Read remote XBee I/O pin states - arduino

So I thought this would be simple, and I'm new to XBee so it may be, but I want to request a remote XBee to transmit its current I/O pin states to me, whether they be input or output.
Use case: The controller sends state to the XBee and XBee updates to match and then controller goes down. While controller is down, the user at the remote XBee toggles a switch that changes an I/O input pin state. The controller comes back up and needs to know of this change.
How can I request the I/O state from remote routers?
NOTE: Running in API mode

Digi has a useful article in their Knowledge Base about configuring a remote device to send I/O samples on a periodic basis, or when inputs change. You can use ATIR to set a sample rate, or ATIC to configure inputs to monitor for changes. All samples go to the address specified in ATDH and ATDL address registers.
For a one-off sample, you can simply send a remote ATIS command.

Related

specifying connection on ESP8266 with AP and STA modes

I want to try to set up an ESP8266 (using the Arduino IDE) to occasionally connect to a wifi SSID to send telemetry back. I also would really like to be able to have it running a softAP for configuration/settings purposes. (i.e. so if you want to change internal settings in your code, you can connect directly to the device to access a web form to do so)
The problem is, I am not 100% sure how I know which is which when making an outgoing telemetry json query. I want it to go out on the STATION mode connection. Presumably in most cases the AP mode won't be connected, but there may be rare instances where both are connected at the same time. Thus how do I tell the device to specifically use the STA side of things when it needs to send data back over the internet?
I can't even seem to find any specific examples to ask if one or the other is connected. (you can poll WiFi.status() but - which one is it reporting?)
Any help is appreciated

SNMP custom made device ESP8266

my company uses the application PRTG from paessler.com to monitor several SNMP sensors, I need to monitor the voltage of some devices and transmit it to the manager.
I was going to use an ESP8266 programmed via arduino to do it.
So far I've been able to send data to the ESP via UDP, and I configured it in the manager so it can retrieve the information from it and ping it.
The ping tests are successful however the monitoring does not work, by using the serial interface I can see that the ESP is receiving the data from the manager, with the OID that was set up. But the monitor shows it as inactive, I set up the ESP to send a simple string in the response.
When using a program called Packet Sender I am able to send the udp packets and receive the response as well, and everything works fine.
The ports I am using is 161 to receive in the ESP and I made it send to the 161, 123, 1023 as i saw specified in the prtg site
I may be sending the packets trough a port that is not the right one, or maybe I have to put a header before the message so the controller can Interpret it. I am not sure what the error can be. Any help will be apreciated
pretty easy - simply use the http push sensor from PRTG:
https://www.paessler.com/manuals/prtg/http_push_data_sensor
All best
Christian

Using libusb async bulk transfer, device stops receiving if we go idle

I'm writing a Linux program (using Qt 4.8 and libusb 1.0) which will communicate with a custom USB device (currently being programmed by a co-worker).
Step 1 is to have a "heartbeat" going back and forth over USB at regular intervals.
I'm currently using asynchronous bulk transfer.
For testing, I've put my "Send_Heartbeat()" on a button click. If I click on the button a LOT and queue up a number of messages to send, as long as I keep my queue busy, the messages keep sending and my USB device keeps receiving them.
If I stop for a few seconds, then resume and add more messages to the queue, the USB device stops receiving them.
BUT, my program's Transfer Callback DOES return with a transfer status code of 0, indicating success, even though my USB device isn't receiving them.
My questions:
Why does the callback's transfer status indicate success if my USB device appears to have stopped receiving them?
Has anyone heard of this type of behaviour?
It's worth noting that if I disconnect the USB device, I get proper status codes returned in my callback indicating that the device has gone away.
If the USB Device is left connected and running, and I "Detatch" and then again "Attach" to force a re-connection and try sending more test heartbeats, it works! The USB device starts receiving messages again.
My "Detatch" is the following calls:
libusb_release_interface()
libusb_reset_device()
libusb_close()
Then my "Attach" is:
libusb_get_device_list()
libusb_get_device_descriptor()
libusb_open()
libusb_set_configuration()
libusb_claim_interface()
My next step is to narrow down which of the libusb commands is re-establishing the communication.
Meanwhile, I'm hoping someone recognizes these symptoms and has a suggestion.
As it's my first time programming USB communication, I'm wondering if there is some fundamental which I've missed.
Thanks!
The issue is here I guess:
My "Detatch" is the following calls:
libusb_release_interface();
In your detatch, you need to attach kernel driver
detatch_kernel_driver();
libusb_reset_device();
libusb_close();
Then my "Attach" is:
libusb_get_device_list();
libusb_get_device_descriptor();
libusb_open();
libusb_set_configuration();
Here you need to check if the kernel driver is active or not. So,
check what attach_kernel_driver(); returns, and call detatch_kernel_driver(); if needed
libusb_claim_interface();

Check for Serial Port GSM Modem Connection status

I have a GSM ModeM connected to a serial port, and I use it so send SMS upon certain events.
Since it is not Plug-and-Play, I am confused as to how I'll detect its connection status. Win APIs like GetCommState will obviously not work.
I could periodically send packets of data and check whether the data is being consumed or not, but I'm wary about the risks of polling over performance and clogging up the buffers which might be in use.
So, is there any other method, or some interrupt based thing, which I could use to check whether is still connected, via a serial port, to my system?
I'd be grateful for any help on this.
Thanks.
From Windows 7 onwards, use Windows Mobile Broadband API to get information about a GSM modem.
Serial ports are very primitive communication devices, they date from the very early days of computing. It is what you plugged your ASR-33 teletype into to start banging in your Fortran program. The only reason they are still around is because they are simple, hardware vendors like them because they don't have to spend money developing and supporting a custom api to use their device.
Still, even back in the sixties did a computer have a need to find out if a teletype was attached. Which is done through the hardware handshake signals. The DSR signal, Data Set Ready, is turned on by the device when it is powered up. If you use the .NET SerialPort class then you can check that signal with the SerialPort.DsrHolding property. If you use the winapi then use GetCommModemStatus(), MS_DSR_ON flag.
That still only tells you that some device is attached. If you want to find out that it is the modem that you wrote your program for then you can interrogate it with AT commands, a protocol that's specific to modems. No vendor implements this exactly the same way but you can usually count on an identification from the modem with the ATI command. Check the programming manual for the modem for details.

Check if serial port is listening

I have an Arduino sending and receiving instructions with a Python script via a serial port.
The Arduino takes a button state and when it is pushed, it will send a message via the serial port to a Python script and await a response. (via Serial.available()). It works well enough.
However, if the Python script has crashed for whatever reason (ideally it will run in the background, so it can't be easily checked), the Arduino will wait forever and will be unavailable even on a script restart.
Is there a way for my Arduino to check if there is something listening on the serial port? (and alert me with flashing lights, etc. if not) or is this not how serial works? Worst case I guess I could use a timeout, although that is not ideal.
You have a limited ability to detect if there is something listening on the other side by using the DSR/DTR pins.
When you open the serial port on the machine your scripts runs on, it should raise its DTR pin (or you should be able to convince it to do so: the documentation of the library you use to drive the COM port should tell you how).
Then, on your Arduino, you can check its DSR pin (assuming null-modem wiring with handshaking, where the PC DTR pin is wired to DSR+CD on the Arduino) at regular intervals, and handle the 'nobody connected' scenario in any way you see fit.
One problem with this approach is that your PC script may not close the serial port when it crashes/stops responding, leaving the DTR pin enabled as if everything is still OK. Also, your script may simply miss the message from the Arduino due to errors on the serial line.
For that reason, you should always implement a timeout in your receive routines: even if there is a party listening at the other end, there is no guarantee it has received your message (or that its response will reach you intact).
Re-sending the message at least once (assuming DSR is raised) if a timeout occurs makes your protocol more reliable.
The Arduino doesn't use the DSR line or any other handshaking line, so you can't do what you suggest.
I agree with mdb that timeouts are necessary, but would also add that you might want to implement simple challenge/response system that periodically checks if anyone is listening. (I like ircd's Ping-Pong analogy).

Resources