edge-node-manager

edge-node-manager

Resin dependent device edge-node-manager written in Go.

About

The edge-node-manager is an example of a gateway application designed to bridge the gap between Resin OS capable single board computers (e.g. the Raspberry Pi) and non Resin OS capable devices (e.g. micro-controllers). It has been designed to make it as easy as possible to add new supported dependent device types and to run alongside your user application.

The following functionality is implemented:

• Dependant device detection.
• Dependant device provisioning.
• Dependant device restart.
• Dependent device over-the-air (OTA) updating.
• Dependent device logging and information updating.

Currently it only supports a single dependent device type, the nRF51822 BLE SoC from Nordic.

Notes

• Dependant device support is still in a very early stage of development, there will be bugs!
• Please file an issue if you encounter any bugs or think of any enhancments you would like to have.
• Currently only supported on our staging site.
• Only supported in the Resin Supervisor from v2.5.0 onwards.

Images

Definitions

Dependant application

A dependent application is a Resin application that targets devices not capable of interacting directly with the Resin API.

The dependent application is scoped under a Resin application, which gets the definition of gateway application.

A dependent application follows the same development cycle as a conventional Resin application:

• It binds to your git workspace via the resin remote.
• It consists of a Docker application.
• It offers the same environment and configuration variables management.

There are some key differences:

• It does not support Dockerfile templating.
• The Dockerfile must target an x86 base image.
• The actual firmware must be stored in the /assets folder within the built docker image.

Dependent device

A dependant device is a device not capable of interacting directly with the Resin API - the reasons can be several, the most common are:

• No direct Internet capabilities.
• Not able to run the Resin OS (being a microcontroller, for example).

Gateway application

The gateway application is responsible for detecting, provisioning and managing dependent devices belonging to one of its dependent applications. This is possible leveraging a new set of endpoints exposed by the Resin Supervisor.

The edge-node-manager (this repository) is an example of a gateway application.

Gateway device

The gateway device runs the gateway application and has the needed on-board radios to communicate with the managed dependant devices, for example:

• Bluetooth
• WiFi
• LoRa
• ZigBee

Throughout development an RPi3 has been used as the gateway device.

Guide

You will need

• Raspberry Pi3
• nRF51822-DK

Getting started - Gateway application

• Sign up on resin.io.
• Work through the getting started guide and create a new RPi3 gateway application called micros.
• Clone this repository to your local workspace, for example:

$ git clone https://github.com/resin-io-playground/edge-node-manager.git

• Add the gateway application resin remote to your local workspace using the useful shortcut in the dashboard UI, for example:

$ git remote add resin gh_josephroberts@git.resinstaging.io:gh_josephroberts/micros.git

• Push the application to your RPi3, for example:

$ git push resin master

Configuration variables

Configure the application configuration variables using the Fleet Configuration tab accessed from the side bar.

Environment variables

Configure the application environment variables using the Environment Variables tab accessed from the side bar.

Getting started - Dependent application

• Create a new dependant application called nRF51822 from the Dependant Applications tab accessed from the side bar.
• Clone the nRF51822 repository to your local workspace, for example:

$ git clone https://github.com/resin-io-playground/nRF51822.git

• Add the dependent application resin remote to your local workspace using the useful shortcut in the dashboard UI, for example:

$ git remote add resin gh_josephroberts@git.resinstaging.io:gh_josephroberts/nrf51822.git

• Retrive the dependent application UUID from the Resin dashboard, for example: If your dependant application URL is https://dashboard.resinstaging.io/apps/13829/devices the UUID is 13829.
• Set the dependent application UUID on line 91 in the application package to point to your dependant application, for example: initApplication(13829, micro.NRF51822, radio.BLUETOOTH). Make sure you add, commit and push the change to the gateway application we set up above.
• Set the dependent application UUID on line 46 in the main source file to point to your dependant application, for example: #define DEVICE_NAME "13829"
• Add, commit and push the the application to your RPi3, for example:

$ git add src/main.c
$ git commit -m "Set the application UUID"
$ git push resin master

• Turn on your nRF51822 dependent device within range of the RPi3 gateway device and watch it appear on the Resin dashboard!

Dependent devices

Supported dependant devices

• nRF51822 - you can find an example dependant application and instructions here.

Future supported dependant devices

We aim to support the complete Adafruit Feather family.

Other:

• BBC micro:bit

Adding support for a dependant device

Coming soon

Further reading

Coming soon