I am planning to use 8 XIAO MG24 Sense devices to record IMU data and send it wirelessly to a PC. However, Bluetooth is not an option for my setup. I saw in the Seeed Studio wiki that the device has a “Complete 2.4GHz Wi-Fi subsystem.”
What exactly does this mean? Can it support direct Wi-Fi communication with a PC, or does it require a separate access point? Before purchasing, I want to ensure that I can efficiently transmit IMU data from multiple devices. Would Wi-Fi or another protocol be a good alternative?
Hi there,
So Yes, Each Device can be a AP or a client.
Try the WPS demo’s on them see if those work, like the others (esp32c3 &C6 & S3) with 8 wow , You know you have to poll the IMU’s on those for data , NO interrupt support 
GL with 8 of those.
HTH
GL 
PJ 
Why 8 and why IMU ?
Thanks! I’ll check the WPS demos. I’m planning to use 8 XIAO MG24 Sense devices for my project to track motion data from multiple moving parts. it small and low power, perfect for my project. The IMU lacks interrupt support, but with a 30 - 64Hz sampling rate, it might not matter. Should I consider something else, or is this fine?
Hi there,
I use the Nrf52840 Xiao and it has the lowest sleep current and the most support in the MCU world, These new chips have some ways to go yet. The Lib support is minimum and issues with Low Power and battery measurement SOC is severely lacking, already 2 new BSP’s and Neither address the issues Makers are having with them. There are a few SHILLS disguised as users trying to carry the water for the manufacture SIL.(pretty sure they from there forum and sent here to try and make a silk purse from a sou’s ear) they will say it’s the best thing since Sliced Bread.
My advice is read everything, try one or two of them in comparison and do some testing. 
I have seen and tested them all, some fit where others fail. I like the Nordic stuff because they don’t FAFO…
Their training and courses are free, FREE… their dev hardware Smokes everything out there, Includes a J-link on board (programmer & debugger) that can be used on other devices. There software is WORLD class, not some ActiveX glue together with a closed eco system , You have to use there DEV-IDF to do anything meaningful beside blink some LED’s. Or like Espressif…Get famous using Arduino IDE and all the free user code base development, then do a RUG-PULL on users forcing them to switch to there IDE (ESP-IDF) and dropping support for Arduino. then change there mind a FAFO and cuase Major headache’s when old examples and demo’s won’t run unless you wave a chicken leg in the air and spin around in a circle about your chair, Roll back the BSP 's until you find one that works 
Pro tip look at the profiles, if they have only been here since the silicon hit the street and issues were popping off, then POOF and couple snowflakes appear with non-sense excuses and semi technical side talk, 
making assertions with ZERO code to back it up . BEWARE! It’s not a bug it’s an UN-documented enhancement 
Also if you a serious want-to -be a developer don’t be afraid of other systems , embrace them and investigate them. The good ones show up pretty fast. Get comfortable with Visual Studio and Platform IO as a alternate environment a lot of extensions make it work well on other Devices. and the debugging works. I have moved from Arduino, PLIO and ESP-IDF over to NRF_SDK although I still use the others to get the absolute most from the device Which is getting a little long in the tooth (nrf52 Series) but allows it to support the latest tech, like BLE sounding , WIFI locationing, FMD by google and many more, the ongoing enhancing and improving is obvious and all build on the previous (for free).
Unless you have experience with the IMU stuff, check out my demo’s on here, Motion, fall, AWT and double tap Wakeup & more. Even at that low of a sample rate it’s a lot of DATA to poll for…x 8 How will you aggregate all of it. I’m currious. SOund like a GREAT project and you came to the right forum. Lots of smart folks on here willing to help.
I know that was a rant but worth the heads up if you new here.
HTH
GL PJ
Check out the $9 BLE dongle (nordic) and the free software for it Best $9 you’ll spend in this field for sure. Brings BLE to the computer and can be configured to be a sniffer with Wireshark for BLE as well as ALL the other Great BLE supported stuff by Nordic.
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Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the XIAO MG24 does not support direct WiFi communication without some sort of “host” interface.
I suggest using one of the XIAO ESP32’s for that. They do support WiFi and can connect directly to your PC.
Thanks for the advice! I’m new here and still learning. I previously used eight ESP32s, and they worked fine. but now I want to make the device smaller. That’s why I’m considering MG24. I’ve ordered XIAO ESP32S3, C3, and MG24 Sense for testing. I’m confident S3 will work, but I want to compare all three. If MG24 has Wi-Fi, it will make updates much easier for me. Also, the $9 Nordic BLE dongle sounds useful I’ll look into it.
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Could you explain what you mean by a “host” in this case? Are you referring to a Wi-Fi router, or do you mean another device that acts as a bridge?
The MG24 supports 802.15.4 protocols, Zigbee, Openthread, Matter as well as BLE. There is also a simple “proprietary” protocol called “Connect” developed by Silabs for their EFR32’s.
So if using an MG24 you would need to decide which protocol to use and then create a “bridge” to your PC.
The most common is to use an NCP (Network Co Processor) connected to a serial port (eg USB232) and a “host” application running in a high level language.
Another method would be to create a simple API to use over serial for the “bridge” device and create a suitable app for your PC.
Unfortunately none of this is simple or trivial.
Using ESP32 with a small module (eg ESP32-S3 Mini?) may be the easiest approach.
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Hi there,
Yes, Sounds like a good plan, if the polling doesn’t bother you, then just mock up a test code set to and START there. The S3 has good WiFi and BLE. You would use the Nrf52 or MG24 sense versions for the Imu’s. BLE the data from each Peripheral to a Central then WiFi it or write it to the SD. (look at @msfujino thread) for collecting data and writing it to SD until Central connects and downloads it from the peripheral. A variation on that theme sounds to me is what you want.
BLE would be better for batteries compared to the WiFi power draw.
if distance is great you may need some Coded-PHY (2mbit), or Nimble for Long-Range Bluetooth. Nrf supports it, can’t say about the MG24 Lib’s.
Lowest power will be NRF’s as peripherals (using sleep) longest battery life.
Sounds like a distance issue too, why not BLE?
You can connect multiple peripherals. to one central and all the data is there, no messing around with routers , ap 's and the worst word invented…
### Proprietary ### no thanks! , really they just didn’t want to pay the licence fee…LOL is what that means.
FYI, they all have them, Nordic is “scatter” or something,espressif is ESPnow, and there are others…
Don’t do that!
here is a screen shot of THREE at once connected using the dongle and two Xiao’s and one DK board.
Don’t make it so complicated. IMO.
HTH
GL PJ
How about 20 to one…
@Sachintha_H
Just to clarify. The Silabs Connect stack can be used with the Silabs EFR32MG24 based devices like the XIAO MG24 - there is no cost involved as it’s part of the development paradigm.
It would be a simple solution to have 8 or more “remote” devices connect to a “host or sink” device on a PC.
Unfortunately building that “simple solution” would require development with Silabs Simplicity Studio as opposed to the Arduino environment. This takes a some experience with the platform and tools.
Hi there,
No reads like, you double conflated what I was getting at; First these companies all do this, develop their own, one because they think its better and two They don’t want to pay a license fee to use another’s radio or stack like ANT and other. by Proprietary’
To say it’s a simple solution is a Stretch , let’s be real no maker who has only used Arduino_IDE will find Simplicity studio , Simple if that’s the message.
further … “would require” there’s that hidden message again.
Nothing open source , just Our stuff. They all do it and say it… also really everything in the connect Stack features and benefits list is being done on other’s Silicon & RF’s as well, so I don’t see an edge or future proof there. Certainly any of the advanced radio or topology tricks requires some serious chair time 
indeed. as a product developer you have to ask yourself if the Juice out is worth the SQUEEZE, Not for that chip and sudden impact no way. IMO.
Bottom line is, You don’t pay monetarily for it short term.
GL PJ
Thank you both. I’ll give an update once my ordered devices arrive😃
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