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Quickstart: Connect an MXCHIP AZ3166 devkit to IoT Central

  • Article

Applies to: Embedded device development
Total completion time: 30 minutes

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In this quickstart, you use Azure RTOS to connect an MXCHIP AZ3166 IoT DevKit (from now on, MXCHIP DevKit) to Azure IoT.

You'll complete the following tasks:

  • Install a set of embedded development tools for programming an MXCHIP DevKit in C
  • Build an image and flash it onto the MXCHIP DevKit
  • Use Azure IoT Central to create cloud components, view properties, view device telemetry, and call direct commands

Prerequisites

  • A PC running Windows 10

  • Git for cloning the repository

  • Hardware

  • An active Azure subscription. If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

Prepare the development environment

To set up your development environment, first you clone a GitHub repo that contains all the assets you need for the quickstart. Then you install a set of programming tools.

Clone the repo for the quickstart

Clone the following repo to download all sample device code, setup scripts, and offline versions of the documentation. If you previously cloned this repo in another quickstart, you don't need to do it again.

To clone the repo, run the following command:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/azure-rtos/getting-started.git

Install the tools

The cloned repo contains a setup script that installs and configures the required tools. If you installed these tools in another embedded device quickstart, you don't need to do it again.

Note

The setup script installs the following tools:

To install the tools:

  1. From File Explorer, navigate to the following path in the repo and run the setup script named get-toolchain.bat:

    getting-started\tools\get-toolchain.bat

  2. After the installation, open a new console window to recognize the configuration changes made by the setup script. Use this console to complete the remaining programming tasks in the quickstart. You can use Windows CMD, PowerShell, or Git Bash for Windows.

  3. Run the following code to confirm that CMake version 3.14 or later is installed.

    cmake --version

Create the cloud components

Create the IoT Central application

There are several ways to connect devices to Azure IoT. In this section, you learn how to connect a device by using Azure IoT Central. IoT Central is an IoT application platform that reduces the cost and complexity of creating and managing IoT solutions.

To create a new application:

  1. From Azure IoT Central portal, select Build on the side navigation menu.

    Note

    If you have an existing IoT Central application, you can use it to complete the steps in this article rather than create a new application. In this case, we recommend that you either create a new device or delete and recreate the device if you want to use an existing device ID.

  2. Select Create app in the Custom app tile.

    Screenshot of create a custom app in Azure IoT Central

  3. Add Application Name and a URL.

  4. Select one of the standard pricing plans. Select your Directory, Azure subscription, and Location. To learn about creating IoT Central applications, see Create an IoT Central application. To learn about pricing, see Azure IoT Central pricing.

    Screenshot of entering information for the new app in Azure IoT Central

  5. Select Create. After IoT Central provisions the application, it redirects you automatically to the new application dashboard.

Create a new device

In this section, you use the IoT Central application dashboard to create a new device. You'll use the connection information for the newly created device to securely connect your physical device in a later section.

To create a device:

  1. From the application dashboard, select Devices on the side navigation menu.

  2. Select Create a device from the All devices pane to open the Create a new device window. (If you're reusing an existing application that already has one or more devices, select + New to open the window.)

  3. Leave Device template as Unassigned.

  4. Fill in the desired Device name and Device ID.

    Screenshot of entering information for a new device in Azure IoT Central

  5. Select the Create button.

  6. The newly created device will appear in the All devices list. Select on the device name to show details.

  7. Select Connect in the top right menu bar to display the connection information used to configure the device in the next section.

    Screenshot of device connection details in Azure IoT Central

  8. Note the connection values for the following connection string parameters displayed in Connect dialog. You'll add these values to a configuration file in the next step:

    • ID scope
    • Device ID
    • Primary key

Prepare the device

To connect the MXCHIP DevKit to Azure, you'll modify a configuration file for Wi-Fi and Azure IoT settings, rebuild the image, and flash the image to the device.

Add configuration

  1. Open the following file in a text editor:

    getting-started\MXChip\AZ3166\app\azure_config.h

  2. Set the Wi-Fi constants to the following values from your local environment.

    Constant name Value
    WIFI_SSID {Your Wi-Fi SSID}
    WIFI_PASSWORD {Your Wi-Fi password}
    WIFI_MODE {One of the enumerated Wi-Fi mode values in the file}

  3. Set the Azure IoT device information constants to the values that you saved after you created Azure resources.

    Constant name Value
    IOT_DPS_ID_SCOPE {Your ID scope value}
    IOT_DPS_REGISTRATION_ID {Your Device ID value}
    IOT_DEVICE_SAS_KEY {Your Primary key value}

  4. Save and close the file.

Build the image

  1. In your console or in File Explorer, run the script rebuild.bat at the following path to build the image:

    getting-started\MXChip\AZ3166\tools\rebuild.bat

  2. After the build completes, confirm that the binary file was created in the following path:

    getting-started\MXChip\AZ3166\build\app\mxchip_azure_iot.bin

Flash the image

  1. On the MXCHIP DevKit, locate the Reset button, and the Micro USB port. You use these components in the following steps. Both are highlighted in the following picture:

    Locate key components on the MXChip devkit board

  2. Connect the Micro USB cable to the Micro USB port on the MXCHIP DevKit, and then connect it to your computer.

  3. In File Explorer, find the binary file that you created in the previous section.

  4. Copy the binary file mxchip_azure_iot.bin.

  5. In File Explorer, find the MXCHIP DevKit device connected to your computer. The device appears as a drive on your system with the drive label AZ3166.

  6. Paste the binary file into the root folder of the MXCHIP Devkit. Flashing starts automatically and completes in a few seconds.

    Note

    During the flashing process, a green LED toggles on MXCHIP DevKit.

Confirm device connection details

You can use the Termite app to monitor communication and confirm that your device is set up correctly.

  1. Start Termite.

    Tip

    If you are unable to connect Termite to your devkit, install the ST-LINK driver and try again. See Troubleshooting for additional steps.

  2. Select Settings.

  3. In the Serial port settings dialog, check the following settings and update if needed:

    • Baud rate: 115,200
    • Port: The port that your MXCHIP DevKit is connected to. If there are multiple port options in the dropdown, you can find the correct port to use. Open Windows Device Manager, and view Ports to identify which port to use.

    Screenshot of serial port settings in the Termite app

  4. Select OK.

  5. Press the Reset button on the device. The button is labeled on the device and located near the Micro USB connector.

  6. In the Termite app, check the following checkpoint values to confirm that the device is initialized and connected to Azure IoT.

    Starting Azure thread

Initializing WiFi
     MAC address: C8:93:46:8A:4C:43
     Connecting to SSID 'iot'
SUCCESS: WiFi connected to iot

Initializing DHCP
     IP address: 192.168.0.18
     Mask: 255.255.255.0
     Gateway: 192.168.0.1
SUCCESS: DHCP initialized

Initializing DNS client
     DNS address: 75.75.75.75
SUCCESS: DNS client initialized

Initializing SNTP client
     SNTP server 0.pool.ntp.org
     SNTP IP address: 38.229.71.1
     SNTP time update: May 19, 2021 20:36:6.994 UTC 
SUCCESS: SNTP initialized

Initializing Azure IoT DPS client
     DPS endpoint: global.azure-devices-provisioning.net
     DPS ID scope: ***
     Registration ID: mydevice
SUCCESS: Azure IoT DPS client initialized

Initializing Azure IoT Hub client
     Hub hostname: ***.azure-devices.net
     Device id: mydevice
     Model id: dtmi:azurertos:devkit:gsgmxchip;1
Connected to IoT Hub
SUCCESS: Azure IoT Hub client initialized

Keep Termite open to monitor device output in the following steps.

Verify the device status

To view the device status in IoT Central portal:

  1. From the application dashboard, select Devices on the side navigation menu.

  2. Confirm that the Device status is updated to Provisioned.

  3. Confirm that the Device template is updated to MXCHIP Getting Started Guide.

    Screenshot of device status in IoT Central

View telemetry

With IoT Central, you can view the flow of telemetry from your device to the cloud.

To view telemetry in IoT Central portal:

  1. From the application dashboard, select Devices on the side navigation menu.

  2. Select the device from the device list.

  3. View the telemetry as the device sends messages to the cloud in the Overview tab.

    Screenshot of device telemetry in IoT Central

    Note

    You can also monitor telemetry from the device by using the Termite app.

Call a direct method on the device

You can also use IoT Central to call a direct method that you've implemented on your device. Direct methods have a name, and can optionally have a JSON payload, configurable connection, and method timeout. In this section, you call a method that enables you to turn an LED on or off.

To call a method in IoT Central portal:

  1. Select the Commands tab from the device page.

  2. In the State dropdown, select True, and then select Run. The LED light should turn on.

    Screenshot of calling a direct method on a device in IoT Central

  3. In the State dropdown, select False, and then select Run. The LED light should turn off.

View device information

You can view the device information from IoT Central.

Select About tab from the device page.

Screenshot of device information in IoT Central

Tip

To customize these views, edit the device template.

Troubleshoot and debug

If you experience issues building the device code, flashing the device, or connecting, see Troubleshooting.

For debugging the application, see Debugging with Visual Studio Code.

Clean up resources

If you no longer need the Azure resources created in this quickstart, you can delete them from the IoT Central portal.

To remove the entire Azure IoT Central sample application and all its devices and resources:

  1. Select Administration > Your application.
  2. Select Delete.

Next steps

In this quickstart, you built a custom image that contains Azure RTOS sample code, and then flashed the image to the MXCHIP DevKit device. You also used the IoT Central portal to create Azure resources, connect the MXCHIP DevKit securely to Azure, view telemetry, and send messages.

As a next step, explore the following articles to learn more about using the IoT device SDKs to connect devices to Azure IoT.

Connect an MXCHIP AZ3166 devkit to IoT Hub

Connect a simulated device to IoT Central

Connect a simulated device to IoT Hub

Important

Azure RTOS provides OEMs with components to secure communication and to create code and data isolation using underlying MCU/MPU hardware protection mechanisms. However, each OEM is ultimately responsible for ensuring that their device meets evolving security requirements.