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Testing Mesh Extender 2.0 Build Process with Farouk from INRIA
This week Farouk from INRIA in Lille, France has been visiting, as we discuss the potential for collaboration. It looks like what we are doing with Serval and the Mesh Extenders at the moment will be...
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Mesh Extender 2.0 Exterior and Interior drawings
Just a quick post with some images that have been generated so far during the design process, to give some idea of how the thing will fit together. The exact dimensions and details are likely to have...
View ArticleLooking for ideas for cable and connector parts
I'm currently looking at what to use to build the power cables for the Mesh Extenders.As previously posted, one end has a D-SUB 25 socket. The other end needs to have connectors for:a solar panel and...
View ArticlePotential Mesh Extender Use-Cases: Farms
I was talking with a colleague about our plans for the Mesh Extender in farming, and realised that I couldn't find anything written down about our thoughts in this space, so I am going to fix that...
View Article8-bit implementation of SHA3
We have need of a hash function in the Mesh Extender for the RFD900 radio to verify that the radio regulatory parameters it is loading from the serial EEPROM in the power cable have not been...
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Mesh Extender EEPROM-equiped cable work
One of the novel features of the new Mesh Extender, is that the national radio regulatory parameters will not be stored in the main unit, but rather in the power cable, as I have described...
View ArticleSPI microSD card on Atheros 9k
For the new Mesh Extenders, we want to use a microSD card for bulk storage, instead of a USB memory stick. This is in part because USB draws a lot of power just to run the bus (about 10% - 20% of the...
View ArticleAttaching Serial Numbers
Today I have been researching options for permanently marking Mesh Extenders with serial numbers on the housing, cables and PCBs. This is complicated by the tropical-maritime operating environment,...
View ArticleReading and writing the I2C EEPROM connected to an RFD900
As previously described, for the new Mesh Extender we have an I2C EEPROM for encoding regulatory information, e.g., radio permitted frequency and TX power.Basically, I am building the tools that we...
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Sourcing cables directly from a Chinese manufacturer
I'm still working on the power/radio-regulatory cable for the Mesh Extenders. Fortunately, this process is drawing towards its natural ending.My current challenge is to find suitable UV-stable and...
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The custom IP67 power cables have arrived!
So, just over ten days ago I wrote that a Chinese manufacturer said that they could manufacture and ship the cables we want within ten days, and that I would order some. Today they arrived! Some fun...
View ArticleTeaching the RFD900 about uboot, so that it doesn't interrupt the Mesh...
The Serval Mesh Extenders logically consist of a CPU with a serial port, and an RFD900 radio. Our RFD900 firmware provides a regular heart-beat. This all means that the RFD900 radio, as soon as it...
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Preparing for exercise with NZ Red Cross
For our DFAT Pacific Pilot in Vanuatu, I am getting ready to fly out to New Zealand for a training exercise with NZ Red Cross's IT & Telecommunications Emergency Response Unit (IT&T ERU), with...
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Bringing up the Mesh Extender 2.0 firmware image in NZ
Here in NZ with our friends from the NZ Red Cross IT & Telecommunications Emergency Response Unit (ERU), we are getting ready to use some of the prototype Mesh Extender 2.0s as part of a Red Cross...
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Injection-moulded Mesh Extender cases
It has been a bit delayed with everything going on to report it, but we have the new Mesh Extender prototypes in their shiny injection-moulded cases. Here is Mesh Extender 2.0 serial number #1 (thanks...
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Prototype Mesh Extender Fly-away kit with NZ Red Cross
As part of the exercise in NZ with NZ Red Cross (NZRC), I pulled together the first attempt at a Serval Mesh fly-away kit for humanitarian use by NZRC. The contents will be sure to evolve over time,...
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Initial testing of the new Mesh Extenders with NZ Red Cross in Dunedin
As I have hinted at previously, I went to Dunedin with NZ Red Cross last month to participate in their field exercise there, and to bring the new Mesh Extender prototypes with me for initial...
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First visit to Vanuatu
It has been a rather busy couple of months, so I am only just catching up with sharing what we have been up to. All going well, there will be a burst of posts describing our recent activities.But first...
View ArticleOpenWRT firmware building/installing problem
I'm currently working on the firmware for the Mesh Extenders, and have hit an unexpected problem:Whereas we have previously been able to easily build and flash OpenWRT firmware images onto the Domino...
View ArticleEducation in Emergencies challenge
Just a quick post to say that we have been short-listed in this challenge to find solutions for sustaining education during...
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