Zigbee Light Control example

Table of Contents

• LED and Button assignment description
• Setup
• Testing
• Testing Zigbee Light Switch with ZCL Groups

The Zigbee light control example demonstrates a basic Zigbee network. It provides a minimal implementation of the following devices:

• Light coordinator – demonstrates the Zigbee Coordinator role, which supports only the network steering commissioning mechanism.
• Light switch – demonstrates the Zigbee End Device role, implementing the Dimmer Light Switch profile.
• Light bulb – demonstrates the Zigbee Router role, implementing the Dimmable Light profile.

The coordinator establishes the network and commissions the light bulb and light switch. Once the light switch is successfully commissioned, it sends a broadcast message to find any device with implemented Level Control and On/Off clusters. It remembers the device network address from the first response and is controlled via on-board buttons.

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LED and Button assignment description

All devices indicate the Zigbee stack state using LEDs, as defined in Thread BSP LED reference. The dimmable light option is available from BSP_LED_3 on the light bulb. On the coordinator node, BSP_LED_2 informs if the network is opened for new devices (BSP_LED_2 is turned on) or closed (BSP_LED_2 is turned off). The network stays opened for 180 seconds after coordinator start-up. If you want to reopen the network, press button BSP_BUTTON_0 on the coordinator board.

By default, the light bulb controls the WS2812 LED chain (for example, the Adafruit NeoPixel Shield for Arduino), which can be connected to the P1.07 pin of the evaluation board. When connected, the LED chain lights simultaneously with BSP_LED_3. Not connecting the WS2812 does not affect operation of the example. Controlling the WS2812 LED chain can be also disabled by setting APP_BULB_USE_WS2812_LED_CHAIN macro in sdk_config.h to 0.

Note

When you use the light bulb or light coordinator on the nRF52840 Dongle (PCA10059), it is the LED1 that informs about the successful network joining.

The switch does support the Sleepy End Device behavior, meaning that the stack can make the CPU enter the sleep mode, which results in a significant conservation of energy and prolonged battery life. The device will automatically wake itself up on an event. Moreover, the CPU will wake itself from time to time to ensure the correct processing of stack internals.

Buttons are also used on the light switch node. Pressing BSP_BUTTON_1 after the successful commissioning (BSP_LED_2 state) turns off the light bulb (BSP_LED_3). Pressing BSP_BUTTON_0 turns it back on. Using a long press adjusts the brightness level of the light bulb. BSP_BUTTON_1 decreases the brightness and BSP_BUTTON_0 increases the brightness. Hold the BSP_BUTTON_2 pressed while resetting the board to enable the Sleepy End Device behavior.

Note

If you decrease the brightness level to the minimum, the effect of turning on the light bulb might not be noticeable.

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Setup

You can find the source code and the makefiles in the following folders:

• <InstallFolder>\examples\zigbee\light_control\light_coordinator
• <InstallFolder>\examples\zigbee\light_control\light_switch
• <InstallFolder>\examples\zigbee\light_control\light_bulb

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Testing

Precondition

To test the Zigbee light control example, prepare at least three boards.

To test the example:

1. Build the example according to the instructions in Building examples.
2. Program one board for each example: Light coordinator, Light switch, and Light bulb.
3. Turn on the Light coordinator node. BSP_LED_2 turns on. The node becomes the Coordinator of the network.
4. Turn on the Light bulb node and wait until BSP_LED_2 turns on. The node becomes a Router inside the network.
5. Turn on the Light switch node and wait until BSP_LED_2 turns on. The node becomes an End Device, connected directly to the Coordinator.
6. Wait until BSP_LED_3 on the light switch node turns on. This LED indicates that the switch found a light bulb to control.
7. You can control BSP_LED_3 on the light bulb node by pressing BSP_BUTTON_0 and BSP_BUTTON_1 on the light switch node.
8. Pressing BSP_BUTTON_0 or BSP_BUTTON_1 turns the light bulb on or off.
9. Press and hold BSP_BUTTON_0 or BSP_BUTTON_1 to increase or decrease the brightness level of the light bulb.

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Testing Zigbee Light Switch with ZCL Groups

The Zigbee light control example also incorporates a light switch with the ZCL Groups functionality. Such switch sends a broadcast message to find the devices with implemented Level Control and On/Off clusters, but instead of controlling the first discovered light bulb, it creates a group out of all the suitable devices and controls them at once.

The testing procedure is different when you use ZCL Groups, and you need at least five boards:

1. Build the example according to the instructions in Building examples.
2. Program one board for each example: Light coordinator and Light switch with ZCL Groups.
3. Program three boards with the Light bulb example.
4. Turn on the Light coordinator node. BSP_LED_2 should turn on. The node becomes the Coordinator of the network.
5. Turn on all the Light bulb nodes and wait until BSP_LED_2 turns on on each of them. The nodes become Routers inside the network.
6. Turn on the Light switch with ZCL Groups node and wait until BSP_LED_2 turns on. The node becomes an End Device, connected directly to the Coordinator.
7. Wait until BSP_LED_3 on the light switch node turns on. This LED indicates that the switch found at least one light bulb to control.
8. You can control BSP_LED_3 on all of the light bulb nodes by pressing BSP_BUTTON_0 and BSP_BUTTON_1 on the light switch node.
9. Pressing BSP_BUTTON_0 or BSP_BUTTON_1 turns the light bulbs on or off.
10. Press and hold BSP_BUTTON_0 or BSP_BUTTON_1 to increase or decrease the brightness level of the light bulbs.