MySensors with NodeJS Controller and OTA bootloader on RPi

My RPi runs Arduino to compile and flash sketches and the bootloader. With this setup no separate PC/Mac is needed. Exactly the same could be achieved (faster) using a PC/Mac for all the Arduino compilation and flashing activities – just skip the steps and execute on PC/Mac instead.

Hardware

Headless Raspberry Pi model B with wired Ethernet

I'm connecting a monitor only for first time boot to get the IP address and then connect via Putty/xRDP

Download and install latest Raspbian version on a fresh SD-Card

Tutorials for this task are available on the internet (download, copy to SD)

Setup base parameters

(adjust to your needs - here: RPi-IP: 10.0.1.5 / Router-IP: 10.0.1.1 / password: test / timezone: Europe,Berlin / hostname: mysensors)

login as pi / raspberry
sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces
#iface eth0 inet dhcp
iface eth0 inet static
address 10.0.1.5
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 10.0.1.1
nameserver 10.0.1.1
sudo raspi-config
- 1. Expand Filesystem
- 2. Change User Password
  
  test
- 4. Internationalisation Options
  - I2. Change Timezone
    Europe / Berlin
- 8. Advanced Options
  - A2. Hostname
    mysensors
  - A3. Memory Split
    16
Finish
Reboot

Install latest updates

login as pi / test
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo reboot

Install NodeJS (here: latest stable version available for RPi: 0.10.28)

login as pi / test
sudo mkdir /opt/node
wget http://nodejs.org/dist/v0.10.28/node-v0.10.28-linux-arm-pi.tar.gz
tar xvzf node-v0.10.28-linux-arm-pi.tar.gz
rm node-v0.10.28-linux-arm-pi.tar.gz
sudo cp -r node-v0.10.28-linux-arm-pi/* /opt/node
rm -rf node-v0.10.28-linux-arm-pi/
sudo nano /etc/profile
NODE_JS_HOME="/opt/node"
PATH="$PATH:$NODE_JS_HOME/bin"
export PATH
sudo reboot
to confirm it's working as expected login as pi/test and run "node -v" which should return the installed node version (here: v0.10.28)

Install MongoDB

login as pi / test
sudo useradd -c mongodb -d /home/mongodb -m -U mongodb
sudo mkdir -p /opt/mongo/bin
sudo mkdir /var/lib/mongodb
sudo chown mongodb:nogroup /var/lib/mongodb
sudo mkdir /var/log/mongodb
sudo chown mongodb:nogroup /var/log/mongodb
wget https://github.com/brice-morin/ArduPi/raw/master/mongodb-rpi/mongo/bin/mongo
wget https://github.com/brice-morin/ArduPi/raw/master/mongodb-rpi/mongo/bin/mongod
wget https://github.com/brice-morin/ArduPi/raw/master/mongodb-rpi/mongo/bin/mongodump
wget https://github.com/brice-morin/ArduPi/raw/master/mongodb-rpi/mongo/bin/bsondump
sudo mv mongo /opt/mongo/bin/
sudo mv mongod /opt/mongo/bin/
sudo mv mongodump /opt/mongo/bin/
sudo mv bsondump /opt/mongo/bin/
sudo chmod -R 775 /opt/mongo/bin
sudo ln -s /opt/mongo/bin/mongod /usr/bin/mongod
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skrabban/mongo-nonx86/master/debian/mongodb.conf
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skrabban/mongo-nonx86/master/debian/init.d
sudo mv mongodb.conf /etc/mongodb.conf
sudo mv init.d /etc/init.d/mongodb
sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/mongodb
sudo update-rc.d mongodb defaults
sudo reboot
to confirm it's working as expected login as pi/test and run "/opt/mongo/bin/mongo" which should start the mongo shell (type "exit" to close the shell again)
if the RPi loses power without proper shutdown while mongod is running, you can't restart without manually removing the pid file first. To do so run “sudo rm /var/lib/mongodb/mongod.lock”

Install MySensors from Git branch development (here: password: test)

login as pi / test
git clone https://github.com/mysensors/Arduino.git
cd Arduino
git checkout development
cd NodeJsController
npm install
nano NodeJsController.js (optional : removing sample firmwares)
const fwHexFiles = [ ];
to confirm that the NodeJsController is working as expected and connects to the local mongo DB: "node NodeJsController.js" which should start the controller, connect to the database and run into an error connecting to the gateway. Stop node again via Ctrl-c

Start NodeJsController on boot

cd ~/Arduino/NodeJsController
chmod 755 *.sh
sudo cp MySensorsInitScript.sh /etc/init.d/mysensors
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/var/run
sudo chmod -R 777 /usr/local/var/run
sudo update-rc.d mysensors defaults
sudo reboot
to confirm that NodeJsController is starting at boot, check the log file /home/pi/logs/NodeJsController.log

Serial Gateway

Hardware

as described for the standard Serial Gateway - using the standard Serial Gateway sketch with DEBUG (in MyConfig.h) disabled
I'm using the version with inclusion mode button and LEDs based on no Arduino but a plain ATmega328p on a breadboard
Connect directly to the serial GPIO pins of the RPi:
Arduino GND <-> Raspberry Pi GND (pin 6)
Arduino RX <-> Raspberry Pi TX (pin 8)
Arduino TX <-> Raspberry Pi RX (pin 10)
Arduino RESET <-> Raspberry Pi GPIO22 (pin 15)
Right now I'm using a separate power supply for the serial gateway instead of the 3.3V or 5V pins of the RPi because I ran in some issues with power consumption during programming

Disable default use of RPi serial port

sudo nano /etc/inittab
#T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyAMA0 115200 vt100
sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt - remove part of the file:
~~console=ttyAMA0,115200~~
cd /dev
sudo ln -s ttyAMA0 ttyUSB9
sudo apt-get install minicom
sudo reboot

Setup NodeJsController

nano ~/Arduino/NodeJsController/NodeJsController.js
//const gwType = 'Ethernet';
//const gwAddress = '10.0.1.99';
//const gwPort = 9999;
//const gwType = 'Serial';
//const gwPort = '/dev/ttyAMA0';
//const gwBaud = 115200;
sudo service mysensors restart

Ethernet Gateway

Hardware

as described for the standard Ethernet Gateway - using the standard Ethernet Gateway sketch with DEBUG (in MyConfig.h) disabled
I'm using the version with inclusion mode button and LEDs based on no Arduino but a plain ATmega328p on a breadboard and the ENC28J60 Ethernet module
here: 10.0.1.99 / port: 9999

Setup NodeJsController

nano ~/Arduino/NodeJsController/NodeJsController.js
const gwAddress = '10.0.1.99';
sudo service mysensors restart

Sensor Node Bootloader

Hardware

as described for a simple Sensor Node
here: no Arduino but a plain ATmega328p on a breadboard
using DallasTemperature example (one sensor connected to pin 3)

Compile Bootloader (can be skipped but good to see if everything is working)

cd ~/Arduino/Bootloader
make
this should compile the bootloader and produce three files in the same directory: MyOtaBootloader.o / MyOtaBootloader.elf / MyOtaBootloader.hex

Flash Bootloader

cd ~/Arduino/Bootloader
nano Makefile
adjust avrdude settings to the available programmer. In my case (mySmartUSB MK3 programmer temporarily connected to RPi USB port):
ISP_PORT = /dev/ttyUSB0
ISP_SPEED = 115200
ISP_PROTOCOL = stk500v2
ISP_MCU = m328p
make load

End-to-End Test

Add Firmware to Controller

nano ~/Arduino/NodeJsController/NodeJsController.js
const fwHexFiles = [ 'DallasTemperatureSensor.cpp.hex' ];
const fwDefaultType = 0;
sudo service mysensors restart

Flash Firmware OTA

tail -f ~/logs/NodeJsController.log
Power up sensor node with OTA bootloader

Check functionality

in addition to watching the log file (tail command above) you can connect to the mongo db using a client (e.g. Robomongo) and check if new values are written to the database as a real end-to-end test