This example shows how LoRa™ can be used to monitor the quality of your surrounding environment.
Measure in- and outdoor air quality, noise levels and temperature to provide stakeholders a dashboard to support their decision making to improve quality of living.

Prerequisites

Hardware

• Sodaq Mbili
• LoRa™ module with antenna
• TPH (temperature, pressure, humidity) sensor
• Air quality sensor
• Light sensor
• Sound level sensor

Software

• AllThingsTalk Maker account; sign up here
• Arduino IDE installed
• AllThingsTalk Arduino LoRaWAN SDK installed
• AllThingsTalk Arduino LoRaWAN RDK installed
• Sodaq Mbili board support in your Arduino IDE; please follow this get started guide

Setup

Hardware

• Attach LoRa™ module & antenna
• Connect air quality sensor to A0/A1
• Connect the light sensor to A2/A3
• Connect noise sensor to A4/A5
• Connect TPH sensor to SCL/SDA (I2C socket)
• Connect Sodaq Mbili to your computer through USB
• Turn power switch ON

Create a device

If you did the basic example on the previous page, your device is already created and ready for use.
If not, please check the create a device section.

Set up sketch

• Connect the Sodaq Mbili to your computer over USB
• Open your Arduino IDE
  • Go to Tools > Board: and select the SODAQ Mbili board
  • Under Tools > Port select the USB port to which your device is connected

• Open the example you want to run. There are two ways to send your data

Enter keys

Enter your device keys similar to how we did in our basic example.

Run the example

Simply hit the upload icon in the Arduino IDE. This will save the sketch, compile it and upload it to your Arduino.

After uploading, you might need to flip the power switch on the Sodaq Mbili OFF and back ON to make sure the Mbili reboots and starts up our sketch.

You can now watch the values change in AllThingsTalk Maker.

Alternatively, you can open the Tools > Serial monitor of the Arduino IDE.

• Make sure you select the correct COM port to listen (under Tools > Port )
• When the monitor is open, make sure the Baud rate is set to 57600

Next steps

Create pinboard

To visualise our date, we will create a pinboard. For more information on pinboards, please check how to use pinboards.

• Select the Pinboards icon in the top left
• Select the New pinboard icon
• Select the Arrange pinboard icon to enter the pinboard edit mode

Now we will pin a control (visual representation) for each of our assets (Loudness sensor, Light sensor, Temperature sensor, Humidity sensor, Pressure sensor and Air quality sensor).

• Select Pin control
• Select your LoRa device and one of the above mentioned assets
• Select an appropriate control for the selected asset. To visualise our data it is best to select either Historical Chart, Line progress or Label as control
• Click Pin control

Repeat this for each of our assets.
For extra options to customise your controls, please check the Controls page.