT than NanoPi solutions.

ModBerry M300 O1 based on OrangePi Zero Plus features Allwinner H5 (Quad-core Cortex-A53) SoC, moderate 512MB RAM, storage memory option with microSD slot, USB and Gigabit Ethernet port. The wireless communication is supported with onboard Wi-Fi module.

Offering much higher performance and wider feature range, the ModBerry M300 O2 features same SoC as M300 series, but thanks to OrangePi Zero Plus2 means, the device is equipped with onboard 8GB eMMC, extra microSD expansion slot as alternative and wired/wireless interfaces, e.g. HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0.

ExCard modules to peak the performance

Every TECHBASE’s industrial computer is supported by ExCard add-on modules for extra RS-232/485 serial ports, Ethernet ports, PCIe slots, analog input and output, digital I/Os, relays, M-Bus interface, opto-isolation, accelerometer, etc. To provide specific communication paths, ModBerry can be rigged with additional Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module, 3G/LTE, NarrowBand-IoT, LoRa, ZigBee, GPS and Wireless M-Bus.

The latest options for ModBerry series are:

  • SuperCap expansion, to provide constant power supply as a UPS option
  • OLED 0.96” & new OLED 1,3″ screen, allowing the control without the need of connecting into the device
  • ESP32 module as a security chip, to add a firewall into control installation and ensure constant operation of the device, even with power drops and random events
  • Aluminum case, to grant much higher durability for extra harsh industrial conditions
  • Mentioned earlier SATA/M.2 SSD controller for extra data storage

The updated M300 availability

Currently all the updated M300 samples, including M300 N2, N2+, O1, O2 are available on demand. Please contact TECHBASE’s sales department via https://modberry.techbase.eu/ contact form with specific requirements to receive an offer that will suit the project’s needs. Since the M300 update is still under the development, specific datasheets will be available in mid-February. The pricing of each unit may vary on the basis of configuration and order quota.

Symbiosis of RaspberryPi and ESP32 in one device

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The latest configuration of ModBerry 500 device presents the important milestone in TECHBASE’s offer. The introduction of two platform symbiosis, RaspberryPi Compute Module 3 assisted with Espressif’s ESP32 module brings new possibilities of application to life. High performance of CM3, if compromised by exposition to harsh environmental conditions or sudden drop of power, is aided with low-powered ESP32’s real-time system to continue operation of the device. ESP32 module can be battery powered, same as standalone Moduino series, based on similar solution.

ESP32 subsystem for ModBerry 500

Main difference between ESP32-aided ModBerry device and ESP32-based Moduino is that the first one benefits from low-power module aid to prevent errors and downtimes. ESP32 compared to Compute Module 3 works much longer on battery power supply and offers extended sleep modes. Real-time system of ESP32 and simplified communication between ESP32-aided ModBerry device and Moduino controllers drastically shortens the time needed for the system implementation and the cost of maintaining the application. It also enables the use of Espressif’s Wi-Fi-based technology in the ESP-NOW and ESP-MESH networks.

The separate ModBerry-Moduino Ecosystem, working as a separate devices is a solution for scattered object and installations monitoring – with the use of wireless communication interfaces (e.g. LoRa, NarrowBand-IoT, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.), rather than standard wired networks. For more information ask TECHBASE via one of contact form at: https://modberry.techbase.eu/ & http://moduino.techbase.eu/

Coming soon

TECHBASE plans further development of the product, particularly the issue of remote access to input/output resources and use of ESP32 as a Security Chip – hardware layer protection against hacking (very important issue in current IoT business).

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ModBerry brings Compute Module 3 to next level of Industrial IoT

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Introduced with Moduino series, TECHBASE developed further the project of modular aluminum case for their devices. The latest version of housing allows ModBerry to expand in any dimension, supporting additional extension cards (e.g. I/Os, modems, opto-isolation, accelerometer, etc.) and DIN rail mount, that can be retracted into device itself. TECHBASE constantly improves the project to support different platforms (e.g. Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3, NanoPi, ESP32, UpBoard and probably more in the nearest future) and brings them to Industrial IoT world.

Supercapacitor power support for ModBerry

To improve the possibilities of ModBerry devices, TECHBASE added supercapacitor UPS option for ModBerry 500 configurations. Additional power supply available at emergency situations, such as power drop or loss, allows the device to log the recently acquired data and send the notifications to user regarding the occurred event. The supercap support for ModBerry ensures safe system shutdown and protects memory from fragmenting, so there is no need to use diagnostic tools afterwards.

ModBerry enhanced with OLED screen

Just like ESP32-based Moduino series, the ModBerry computers can be now equipped with OLED 0.96″ 128×64 screen via i2c extension protocol. The is small, only about 1″ diameter, but very readable due to the high contrast of an OLED display. Because the display makes its own light, no backlight is required, therefore reduces the power required to run the OLED.

 

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LORA MQTT: Perfect Couple – in RaspberryPi & ESP32 Ecosystem

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TECHBASE Industrial Computers are designed for easy integration of LoRa / MQTT networks. ModBerry devices base on Raspberry Pi / NanoPi / Intel UpBoard platform communicate with both Cloud and Sensor layer (backed with ESP32 Moduino devices) of your installation via MQTT protocol. Gateway utilizes the features of many protocol libraries, such as original TECHBASE’s iMod protocol controller – installable both on the Gateway device itself or externally with wide range of possibilities (industrial computer, hosted server, etc.). Our devices fully support Node-RED, CODESYS, OpenHAB and many more open protocol libraries.

Wide range of protocol support

All TECHBASE’s solution can be empowered with iMod software incl. protocol support for industrial interfaces, e.g. M-Bus, Modbus, SNMP, MQTT. iMod software works seamlessly with Node-RED using MQTT protocol, allowing use of bacnet and direct control over devices I/Os with Google’s platform-neutral protobuf – extensible mechanism for serializing structured data and zeroMQ controls to connect the code in any modern language, on any platform. The protocol drivers library can be expanded with CODESYS development system to support PROFIBUS, CANopen, EtherCAT, PROFINET and EtherNet/IP.

iMod M-Bus, Wireless M-Bus, Modbus TCP/RTU, SNMP, MQTT, SMS, E-MAIL, SQL/CSV
CODESYS PROFIBUS, CANopen, EtherCAT, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP
Node-RED, etc. MQTT, bacnet, eISCP
OpenHAB Commercial product integration
Other open-source protocols IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5-104, DLMS/COSEM, KNX, eHz meters, IEC 62056-21, REST

 

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New IoT Gateway based on NanoPi Neo

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In October 2017 TECHBASE introduced newest economical addition to their M-Bus/Modbus Gateway family. Success of ModBerry 500 series based on Compute Module 3 and ModBerry M700 based on NanoPi M2 drove to further development of this efficient platform. TECHBASE proudly presents ModBerry M300 powered by NanoPi NEO.

    • CPU: Allwinner H3, Quad-core Cortex-A7 Up to 1.2GHz
    • DDR3 RAM: 512MB
    • Connectivity: 10/100M Ethernet, RS-232, RS-485
    • USB Host: ext. Type-A x1
    • Wireless communication: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, NB-IoT (LTE cat. NB1) /GPRS/EDGE, 3G/GPRS, ZigBee, Sigfox support
    • Working Temperature: -40℃ to 70℃
    • OS/Software: u-boot, UbuntuCore, Debian and Android

Download PDF datasheet: http://www.a2s.pl/products/ModBerry/ModBerry_M300_EN.pdf

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