GPS trackers are designed to make asset tracking easier. However, those are sometimes bulky and require a subscription service as they need cellular connectivity. With the advance of IoT and its adoption by the market a new player has come to the board - LoRa GPS trackers.
Enter RAK7200 LPWAN Tracker.
- Compact size
- Robust build quality
- Great range
- Long-lasting battery
Those are all great features, that are becoming less of an innovation and more of the norm for a good tracker nowadays.
So you have gotten your awesome RAK7200 Tracker. You went through the Guide and it is now connected to a LoRaWAN network.
Time to squeeze a little more functionality out of it.
All the functionality is available to configure at your fingertips. Simply use the built-in AT Commands to adjust the behavior of your tracker.
Here are 5 of the most useful ones.
#1. Turning on/off the sensors
at+set_config=device:X:Y
- Compact size
- Robust build quality
- Great range
- Long-lasting battery
Those are all great features, that are becoming less of an innovation and more of the norm for a good tracker nowadays.
So you have gotten your awesome RAK7200 Tracker. You went through the Guide and it is now connected to a LoRaWAN network.
Time to squeeze a little more functionality out of it.
All the functionality is available to configure at your fingertips. Simply use the built-in AT Commands to adjust the behavior of your tracker.
#1. Turning on/off the sensors
at+set_config=device:X:Y
Set a certain sensor’s status.
X: the sensor’s flag
Y: 1 - Enable, 0 - Disable
X: the sensor’s flag
- gps - GPS,
- acc - Acceleration,
- magn - Magnetic,
- gyro - Gyroscope,
- pressure - Pressure,
- voltage - Voltage.
Y: 1 - Enable, 0 - Disable
Purpose
You can use this command to customize the data that is acquired by the sensors, hence the data you will be transmitting. This is great to have so you can tailor the sensor to your particular requirements in order to maximize the gathered data or reduce transmission time to optimize battery life for example.
#2. AT Command
at+get_config=lora:channel
It will return the state of all LoRa channels, then you can see which channel is closed and which channel is open very clearly.
Purpose
This is very useful in the order you need to be able to customize how you use your LoRa bandwidth. Once you have this insight you can proceed to the next command in order to optimize things.
#3. AT Command
at+set_config=lora:ch_mask:X:Y
Turn a certain channel on/off
X: The Channel Number you want to toggle.
Y : 0 - Off , 1 - On
Purpose
Depending on the situation you might want to limit the number of channels available to certain nodes. This can limit interference in some cases. However it can result in lost packets too if there is too much interference already. In short it is a delicate balance and having the freedom to adjust the channels used gives you the power to improve your LoRaWAN network.
#4. AT Command
at+set_config=lora:confirm:X
Set the type of LoRa Frames the node will be sent
X : 0 - Unconfirmed, 1: Confirm
Purpose
A very simple yet very potent configuration option. In some cases having an acknowledgment is essential when you want to be certain there is no data loss. Other scenarios are more tolerant to dropping frames, however, it is important to reduce overall traffic (signaling overhead). Control your node behavior with this command.
#5. AT Command
at+setconfig=lora:send_interval:X:Y
Set the time interval for sending data
X : Enable/disable the mechanism for sending data in intervals. If X is set to 0, the device will not send data automatically. If X is set to 1, the device will send data every Y seconds.
Y : Interval time in seconds. This parameter is only valid if X is set to 1.
Purpose
Last, but not least. An essential parameter to configure in order to maximize battery life, adhere to duty cycle regulations and fair policies. In short control data granularity, which is a must for building good long-term statistics and optimizing network load.
These 5 commands are a must in order to make your RAK7200 Tracker more efficient and robust. Play with them, learn to utilize them to their full capabilities and not only your node will be more efficient, but your whole network more robust and less prone to failure and data loss.
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