Serial daemon

The serial daemon is used to onboard new devices, configure upload settings, and acts as a proxy for devices without an IP connection.

Recent versions of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge can connect directly to fully-supported development boards, without the serial daemon. See this blog post for more information.

To use the daemon, connect a fully-supported development board to your computer and run:

$ edge-impulse-daemon

The daemon will ask you for the server you want to connect to, prompt you to log in, and then configure the device. If your device does not have the right firmware yet, it will also prompt you to upgrade this.

This is an example of the output of the daemon:

Edge Impulse serial daemon v1.1.0
? To which server do you want to connect? (you can override this by setting EI_HOST environmental variable) edgeimpulse.com
? What is your user name or e-mail address? jan@edgeimpulse.com
? What is your password? [hidden]
Endpoints:
    Websocket: wss://remote-mgmt.edgeimpulse.com
    API:       https://studio.edgeimpulse.com
    Ingestion: https://ingestion.edgeimpulse.com

[SER] Connecting to /dev/tty.usbmodem401203
[SER] Serial is connected, trying to read config...
[SER] Retrieved configuration
? To which project do you want to add this device? accelerometer-demo-1
Configuring API key in device... OK
Configuring HMAC key in device... OK
? What name do you want to give this device? Jan's DISCO-L475VG
Setting upload host in device... OK
Configuring remote management settings... OK
? WiFi is not connected, do you want to set up a WiFi network now? Yes
Scanning WiFi networks... OK
? Select WiFi network SSID: edgeimpulse-office, Security: WPA2 (3), RSSI: -60 dBm
? Enter password for network "edgeimpulse-office" 0624710192
Connecting to "edgeimpulse-office"... OK
[SER] Device is connected over WiFi to remote management API, no need to run the daemon. Exiting...

Note: Your credentials are never stored. When you log in these are exchanged for a token. This token is used to further authenticate requests.

Clearing configuration

To clear the configuration, run:

$ edge-impulse-daemon --clean

This resets both the daemon configuration as well as the on-device configuration. If you still run into issues, you can connect to the device using a serial monitor (on baud rate 115,200) and run AT+CLEARCONFIG. This removes all configuration from the device.

Devices without an IP connection

If your device is not connected to the remote management interface - for example because it does not have an IP connection, or because WiFi is out of range - the daemon will act as a proxy. It will register with Edge Impulse on behalf of the device, and proxy events through over serial. For this to work your device needs to support the Edge Impulse AT command set, please refer to the documentation for more information.

Silent mode

To skip any wizards (except for the login prompt) you can run the daemon in silent mode via:

$ edge-impulse-daemon --silent

This is useful in environments where there is no internet connection, as the daemon won't prompt to connect to WiFi.

Switching projects

You can use one device for many projects. To switch projects run:

$ edge-impulse-daemon --clean

And select the new project. The device will remain listed in the old project, and if you switch back will retain the same name and last seen date.

Troubleshooting

Unable to set up WiFi with ST B-L475E-IOT01A development board

If you are using the ST B-L475E-IOT01A development board, you may experience the following error when attempting to connect to a WiFi network:

? WiFi is not connected, do you want to set up a WiFi network now? Yes
Scanning WiFi networks...Error while setting up device Timeout

There is a known issue with the firmware for this development board's WiFi module that results in a timeout during network scanning if there are more than 20 WiFi access points detected. If you are experiencing this issue, you can work around it by attempting to reduce the number of access points within range of the device, or by skipping WiFi configuration.