UWB with Apple's Nearby Interaction example

[Maxakipust]

I would love to see an example of Apple's Nearby Interaction working with one of these. Or having one interact with an air tag. Or any example of interaction with a U1 chip. Would this be possible?

[zeevgrim]

+1

[maa-x]

It's quite frustrating that this makerfabs product is decidedly not maker friendly..

From what I can tell, the library also seems to be missing one core element to make it compatible with Apple's NI (despite Makerfabs claiming it to be compatible): retrieving the config from the device (niq_populate_accessory_uwb_config_data in Qorvo's library).

[maa-x]

@Makerfabs , are you able to ask Qorvo or to port their libdwt_uwb_driver to allow the board to be used, as described on the product page, to interact with Apple's U1 chip?

[goku-ks]

@Makerfabs, Unfortunately, the esp32 dw3000 is not compatible with this U1 chip if it is not possible to make it work with Apple devices. the claim that it is compatible with U1 chips is wrong.

it I only the Qorvo chip that is compatible with Apple U1 chips, but when it is combined with esp32, it is no more compatible with Apple U1 chips.

[doublebyte]

Damn, this is what I wanted the board for. I am literally about to dig into this ...

@MaxIsMyName and @goku-ks, do either of you know if this is a SW issue that @Makerfabs can potentially resolve? Or is it a HW issue related the ESP 32 being the MCU? ... and therefore non resolvable?

[maa-x]

It’s a Qorvo problem (who make the UWB IC). They haven’t (and do not seem to be planning to) release the firmware required to interact with Apple’s U1 chip for xtensa arch chips.

However, I personally blame @Makerfabs for selling this device and listing it as compatible with Apple’s U1, which is simply untrue. I spent £150 on three of these boards which are entirely useless to me.

I’ll think twice before ever buying another of their boards.

[goku-ks]

@doublebyte , I had the same experience as @MaxIsMyName explained. This is a untrue claim by @Makerfabs that the board is compatible with U1 chips. May be the chip from Qorvo is, but in combination with ESP32 it is not as of now.

[BhargavVadaliya]

@MaxIsMyName Do you have any news or information regarding the release date of Qorvo's SDK or Firmware for Xtensa chips? and If the DW3000-module with ESP32 does not work with the U1, then which controller should I use with the DW3000-module?

[robogrow]

Does anyone want to write some NI code for the ESP32?

We might be able to come up with some funding for it.

[ivnlabs]

@robogrow, I want to write code for the ESP32 DW3000 well-documented code, making the DW3000 TAG connects with more than one ANCHORS and give a correct measurement between all the connected anchors, Does this count?

[scinfu]

+1

[maa-x]

For a much cheaper and better product, you can buy Qorvo's DMW3001CDK. It doesn't have WiFi, but you can just make the CDK sent updates over UART and connect an ESP to that.