Add Inhero MR2 board variant (nRF52840/RAK4630 solar repeater) - #3132
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…ev#3131/meshcore-dev#3132) - CONTEXT.md getrackt Stand-Block neu: Issue + beide PRs mit Branch-Zeigern und Naechster-Schritt- Ablauf nach Merge von meshcore-dev#3131. Ueberholte Doktrin ('kein PR-Verkehr zu upstream') entfernt; stattdessen die Sicherungsregel: PR-Branches immer von upstream/main schneiden. Feature-Branches als live PR-Koepfe markiert (nicht loeschen). CONTEXT.md aus .gitignore genommen - auf main getrackt ist sie PR-sicher, weil PR-Branches nie von Fork-main abstammen.
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… of the story The "Relation to upstream" section still described the variant as a standalone out-of-tree product fork. That has not been true since 2026-08-08: meshcore-dev#3130 (hardware request), meshcore-dev#3131 (board hooks) and meshcore-dev#3132 (the variant itself) are open upstream, and the fork releases are the interim until those land. It also left the April withdrawal unexplained. The board was not available yet and CE certification was still in progress; both are settled now, which is the reason the variant is being proposed again.
Two no-op virtuals on MainBoard, so a variant can do these things without core changes: - tick(): called from the simple_repeater and simple_sensor main loops. Lets a board feed its watchdog and run periodic housekeeping. - queryBoardTelemetry(CayenneLPP&): simple_repeater asks the board for extra telemetry channels, gated by TELEM_PERM_ENVIRONMENT. Variant-specific CLI is already covered by MainBoard::handleCommand(), so this adds nothing for that. Both defaults are no-ops, so existing variants build and behave unchanged. Used by the Inhero MR2 variant (separate PR).
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Application-specific repeater platform for autonomous off-grid operation, in production and field-deployed: - RAK4630 core module (nRF52840 + SX1262), 45 x 40 mm - BQ25798 buck/boost charger: universal solar input 3.6-24V with MPPT, JEITA temperature-controlled charging - INA228 coulomb counter for SOC tracking and 7-day energy statistics - Li-ion, LiFePO4, LTO and Na-ion battery chemistry profiles - RV-3028 RTC wakeup with low-voltage system sleep (<500uA) and autonomous recovery - BME280 environment telemetry - board.* CLI namespace for configuration and diagnostics, dispatched through MainBoard::handleCommand() - slim variant README; the full documentation set (EN/DE) is maintained in the vendor fork Build environments: Inhero_MR2_repeater, Inhero_MR2_repeater_bridge_rs232, Inhero_MR2_sensor.
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Closes #3130. Builds on #3131 (board hooks) — the diff shows that commit as
well until it lands; I will rebase and mark this ready once it does.
Adds the Inhero MR2, a purpose-built solar repeater platform that is in
production and shipping:
https://shop.inhero.de/en/products/inhero-mr-2-solar-mesh-repeater-board-rak4630-sx1262-mppt-red-ce-gepruft
I am the hardware manufacturer; I can test changes on real hardware and am
happy to be tagged on anything affecting this variant.
Where the code lives: the MR2's logic sits entirely in the variant. This
PR's own commit is 32 new files —
boards/inhero_mr2.jsonplus everythingunder
variants/inhero_mr2/— and leaves every existing file untouched. Ofits 6496 lines, 454 are board and build definitions; the rest is device code:
BQ25798 and INA228 drivers, battery chemistry profiles, JEITA charge control,
SOC accounting, low-voltage sleep. The core changes visible in the diff are
#3131's two no-op hooks; the
board.*CLI rides on the existingMainBoard::handleCommand()hook.Hardware: RAK4630 (nRF52840 + SX1262), BQ25798 buck/boost charger with
universal 3.6-24 V solar input and MPPT, INA228 coulomb counter, RV-3028
RTC, BME280, 45 x 40 mm, CE-certified (RED 2014/53/EU).
What the variant provides:
temperature-controlled charging and per-chemistry low-voltage thresholds,
all configurable at runtime over the CLI and persisted across reboots
limit for frost-period solar sites, bounded by a static gate of 0.05C of
the stated battery capacity (
set board.jeitaignore, off by default)a time-to-live prediction
board.*CLI namespace for configuration and diagnostics; the fulldocumentation set (EN/DE) is maintained in the vendor fork, linked from
variants/inhero_mr2/README.mdInhero_MR2_repeater,Inhero_MR2_repeater_bridge_rs232,Inhero_MR2_sensorField record: I run a part of the MeshCore repeater infrastructure for a
region in Saxony, Germany — hilltop and mining-tower sites with links from
70 km to over 100 km, plus a number of small birdhouse-style nodes. Almost
all of them are MR2 by now, so this board already carries a significant share
of the MeshCore traffic here.
A representative small node, read out of the MeshCore app on 2026-08-19:
123 days of continuous uptime on solar, 701,487 packets sent and 2,003,527
received, 4 d 20 h of TX airtime (596 ms per packet, one packet every 15 s
on average), 35 % forward ratio, battery still at 100 %. Measured
consumption in real repeater operation is ~0.98 Wh/day.
Another unit ran 140 days before it surfaced a charge-accounting bug; that
bug is reproduced, verified on two battery chemistries, and fixed in this
branch.
Background on the design and the field failures that drove it:
https://shop.inhero.de/en/blogs/news/warum-es-das-mr2-gibt
Build and docs: all three variant environments build green, as does
RAK_4631_repeaterfrom the PR build-check matrix. The documentation set wasverified against the code (CLI replies, thresholds, register values) before
submission.
Transparency: this variant was developed with AI assistance under my
continuous engineering direction and review, followed by a full
pre-submission review pass. Stated upfront in line with this project's
position on code provenance. I manufacture this board and run it in the
field; I will keep the variant building and correct, and I am happy to be
tagged on anything that touches it.