PyCom alternatives?
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@Don-iot Both the particle Boron and the Challenger RP2040 look interesting. Both MCUs are supported by the standard branch of MicroPython, although the RP2040 port is more evolved, I had seen as well a XBEE LTE board. But XBEE maintains their own somewhat restricted version of MicroPython. In any case, the LTE embedding is to be done.
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@robert-hh Thanks I will look at these. I did receive a message that someone has placed a bid on the Pycom assets, so let us hope they continue the business. I am personally looking for a module I can use as a replacement for GPy that is easy to CE-test and can be sourced for years without interruption.
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@robert-hh didn’t Particle drop support for the first generation boards including the Boron a while ago? I’m surprised they still sell them.
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@jcaron ah no it was just the Xenon and support for Thread Mesh, sorry.
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We (at insigh.io) have also developed a Cellular IoT board (NB-IoT/LTE-M/GSM/GNSS embedded) that runs Micropython and has many power supply options, like battery, solar panel and USB. I believe it could serve the purpose of "smoothly migrating" from Pycom modules.
You can check the tech specs here: https://docs.insigh.io/hardware/insighio-main/
The codebase is open: https://github.com/insighio/insighioNode
Interesting fact: Our first board edition was a Pycom host board (https://docs.insigh.io/hardware/insighio-board-generic/) but then we decided to develop a complete board with an integrated micro-controller as well.
More details can be provided through private communication of course. -
@Don-iot
Nice to hear that there was a bid. If everything goes well, I hope they do a 180° degrees turn on abandoning the older boards and bring at least some of them back. -
We also have some products based on the GPy. We searched the internet for days but could not find a board having all the connectivity the GPy has and which comes with CE and FCC.
As a company we are thinking of creating a GPy clone based around the ESP32-S3. We can design, build and certify it but our volume (+-1k pcs per year) for the products is too low to justify the costs at the moment.
If there is animo we could create a Kickstarter to get some budget for this. You can send it here or to info at dptechnics dot com
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Hi All,
We are preparing to build and fully certify a 100% compatible GPY product based on the ESP-S3 and with a Sequans Monarch modem. Next week things should get shape and the website should be launched. By mid November a crowdfunding will be launched to check if there is enough interest to go through the costly certification process.
Our team is now brainstorming for a new name of the product, any cool ideas here?
Kind regards,
Daan -
@Daan-Pape Ping me when you have a campaign going why not use Nucom as a name
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@Daan-Pape Since you plan to use the ESP32S3 device with built-in USB support, please consider adding a USB connector to your board. Then, an additional USB adapter is not needed any more.
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@Don-iot Me too!
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@robert-hh and @Don-iot we are now talking with suppliers (Espressif and Sequans) and currently our plan is:
- ESP32-S3
- Sequans Monarch 2 (NB-IoT and LTE-M), next generation modem
We have been thinking to drop the multicolor LED and change it to an USB-C connection as we think that the multicolor LED is less important than easy programming. What is your opinion?
We are preparing to create a small website in preparation of the campaign to get as much feedback as possible. Thanks for the 'Nucom' name, we will add it to the list of possibilities.
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@Don-iot Will do, thanks for the feedback!
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@Daan-Pape I’ve never used any of the LTE-modem-equipped Pycom boards, but my understanding is that the relationship with Sequans was not really the most successful ever. Lots of bugs in the firmware, sporadic updates with very little information about the changes, very little public documentation of the AT command set…
It’s difficult to say whose fault (Pycom or Sequans) it was, but it does not inspire a lot of trust.
Aren’t there other providers of LTE modems with a better track record when it comes to documentation and updates?
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@Daan-Pape We have some Gpy based products out there, too.
Who actually produced the Gpy boards? I don't think they were made completely in the Pycom office. These things are usually produced by an asian contractor.So if anyone can dig out the contact information we could order identical Gpys directly there. Even if we include a small licence fee for Pycom that would still be easier than switching to an alternate product - at least for a while.
Setting up a licence agreement with Pycom for an already abandoned product should be a convenient and attractive deal for Pycom. What do you think?
By the way - since the product remains completely unchanged that makes the FCC/CE business unbeatable easy.
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@Elizar You could ask the administrator installed for Pycom. The address is at the Pycom web site.
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@jcaron I completely agree. One of the most annoying problems was, that the GPy sometimes thought, that the data connectivity through the modem was still given, while it was not in fact. In my current project, these events happen only a few times per year, but it is still annoying (Imagine having a fleet and you have to manually power cycle individual GPys....). Only a complete power cycle can fix it in my experience. For more information see this thread @Daan-Pape: https://forum.pycom.io/topic/6831/how-to-handle-a-lte-connectivity-loss?_=1667571587470
Basically with the P-Ch-Mosfet I was able to fix the issue through another device. For normal resets of the GPy (because of Guru meditation errors), I use an Arduino board in my project.
In regards how unstable the whole LTE-M feature thing worked with the GPy and Sequans modem, I have the same concerns. I need 2 additional pieces (Arduino board and P-CH-Mosfet) to make the LTE-M feature of the GPy work stable in the field. With these 2 additions, I've transmitted more than 95 % of my data to my database successfully in the field for 10 months. I was sending data every 5 minutes.
Maybe lte-modems of U-Blox would be an alternative? I don't know personally.
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@Don-iot I also would like a ping. :)
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@SciWax we are aware of the problems with the current LTE implementation and in our design, which we hope to have ready soon, we have done some significant changes to fix the issues:
- We will use the Monarch 2 platform, which holds some significant improvements.
- We will add the possibility to hardware reset the modem using a spare GPIO pin.
- The software will actively check the LTE connection
This should fix all known issues.
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@Elizar our idea is to make a 100% compatible board but with improvements with lessons learned from the current GPy. Also we want to produce in Europe (Belgium and Netherlands) as we have our facilities here.
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