LoRaWAN

In this post I will do a write-up of my current project: having fun with LoRaWAN.

1. Building a LoRaWAN gateway and client-device (application)
2. Connecting it to the Things network
3. Consuming the data in Azure

Because this project will need some months to develop I will add information as I make more progress. So keep checking this blogpost.

Hardware

For the hardware I am using the following module, based on the ESP32 from Heltec.

Note: Heltec upgraded the device to a version 2 model which I ordered and hopefully receive in the next couple of weeks.

Link to: Heltec IoT Lora

These modules are great for developer purposes and less suitable to real-world scenarios because of the limited range. When used as a Gateway only one channel is supported. But once again, nice and cheap hardware for some prototyping.

Creating a 3d printed case

In order to protect all the components I created a case for the Heltec module. It consists out of two parts, a parts: a box and a lid. These two snap together using a snap fit joint. Download the .stl files here

Show me already

As a teaser here you see an image of the client-device communicating with the gateway. The gateway is on the left (gold case) and the node is on the right-side (black case). I will keep updating this post to describe all the things I have learned about LoRaWAN and TTN and Azure.