Low Cost Smart Farm Hub terminology

This section covers basic LowCostSmartFarmHub concepts and terminology.The various modules and classes used in the API will make references to these terms.

Gateway device

A gateway is a device that acts as the middle-man between the internet and the wireless-sensor network made up of radio modules.The gateway has to be connected to the internet through WIFI or ethernet to transmit local data to the internet.

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Actuator

Any device that is capable of recieving commands and converting them to an electrical signal for lighting or any other mechanical movement.This device is usually connected to the Node Devices(RF modules) or to the gateway directly.

Sensor

Any device capable of measuring and gathering environmental data in a farm and communicating with the gateway or node-device. This device can be I2C,analog or digital sensor.

Node-device

Any device that can act as node in the smart-farm wireless network. This can be any Zigbee RF module or a zigbee device in the network.

ZigBee RF modules

A radio frequency (RF) module is a small electronic circuit used to transmit and receive radio signals on different frequencies.The RF modules used in this API are from Digi-XBee and they are the XBee3 Through Hole RF Modules.

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Radio module operating modes from Digi-XBee

The operating mode of an XBee radio module establishes the way a user, or any microcontroller attached to the XBee, communicates with the module through the Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) or serial interface.

Depending on the firmware and its configuration, the radio modules can work in three different operating modes:

  • Application Transparent (AT) operating mode
  • API operating mode
  • API escaped operating mode

In some cases, the operating mode of a radio module is established by the firmware version and the firmware’s AP setting. The module’s firmware version determines whether the operating mode is AT or API. The firmware’s AP setting determines if the API mode is escaped (AP = 2) or not (AP = 1). In other cases, the operating mode is only determined by the AP setting, which allows you to configure the mode to be AT (AP = 0), API (AP = 1) or API escaped (AP = 2).