Robonomics SLS Gateway

In this article you will set up Robonomics SLS Gateway. You will install the required software for the gateway, configure it and connect it to Home Assistant.

Firmware

First you need to install microcontroller firmware of the gateway. Prepare the gateway by setting switches 1 and 3 at the bottom part of SLS Gateway to ON, others must be OFF.

Connect gateway to your Raspberry Pi via USB type-C port on the gateway.

Clone the repository with firmware to your Raspberry Pi:

git clone https://github.com/airalab/robonomics-hass-utils.git

Go to robonomics-hass-utils/esp_firmware/linux. To flash the SLS gateway you need to run Clear and Flash_16mb scripts.

cd robonomics-hass-utils/esp_firmware/linux
sudo chmod +x Clear.sh
sudo chmod +x Flash_16mb.sh
./Clear.sh
./Flash_16mb.sh

Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing problems updating the gateway firmware, you need to take additional steps:

1. Make sure you have the pySerial module installed:

pip install pyserial

2. Give your user access rights to the USB port and reboot computer:

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER
sudo reboot

3. In some cases, it is necessary to change the bandwidth setting in the script to update the firmware. Open the Flash_16mb.sh script with the nano editor and change the baud parameter from 921600 to a smaller value (for example, 115200).

Configuration

1. Disconnect SLS Gateway from rhe computer. Set the switches on the back of the gateway to the proper position. Switches 5 (RX Zigbee to ESP) and 6 (TX Zigbee to ESP) must be in the ON position, the others must be OFF.

2. Connect the type-C power cable. The indicator light in the center should turn green.

3. On the first startup, the gateway will start sharing Wi-Fi with the SSID zgw****. Connect to this network. Keep in mind that the signal may be quite weak, so it is better to keep the SLS gateway closer to your computer.

4. If the connection is successful, the web interface will open (or you can find it on 192.168.1.1 address).

5. You will see Wi-Fi Settings page. Select your Wi-Fi and enter the password. Press Apply button. The gateway will restart and connect to your Wi-Fi network.

6. Find the local IP of the SLS gateway to access the web interface. To find it you can use Fing mobile app or nmap CLI tool. The gateway name should look like this: zgw****. Open the web interface of the gateway by pasting the gateway IP into a browser.

7. Go to Setting -> Hardware and make sure that the settings look like on the image. Correct the settings if necessary and click Save button:

The table with required values:

8. Then reboot the gateway. Choose Actions -> Reboot system at the right top corner.

9. Make sure that the gateway works properly in the Zigbee info window. DeviceState should be OK.

10. Configure automatically adding devices to Home Assistant. Go to Zigbee -> Config then choose Home Assistant MQTT Discovery and Clear States. Save changes and again reboot SLS gateway.

    
    

    If you already have an active SLS gateway in your home, and you are now configuring another one, then they will conflict with each other. To solve this problem you need to change the channel on the new device. To do this, go to Zigbee -> Config and change the channel to another one (e.g. channel 15).

    
    

Pairing SLS to MQTT

After configuring the SLS Gateway, you need to connect SLS Gateway to Home Assistant. Open SLS Gateway web interface and go to Settings/Link -> MQTT Setup:

Add your broker address (address of the Raspberry Pi with Home Assistant in local network, you can find it with Fing mobile app or nmap CLI tool), port (default is 1883) your broker username and password (which you have created earlier) and the topic name (you can choose any). Also, the Raspberry Pi IP address must be static. Click on Enable and Retain states.

Save changes. Now devices will be automatically shown in Home Assistant.

Connect Devices

Connect your devices by going to Zigbee -> Join. Put your sensors in pairing mode, the most common way to switch a device to connect mode is to hold its power button or switch them on/off for 5 times. Press the Enable Join button to start searching Zigbee devices. You will see active sensors.

Now you can go to the IoT Subscription section and start activating the Robonomics subscription.