Can I upgrade the Lansitec Badge trackers Over-The-Air?

Yes, you can upgrade the firmware of your SafeDistance badge(s) over-the-air (FOTA) in 2 ways, either via Android or iPhone smartphone or via the SafeDistance FOTA application on Windows 10 Computer or Tablet.

Updating the firmware of your Safedistance badge using your smartphone is only recommended if you want to upgrade one, or few, badges and do not have the required special Bluetooth USB dongle for the SafeDistance FOTA application method in Windows 10 devices.

The latest SafeDistance firmware packages can be found attached at the bottom of this article. Please pay attention as there is a difference between US915 and EU868 firmware. Make sure to select the correct one for your badges!

SafeDistance FOTA via Smartphone Application Method

For this method, it is required to have: 

• Android or iPhone smartphone with up to date OS.
• The nRF Connect application, found in the Android Play Store or Apple App Store.
• The desired SafeDistance FOTA Firmware package (.zip file).

Once the nRF Connect application is started, follow the next steps:

1. Open the nRF Connect app and click on the Scan button.
   
2. Power on the SafeDistance Badge you wish to upgrade. It should be listed in the discovered devices list after approx. 30 seconds as "Lansitec_Node_Card". Once discovered, click the "Connect" button.
   
   

   The badge will only be in FOTA capable mode (DFU mode) the first 3 minutes after powering on to reduce battery consumption. IF the connection fails, please reboot the badge.

3. Once connected to the SafeDistance badge, click on the "DFU" menu on the top of your screen.
   
   
4. In the DFU menu, click the "Open Document Picker" button at the bottom and browse to the OTA.zip file on your phone. This file should have a name similar to the following: OTA_in_phone_US915band2_10s_RC1_v13.26.zip
   
   
5. Once the firmware file is selected, press the "Start" button to start the Firmware over the Air upgrade procedure. This shouldn't take longer than 30seconds. Please make sure to keep the badge within 6feet (2meter) distance of the Smartphone during this process.
   
6. The upgrade procedure is finished when the app shows you the following message "Your DFU update was completed successfully". In case of any other messages, please try again. If the upgrade keeps failing, it means that your SafeDistance badge is switched on for longer than 5min. The SafeDistance badge will automatically switch off FOTA mode 5minutes after being powered on in order to reduce battery consumption in normal operation mode. 
   
7. Your SafeDistance badge will automatically reboot right after this procedure to load the new firmware. You can recognize this on the LED sequence. The Green LED will be on for 5 seconds while the Red LED flashes 3 times.
   
   
8. The SafeDistance badge will be fully operational with the new firmware loaded about 30 seconds after this reboot procedure.

SafeDistance FOTA via Windows 10 Application Method

For this method, it is required to have: 

• A Windows 10 enabled PC or Tablet with a USB port.
• The Nordic Semiconductor nRF Connect application installed (Version 3.6.1) Download here
• The SafeDistance FOTA application (version 1.0.5) Download file lansitec-badge-ota-1.0.5.tgz below
• A special Bluetooth USB Dongle (Contact your distributor for more information)
• The desired SafeDistance FOTA Firmware package (.zip file). Download version 13.26 or 13.28 for EU868 and US915 below.

1. Download and install the Nordic nRF Connect for Desktop (version 3.6.1) application.
2. Copy the lansitec-badge-ota-1.0.5.tgz file in the %USERPROFILE%\.nrfconnect-apps\local directory of your computer. Ex. C:\Users\Admin\.nrfconnect-apps\local (no need to unzip the package)
3. Launch the nRF Connect application. You will see the following interface indicating a successful installation: 
4. Click on the blue Open button to start the Firmware Over The Air application.
5. Plug in the USB Dongle, then click "Select device" drop-down button and select the discovered dongle:
6. Click the "Choose Firmware" button to select the Badge firmware to be uploaded to your badges (the badge firmware can be downloaded at the bottom of this page):
7. Click "Start Scan" button to start scanning for SafeDistance Badges.
8. Power on any SafeDistance badges that need to be upgraded and place them withing 5meter (approx. 15feet) of the FOTA Station.
9. The list of discovered SafeDistance badges can be seen in the right hand side list:The Badges listed in green are up to date and can be powered off, the one's in orange are not updated yet.
   The numbers highlighted in the image above are the last 8 characters of the DevEUI of each badge, to be found on the sticker at the rear side. This makes is easy to recognize the badges.
10. The update progress of each badge will be displayed on a chart, as can be seen below. It will take in between 20 to 60 seconds to upgrade 1 badge. Once completed, the badge will reboot, indicated by a solid Green LED, and the Red LED blinking four times, followed by a single Beep.
11. If there are any badges that are unable to be upgraded, as can be seen in the snapshot of the log below, please reboot those badges:

Happy upgrading and good luck!