Introduction

Welcome to the Termite API! You can use our API to get and set hardware information and settings on various sensors, network settings, network.

There are examples in various flavours: Serial Console, C++ , C , C# , and Python! You can view code examples in the dark area to the right, and you can switch the programming language of the examples with the tabs in the top right.

Sense, Create + Control :)

Installing the software

The default firmware streams data from its onboard sensors continously and allows you to make calls to the Termite over serial interface to change settings.

Serial Console

UART Settings

Parameter	Value
Serial Port	/dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART
Baud Rate	115200
Data Bits	8
Parity	none
Stop Bits	1
Flow Control	false

Open your serial console and connect to the Termite with the correct BaudRate (115200). You should see lots of data flowing from the Termite in human readable format in the following order:

Version 1.0 Senses

X,Y,Z,Temperature,Light,Humidity,Proximity,Pressure,Altitude,DewPoint

Variable	Sensor	Description
X	Accelerometer	X axis acceleration
Y	Accelerometer	Y axis acceleration
Z	Accelerometer	Z axis acceleration
Temperature	Environmental	Temperature from Environmental sensor in Celcius.
Light	Optical	Ambient light levels measured in Lux
Humidity	Environmental	Percentage of water vapor present in the air.
Proximity	Optical	Distance measured between 1cm and 13cm.
Pressure	Environmental	Atmospheric pressure

Additional sensor readings for hardware v1.1

X,Y,Z,Temperature,Light,Humidity,Proximity,Pressure,Altitude,DewPoint,Red,Green,Blue

Variable	Sensor	Description
Red	Optical	Red spectrum measurement
Green	Optical	Green spectrum measurement
Blue	Optical	Blue spectrum measurement

Additional sensor readings for hardware v2.0

X,Y,Z,Temperature,Light,Humidity,Proximity,Pressure,Altitude,DewPoint,wq,qx,qy,qz,temperaturelsm

Variable	Sensor	Description
QW	Gyroscope	Quaternion W component
QX	Gyroscope	Quaternion X component
QY	Gyroscope	Quaternion Y component
QZ	Gyroscope	Quaternion Z component
Temperature LSM	Environmental	Temperature from Environmental sensor in Celcius.

Serial Commands

> TMT

Asks device if it is a Termite, returns the hardware version if true as the follwing:

Response: +Termite VERSION:1.0

> CMD

Puts the Termite into 'command mode' allowing you to enter additional commands.

Response: +Termite CMD Mode Active
Response: +OK

The following commands only work once you have entered 'Command Mode' (CMD):

The Termite will only respond to the following two commands when outside of 'Command Mode'

Command	Result
TMT	Ask device if Termite? Returns hardware version if true.
CMD	Enters you into command mode. From here you may run additional commands below.

The following commands are only available once user has entered *'Command Mode'** (CMD)*

Control Commands

> INFO

The above command returns JSON structured like this:

+INFO:

{
"chipid":00000000,
"flashchipid":0000000,
"flashchipsize":4096,
"mac":"00:00:00:00:00:00",
"sname":"DEVICE NAME",
"stype":"SENSOR TYPE",
"prj":"PROJECT NAME",
"user":"USER/OWNER NAME",
"deepsleep":"false",
"interval":"600",
"accelint":"false",
"pirint":"false",
"wifi":"YOUR NETWORK",
"wifipass":"YOUR PASSWORD",
"wifiauto":"true",
"UDP":"127.0.0.1",
"UDPPort":"19992",
"UDPAuto":"true",
"MQTT":"some.mqqt.server.com",
"MQTTPort":"8883",
"MQTTLogin":"YOUR LOGIN",
"MQTTPass":"YOUR PASSWORD",
"lat":"0",
"lon":"0",
"geoaccuracy":"0"
}

These commands are for querying and controlling the Termite.

Command	Result
EXT	Exits command mode
RST	Resets the device
INFO	Returns a JSON array of Termites settings
HELP	Prints out a list of possible commands

Checksum

In order to maintain data integrity the default firmware makes use of CRC32 for error checking. When activated a checksum will be added to the beginning of all outputs.

Command	Result
CRCON	Enables Checksum
CRCOFF	Disables Checksum

Data Format Command

> CSV

Changes the output to the follwing format

-5.83, 0.82, -8.03, 25.33, 217.25, 27.64, 11.45, 101599.55, -0.25, 5.32, 339.24, 37.99, 352.20, 22.19

> TAB

Changes the output to the follwing format

X = -6.01 Y = 0.83 Z = -7.93 Temp = 25.12 Light = 223.00 Humidity = 28.93 Proximity = 11.74 Pressure = 101599.63 Altitude = -0.25 DewPoint = 5.80 Yaw = 340.07 Pitch = 39.66 Roll = 352.37 tempLSM = 21.94

> JSON

Changes the output to the follwing format

{
    "X":"-5.81",
    "Y":"0.81",
    "Z":"-8.10",
    "temperature":"26.26",
    "light":"222.75",
    "humidity":"26.00",
    "proximity":"11.74",
    "pressure":"101602.96",
    "altitude":"-0.25",
    "dewpoint":"5.23",
    "yaw":"339.60",
    "pitch":"35.79",
    "roll":"352.71",
    "tempLSM":"23.11"
}

These commands change the output format from the device. Please note that these settings are not saved and return to the default TAB format when the device is reset.

Command	Returns	Description
CSV	+CSV Output	Comma Seperated Format
TAB	+TAB Output	Tabulated Keyed Format
JSON	+JSON Output	JSON Format

Device Settings

Settings Command

> SETTINGS{"INSERT_JSON_CONTENT_HERE"}END

Here is an example of settings to change your WIFI settings:

{
    "sname":"Termite Name",
    "UDP":"127.0.0.1",
    "UDPPort":"19992",
    "UDPAuto":"true",
    "wifi":"YOUR NETWORK",
    "wifipass":"YOUR PASSWORD",
    "wifiauto":"true"
}

The device has an onboard memory (eeprom) that allows us to write and save settings that will be retained even after reboot or a power cycle.

Command	Result
SETTINGS{}	Device saves settings and exits CMD mode.

Example:

SETTINGS{"sname":"Termite Name","UDP":"18.111.26.196","UDPPort":"19992","UDPAuto":"true","wifi":"YOUR NETWORK","wifipass":"YOUR PASSWORD","wifiauto":"true"}END

Make sure to include SETTINGS before your JSON packet and END afterwards.

Settings Info

The device stores settings in its onboard memory (EEPROM). One must not write to settings unless you absolutely must change the settings. There is a maximum of 100,000 write cycles.

You may read the SPIFFS File system as much as you want. But the best practice is to read this information once when the device starts up and store this information in variables.

The default firmware allows the user to read stored settings. The response is a JSON file. See INFO command

+INFO:{"chipid":00000000,"flashchipid":0000000,"flashchipsize":4096,"mac":"00:00:00:00:00:00","sname":"DEVICE NAME","stype":"SENSOR TYPE","prj":"PROJECT NAME","user":"USER/OWNER NAME","deepsleep":"false","interval":"600","accelint":"false","pirint":"false","wifi":"YOUR NETWORK","wifipass":"YOUR PASSWORD","wifiauto":"true","UDP":"127.0.0.1","UDPPort":"19992","UDPAuto":"true","MQTT":"some.mqqt.server.com","MQTTPort":"8883","MQTTLogin":"YOUR LOGIN","MQTTPass":"YOUR PASSWORD","lat":"0","lon":"0","geoaccuracy":"0"}

Setting Parameters

Parameter	Example	State	Default Value
chipid	00000000	get	NA
flashchipid	0000000	get	NA
flashchipsize	4096	get	NA
mac	"00:00:00:00:00:00"	get	NA
sname	"DEVICE NAME"	get/set	"Device Name"
stype	"SENSOR TYPE"	get/set	"Sensor Type"
prj	"PROJECT NAME"	get/set	"Project Name"
user	"USER/OWNER NAME"	get/set	"User Name"
deepsleep	"false"	get/set	"false"
interval	"600"	get/set	"600"
accelint	"false"	get/set	"false"
pirint	"false"	get/set	"false"
wifi	"YOUR NETWORK"	get/set	"Wifi_Network"
wifipass	"YOUR PASSWORD"	get/set	"Wifi_Password"
wifiauto	"false"	get/set	"false"
UDP	"127.0.0.1"	get/set	"127.0.0.1"
UDPPort	"19992"	get/set	"19992"
UDPAuto	"false"	get/set	"false"
MQTT	"some.mqqt.server.com"	get/set	"some.mqtt.server.com"
MQTTPort	"8883"	get/set	"8883"
MQTTLogin	"YOUR LOGIN"	get/set	""
MQTTPass	"YOUR PASSWORD"	get/set	""
lat	"0"	get/set	"0"
lon	"0"	get/set	"0"
geoaccuracy	"0"	get/set	"0"

Sensor Values

Senses	Range
Pressure	300...1100 hPa
Humidity	0…100%
Temperature	-40…85°C

Sensor Accuracy

Hardware v1:

± 3 % relative humidity - Response time for accurate reading = 1 s

Hardware v2:

± 3 % relative humidity - Response time for accurate reading = 8 s

+/- 15% +/- 15 VOC Gases

Average Current

Hardware Version	Awake + Wifi	Deep Sleep
Version 1	Average = 78mA	40uA to 51.2uA
Version 2	Average = 78mA	160uA to 190uA

Firmware

Firmware files allow us to create different applications from the Termite.

It is important to note that Core firmware is required in order for the Termite to function with the commands in this API and the "Termite Connect" app.

Core firmware file will be titled: Termite_Core_v0.00.bin

Escaping DeepSleep

If the Termite cannot be programmed or is not responding it is possible that the Termite is in Deep Sleep mode

ROS

ROS Termites wrapper was created and maintained by: Yago Lizarribar

Robot Operating System (ROS) is a flexible framework for writing robot software.

This package gets the data sent from Termites and sends it to the ROS system.

How to run the node

You will have to install the serial library for Python: bash user@machine:~$ sudo pip install pyserial

Create a catkin workspace and paste the folder: bash user@machine:~$ mkdir -p catkin_ws/src && cd catkin_ws/src user@machine:~/catkin_ws/src$ git clone https://github.com/yagoliz/Termites_ros.git user@machine:~/catkin_ws/src$ cd .. && catkin_make

If it compiles without errors, open a terminal and start a roscore: user@machine:~$ roscore

On another terminal run: user@machine:~$ rosrun Termites_ros termite_control.py

To check if it's working, you can open a third terminal and run: user@machine:~$ rostopic echo /termite

How to set udev rules for Termites

Hardware/Udev rules are a great tool to organize your peripherals, since they allow you to give them unique symbolic names.

In the case of the Termites, while in this folder, open a terminal and run: bash user@machine:~$ chmod +x setRule.sh user@machine:~$ ./setRule.sh

Once this is done, you can chech that the udev rule was properly loaded by typing in the terminal: bash user@machine:~$ ls /dev/termite /dev/termite (in blue color)