ENV+ Evaluation Kit Quick Start Guide

Welcome to the Everactive Developer Community! We are excited to have you.

In this article, we will outline the simple steps required to set up your Everactive Evaluation Kit.

Before opening the box, take the following steps:

• Confirm system requirements
• A Windows computer with Intel processor (recommended: 4 cores / 8 GB RAM) & internet connectivity
  • Macs with Intel processors are likely to work using VMWare Fusion but have not been fully tested
• 2.5 GB of available storage for the gateway software file and VMware Player software
• An available USB-A 2.0 (5VDC, 1A) port on your computer for max Evernet range

  • If your computer does not have USB-A 2.0 (5VDC, 1A) then we recommend using a powered USB Hub (to get full range of Evernet capabilities: 200m LOS)

• Locate your user account login and password

  • Check your email for a message from developers@everactive.com with the subject line "Developer Account Created and First Steps"
    
    

• Download the gateway software file

  • • Gateway software note: what is exciting about this file is that you are downloading a virtual machine running Ubuntu Core, an OS specializing in headless, remote Linux Appliances. This is the same OS we run on production gateways, and by running the virtual machine, you are getting the same the experience of running one of our physical gateways as part of our managed service. Of note, this virtual machine receives automatic updates from our snap store, so it’s always running the latest gateway software -- without having to do anything!
      
      
  • Ok, back to the process!
    
    

  • Login to to insights.everactive.com with the username and password you received via email.  Look for a message from developers@everactive.com with the Subject Line, "Developer Account Created and First Steps"
    
    

  • After logging in, click the gear menu in the upper-right and select "Management"

    
    
    
  • Click the tile for Evergateway Management
    
    

  • Click on your gateway in the table (there should only be one entry)
    
    

  • Click the download VM Image button in the upper right:
    
  • A zipped VM file will save into your downloads folder:
    
    

• VMware (for the virtual gateway setup)

  • VMware Workstation Player is sufficient for evaluation:

    • https://www.vmware.com/content/vmware/vmware-published-sites/us/products/workstation-player/workstation-player-evaluation.html.html
      
      

  • We are exploring other VM and non-VM gateway options, so stay tuned! 

Getting Started:

A video version of the unboxing and physical setup:

Installation steps:

1. Open the box, confirm that you have all the contents (listed on the notecard).

   • If you are missing something please contact email: developers@everactive.com
     
     

2. Remove the Evergateway dongle from the box

   • Locate and attach the longer antenna to the Evergateway dongle
     
     

3. Place Evergateway dongle into open USB port

   • You should observe a green light flash three times on the Evergateway dongle when USB connection initializes.
     
     

4. Begin Evergateway dongle virtual gateway set-up

   • Ensure internet is connected

   • Ensure file has already been downloaded from insights.everactive.com using your account information

   • Follow the steps below:

Extract the Sunrise VM zip file. Right click and select “extract all“. Follow the prompts to completion.

Open the Sunrise-SERIAL.vmx file with VMWare by clicking on "Open a Virtual Machine"

Press "Play virtual machine" to start the VM

You may see this warning. The Sunrise VM functions correctly with side-channel mitigations enabled. Click “OK“

Share the “Sundance“ removable device

You may see a prompt like the one below, click OK.

Allow it to boot up, and self-configure. This process will take about 5-10 minutes

When boot up is complete, the console window will display the following:

5. With the virtual gateway installed, log into the Developer Console using any modern web browser at: http://insights.everactive.com

• Using the account information provided to you by Everactive Developer Success.  Not seeing the account info?  Email developers@everactive.com.

• Click the tile labelled Evergateway Management to see the gateway status
  

• If the virtual gateway installation was successful, Last Evergateway status should display the following status:
  
  

   

  • If gateway status shows offline, proceed to walk through virtual gateway install and ensure gateway dongle LED indicator is green.
    
    

   

• Gateway installation is complete! Now, you can move onto setting up your sensors.

Sensor Setup

• Remove the 2 ENV+ Eversensors from the box

  • Locate and attach the two shorter antennas to the Eversensors
    
    

• After the antennas are attached, place the Eversensors in a well-lit environment and at least one (1) meter away from Evergateway dongle.

  1. Standard office lighting is sufficient.

  2. You can roughly measure light levels with a lux meter mobile application.

     • We recommend a lux level >150 lux although the sensor can power itself with as low as 100 lux.

  3. In terms of the distance away from the gateway, we operate in the 900mHz - meaning that we recommend one wavelength away (1 meter recommended)

• Look for sensor wake-ups once a minute, or shake the sensor to send an unsolicited wake-up.
  • More info on ENV+ sensor wake-ups available here.

• Navigate to the sensor details page to see the available data and sensor status.

  • Two ways to find this data
    https://insights.everactive.com/edge-sensors
  • Or by clicking on tile for Eversensor Management
    

Getting started with the API

If you would like to feed the data into your own application, navigate to the gear icon in the console, and click "Management." Of note, sensor data will be retained in developer's console and API for 7-days.

1. • Click the tile for "API Credentials"

Our full API documentation can be found here. Also see our GitHub for internally developed projects and other software modules we love.

Recommended Tests and Experiments

Now with sensor data flowing, we recommend testing out energy harvesting and run some fun experiments. Here are some experiments and tests to get you started.

Questions?  Check out the FAQs for this quick start guide:

Frequently Asked Questions / General Troubleshooting / Tips and Tricks

Provide us feedback and let us know how you have been using the Evaluation Kit

• Join our Slack community
  • everactive.com/join-slack

• If you require additional assistance, feedback, questions, or other comments, please email: developers@everactive.com