Possible to make an RPi3 as a Mesh proxy client/server?

[Matthew K]

Hi, there~ Nordic's Mesh SDK is fascinating! I was thinking of a way how to connect the Internet with Nordic's Mesh devices.

From the web, you might have seen these types of diagrams, explaining wireless testbeds. I always imagined placing nodes, which might be nRF-DKs using the Mesh SDK, just like the described picture. However, those nodes use only Bluetooth Mesh so there is no Internet connection unless I connect DKs with USB cables to a network switch or router.

So I thought how about using the Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi 3) as a proxy node!?!? The RPi3 supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Looks like there are no HW/SW supports for RPi's Bluetooth Mesh, yet. Also, most people expect that there will be no RPi 4 until the year 2019. Instead of waiting, I thought it would be great to configure the RPi 3 as a proxy node! After connecting the RPi 3 with a nRF-DK, it will be great to send Wi-Fi data to reach the Internet!

I think a proxy example is not ready in Mesh SDK 0.10.1. Will I able to test a proxy node in the future using Nordic's Mesh SDK, nRF-DKs, and RPi 3? Or what about combining the Nordic's IoT SDK (MQTT, CoAP, etc) since my imaginary model uses the RPi? I hope I'm not gibbering something ludicrous. Thanks for reading this!

[Bjørn Kvaale]

Nice illustrations! Have you taken a look at the Nordic Thingy:52 plus Raspberry Pi demos? In the demos, a Raspberry Pi is used as a gateway to connect the Thingy:52 to the Internet. Here's also a great blogpost that might be helpful. I would suggest taking a look at the infocenter too. Let me know if that helps or if you have other questions regarding this case. :)