Hello, I want to get into Wisblock. I researched a little bit but am mainly unsure about CPU Module. I need Lora and NB-Iot. Is this parts I listed good for that? Does the Power Module make sense? I want the sensor to be off-grid.
The list is ok, but from the number of modules there is no need to get the Dual IO RAK19011 Base Board. A RAK19010 has 4 sensor slots and 1 IO slot which is sufficient for the RAk5860 cellular module and the RAK1901 temperature module.
For the battery, every cellular module has a high demand on the current when used, a Li-Ion battery with 3200mAh (that is our “standard” we use on most products) will be sufficient.
For the solar panel, maybe the 150x100x45mm variant with solar panel is a solution
I want to test other external sensors like ultrasound, radar, etc. This is why I chose the Dual IO. When do I actually need the Dual IO? Because the IO Expansion Module is more expensive than the Dual IO over Normal
(1) Dual IO Base Board
Ok, now I understand, you will use the pin headers on the Base Board to connect the other sensors. Personally I prefer the RAK13002 module for the second IO slot. It has the GPIO’s, Serial Ports, I2C and SPI on pin headers together with a 3.3V supply that can be controlled by the firmware.
(2) Where did you read that the charger is for Li-Po? It is a Li-Ion charger chip. We suggest Li-Ion batteries. I found this article Can a Lithium-Polymer battery be charged by a Li-ion charger? that suggest it might be possible. But I never tried it.
(3) Core module
MCU
RAK WisBlock name
Advantage
Disadvantage
RP2040
RAK11310
Dual core
No BLE, no low power consumption support in the Arduino BSP’s, no real support for the second core in the BSP’s
nRF52840
RAK4631
has BLE, low power consumption, good support from both Arduino BSP and our own RUI3 BSP, many examples
price
STM32WLE5
RAK3372
lowest power consumption
No BLE, only supported by our RUI3 BSP, small internal flash (limited application size)
Apollo 3
RAK11722
has BLE, low power, price
Only supported by our RUI3 BSP
My personal preference is
RAK3172 if my application is small and fits into the small flash and if I do not need fast IO operations
RAK4631 for everything else, because I prefer to use Arduino BSP
I barely use the RAK11720/RAK11722 Apollo3. It’s power consumption is a little bit lower than the RAK4631, but I am more familiar with the nRF52’s and the community support is much better (examples, guides, documentation)
(2) Because it literally says USB LiPo Solar Power Slot Module
(3) Thank you very much
The NB-IoT Module takes one IO Slot. RAK19010 (Base Board with Power Slot) only has 1. So the RAK13002 (IO Module) wouldn’t fit anymore. If i am correct? So I need the Dual IO, because then I don’t need the IO Module or have 2 IO Slots
Can I connect the solar panel to the power module without plugging in a battery? So it gets power via solar and usb-c? or does this harm the electronics?
Using USB + solar panel as supply is possible, it will not harm the system. But the solar panel alone will not be sufficient to power the system if USB is disconnected. It is only useful to charge a battery.
Thanks.
I want to add a external sensor that needs 10-24V input. How/where would I get that voltage? 3,3v from the base with a step-up? or something different?
