Golioth Cold Chain Tracker Reference Design

The Golioth Cold Chain Tracker monitors temperature and records readings along with GPS location/time data. This is a common use-case for shipping temperature-sensitive goods, providing proof that the cold chain was maintained during transport.

GPS readings can be received as frequently as once-per-second. Each packet of GPS data is combined with temperature/pressure/humidity data and uploaded to Golioth as a historical record using the GPS timestamp. The reference design caches data, so that when the device is out of cellular range, it can still record for later upload.

Business use cases and hardware build details are available on the Cold Chain Asset Tracker Project Page.

This repository contains the firmware source code and pre-built release firmware images.

Supported Hardware

• Nordic nRF9160-DK
• Golioth Aludel Elixir
• Golioth Aludel Mini

Additional Sensors/Components

• u-blox NEO-M9N GNSS module
• Bosch BME280 digital humidity, pressure, and temperature Sensors

Golioth Features

This app implements:

• Device Settings Service
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
• Stream Client
• LightDB State Client
• Over-the-Air (OTA) Firmware Upgrade
• Backend Logging

Settings Service

The following settings should be set in the Device Settings menu of the Golioth Console.

• LOOP_DELAY_S Adjusts the delay between sending reading to Golioth. Each time this delay passes, cached GPS/Temperature readings will be uploaded (along with battery info if applicable).

  Default value is 5 seconds.

• GPS_DELAY_S Adjusts the delay between caching GPS readings.

  Default value is 3 seconds.

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Service

The following RPCs can be initiated in the Remote Procedure Call menu of the Golioth Console.

• get_network_info Query and return network information.

• reboot Reboot the system.

• set_log_level Set the log level.

  The method takes a single parameter which can be one of the following integer values:

  • 0: LOG_LEVEL_NONE
  • 1: LOG_LEVEL_ERR
  • 2: LOG_LEVEL_WRN
  • 3: LOG_LEVEL_INF
  • 4: LOG_LEVEL_DBG

Time-Series Stream data

GPS readings are cached and batch uploaded to gps path on Golioth LightDB Stream based on the LOOP_DELAY_Sdevice setting. Readings are displayed using the timestamp from the NMEA GPS data.

• gps/lat: Latitude
• gps/lon: Longitude
• gps/tem: Temperature (°C)
• gps/pre: Pressure (kPa)
• gps/hum: Humidity (%RH)

{
  "gps": {
    "hum": 45.166992,
    "lat": 43.081867,
    "lon": -89.305275,
    "pre": 98.511703,
    "tem": 27.92
  }
}

If your board includes a battery, voltage and level readings will be sent to the battery path.

Note

Your Golioth project must have a Pipeline enabled to receive this data. See the Add Pipeline to Golioth section below.

Stateful Data (LightDB State)

The concept of Digital Twin is demonstrated with the LightDB State example_int0 and example_int1 variables that are subpaths of the desired and state paths.

• desired values may be changed from the cloud side. The device will recognize these, validate them for [0..65535] bounding, and then reset these values to -1
• state values will be updated by the device to reflect the device's actual stored value. The cloud may read the state endpoints to determine device status. In this arrangement, only the device should ever write to the state endpoints.

{
  "desired": {
    "example_int0": -1,
    "example_int1": -1
  },
  "state": {
    "example_int0": 0,
    "example_int1": 1
  }
}

By default the state values will be 0 and 1. Try updating the desired values and observe how the device updates its state.

OTA Firmware Update

This application includes the ability to perform Over-the-Air (OTA) firmware updates. To do so, you need a binary compiled with a different version number than what is currently running on the device.

Note

If a newer release is available than what your device is currently running, you may download the pre-compiled binary that ends in _update.bin and use it in step 2 below.

1. Update the version number in the VERSION file and perform a pristine (important) build to incorporate the version change.

2. Upload the build/app/zephyr/zephyr.signed.bin file as a Package for your Golioth project.

   • Use main as the package name.
   • Use the same version number from step 1.

3. Create a Cohort and add your device to it.

4. Create a Deployment for your Cohort using the package name and version number from step 2.

5. Devices in your Cohort will automatically upgrade to the most recently deployed firmware.

Visit the Golioth Docs OTA Firmware Upgrade page for more info.

Add Pipeline to Golioth

Golioth uses Pipelines to route stream data. This gives you flexibility to change your data routing without requiring updated device firmware.

Whenever sending stream data, you must enable a pipeline in your Golioth project to configure how that data is handled. Add the contents of pipelines/batch-json-to-lightdb-stream.yml as a new pipeline as follows:

1. Navigate to your project on the Golioth web console.
2. Select Pipelines from the left sidebar and click the Create button.
3. Give your new pipeline a name and paste the pipeline configuration into the editor.
4. Click the toggle in the bottom right to enable the pipeline and then click Create.

All data streamed to Golioth in JSON format will now be routed to LightDB Stream and may be viewed using the web console. You may change this behavior at any time without updating firmware simply by editing this pipeline entry.

Local set up

Important

Do not clone this repo using git. Zephyr's west meta tool should be used to set up your local workspace.

Install the Python virtual environment (recommended)

cd ~
mkdir golioth-reference-design-coldchain
python -m venv golioth-reference-design-coldchain/.venv
source golioth-reference-design-coldchain/.venv/bin/activate
pip install wheel west ecdsa

Use west to initialize and install

cd ~/golioth-reference-design-coldchain
west init -m https://github.com/golioth/reference-design-coldchain.git .
west update
west zephyr-export
pip install -r deps/zephyr/scripts/requirements.txt

Building the application

Build the Zephyr sample application for the Nordic nRF9160 DK (nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns) from the top level of your project. After a successful build you will see a new build directory. Note that any changes (and git commits) to the project itself will be inside the app folder. The build and deps directories being one level higher prevents the repo from cataloging all of the changes to the dependencies and the build (so no .gitignore is needed).

This reference design may be build for the Nordic nRF9160 DK, with the MikroE Arduino UNO click shield to interface the two click boards.

• Position the WEATHER click in Slot 1
• Position the GNSS 7 click in Slot 2

The click boards must be in this order for the GPS UART to work.

Prior to building, update VERSION file to reflect the firmware version number you want to assign to this build. Then run the following commands to build and program the firmware onto the device.

Warning

You must perform a pristine build (use -p or remove the build directory) after changing the firmware version number in the VERSION file for the change to take effect.

$ (.venv) west build -p -b nrf9160dk/nrf9160/ns --sysbuild app
$ (.venv) west flash

Configure PSK-ID and PSK using the device shell based on your Golioth credentials and reboot:

uart:~$ settings set golioth/psk-id <my-psk-id@my-project>
uart:~$ settings set golioth/psk <my-psk>
uart:~$ kernel reboot cold

External Libraries

The following code libraries are installed by default. If you are not using the custom hardware to which they apply, you can safely remove these repositories from west.yml and remove the includes/function calls from the C code.

• golioth-zephyr-boards includes the board definitions for the Golioth Aludel-Mini
• libostentus is a helper library for controlling the Ostentus ePaper faceplate
• zephyr-network-info is a helper library for querying, formatting, and returning network connection information via Zephyr log or Golioth RPC

Have Questions?

Please get in touch with Golioth engineers by starting a new thread on the Golioth Forum.