training-labs

Arduino Setup

For the training labs, we will use Adafruit Feather M0+ LoRa boards. The environment is cross-platform, including functionality on MacOS Ventura. The tools probably work on MacOS Sonoma.

You may follow this guide or watch the video at the end.

Install Version 2.3.4 of the IDE

If you do not have version 2.3.4 the Arduino IDE already installed, use the instructions for your OS on the Software Page page to guide your installation of the desktop IDE.

Open the desktop IDE to complete the following steps.

The Arduino Web Editor (in-browser) is not compatible with Feather M0+.

Install the MCCI Board Support Pack

We use a modified Arduino Board Support Pack provided by the MCCI corporation. Navigate to Arduino Preferences (File menu on Windows) and find the Additional Board Manager URLS textbox. Place the following URL into that textbox: https://github.com/mcci-catena/arduino-boards/raw/master/BoardManagerFiles/package_mcci_index.json /////////; Now close and reopen Arduino IDE. Then, go to Tools>Board:—>Boards Manager… and install MCCI Catena SAMD boards version 2.2.

Then go to Library Manager and install MCCI Catena Arduino Platform version 0.21.2. The latest version has a dependency issue and does not appear to be installable.

Choose the MCCI Catena 4410 as your board when compiling and uploading.

Optional: A More Powerful Editor

You may also want to install Microsoft VS Code and its Arduino extension, or another source-code editor of your choosing. As you gain more proficiency, you may want to consider this.

Install MCCI Catena Arduino Platform Libraries

Next, we will attempt to use higher-level C++ libraries where appropriate.

Library Manager

Search for MCCI Catena Arduino Platform in the library manager. Installing that library should also install a number of other depenencies. Say “yes” to install the dependencies also.

Rename MCCI_LoRaWAN_LMIC_library folder

Find your sketchbook libaries folder using instructions from Arduino. A folder named MCCI_LoRaWAN_LMIC_library should be present. Please rename that folder to arduino-lmic.

Install the Adafruit MCP9808 Library

Search for Adafruit MCP9808 in the library manager. Installing that library should also install a number of other depenencies. Say “yes” to install the dependencies also.

Arduino IDE Review Video

This video is from Spring 2021, but most of the content covered should still be useful.