Introduction
This Tool is a Node-RED node developed by the NCD IoT Team based on the Node-RED tool and the new Dashboard 2.0 framework. It allows you to visualize the data provided by NCD sensors in a DigiMesh network, including Address, Counter, Type, mode, Battery percentage, RSSI (DigiMesh), sensor data, and the date and time of the last incoming message in an intuitive way.
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Requirements
Before you begin using the NCD-Dashboard, you’ll need to have the following software installed:
- Node-RED
- @ncd-io/node-red-enterprise-sensors Library
- @flowfuse/node-red-dashboard
Node-RED
Node-RED, is a visual programming tool, It provides a browser-based editor that allows creating applications by wiring predefined black box functions (nodes) . Despite its technical nature, Node-RED offers a user-friendly interface. Node-RED is an open-source project under the OpenJS Foundation. This means it’s free to use, without any monthly subscription fees. You can install and run Node-RED locally on your PC, or, in the case of our Enterprise IIoT Gateway, it comes pre-installed and runs as a service.
NCD Enterprise Sensor Library
This library handles communication to, and configuration of, the NCD Wireless Sensor Line. It can be used in conjunction with Node-RED to create and manage a Wireless Sensor Network using the Node-RED flow-based development tool on any platform.
Source: https://flows.nodered.org/node/@ncd-io/node-red-enterprise-sensors
FlowFuse Dashboard 2
FlowFuse Dashboard 2.0 is an easy to use collection of nodes for Node-RED that allows you to create data-driven Dashboards & data visualizations. Installation procedure is similar to the previous one, FlowFuse’s Node-RED Dashboard 2.0 is also available in the Node-RED Palette Manager.
Installation Procedure
Step 1.- Open the menu in the top-right of Node-RED, then Click “Manage Palette”:
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Step 2.- Switch to the “Install” tab, Search “@flowfuse/node-red-dashboard”, Install the package:
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Step 3.- You must confirm the installation by clicking on the Install button in the pop-up window.
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Step 4.- You will see a list of the dashboard 2 nodes that have been installed.
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Step 5.- In workspace you can see the available nodes in the nodes palette, as shown in the following image:
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See the following GIF for a visual demonstration of the installation process:
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Importing Node
After successfully installing Dashboard 2.0, you’re ready to import the NCD UI Sensor Monitor. The process is straightforward, but be sure to follow these steps carefully:
Copy the JSON: Locate the “ncd-ui-sensor-monitor” JSON file.
Import the JSON: Within Node-RED, use the import function to bring in the copied JSON file.
This will import the NCD Dashboard elements into your Node-RED workspace, allowing you to visualize and interact with your NCD sensor data.
Copy JSON File
Go to “https://github.com/ncdcommunity/ncd-nodered-ui-sensor-monitor/blob/main/Node-RED/ncd-ui-sensor-monitor.json“. Then click on “Copy raw file” button.
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Import NCD Node
With the NCD Dashboard source code copied, head back to the Node-RED node editor and follow these next steps carefully.
- Go to the Main Menu (icon in the upper right corner) then click on “Import” option, as shown in picture:
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2. A text-box will be opened. Right click and paste the code you just copied from GitHub, as shown in picture:
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3. You should see the JSON code in text-box, now you can press the red “Import” button at the bottom right (by default the “current flow” option is selected):
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4. In the top of the Node-RED editor, you will see information of the NCD-UI-Monitor you just imported, and automatically you will have the node available inside the node editor, now you can position it inside the editor or workspace by left clicking:
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5. You will need to connect the output of the “Wireless Gateway” node to the input of the “UI Monitor” node.
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6. This flow includes a Wireless Gateway node pre-configured with the Enterprise IIoT Gateway port, you should click on “Deploy” button in order to save and apply the changes:
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7. Then go to “Dashboard 2.0” tab:
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8. And click on “Open Dashboard” button, in order to open the Dashboard in a new Web Explorer Tab:
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NCD UI Monitor Sensor
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You should see something like this, and as soon as a new NCD Sensor data arrive, you should see the info:
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Inspect
Using the “Inspect” button you can display the NCD sensor data in JSON format. As long as the message mode is “sensor_data”.
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Last Transmissions
It is possible to view the last ten data points emitted by the sensor in a pop-up window. The stored data includes the counter, message type, RSSI, and the date and time. This feature allows users to visualize the most recent sensor messages in a clear, graphical format.
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Clear
It is also possible to clear the message display using the ‘Clear’ button. This action will delete the sensor data from the dashboard.
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