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Tutorial DM LoRaWAN GPS

Tutorial DM LoRaWAN GPS​

Step-by-step tutorial guide on configuring and onboarding Digital Matter LoRaWAN GPS devices.

Introduction​

The Digital Matter Oyster3 / Yabby Edge are rugged IP68-rated battery-powered GPS tracking devices. This guide will show you the hardware and software setup steps required to provision and onboard these devices on the Helium Network.

Functionally, the Oyster3 and Yabby Edge are both battery-powered GPS tracking devices. Their main differences lie in form factor and battery life.

Resources​

Oyster3 LoRaWAN Configuration and Usage Guide Yabby Edge LoRaWAN Configuration and Usage Guide LoRaWAN Provisioning Tool

Hardware​

  • Digital Matter Oyster3 / Yabby Edge
  • 3 x AA Lithium (LiFeS2) or Lithium Thionyl Chloride (LTC) batteries (Oyster3)
  • 2 x AAA Lithium (LiFeS2) batteries (Yabby Edge)
  • DM-Link Wired Provisioning Cable for LoRaWAN devices

Software​

Hardware Setup​

The Oyster3 takes 3 cells of AA battery; the Yabby Edge takes 2 cells of AAA battery.

The Oyster3 and the Yabby Edge both use the DM-Link Wired Provisioning Cable for LoRaWAN decives.

Compatibility with the DM-Link Wired Provisioning Cable for older Digital Matter LoRaWAN devices can be found at Wired Provisioning Tool. On LoRaWAN devices, DM-Link is used to configure the region and JoinEUI to connect to a network. A DM-Link can also be used to configure device parameters prior to deployment and update firmware and Almanac data where applicable.

Once the devices have been provisioned and the batteries are populated, the enclosure can be sealed by using the included screws.

That’s it for the hardware setup!

Software Setup​

The Oyster3 / Yabby Edge ship with a pre-provisioned AppEUI and AppKey. If you choose to use these credentials, you can leave the AppEUI and AppKey fields blank in the Windows utility. If you would like to provision the device with new credentials, you must copy the AppEUI and AppKey from the device created in Console.

The basic parameters of interest are as follows:

General:
In Trip Fix : hh:mm:ss : Will determine transmission frequency

Basic LoRaWAN:
	Region : US915 [1.0.2B]
	Sub-Band : 2 (ch. 8-15, 70)
	Activation : OTAA
	JoinEUI / AppEUI : [ Blank to use pre-provisioned / AppEUI from Console ]
	NwkKey (1.1) / AppKey (1.0) : [ Blank to use pre-provisioned / AppKey from Console ]

Connecting your device​

When you plug in your cable, your PC will assign it a COM port, which you can retrieve from the Device Manager from the Ports (COM & LPT).

To access the device manager, press the Windows key on your keyboard and search for "Device Manager".

Windows Device Manager​

Select the corresponding port from the drop-down list in the top right of the utility and click Start.

If the Program Firmware and Program Parameters boxes are left unchecked, the utility will continuously read and display the current device settings without applying changes.

Current Device Settings and Transaction List​

You can check logs by clicking the DevEUI List button on the top left, which will show a list of scanned DevEUIs and transactions. Each time a device is programmed, the parameter list will flash, and the DevEUI list will update. This list is available in CSV format, so it can be conveniently imported into a spreadsheet.

To program the new parameters and firmware, enter the desired parameters in the right-hand column, and check the corresponding boxes to update firmware and/or parameters. When you are finished, you may hit Stop, and disconnect your device.

Once the device has been configured, it will attempt to join the Helium Network by transmitting join requests. If the device has been configured properly in Console and has knowledge of the device’s AppEUI and AppKey, the Hotspot that hears the join request will send a join-accept message and allow the device to join the Network and transmit data.

Usage​

These devices use an accelerometer to detect movement, allowing it to decide when an asset is in-trip and when it is stationary. This allows it to schedule battery-hungry GPS fixes when appropriate, to optimize battery life. Each time a status update is scheduled, the device will attempt a GPS fix, then transmit results (regardless of whether a fix succeeded or not).

Device Payload​

A sample device payload is as follows:

DCCF3816BF5046B70000D3

When decoded becomes:

{
  "type": "position",
  "latitudeDeg": 37.282198,
  "longitudeDeg": -122.0128577,
  "inTrip": false,
  "fixFailed": false,
  "headingDeg": 0,
  "speedKmph": 0,
  "batV": 5.275,
  "manDown": null
}

To learn more about decoding this payload, you may use this utility. To view the JavaScript sample code, you can view source.

Battery Life Estimate Calculator​

Download the Oyster3 LoRaWAN Battery Life Estimate Calculator

This spreadsheet will help estimate the approximate battery life of the Digital Matter Oyster3 LoRaWAN. Simply modify the fields to represent the desired number of transmissions within a day.

myDevices/Cayenne Integration​

Helium now supports myDevices and the Cayenne LPP (Low Power Payload) format. Cayenne is a drag-and-drop IoT platform developed by myDevices, allowing developers, designers, and engineers to quickly prototype and share their connected device projects.

To learn more about myDevices Cayenne integration, visit myDevices Cayenne and their documentation.

info

myDevices currently only includes the Digital Matter Oyster in their device library.

When you are adding a device/widget in Cayenne, look for the Digital Matter Oyster under Helium.

myDevices Cayenne - Adding a Digital Matter Oyster​

Copy the device's DevEUI into the field. This value should correspond to the associated Digital Matter Oyster DevEUI in Console. Then, click Add device.

That's it for adding a Digital Matter Oyster in myDevices Cayenne!