MeshCube First Start

This guide is intended as a step-by-step guide that allows you to correctly install and configure your your first MeshCube system.

The most common case is the one in which the MeshCube SW installation is managed directly by BlueUp on a local PC.
Together with the software the user will also receive:

  • 1 or more TinyGateways
  • some Mesh anchors
  • some Mesh tags

Note: the number and the model of devices can vary based on your project.

Step 1: Power on the TinyGateway

The power on and the first start of the gateway depends on the chosen TinyGateway model:

  • For the TinyGateway WiFi follow the steps described in this guide. The user needs to configure the WiFi connection and reboot the gateway.
  • For the TinyGateway PoE follow the steps described in this guide.
  • For the TinyGateway LTE follow the steps described in this guide. The user needs to configure the LTE connection parameters and configure the WiFi Access Point.

Step 2: Mesh gateway setup

Once that the gateway is correctly connected to the network, it is necessary to connect the gateway to your MeshCube.

  1. Login the MeshCube web interface using default password blueup. Login

  2. Go to the section Gateways.
    At the first start no gateway is connected to the system. Available Gateways

  3. Press Add to search and connect the gateway to the system. Press on Connect button of the coresponding gateway to connect it to the system. Connect gateway

The Gateway is now listed in the Gateways section and starts communicating with MeshCube software.

Connected Gateways

In case the gateway and MeshCube are not in the same network, please follow the connection steps described here.

Step 3: Mesh anchors installation and setup

The next step is the installation and configuration of the Mesh Anchors for the positioning system.

  1. Verify that in Nodes -> Router Nodes section are displayed all the anchors that you have received. It may take some minutes to visualize all the devices. Nodes

  2. Install the Mesh Anchors in the place where the system will be used. For Mesh Anchor installation tips refer to the following guide.

  3. In the Maps menu, click on Create new map in the top-right corner to create a new map.
    Upload the file containing the map. When uploading the map, you will be requested to specify the scale of the map (in pixels/mt). The accuracy of this value is required for maximum accuracy of the localization.
    Create new map

  4. Select Place Sink/Routers on the map in Actions menu, select the Router to place on the map and place it on the map accurately respecting the real anchors position.

Place routers video

Step 4: Mesh tags setup

Mesh Tags are shipped with an Ultra-Low-Power Configuration to avoid useless battery consumption during transportation and storage. For this reason, Mesh Tags are not immediately active and require a preliminary configuration.

The following steps describe the process for configuration and setup of the Mesh Tags.

  1. The configuration can be set from the MeshCube web interface, from Networks Configuration section. Network configuration includes both Mesh Anchors and Mesh Tags.
    Mesh Tags can be of one of two types: Asset Tag (tags suitable for positioning and tracking of assets) or Personal Tag (tags suitable for positioning and tracking of people).
    The default device Classes are defined as follows:

    • F9 - default Anchor class
    • FA - default Asset Tag class
    • FB - default Personal Tag class
    • Other node classes can be defined. Refer to MeshCube User guide for more information. Network Configuration

  2. Edit Edit the Default Configuration to set a properly working configuration. In the following is summarized a suggested default configuration, but the user can change it, based on the needs.

Router node configuration
Sensing interval 5 min
Alerts enable On
Off by position Off
Beaconing Disabled

Router nodes configuration

Non router node configuration (same for both Asset and Personal tags)
Default positioning interval 120 s
Default timeout 600 s
Default autoscan Off
Motion positioning interval 30 s
Motion timeout 60 s
Motion autoscan Off
Alarm positioning interval 15 s
Alarm timeout 60 s
Alarm autoscan Off
Sleep positioning interval 3600 s
Sleep autoscan On
Button enabled On
Alerts enabled On
Accelerometer enabled On
Motion threshold 160 mG
Motion duration 3 s
Advanced accelerometer Disabled
Beaconing Disabled

Non rourer nodes configuration 3. Save Save the configuration and apply Apply the configuration to the nodes of the network. Tag Configuration 4. When Mesh Tags are in Ultra-Low-Power Configuration (first time you receive them) you need to wake them up in order to forward the configuration command. The wakeup procedure varies based on the presence or not of a button on the device:

Mesh Tags without button shake the tag
Mesh Tags with button press the button
5. To check if the Mesh Tags have updated their configuration with the new one, go to Nodes and check the Config column. The Config icon can assume different colours. Wait until all the dvices have a green config icon, that indicates that the configuration has been successfully applied.

In Maps now it is possible to monitor the position of the non router nodes (Tags), evaluated based on the signal strength between tags and anchors.

Tag Positioning