node-red-piface v1.0.0

node-red-piface

Node-RED nodes to control a PiFace Digital add-on board for a Raspberry-Pi.

Note: Some later versions of the PiFace relabelled the switch inputs to be 0 - 7 instead of 1 - 8 as on the original boards. We cannot automatically detect this so the user will have to apply some common sense.

Install

Download, build and install the C libraries

sudo apt-get install automake libtool git
git clone https://github.com/thomasmacpherson/piface.git
cd piface/c
./autogen.sh && ./configure && make && sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
cd ../scripts
sudo ./spidev-setup

Run the following command in your Node-RED user directory - typically ~/.node-red

npm install node-red-piface

Pre-reqs

Device Tree must be turned off. To do this run

sudo raspi-config

then select the Advanced Options, then Device Tree, and finally select No and OK. You will then need to reboot.

Usage

A pair of input and output Node-RED nodes for the Raspberry Pi PiFace Digital add-on board.

Output

The PiFace output node will set the selected relay, LED, or pin on or off depending on the value passed in. Expects a msg.payload with either a 1 or 0 (or true or false).

Input

The PiFace input node generates a msg.payload with either a 0 or 1 depending on the state of the input pin.

The msg.topic is set to piface/{the pin number}

Note: This node currently polls the pin every 100ms.