Serial interface to interact with an nRF52840 dongle running a mesh stack

[Austen Conway]

Hi,

Can I use the serial interface to interact with an nRF52840 dongle running a mesh stack?

If so is this limited to UART or can the USB connectivity be used?

If any of this is possible are there any pre-built hex files you could point me at.

Thanks in advance

[tesc]

Hi,

For our nRF5 SDK for Mesh we do have a serial interface, that gives you some control over the device, yes. It uses UART. For serial enabled applications, have a look at the serial example. I am afraid we do not have example Bluetooth mesh projects using USB or for the nRF52840 Dongle in general, see the Compatibility section of the nRF5 SDK for Mesh documentation.

Regards,
Terje

[Austen Conway]

Thank  you for your help. Reading the compatibiity table the nRF52840 dongle PCA10059 is not listed. So mesh is not supported on this device?

But this page https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Low-power-short-range-wireless/nRF52840 claims that it is supported. I'm just a bit confused.

Would the interactive python script work, controlling the mesh via the serial interface, if I bought an nRF52840 DK?

Sorry, for these additional questions, but I'm new to working with Nordic products.

[tesc]

Hi,

It should work out-of-the-box with the nRF52840 DK, yes.

For the Dongle, on the other hand, you would not only have to port the example over to a new board, you would also need to change serial transport from UART to USB, for both the serial application running on the nRF and for the Python script. I would definitely go for a DK.

You can make Bluetooth mesh applications, using the nRF5 SDK for Mesh, for any board with the nRF52840 on it, but the SDK comes with ready-made examples only for the boards listed in SDK compatibility documentation.

So while perfectly possible to run a mesh application on the Dongle, it requires more work. We always recommend using a DK for development, as a DK provides more buttons, LEDs, headers for connecting to GPIOs, and also comes with a J-Link programmer on-board. (The DK can also be used to program external boards such as Dongles or custom boards, for development purposes.)

Regards,
Terje