Building Thingy-9151-Lite Software

Owned by Alexander Dyachenko
Last updated: Jun 24, 2024
3 min read

1. Overview

The instruction below explains how to prepare a Linux host and build the Zephyr BSP and application for the Emcraft Thingy-9151-Lite platform.

References:

2. Preparing Host

2.1. Installing the nRF Connect SDK

Set up the nRF Connect SDK on a Linux PC as described in the Nordic documentation for the corresponding version. The instruction for v2.5.1 nRF Connect SDK can be found here:

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/2.5.1/nrf/installation/installing.html

Follow the Nordic instructions, but replace the west init... command with the one below to use the Emcraft repositories.

There is a known pitfall with installing the python dependencies using pip: upgrading the cryptography package may result in a non-working pip:

For folks curious about the breakage: cryptography 42.0.0 removed this X509_V_FLAG_NOTIFY_POLICY flag: pyca/cryptography@654dccb pyOpenSSL 23.2.0 stopped referencing this X509_V_FLAG_NOTIFY_POLICY flag: pyca/pyopenssl@d788a4f So, you'll only run into this issue if you're running cryptography >= 42.0.0, and pyOpenSSL < 23.2.0

Either ensure pyOpenSSL is upgraded before cryptography (there is no automatic dependency, so manually upgrade pyOpenSSL before pulling the bulk of the dependencies), or comment out the offending line to restore pip to the working state, then upgrade pyOpenSSL. Reinstall cryptography if necessary.

Note that Emcraft maintains the fork of the nRF Connect SDK on GitHub:

https://github.com/voxelbotics/sdk-nrf

Adjust the west init command to get the branch or release tag specified in the Release Notes document, for example:

west init -m https://github.com/voxelbotics/sdk-nrf --mr voxelbotics-v2.6.1-branch

The Emcraft fork has a slightly modified manifest file

https://github.com/voxelbotics/sdk-nrf/blob/voxelbotics-v2.6.1-branch/west.yml

that refers to the Emcraft fork of the Zephyr source code on GitHub:

https://github.com/voxelbotics/sdk-zephyr

2.2. Getting the Source Code of the Thingy-9151-Lite Application

The Thingy-9151-Lite Zephyr application is maintained in the separate GitHub repository:

GitHub - voxelbotics/nrf-app: IVE: Custom Zephyr application and board configuration

Just clone it in the same directory where west was initialized:

git clone git@github.com:voxelbotics/nrf-app -b main

The current branch and release tag are specified in the Release Notes document.

nrf-app/thingy9151lite_nrf5340_cpunet_app/boards/nrf5340dk_nrf5340_cpunet.overlay at main · voxelbotics/nrf-app

3. Building Zephyr Software

3.1. Understanding Application Specific Configuration

Every application directory contains the config.h header file with various configuration parameters specific to the application.

During the nightly and release build, Buildbot adjusts some parameters, including the software version, the software build number and type (either debug or release):

Both debug and release images are created on every build (with different CONFIG_BUILD_DEBUG settings).

3.2. Understanding Automated Build

Emcraft maintains the Buildbot based automated build of the Thingy-9151-Lite Application, which is triggered by every change in the application repository. The subscribers receive an email from the Buildbot containing the references to the pre-built application binaries that can be downloaded from a cloud, for example:

Build status:

  • SUCCESS

Tag/Revision:

98.98-19 / fb2a8ca38312ed8acf7048c8656fb1cf8c91e62c

Steps:

 

0: worker_preparation

  • SUCCESS

1: Evaluate release tag

  • SUCCESS

2: Owners

  • SUCCESS

3: Upload ssh key

  • SUCCESS

4: Checkout build scripts

  • SUCCESS

5: Build firmware

  • SUCCESS

Files:

 

Image #1: thingy9151lite_nrf9151_app_on_nrf9161dk_v98.98-19-05212235_release.hex

Image #2: thingy9151lite_nrf9151_app_on_nrf9161dk_v98.98-19-05212235_debug.hex

Image #3: thingy9151lite_nrf5340_cpuapp_app_on_nrf5340dk_v98.98-19-05212235_release.hex

Image #4: thingy9151lite_nrf5340_cpuapp_app_on_nrf5340dk_v98.98-19-05212235_debug.hex

Image #5: thingy9151lite_nrf5340_cpunet_app_on_nrf5340dk_v98.98-19-05212235_release.hex

Image #6: thingy9151lite_nrf5340_cpunet_app_on_nrf5340dk_v98.98-19-05212235_debug.hex

Note that both debug (CONFIG_BUILD_DEBUG=1) and release (CONFIG_BUILD_DEBUG=0) images are generated for each application/board pair.

3.3. Building Thingy-9151-Lite Application for nRF9151/nRF9161

Go to the application directory:

The Nordic nRF9161 DK board is already supported in Zephyr, so it is configured using the devicetree overlay:

nrf-app/thingy9151lite_nrf9151_app/boards/nrf9161dk_nrf9161_ns.overlay at main · voxelbotics/nrf-app

Build the application for nRF9161 DK using the following command:

The nRF9161 portion of the Emcraft Thingy-9151-Lite hardware kit is using the out-of-tree board configuration:

https://github.com/voxelbotics/nrf-app/blob/main/boards/arm/thingy9151lite_nrf9161

Build the application for the nRF9161 SiP of the Emcraft Thingy-9151-Lite hardware kit using the following command:

The resulting image is build/zephyr/merged.hex.

3.4. Building Thingy-9151-Lite Application for nRF5340 (application core)

Go to the application directory:

The Nordic nRF5340 DK board is already supported in Zephyr, so it is configured using the devicetree overlay:

nrf-app/thingy9151lite_nrf5340_cpuapp_app/boards/nrf5340dk_nrf5340_cpuapp_ns.overlay at main · voxelbotics/nrf-app

Build the application for nRF5340 DK using the following command:

The nRF5340 portion of the Emcraft Thingy-9151-Lite hardware kit is using the out-of-tree board configuration:

https://github.com/voxelbotics/nrf-app/tree/main/boards/arm/thingy9151lite_nrf5340

Build the application for the nRF5340 application core of the Emcraft Thingy-9151-Lite hardware kit using the following command:

The resulting image is build/zephyr/merged.hex.

3.5. Building Thingy-9151-Lite Application for nRF5340 DK (network core)

Go to the application directory:

The Nordic nRF5340 DK board is already supported in Zephyr, so it is configured using the devicetree overlay:

nrf-app/thingy9151lite_nrf5340_cpunet_app/boards/nrf5340dk_nrf5340_cpunet.overlay at main · voxelbotics/nrf-app

Build the application for nRF5340 DK using the following command:

The nRF5340 portion of the Emcraft Thingy-9151-Lite hardware kit is using the out-of-tree board configuration:

https://github.com/voxelbotics/nrf-app/tree/main/boards/arm/thingy9151lite_nrf5340

Build the application for the nRF5340 network core of the Emcraft Thingy-9151-Lite hardware kit using the following command:

The resulting image is build/zephyr/zephyr.hex.