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Getting Started

For which products?

IoTize proposes two main hardware product lines: connectivity Modules (TapNLink) and ready-to- use gateways (Tapioca and TapNPass). Both product lines share an unique software environment:

  • same firmware,

  • same 'Tap Manager' adaptable application,

  • same configuration tools,

  • same environment for mobile applications (App Generator,...).

This Getting Started section is applicable to both product lines, but it often uses the 'TapNLink Primer' as support example. Differences between these product lines will be highligthed when necessary. Depending on what you want to do, we propose different 'Getting Started' guides:

graph TD

  A[Start] --> B{{Module or Gateway?}};
  B -->|Module| C["TapNLink Primer"];
  C --> D[First HMI with Tap Manager]; 
  D --> E[Generate App from Studio];
  B -->|Gateway| F[Tapioca/TapNPass];
  F --> D;
  E --> G(Get Ionic Project and optimize it!);

  click B "https://www.iotize.com/products.html" _blank
  click C "./#tapnlink-primer"
  click D "./#tap-manager"
  click F "./#tapnpass-discover"
  click E "./#tapnlink-modules"
  click G "./#going-further"
  style B fill:#22f,stroke:#0,color:#fff
  style C fill:#22f,stroke:#0,color:#fff
  style D fill:#22f,stroke:#0,color:#fff
  style E fill:#22f,stroke:#0,color:#fff
  style F fill:#22f,stroke:#0,color:#fff
  style G fill:#2f2,stroke:#0,color:#0
For what uses?

The TapNLink modules can be used for several purposes:

  1. as an inferface between a mobile application and a device (target) that you want to modify/monitor (Human Machine Interface on mobile).

  2. as an inferface between a remote application (on the 'Cloud') and this target device.

  3. as a processor board that manages sensors/actuators.

At a first step, we will focus on the first functionality: how to create a mobile App to control an electronic system.

We recommend that you start by looking at our demonstration which uses the Primer kit's Target board instead of your own device. The STM32 Sensor Demo application is pre-programmed in the IoTize Primer kit target board and is used in the Getting Started examples. To discover this kit:

Primer kit

  1. Open the Demonstration interface. This page will show you how to connect your tap and how to use it.
  2. If you have an Apple device checkout how its behaviour differs from Androids when using IoTize products.
  3. Then follow the discovery path for your Tap, described in dedicated sections below.

Once the software required by the discovery path is installed/setup, app creation takes literally 2 minutes !

The manuals, "How to" guides and demo videos will be useful later to customize your app. In particular this video explains how to modify/monitor your own device.

Getting Started with Tap Manager

Before creating a dedicated mobile App, we will now discover how the universal 'Tap Manager' mobile application allows to create a customized HMI:

Balance car on Tap Manager Sensor Demo on Tap Manager Balance car on TapManager

Tap Manager is a powerful application available for both Android and iOS that can be adapted to provide a graphical HMI for your electronic device. We recommend to start with Tap Manager before generating your own Application.

After having created your first HMI by adapting Tap Manager, the following sections will guide you to generate your own Mobile Application. They also target more specifically the different types of devices IoTize offers:

NBW

NFC/BLE/WiFi (TnL-PRIMER-NBW & TnL-FIW103/FIW113)

  1. Flyer & Quick start for an optional overview.

  2. Publish HTML pages for Tap Manager in 5 minutes

  3. Generate a standalone branded app (APK) in 15 minutes.

NB

NFC, BLE (TnL-PRIMER-NB, TnL-FIR103/FIR203)

  1. Flyer & Quick start for an optional overview.

  2. Create an app in 5 minutes.

NFC

NFC only (TnL-FIT203)

There is no specific Primer Kit including the TnL-FIT20x module. The NFC only TapNLink discovery path is the same as that of the NFC/WiFi or the NFC/BLE TapNLink (above), with these specific features.

Note: The TapNLink API is unique, whatever the wireless incoming protocol selected. Therefore, a mobile App developed for a specific module should work with another module (with the limitation of the wireless protocols availability).

TapNPass and Tapioca gateways

The TapNPass wireless adapters embed a TapNLink module. Therefore, these Getting Started guides are generally relevant except the imported variables are issued from ELF files for a standard TapNLink and generally from a CSV file (when Modbus is used) for TapNPass/Tapioca:

  1. Flyer & Quick start TnP-NSR103 (Nomad) or Quick start TnP-FSR103 (Fixed) for an optional overview.
  2. Get Started: Run Toolbox App using Serial or Modbus, and modify the configuration

There are several Tapioca models that depend on the type of the target (wire) connection. When TapNPass supports "USB (host mode) and RS485 and RS232", Tapioca supports only one of these wire connections (and only 'device mode' for USB). Typically, there is one model Tapioca-232 and another Tapioca-485. The first contains an unique RS232 driver, and the second an unique RS485 driver.

Therefore, for the user's point of view, TapNPass and Tapioca-xxx are quite similar. However, if we look at the structure, Tapioca is closer to TapNLink because it does not embed any other microcontroller, but the TapNLink module with a simple serial transceiver. Firmware for TapNLink and Tapioca are common and 100% compatible whilst the TapNPass requires two firmware packages: one for the embedded TapNLink module and one for the wire-communication board.

When you create a new project in Studio, you can specify the product you will use. For Tapioca, you will have to select the exact reference of your model. In general, the impact on the configuration is not so important (except for the ethernet version).

Due to its similarities to both the TapNLink and TapNPass, the 'Getting Started' guides are again generally relevant for the Tapioca.

However, here is a specific guide on how to use the Tapioca's capability to act as a Modbus slave device:

Get Started: Configure the Tapioca as a Modbus Slave device

Examples

You will find various examples on this site: https://support.iotize.com. Both the schematics and the associated configuration/Java files are provided.

Going further

After playing with the demo project, you should be interested by designing your own application. We recommend to read first the following sections:

Title Description
Target protocols To decide how to connect your electronic (the 'target') to a TapNLink module.
Different protocols and different topologies are available.
RF Incoming protocols To decide which module to use in your specific case.
Java In case you don't have a MCU on your board, or if you wish to send alarms/data to the Cloud.
IoTize Studio To make your own configuration from scratch.
App generator To generate your branded mobile Apps.