Thingy:53: Zigbee weather station
The Zigbee weather station is an out of the box application for the Nordic Thingy:53 based on the Zigbee protocol. It allows you to build a weather station that remotely gathers different kinds of data using Thingy:53 sensors, such as temperature, air pressure, and relative humidity. The device works as a Zigbee device, meaning it can be paired and controlled remotely over a Zigbee network. You can use this application as a reference for creating your own application.
Requirements
The application supports the following development kits:
Hardware platforms |
PCA |
Board name |
Build target |
|---|---|---|---|
PCA20053 |
|
To commission the Zigbee weather station device and control it remotely through a Zigbee network, you also need to program a Zigbee network coordinator on a separate compatible development kit. The Zigbee network coordinator forms the network that the weather station node will join and share its measurement data with. You can use one of the following options to set up the Zigbee network coordinator:
For Testing purposes, program the Zigbee shell as the network coordinator to be able to use the interactive shell for readings and bindings. Read the sample documentation for more information.
For generic usage of the application, you can use the standard Zigbee network coordinator.
To program a Thingy:53 device from which the preprogrammed MCUboot bootloader has been erased, you need an external J-Link programmer. If you have an nRF5340 DK that has an onboard J-Link programmer, you can also use it for this purpose.
If the Thingy:53 device is programmed with a Thingy:53-compatible sample or application, you can also update the firmware using MCUboot’s serial recovery or DFU over Bluetooth LE. See Thingy:53 application guide for details.
For capturing packets while testing, you can use nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 with Wireshark configured for Zigbee.
Overview
The Zigbee weather station application acts as a Zigbee Sleepy End Device. During startup, it initializes Thingy:53’s built-in sensor and starts periodic data readouts of temperature, pressure, and relative humidity. Each readout is followed by an update of Zigbee Cluster Library (ZCL) attributes associated with measurements. Attributes can be accessed over the Zigbee network according to the ZCL specification, that is a given attribute can be read out at any given time on demand or a binding can be created for periodic notifications.
Zigbee weather station build types
The Zigbee weather station application does not use a single prj.conf file.
Configuration files are provided for different build types and they are located in the configuration/thingy53_nrf5340_cpuapp directory.
The prj.conf file represents a debug build type.
Other build types are covered by dedicated files with the build type added as a suffix to the prj part, as per the following list.
For example, the release build type file name is prj_release.conf.
If a board has other configuration files, for example associated with partition layout or child image configuration, these follow the same pattern.
When the CONF_FILE variable contains a single file and this file follows the naming pattern prj_<buildtype>.conf, then the build type will be inferred to be <buildtype>.
The build type cannot be set explicitly.
The <buildtype> can be any string, but it is common to use release and debug.
For information about how to set variables, see Important Build System Variables in the Zephyr documentation.
The Partition Manager’s static configuration can also be made dependent on the build type.
When the build type has been inferred, the file pm_static_<buildtype>.yml will have precedence over pm_static.yml.
The child image Kconfig configuration can also be made dependent on the build type.
The child image Kconfig file is named <child_image>.conf instead of prj.conf, but otherwise follows the same pattern as the parent Kconfig.
Before you start testing the application, you can select one of the build types supported by the Zigbee weather station application, depending on the building method. This application supports the following build types:
debug- Debug version of the application. You can use this version to enable additional features for verifying the application behavior, such as logs.release- Release version of the application. You can use this version to enable only the necessary application functionalities to optimize its performance.
Note
Selecting a build type is optional.
The debug build type is used by default if no build type is explicitly selected.
Logging in the debug build type
In the debug build type, the application also uses serial console over USB for logging.
Besides initialization logs, the following sets of measurement-related data are logged after measurements update:
Values measured by sensor. For example:
[00:20:06.458,770] <inf> app: Sensor T: 26.760000 [*C] P: 96.723000 [kPa] H: 23.178000 [%]
Values set as corresponding ZCL attributes (transformed according to specification). For example:
[00:20:06.458,801] <inf> app: Attributes T: 2676 P: 967 H: 2317
OTA and DFU
Note
Zigbee FOTA is not yet supported for this application. See the Limitations section on the Zigbee FOTA library page.
User interface
- LED (LD1):
Shows the overall state of the device and its connectivity. The following states are possible:
releasebuild typeEven flashing (red color, 500ms on/500ms off) - The device is in the Identify mode (after network commissioning).
debugbuild typeConstant light (blue) - The device is connected to a Zigbee network.
Even flashing (red color, 500ms on/500ms off) - The device is in the Identify mode (after network commissioning).
Note
Thingy:53 allows you to control RGB components of its single LED independently. This means that the listed color components can overlap, creating additional color effects. For example, LED (LD1) can indicate that the device is connected to a Zigbee network in blue, but if the device goes into the Identify mode at the same time, the flashing to indicate this will be purple, not red.
- Power switch (SW1):
Used for switching Thingy:53 on and off.
- Button (SW3):
Depending on how long the button is pressed:
If pressed for less than five seconds, it starts or cancels the Identify mode.
If pressed for five seconds, it initiates the factory reset of the device. The length of the button press can be edited using the
CONFIG_FACTORY_RESET_PRESS_TIME_SECONDSKconfig option from Zigbee application utilities. Releasing the button within this time does not trigger the factory reset procedure.
Additionally, pressing the button shortly or releasing it before five second has elapsed indicates user input, which allows a Sleepy End Device to start the network rejoin procedure if it was previously stopped (for example, after timeout).
- USB port:
Used for getting logs from the device. It is enabled only for the debug configuration of the application. See the Selecting a build type section to learn how to select the debug configuration.
Configuration
See Configuring your application for information about how to permanently or temporarily change the configuration.
Readout configuration options
The following application-specific Kconfig option values can be set to custom values:
- CONFIG_FIRST_WEATHER_CHECK_DELAY_SECONDS - Delay after application initialization
This configuration option defines the delay from the moment of the application initialization to the first sensor data readout. The value is provided in seconds, with the default value set to
5.
- CONFIG_WEATHER_CHECK_PERIOD_SECONDS - How often sensor data is read
This configuration option defines the period of cyclic sensor readouts after the first readout. The value is provided in seconds, with the default value set to
60.
Building and running
This sample can be found under applications/zigbee_weather_station in the nRF Connect SDK folder structure.
To build the sample with Visual Studio Code, follow the steps listed on the How to build an application page in the nRF Connect for VS Code extension documentation. See Building and programming an application for other building and programming scenarios and Testing and debugging an application for general information about testing and debugging in the nRF Connect SDK.
Selecting a build type
Before you start testing the application, you can select one of the Zigbee weather station build types, depending on your building method.
Selecting a build type in Visual Studio Code
To select the build type in the nRF Connect for VS Code extension:
When building an application as described in the nRF Connect for VS Code extension documentation, follow the steps for setting up the build configuration.
In the Add Build Configuration screen, select the desired
.conffile from the Configuration drop-down menu.Fill in other configuration options, if applicable, and click Build Configuration.
Selecting a build type from command line
To select the build type when building the application from command line, specify the build type by adding the following parameter to the
west buildcommand:-- -DCONF_FILE=prj_selected_build_type.conf
For example, you can replace the selected_build_type variable to build the release firmware for thingy53_nrf5340_cpuapp by running the following command in the project directory:
west build -b thingy53_nrf5340_cpuapp -d build_thingy53_nrf5340_cpuapp -- -DCONF_FILE=prj_release.conf
The build_thingy53_nrf5340_cpuapp parameter specifies the output directory for the build files.
Note
If the selected board does not support the selected build type, the build is interrupted.
For example, if the shell build type is not supported by the selected board, the following notification appears:
File not found: ./ncs/nrf/applications/zigbee_weather_station/configuration/thingy53_nrf5340_cpuapp/prj_shell.conf
Testing
- Preliminary testing information
The testing procedure assumes you are using the
debugbuild type, as it provides more feedback with LED (LD1) and logs through the USB console. The steps related to thedebugbuild type are marked as “Optionaldebugbuild type step”. These steps are not required when using thereleasebuild type.The provided measurement data values depend on the Thingy:53 device’s surrounding conditions.
After programming the application, perform the following steps to test the Zigbee weather station application on the Thingy:53 device:
If you want to capture packets with Wireshark, install nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 and configure Wireshark for use with Zigbee. This is an optional step. However, Wireshark response frame examples are provided below for reference.
Connect the device to the computer using a USB cable. The device is assigned a COM port (Windows) or ttyACM device (Linux), which is visible in the Device Manager. The connection is needed for gathering logs from the Zigbee weather station application. This is an optional
debugbuild type step.Turn on the Zigbee shell sample programmed as the network coordinator to one of the compatible development kits. See the Testing section of the sample to learn how to set it up to work as a coordinator. Once turned on, the network coordinator forms the network and opens it for other devices to join for 180 seconds.
Turn on the Thingy:53 device. The application tries to join the Zigbee network automatically.
Connect to the device with a terminal emulator (for example, PuTTY). See How to connect with PuTTY for the required settings. When the connection is established, initialization logs start to appear in the console. They can look like the following:
[00:00:02.027,435] <inf> app: Starting... [00:00:02.027,526] <inf> app: Initializing sensor... [00:00:02.027,526] <inf> app: Initializing sensor...OK [00:00:02.027,862] <inf> app: Starting...OK
After around 5 seconds after the initialization, periodic sensor readouts and attribute setting logs start to appear in the console. They will look similar to the following one:
[00:00:07.013,793] <inf> app: Sensor T: 23.470000 [*C] P: 98.347000 [kPa] H: 33.344000 [%] [00:00:07.013,824] <inf> app: Attributes T: 2347 P: 983 H: 3334 [00:01:07.002,777] <inf> app: Sensor T: 23.520000 [*C] P: 98.344000 [kPa] H: 33.485000 [%] [00:01:07.002,807] <inf> app: Attributes T: 2352 P: 983 H: 3348 [00:02:06.966,003] <inf> app: Sensor T: 24.360000 [*C] P: 98.344000 [kPa] H: 32.410000 [%] [00:02:06.966,033] <inf> app: Attributes T: 2436 P: 983 H: 3241
Note
These logs appear regardless of whether the device has joined the network.
When the device joins the network, LED (LD1) lights up with a constant blue color. Additionally, with the
debugbuild type and console used for logging, output similar to the following appears:[00:00:02.029,174] <inf> zigbee_app_utils: Zigbee stack initialized [00:00:02.035,003] <inf> zigbee_app_utils: Device started for the first time [00:00:02.035,003] <inf> zigbee_app_utils: Start network steering [00:00:02.035,064] <inf> zigbee_app_utils: Started network rejoin procedure. [00:00:05.637,512] <inf> zigbee_app_utils: Joined network successfully (Extended PAN ID: f4ce3655fc08bf6b, PAN ID: 0xbf9e)
Note
As timestamps in this snippet indicate, these logs are likely to appear before the periodic sensor or attribute logs.
Read the weather attributes from the development kit programmed with the Zigbee shell sample (the network coordinator):
Run the following command to read the temperature attribute:
uart:~$ zcl attr read 0x1ca9 42 0x0402 0x0104 0x0000
In this command:
0x1ca9is the short network address of Thingy:53.42is the endpoint number for aggregating the clusters.0x0402is the temperature cluster ID.0x0104is the Zigbee Home Automation profile ID.0x0000is the short network address of the coordinator device.
The output will be similar to the following one:
ID: 0 Type: 29 Value: 2394Here, the value
2394means 23.94 degrees Celsius. In Wireshark, the corresponding response frame for this output looks like as follows:ZigBee HA 2298 4756.825525 0x1ca9 0x0000 0x1ca9 0x0000 f4:ce:36:23:d7:4e:77:1d f4:ce:36:55:fc:08:bf:6b 0xbf9e ZCL: Read Attributes Response, Seq: 0 Frame 2298: 68 bytes on wire (544 bits), 68 bytes captured (544 bits) IEEE 802.15.4 Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Network Layer Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Application Support Layer Data, Dst Endpt: 64, Src Endpt: 42 ZigBee Cluster Library Frame, Command: Read Attributes Response, Seq: 0 Frame Control Field: Profile-wide (0x18) Sequence Number: 0 Command: Read Attributes Response (0x01) Status Record Attribute: Measured Value (0x0000) Status: Success (0x00) Data Type: 16-Bit Signed Integer (0x29) Measured Value: 23.94 [°C]Run the following command to read the pressure attribute:
uart:~$ zcl attr read 0x1ca9 42 0x0403 0x0104 0x0000
Compared with the previous command,
0x0403in this command represents for the pressure cluster ID. The output will be similar to the following one:ID: 0 Type: 29 Value: 984Here, the value
984means 98.4 kPa. In Wireshark, the corresponding response frame for this output looks like as follows:ZigBee HA 2608 5396.494835 0x1ca9 0x0000 0x1ca9 0x0000 f4:ce:36:23:d7:4e:77:1d f4:ce:36:55:fc:08:bf:6b 0xbf9e ZCL: Read Attributes Response, Seq: 1 Frame 2608: 68 bytes on wire (544 bits), 68 bytes captured (544 bits) IEEE 802.15.4 Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Network Layer Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Application Support Layer Data, Dst Endpt: 64, Src Endpt: 42 ZigBee Cluster Library Frame, Command: Read Attributes Response, Seq: 1 Frame Control Field: Profile-wide (0x18) Sequence Number: 1 Command: Read Attributes Response (0x01) Status Record Attribute: Measured Value (0x0000) Status: Success (0x00) Data Type: 16-Bit Signed Integer (0x29) Measured Value: 98.4 [kPa]
Run the following command to read the relative humidity attribute:
uart:~$ zcl attr read 0x1ca9 42 0x0405 0x0104 0x0000
Compared with the previous command,
0x0405in this command stands for the relative humidity cluster ID. The output will be similar to the following one:ID: 0 Type: 21 Value: 3293Here, the value
3293means a humidity reading of 32.93%. In Wireshark, the corresponding response frame for this output looks like as follows:ZigBee HA 3014 6241.372769 0x1ca9 0x0000 0x1ca9 0x0000 f4:ce:36:23:d7:4e:77:1d f4:ce:36:55:fc:08:bf:6b 0xbf9e ZCL: Read Attributes Response, Seq: 2 Frame 3014: 68 bytes on wire (544 bits), 68 bytes captured (544 bits) IEEE 802.15.4 Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Network Layer Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Application Support Layer Data, Dst Endpt: 64, Src Endpt: 42 ZigBee Cluster Library Frame, Command: Read Attributes Response, Seq: 2 Frame Control Field: Profile-wide (0x18) Sequence Number: 2 Command: Read Attributes Response (0x01) Status Record Attribute: Measured Value (0x0000) Status: Success (0x00) Data Type: 16-Bit Unsigned Integer (0x21) Measured Value: 32.93 [%]
Create bindings for periodic notifications using the development kit programmed with the Zigbee shell sample (the network coordinator):
Run the following commands to create the bindings for each weather attribute:
Temperature cluster binding:
uart:~$ zdo bind on f4ce3623d74e771d 42 f4ce3655fc08bf6b 64 0x0402 0x1ca9
In this command:
f4ce3623d74e771dis the long network address of Thingy:53.42is the endpoint number for aggregating the clusters.f4ce3655fc08bf6bis the long network address of the network coordinator device.64is the endpoint number of the network coordinator device.0x0402is the temperature cluster ID.0x1ca9is the short network address of Thingy:53.
Pressure cluster binding:
uart:~$ zdo bind on f4ce3623d74e771d 42 f4ce3655fc08bf6b 64 0x0403 0x1ca9
Compared with the previous command,
0x0403in this command stands for the pressure cluster ID.Relative humidity cluster binding:
uart:~$ zdo bind on f4ce3623d74e771d 42 f4ce3655fc08bf6b 64 0x0405 0x1ca9
Compared with the previous command,
0x0405in this command stands for the relative humidity cluster ID.
Observe periodic reports in Wireshark for the respective clusters:
Temperature cluster periodic report will look like as follows:
ZigBee HA 3882 7705.599377 0x1ca9 0x0000 0x1ca9 0x0000 f4:ce:36:23:d7:4e:77:1d f4:ce:36:55:fc:08:bf:6b 0xbf9e ZCL: Report Attributes, Seq: 128 Frame 3882: 67 bytes on wire (536 bits), 67 bytes captured (536 bits) IEEE 802.15.4 Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Network Layer Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Application Support Layer Data, Dst Endpt: 64, Src Endpt: 42 ZigBee Cluster Library Frame, Command: Report Attributes, Seq: 128 Frame Control Field: Profile-wide (0x08) Sequence Number: 128 Command: Report Attributes (0x0a) Attribute Field Attribute: Measured Value (0x0000) Data Type: 16-Bit Signed Integer (0x29) Measured Value: 24.26 [°C]Pressure cluster periodic report will look like as follows:
ZigBee HA 3888 7705.727682 0x1ca9 0x0000 0x1ca9 0x0000 f4:ce:36:23:d7:4e:77:1d f4:ce:36:55:fc:08:bf:6b 0xbf9e ZCL: Report Attributes, Seq: 129 Frame 3888: 67 bytes on wire (536 bits), 67 bytes captured (536 bits) IEEE 802.15.4 Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Network Layer Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Application Support Layer Data, Dst Endpt: 64, Src Endpt: 42 ZigBee Cluster Library Frame, Command: Report Attributes, Seq: 129 Frame Control Field: Profile-wide (0x08) Sequence Number: 129 Command: Report Attributes (0x0a) Attribute Field Attribute: Measured Value (0x0000) Data Type: 16-Bit Signed Integer (0x29) Measured Value: 98.4 [kPa]
Relative humidity cluster periodic report will look like as follows:
ZigBee HA 3894 7705.856763 0x1ca9 0x0000 0x1ca9 0x0000 f4:ce:36:23:d7:4e:77:1d f4:ce:36:55:fc:08:bf:6b 0xbf9e ZCL: Report Attributes, Seq: 130 Frame 3894: 67 bytes on wire (536 bits), 67 bytes captured (536 bits) IEEE 802.15.4 Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Network Layer Data, Dst: 0x0000, Src: 0x1ca9 ZigBee Application Support Layer Data, Dst Endpt: 64, Src Endpt: 42 ZigBee Cluster Library Frame, Command: Report Attributes, Seq: 130 Frame Control Field: Profile-wide (0x08) Sequence Number: 130 Command: Report Attributes (0x0a) Attribute Field Attribute: Measured Value (0x0000) Data Type: 16-Bit Unsigned Integer (0x21) Measured Value: 32.99 [%]
Dependencies
This sample uses the following nRF Connect SDK libraries:
Zigbee subsystems:
zb_nrf_platform.h
This sample uses the following sdk-nrfxlib libraries:
ZBOSS Zigbee stack 3.11.2.0 (API documentation)
addons/zcl/zb_zcl_temp_measurement_addons.h
In addition, it uses the following Zephyr libraries:
include/device.hinclude/drivers/sensor.hinclude/drivers/uart.hinclude/usb/usb_device.hinclude/zephyr.h