Mobile Z-Uno and connection loss

Discussion about Z-Uno product. Visit http://z-uno.z-wave.me for more details.
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dawiinci
Posts: 48
Joined: 14 Oct 2017 10:54

Mobile Z-Uno and connection loss

Post by dawiinci »

If I use a Z-Uno in a robot, that moves around the house. What happens if it loses connection. I see from other devices that they just send out dozens of report when they don't get an ACK. During that time the network can become unstable.

Can I avoid this or is this use case not ideal? I am not sure if the area is covered by my network. With my Keyfob I already found some dark sports.
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PoltoS
Posts: 7565
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

Re: Mobile Z-Uno and connection loss

Post by PoltoS »

First of all, I don't recommend to do moving FLiRS or mains powered device - this will break routes that relies on Z-Uno as a repeater! If you do battery powered Z-Uno (sleeping), it will not be used as a router but will use others (mains) as routers anyway.

When Z-Uno can not reach the destination, it will emit an Explorer Frame packet to initiate network search. Usually this helps to automatically rebuild the route.
dawiinci
Posts: 48
Joined: 14 Oct 2017 10:54

Re: Mobile Z-Uno and connection loss

Post by dawiinci »

That means I can use it in battery mode but never set it to sleep?

Any concerns regarding the network when doing this?
Wouldn‘t it congest the network?

When I had issues to include another device, I saw that others sensors sent data like 10 times. I want to avoid that.
petergebruers
Posts: 255
Joined: 26 Jul 2015 17:29

Re: Mobile Z-Uno and connection loss

Post by petergebruers »

I moved my Z-Uno to a spot with no direct connection to the controller... It did not cause any issues with my network. The test is not very scientific.

I can do a better test, if you want me to do that, but it takes some time and a really careful setup... I can activate my Z-Sniffer and check if the device indeed sends an explorer frame. I also expect it to try, like you say, at least 10 times before it does that. But after the explorer frame, it should have learned a new route so it should be stable the next time I move it to that same spot. Tell me if you want me to do that (but give me some time).

I would indeed set my Z-Uno to battery mode and never send it to sleep. It is not mandatory to send a battery device to sleep. On 2.1.1 I saw a device can wake up from Wake Up Timer event, so it might be possible to save power by using this. I have not yet tried it. Please have a look at "FLIRSHumidity.ino" in the examples directory... It says: "FLiRS" but I think it would apply to a normal battery sketch too.
schmidmi
Posts: 55
Joined: 01 Dec 2016 16:45
Location: Germany (Karlsruhe)

Re: Mobile Z-Uno and connection loss

Post by schmidmi »

I think, a robot which is moving around should be challenge for the network.
Because with respect to the conditions for the Z-wave signal, the device needs several different routes on its way through the house.
dawiinci
Posts: 48
Joined: 14 Oct 2017 10:54

Re: Mobile Z-Uno and connection loss

Post by dawiinci »

The robot will have the same issues as if I'm using a key fob, right?

I just don't want to block my very responsive network by doing so. Actually I'm getting rid of my key fob because it is flooding the network with commands. However, it might also be faulty.

@petergebruers
Thanks for offering additional testing. If it is rather easy for you to test if the response time gets high for other devices, when this happens that would help.

"FLIRSHumidity.ino" sounds interesting, where can I find it? It is not in my example on Arduino.
petergebruers
Posts: 255
Joined: 26 Jul 2015 17:29

Re: Mobile Z-Uno and connection loss

Post by petergebruers »

I have to say... I live in a small house... it won't be a good test. I have a small garden and I only have one "weak spot", meaning a place that does not have a direct connection to my controller. So it is not a good test, my device will find out the additional route in the garden and that's it. Sorry!

The example should be under File, Examples, Z-Uno if you are on 2.1.1, it does not exist on earlier versions.

But you can also find it here:

https://github.com/Z-Wave-Me/Z-Uno-Core ... midity.ino
dawiinci
Posts: 48
Joined: 14 Oct 2017 10:54

Re: Mobile Z-Uno and connection loss

Post by dawiinci »

I found it. IDE was set to Yun, that's why it was not shown.

If that works on battery mode as well that would be nice. But I assume it needs the FLIRS mode. So that it checks regularly if it is time to wake up.

I think I should give this a try.
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