Orchestrator

Overview

This chapter describes the development of the Orchestrator device which facilitates system automation through the following processes:

Establishing network infrastructure by creating and managing Thread networks and Matter Fabrics.
Commissioning devices to join Matter fabrics and Thread networks
Monitoring sensor data from the Grow Chamber and adjusting actuators in real time.

Prerequisites:

ESP-IDF development environment is set up.
ESP-Matter development environment is set up.
ESP Thread Border Router board is available.

Development

Project Bootstrap

The following steps from ESP32 Project Workflow guide are required to bootstrap the project:

Step 1: Set Up the Environment
Step 2: Create a New Project named orchestrator
Step 3: Set Target Device to esp32s3 since ESP Thread Border Router board is used.
Step 4: Open the Project in CLion IDE

Project Build Configuration

Configure the build process by updating the CMakeLists.txt. It should include the following:

ESP_MATTER_PATH and MATTER_SDK_PATH environment variables integrate ESP-Matter and Matter SDK.
ESP_MATTER_DEVICE_PATH points to the correct hardware HAL.
EXTRA_COMPONENT_DIRS includes component directories for ESP-Matter, SDK, and device HAL.
Essential CMake files from IDF and ESP Matter Device must be included before any IDF_TARGET references.
Compiler flags that add C++17, optimizations, Matter defines, disable Thread driver, and suppress RISCV warnings.

Project Default Configuration

The sdkconfig.defaults file is used to specify default configuration settings:

Set Flash size to 8MB
Enable Wi-Fi station mode only.
Enable OpenThread with a Border Router.
Configure IPv6 support for OpenThread (LwIP).
Enable ESP32 BLE Controller.
Enable Bluetooth with NimBLE stack.
Use a custom partition table from partitions.csv.
Enable the CHIP shell for Matter.
Enable Matter Controller, disable the server and commissioner features.
Disable OTA Requestor and route hook.
Enable WebSocket server support.

Custom partition table

CONFIG_PARTITION_TABLE_CUSTOM=y and CONFIG_PARTITION_TABLE_CUSTOM_FILENAME="partitions.csv" in sdkconfig.defaults enable a custom partition table defined in partitions.csv:

nvs (24 KB) stores persistent key-value data
phy_init (4 KB) holds PHY calibration settings
factory (3 MB) contains the main application firmware.
rcp_fw stores firmware updates for the Radio Co-Processor (RCP).

System Initialization

The main function initializes the essential components:

ESP NVS library stores key-value pairs in the device’s flash memory.
ESP Event Loop Library lets components publish events indicating important occurrences, such as a successful Wi-Fi connection to the event loop, while other components can register handlers to respond. This decouples event producers from consumers, allowing components to react to state changes without direct application involvement.
ESP-NETIF library is an abstraction layer that provides thread-safe APIs for managing network interfaces on top of a TCP/IP stack.
Components

Deployment

Follow the steps from the ESP32 Project Workflow guide:

Last modified: 17 May 2025