New Custom PCB Arrived
The second iteration of my custom PCB has arrived today, and (assuming it works) I will be building some prototypes around this board to do quite a bit of testing with. In the past couple of weeks, I have made some significant improvements to the software. The bulk of improvements center around multi-channel compatibility and routing. For instance, a ChatterBox device can now communicate with other ChatterBoxes securely over any combination of LoRa, WiFi (UDP multicast), and Wired (a direct serial connection). In the past, I have also had CAN working, but am leaving that code out for now.
This “plug and play” multichannel capability means you could have a certain ChatterBox whose main function is to receive LoRa messages from far away and drop them into your home WiFi, and other ChatterBoxes on your WiFi network will be able to pick them up. Of course, the same could apply for meshing long range LoRa devices with shorter range. The devices use a decentralized algorithm to figure out how to get a message to any device you have, even if it has to hop across LoRa, WiFi, and a physical wire. At some point, a HAM option may be added, but given the multitude of P2P LoRa and WiFi hardware already on the market, the 3 options I already have definitely provide all sorts of potential. It would be extremely simple to add “internet” as a channel and stand up a REST service to handle that, but I don’t want to go there just yet. It will probably be necessary to add for some people, I’d like to really get the decentralized/mesh delivery tuned first. The main point of this project is to be able to communicate securely in an environment when there is no grid, or you simply don’t want to use the grid.
Regardless of how the messages/packets leave your device…whether you typed in the message, a sensor created the message, or it’s a packet your device is holding and forwarding for meshing purposes, each message is encrypted and can safely be transported, even over insecure channels. The recipient (thanks to the digital signature) can be 100% sure you sent and encrypted the message, and no one else read it, even if the message came in packets across all 3 channels. You don’t have to understand encryption or digital signatures to be able to use this device.
