nRF52840 wireless mesh network set up

[Rorisang]

Hi, all. I am in need of serious help. I need to set up a wireless mesh network using the nRF52840 SoC. It must have 9 nodes and be capable of multi-hopping. I need to set up the mesh in a building with obstacles and  each nodes may need to relay packets to other nodes to help with the communications. I also need help with logging the latency and packet delivery ratios. Is it possible to detect the dynamic routing within the mesh?  I am only a beginner and i have done the examples successfully but i simply cannot do the mesh-it seems out of my league for now and so i need help. I have even gone through the You Tube videos but they have no code and mostly show only the 'blinky examples'. Please help. I tried  to contact other developers on the forum who wanted the same solutions but they have not responded and so i decided to contact the general community. Thank you in advance. 

P.S. I am new to this and so please be more plain in your explanations.

[David Edwin]

I assume you used the nRF5x SDK for Mesh ? You need to be specific with the question otherwise it is hard to help. . Get started with the nRF5x SDK for Mesh with the getting started section for Mesh.

Use the documentation and if you have questions, make the question specific and there will be help. It is easier to help if the questions are specific.

[Rorisang]

Hi, David. I hope i will be clearer now.

I am trying to set up a nine router/node wireless mesh network using the nRF52840 SoC. I am stuck in that i do not know how to program the chips so that they can connect to each other and communicate. I have downloaded the SDKs and can only do the easy 'blinky' examples. My knowledge is limited as i have a physics background.

[Rorisang]

My opening up about my background was meant to tell whoever is interested IN HELPING ME, my weaknesses not to intimidate anyone, in case you took it that way since you like imagining so much.

[Rorisang]

I extracted all the SDKs to the C drive. I somehow am missing the nrf_sdm.h file( error is : nrf_sdm.h: No such file or directory). I followed the instructions which say i must extract both the mesh and

nrf5_sdk_for_mesh &
nRF5_SDK_15.0.0_a53641a

files to the same folder. My problem seems to be this procedure. 

[Rorisang]

The nRF5 SDK for Mesh now requires the nRF5 SDK to compile.

This is what the documentation says.

[David Edwin]

Yes, you do need to the nRF5 SDK , extract it and you should be able to compile it. Make sure you extract it at the same folder level as the Mesh SDK.

[Rorisang]

Hi, David. Thanks a lot for the help. I have managed to set up the client, server and provisioner examples on the three boards. I do not know if i did it the correct way:

I copied the (extracted) folders from the Mesh SDK into the (extracted) nRF5 SDK and the code compiled without any errors. I did not have any app. that could extract the two files simultaneously into a single folder and combine them accordingly.

Now, if i may ask, how do i send packets/adverts between 2 or more routers (nRF52840 's)?

[David Edwin]

Is your example now working ? If you press the button on the client , then the lights on the server should light up. You should use the Quick start guide for this.

Then you can use the pyACI interface, the serial interface to mesh and a python script on the PC to play with sending and receiving messages in an interactive way. this is a good way to learn.

Then you can look at the reference API and the example code to understand the C APIs for the Mesh.

Edit (added):

You can use the pre-compiled hex files in bin\merged\ospace\examples to do the serial or other examples

[Rorisang]

My example is not working. When i press the button 1 and 3 on the client only the LED 1 and LED 2 switch on while buttons 2 and 4 switch those off.

When i press button 1 on server, LED1 switches on while button 4 switches on all the LEDs on the server. They blink 3 times and switch off.

What am i doing wrong?

[David Edwin]

Use the Quick start guide to run the mesh first , then the pyaci and then do the examples yourself (links are in my previous post)

[Rorisang]

Done. I have ran through the dimming examples and using RTT viewer i was able to connect to each one of the nodes in succession and send 0/1 to turn on and off  LED1. How do i constantly turn on/off the LED?

[David Edwin]

Have you done the pyACI / serial , they should allow python script control for the Mesh Models so you can send on and off commands in a more programmable fashion.