What can I do with IoT and Sigfox?
This section will show you how you can start with Sens'it. We also highlight some use cases which can propel you into the usage of IoT
1. Use-cases you can experiment with
Temperature and Humidity monitoring
You can affix your Sens'it on a wall and turns it into the Temperature and Humidity mode (green light). This is a periodic mode: measurements are sent every hour. You can create a notification for this mode: You can receive an alert on your phone if the temperature is above 30°C for example.
If you propel into a real business case, it is used in facility management. Air condition really impacts the productivity and the well-being of people.
It can be key in a company or a shopping center. There are solution connected with Sigfox on the market. You can detect Air Conditioning or Heater issues and even create a wall solution managing them depending on the sensor results. This can really reduce spendings.
Door opening detection
You can affix your Sens'it to a door or a mailbox and turn it into the Door Opening Detection mode (clear blue light). The is a trigger mode: With the accelerometer and the magnetometer, you can detect if a door has been opened or not. The message is triggered if the event happens. You can create a notification for this mode: You will receive a text message on your phone if the door is opened.
If you propel into a real business case. You can know the frequency usage of an area. You can detect when a pest (rat) enters a trap, when a secure area has been breached, or that an area is very used and thus optimize the cleaning process. In any time, you save money because you do not need a periodic human check anymore. You optimize based on field information. There are solution available on the market.
Asset tracking and geolocation
You can put your Sens'it in a luggage or parcel. You can turn it on the geolocation mode (yellow light). It sends the luminosity value periodically. Utilizing our Atlas Native service you can receive geolocation points in your end platform and know when the luggage is open.
You can learn more about Atlas Native geolocation service https://build.sigfox.com/geolocation-sigfox-atlas/#atlas-native )
If you propel into a real business case. You can follow your assets. It is very useful in the logistics business to have real-time information on where are your assets. We have already several customers for tracking, such as DHL or Michelin. There are solutions available on the market.
What can I discover about Sigfox Characteristics?
Level 0: No particular requirements
This section will show you how you can explore and understand the way the usage of Sigfox impacts the website.
1. Coverage and Radio regulation
Coverage is key for a Sens'it to work. For our mobile, we never say "my mobile phone doesn't work" but we say "there is no service". It is the same for Sens'it. Therefore, we asked for the coverage during the "Activate my Sens'it" phase, it prepares the user from being disappointed.
Sigfox communicates on several radio configurations (RCs). We are using the free licensed radio bands and the range is decided by each country/government. Rules are different around the globe and we count today 7 different RCs. For example, it is illegal to communicate using the European band (868 MHz) in the USA (902MHz). Sens'it is compatible with all of them but it is restricted to a specific version by software.
There are 4 versions of Sens'it available: Sens'it 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, or 3.4 -- the second number is the RC. There are no version for RC5, RC6 and RC7 yet due to low ordering numbers.
You can check your RC here and contact your local Sigfox Operator if no coverage is available in your area yet.
There are no frontiers for Sigfox, so an RC1 Sens'it will work in all the European and African covered countries without extra fees.
On the network, Monarch infrastructure is the way to change the RC (beacon listening), but Sens’it is not certified yet to use it.
2. Sigfox protocol limitations and battery:
Battery life is easily predictable on Sigfox. Depending on the mode, the battery life is different. If the message is periodic we can say the device has a "time" battery life, if the message is triggered the device has a "number of messages" battery life. The device chooses when it communicates and there is no additional apparatus as in other technologies, so we always know the battery life.
The Sigfox protocol has been designed to make optimal use of the device's battery. A device is the master of its network usage and decides when it will communicate.
Communication is mainly uplink messages (device to antenna), but downlink messages are available too. In your end platform you can set the configuration of the Sens'it to update message sending period. Make sure to set your callback in the Sigfox backend for BIDIR if you use downlink. You can learn more on downlink configuration here (https://support.sigfox.com/docs/downlink-information).
You can change the message periodicity and it is effective 24h maximum after the change. This is because it is a device configuration change and it is communicated via downlink which is required by the device each 24h.
You can force a Sens'it downlink by clicking 3 times (2 short presses and one long press) on the device button. The device requests the downlink and the main LED flashes in the current mode color.
There is a message number limitation: 140 messages per day. This is due to RC1 regulation (radio configuration in Europe). You can not hold the bandwidth for more than 1% of the time in a given 1 hour. Since a Sens'it message is 4 bytes, it takes 1,44 seconds to be sent, so 8 messages per hour can be sent.
The calculation is this: 1% of 3600 seconds is 36 seconds, and each message is repeated 3 times so 36/3=12 seconds per emission, so for 8 messages we get 8*1,44s=11,52seconds.
3. Usage of IoT and Sigfox network:
Type of messages: Messages sent via Sigfox have 2 kinds of origin, they can be triggered by an event or be periodic. The different usage of the different modes shows it. Vibration mode is by default an event and Temperature and Humidity mode is periodic.
Processing of the data: Processing is better done on the platform side. It takes less memory in the device and less battery.
How to get data via the Sigfox Cloud?
Level 1:
This section will show you how to get the data directly from the Sigfox Cloud. We give you a restricted "devkit" access to learn how to use this environment.
Pre-requested information:
Sigfox Cloud usage and Sigfox 0g Connectivity access: When you connect a device on Sigfox, there is a hierarchy.
You pay for a number of devices to connect and a duration of the connectivity: for example 10 devices 1 year. Sigfox associate to your order a contract. Then, you have access to the Sigfox Cloud (called as well backend). You will be able to create groups for your customers and in those groups device types. A device type is a group of devices with the same behavior. At that level, you can add alerts and manage a fleet. You can as well set callbacks which will be used by us in this tutorial.
Clicking on the device you will access the messages and visualize the raw data.
The data: On the Sigfox Cloud de data is displayed. You see a hexadecimal number. For the Sens'it, you can decrypt it and get the temperature value or the vibration status depending on the mode. This hexadecimal number is the information the Sens'it send via Sigfox and its called the payload. For Sens'it 2 and 3 the uplink message is 4 bytes and the downlink is 12 to send the configuration status (read 1st section) the smaller is the data content the faster it is sent and less battery it consumes. On your own platform, you will need to decrypt the raw data.
Here are the payload descriptions:
Get my information from the Sigfox Cloud: once you have visualized the status, you need to push the data to your platform. You can set a callback manually on a device type (all the device communicating on this device type will send their information via this callback). It is an HTTP request targeting your platform.
On sensit.io, we are setting automatically the callback via Sigfox API v2 and we have developed an automatic tool which does it. You will not need to set the callbacks manually.
How to get data via the Sigfox Cloud?
A. Step 1, Get the PAC: The PAC is a hexadecimal number associated with a Sigfox Device. It changes when the device changes of device type. It represents the ownership of a device.
Example: A person A gives the PAC1 to a person B (giving at the same time the device). The person B uses the PAC1 to register the device on a device type in his Sigfox Cloud. The PAC1 changes and become PAC2. Person B can manage the device. Therefore if Person A wanted to give the ownership to a person C, the PAC1 will not be valid anymore.
On sensit.io Go on "Sens'it details" and "Get my PAC"
B. Step 2, Link Connecivity with the device
Go on https://buy.sigfox.com/
Click on "buy connectivity"
Select the country you are based in and follow the process to buy connectivity.
C. Step 3, Visualize the Sens'it on the Sigfox Cloud
At the end of Step 2 you have received an email to access your Sigfox Cloud space. You can explore. Click on the device ID and force a message to see the data received.
D. Step 4, Using Sigfox Callbacks
You can add callbacks to forward the device data from your device to your platform. Make sure to have DATA UPLINK callback set up to receive all the uplink data. This will push the device raw data to your platform
Reference https://build.sigfox.com/backend-callbacks-and-api/#callbacks
If you are looking for a middleware to visualize the Sens'it and other device you can contact our team to introduce you UnaConnect https://docs.unaconnect.io/ .
E. You Sens'it is connected and ready to send data
* Any issue open a question on our Slack builders community.
Reprogram the Sens'it Firmware with the SDK
Level 2: Master embedded programming, C langage
⚠️ Before changing the Sens'it behavior, we advise you to follow the "How to get data via the Sigfox Cloud" section above.
In this section, you will find a link to source code of the SDK, which you can use to modify the Sens'it firmware by embedded programming.
GitHub repository
Before you download the source, you can understand the possibilities of the SDK by exploring the GitHub repository where the code to modify is available in clear. You will find examples (with sample code) on how to play with the Sens'it sensors and Sigfox.
What can I do?
- Use multiple sensors at the same time
- Modify the data that is sent
- Change the event which triggers the messages
- etc.
How to start?
Before you start coding, we advise you to carefully read the README.txt file where every step is explained.
Open the SDK and try to flash a sample code such as the one for temperature. You will need to "build" it for your machine, then to "flash" your code into your Sens'it. It will help you to configure properly your environment before starting coding.
Below you will find a tutorial on how to set up your environment on Windows with a virtual machine:
What about Sens'it 2?
Sens'it 2 is compatible with the SDK but does not have the same memory organization. If you flash a binary file outcoming from the SDK it will destroy the memory and you could "brick" your Sens'it.
So before any update, you need to upgrade the memory and flash the upgrade.bin firmware before.
Can I go back to factory settings?
Yes, in the archive there is the sensit_discovery_vx.x.x.bin file in the "bin" directory. This is the factory firmware. you can flash it following the same procedure above.
For Sens'it 2 upgraded, you will not go back to the factory settings but you can flash the sensit_discovery_vx.x.x.bin as well and it has almost the same behavior:
| Sens'it 2 | Sens'it 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Casing | Off-the-shelf | Designed especially for it |
| Door mode behavior | No calibration | Calibration required: press the button 3 times, it will register the magnetic environment |
| Mode cycling | Long press on the button and stop pressing for each mode change; wait for the message to notify the mode to be sent | Long press on the button will cycle through the modes; message to notify the mode sent imediatelly |
| Downlink manual request | Very very long press (1 minute) | 2 short presses and 1 long press |
| Low battery indication | Secondary led flashes once white and main RGB led flashes 2 times red | Secondary led flashes white and main RGB led flashes white alternatively |
| Duty Cycle limitation indication | 3 red flashes | 1 red flash |
| Device reset | The main RGB led flashes in multiple colors | The main RGB led flashes in multiple or 1 color |
| Memory damaged indication | / | 2 red flashes |
| Sensor damaged indication | / | 3 red flashes |
| Radio damaged indication | / | 4 red flashes |
Download the SDK here:
By downloading the SDK archive, you accept the terms of use.
You need to sign up or log in to access to this information.
What about certifications
> Regarding Sigfox certification: The SDK offers the possibility to modify the firmware application but not the radio use nor the casing, of course.
> Regarding Type Approvals: Rules are different regarding the country and certificates are linked to the name of a product. If you change the name, you need to apply for relevant certifications: CE, FCC, etc. We can provide the test reports if you need too. Mostly, it is just paperwork.
| Sens'it RC | Product certificate |
|---|---|
| Sens'it 2 | P_001E_CCCA_01 |
| Sens'it Discovery RC1 | P_0006_321A_01 |
| Sens'it Discovery RC2 | P_0006_077E_01 |
| Sens'it Discovery RC3 | P_0006_DAD8_01 |
| Sens'it Discovery RC4 | P_0006_1A21_01 |
| Sens'it Generic | P_0006_6EBD_01 |