IoT Devices

The robot can communicate with automatic doors, elevators, and gateways using two protocols: ESP-NOW (opens new window) or BLE.

We recommend using ESP-NOW, as it enables connectionless communication between dozens of devices and typically offers better signal strength than BLE.

Automatic Doors and Gateways

Automatic doors and gateways are functionally identical from the robot's perspective; the robot can trigger them to open automatically during navigation.

A hardware controller must be installed on the door to enable communication with nearby robots. Each controller is identified by a MAC address. The door's MAC address and its physical location (modeled as a polygon) must be specified in the map's overlay field.

Using this information, the robot interacts with the door as follows:

• From the robot side:
  • The robot continuously checks if its global path intersects with an automatic door's polygon.
  • If a door is detected on the path ahead, the robot broadcasts an Open Door {MAC} for {ROBOT SN} command at regular intervals.
  • If the door reports its state as 'open', the robot proceeds. Otherwise, the door's polygon is treated as an impassable obstacle.
  • Once the robot has successfully passed through, it stops sending the open-door request.
• From the door side:
  • The door periodically broadcasts its status (open, closed, opening, or closing) and an Estimated Time of Closing (ETC). Examples include:
    • Door {MAC} is closed
    • Door {MAC} is opening
    • Door {MAC} is open, ETC in 3 seconds
    • Door {MAC} is closing
  • If the door controller receives an open-door command, it triggers the door to open.
  • If no open-door commands are received for three seconds, the door will automatically close.

TIP

The status of nearby automatic doors can be monitored via the Nearby Auto Doors WebSocket topic.

Bluetooth API

Unlike ESP-NOW devices, the robot does not interact with Bluetooth-based IoT devices directly. Instead, the Bluetooth APIs facilitate the establishment of a communication channel. This allows the user and the device to communicate using their own predefined protocol.

Connect to a Bluetooth Device

curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"address": "00:11:22:33:FF:EE"}' \
  http://192.168.25.25:8090/bluetooth/connect

Parameters

class BluetoothConnectRequest {
  address: string; // The MAC address of the device (e.g., "00:11:22:33:FF:EE").
}

Once the Bluetooth connection is established, use WebSockets to communicate with the device.

$ wscat -c ws://192.168.25.25:8090/ws/v2/topics
> {"enable_topic": "/bluetooth/outbound" }
> {"enable_topic": "/bluetooth_state" }
< {"topic": "/bluetooth_state", "stamp": 1644835395.429, "connected_devices": ["00:11:22:33:FF:EE", ... ] }
> {"topic": "/bluetooth/inbound", "device_address": "00:11:22:33:FF:EE", "data": "..." }
< {"topic": "/bluetooth/outbound", "device_address": "00:11:22:33:FF:EE", "data": "..." }
< {"topic": "/bluetooth/outbound", "device_address": "00:11:22:33:FF:EE", "data": "..." }
< {"topic": "/bluetooth/outbound", "device_address": "00:11:22:33:FF:EE", "data": "..." }

• /bluetooth_state: The current Bluetooth connection state.
• /bluetooth/inbound: Sends data from the robot to the connected BLE device.
• /bluetooth/outbound: Data received from the BLE device.

Disconnect from a Bluetooth Device

curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"address": "00:11:22:33:FF:EE"}' \
  http://192.168.25.25:8090/bluetooth/disconnect

Parameters

class BluetoothDisconnectRequest {
  address: string; // The MAC address of the device (e.g., "00:11:22:33:FF:EE").
}