How to Build & Deploy a Network Using the LoRaWAN® Protocol

Update ThingsBoard Password

1. Open the ThingsBoard UI by browsing to http://THINGSBOARD_IP_ADDRESS:8081, replacing THINGSBOARD_IP_ADDRESS with the IP address of the server running ThingsBoard.
2. Sign in with the default login username tenant@thingsboard.org and password: tenant.
3. Click on the three dots in the top right corner of the screen and choose Security.
4. Enter the Current Password, tenant, and enter a new secure password into the password fields.
5. Click the Change Password button.

Add Your Device to ThingsBoard

To integrate a device on the network server with ThingsBoard and then display the device data on a dashboard, we must first create a device entry on ThingsBoard for each device. This process will generate an access token for the device which must be added into ChirpStack to authorize the integration.

1. Open the ThingsBoard UI by browsing to http://THINGSBOARD_IP_ADDRESS:8081, replacing THINGSBOARD_IP_ADDRESS with the IP address of the server running ThingsBoard.
2. Sign in with the default login username tenant@thingsboard.org and password: tenant.
3. Click Devices in the side menu.

   

   Figure 1: Devices menu item

4. You will see some demo devices listed already; you can safely delete these if you wish.
5. Click on the + button, and then the Add new device button.
6. In the Add new device form which appears, enter a name to uniquely identify this device in the Name field, e.g. Soil Moisture Sensor 1
7. Click the Add button in the bottom right corner of the Add new device form.
8. The device should be added and appear in the list.
9. Click the shield (Manage credentials) icon in the row for your device.
10. Copy the Access Token, referred to later as THINGSBOARD_DEVICE_ACCESS_TOKEN.

    

    Figure 2: The Access token

Create a New Dashboard in ThingsBoard

The dashboard is where you configure a graphical representation of the device’s current moisture reading. ThingsBoard allows you to build multiple dashboards for your devices with a range of pre-built widgets to choose from.

1. Open the ThingsBoard UI by browsing to http://THINGSBOARD_IP_ADDRESS:8081, replacing THINGSBOARD_IP_ADDRESS with the IP address of the server running ThingsBoard.
2. Click Dashboards on the side menu.
3. Click on the + button, and then Create new dashboard.
4. Enter a name for your dashboard into the Title field of the Add Dashboard form, e.g. Moisture Sensor Dashboard.
5. Click the Add button.
6. The dashboard should be added and appear in the list.

Add a Widget to the ThingsBoard Dashboard

ThingsBoard has a large library of widgets you can add to your dashboard. We will configure a simple digital gauge, ranging from 0 to 1000, to display the moisture reading.

Figure 3: Apply Checkmark icon

1. Open the ThingsBoard UI by browsing to http://THINGSBOARD_IP_ADDRESS:8081, replacing THINGSBOARD_IP_ADDRESS with the IP address of the server running ThingsBoard.
2. Click on Dashboards in the side menu.
3. Click on the new Moisture Sensor Dashboard item in the list.
4. Click the Open dashboard button in the pane which opens.
5. Click the edit icon in the bottom right of the screen.

   

   Figure 4: Entering edit mode for the dashboard

6. Click the Entity aliases button as shown.

   

   Figure 5: Entity aliases button on the dashboard in edit mode

7. Click the Add alias button.

   

   Figure 6: ADD ALIAS button

8. Fill out the Add alias form as follows:
   • Alias name: Moisture sensor alias.
   • Filter type: Single entity.
   • Type: Select Device.
   • Device: Select the device name created earlier, e.g. Soil Moisture Sensor 1..

   

   Figure 7: Completed Add alias form

9. Click Add in the bottom right corner of the Add alias.
10. Click Save in the bottom right corner of the Entity aliases form.

    

    Figure 8: Save button

11. Click the + Add new widget button.
12. Select the Digital gauges bundle from the Select widgets bundle list, and then click on one of the gauges.
13. The Add Widget form opens with the Data tab selected. Click the + Add button.
14. In the box which appears, click on the Entity Alias field and select Moisture sensor alias from the drop-down.

    

    Figure 9: Entity alias field set to Moisture sensor alias in the Add Widget form.

15. In the Latest data keys field, the third field from the left, enter: moi, and click the Timeseries icon as shown in Figure 9.

    

    Figure 10: The Timeseries icon.

16. Click the Edit icon.

    

    Figure 11: The Edit icon.

17. Update the Data key configuration form which appears as follows:
    • Key: Enter data_moisture
    • Label: Enter Moisture
18. Click Save.

    

    Figure 12: Completed Data key configuration form

19. Select the Advanced tab in the Add Widget form.
20. Set the Maximum value to 1000, leaving the other fields set to their defaults.

    

    Figure 13: Entering the maximum value

21. Click the Add button in the bottom right hand corner of the Add Widget form.
22. The widget appears on the dashboard. You can drag the bottom-right corner of the widget to increase the size if you wish.
23. Click the Apply (checkmark) icon to apply your changes to the dashboard.

You now have a dashboard with a gauge widget which will display the moisture reading of the end node.