Commissioning an imp

An imp looks similar to a computer memory card but it's actually a powerful processing engine with 802.11 B/G/N WiFi communications.

To set an imp up, you need 4 things:

• An impee (a host board with socket for the imp, for example, Hannah or April)
• An electric imp account (create this with the sign up button on www.electricimp.com)
• An electric imp mobile app (iOS or Android)
• WiFi connection to the internet

This is the case for end user imps and those to be used for impee development purposes. For the best experience, we recommend that you setup your imp in the order of the proceeding sections.

To associate an imp with an impee, simply plug the imp into the impee! Each impee contains a unique ID which the imp will read to determine what it has been plugged into.

If you are a new imp developer, you probably don't have an impee of your own design. The ideal starting point is with one of our development boards and all you need to do is plug in an imp and power on the board.

Visit https://plan.electricimp.com and use the sign up button to create an account on our servers. After logging in you will be taken to the electric imp Planner.

The registration process will change over the coming months; it will be possible (indeed usual) for end users to create an account from the electric imp app without having to visit the web page at all.

To send your account and wifi credentials to the imp, you need to install the electric imp app on an iOS or Android mobile device.

The electric imp Android app is available at the Google Play store. Android mobile devices vary in their performance during Blink-Up so, to ensure a successful Blink-Up experience, we recommend that you use a mobile device from the list of successfully tested Android devices. At this point, you will only need the mobile app to configure your imp so you can use another person's mobile device for this purpose - just use your electric imp account credentials to log into the app.

The electric imp iOS app is available at the Apple App Store. The current version does not have native iPad support; it is recommended you run it in 1x (non-zoomed) mode for best results.

WiFi setup is performed using the electric imp application which you have already installed on your mobile device. The information necessary to join the WiFi network is sent from your mobile device to the imp optically, using our patent-pending Blink-Up technology. The process is very simple:

1. Run the electric imp mobile app and you will be prompted for an email address and password; enter your electric imp account credentials here.
2. Enter the appropriate network configuration information into the application (see WiFi Network Configuration for more information).
3. Eject and re-insert the imp, and check the LED is flashing. A minute after power up, the imp will go to sleep and stop listening for blinkup.
4. Press “Send BlinkUp”, then hold the screen of your mobile device as close as possible to the sensor on the edge of the imp.

If your mobile device is not muted, you will hear three beeps that signal a countdown to the start of the transfer, then one beep to indicate the transfer has completed. It will take around 10 seconds to transmit the configuration to the device. Upon successful programming, the imp will flash green briefly just as the blinking of the phone screen finishes, then proceed to connect to the network. Refer to LED Codes to interpret each stage of this process. If successful, after a few seconds the imp will slowly flash green indicating that it is connected with the electric imp cloud service. If the transfer failed you'll see fast red flashes and should you re-check the details and try again.

NB If you're using a development board, the imp will not be mechanically enclosed as it would be with a finished product. This can allow ambient light to overload the imp sensor so we recommend using your finger to shield the upper surface of the imp while using Blink-Up. Alternatively, you could apply some dark tape to the top of the imp. This will maximise the reliability of Blink-Up.

NOTE: imps will generally update their internal software the first time they are connected to the network. This process will involve a lot of blinking; you will typically see red blinks, then red/yellow/green, short then long green, etc. Do not unplug the imp during this procedure; when the imp is flashing a short green pulse once a second, then the upgrade has finished and it is connected to the service

After connecting to the cloud, your imp will appear on the electric imp Planner at http://plan.electricimp.com/, showing as “Blank” if connected to a development board which has not been previously associated with code. Once configured, the card can be freely moved between imp-enabled devices without further configuration. If you have a device that has a hard-to-access imp slot, you can configure the imp card in another device and then swap it into the new device.

Your imp is now ready to work. To quickly see your impee in action, you can make a very simple impee application and then move onto more complex examples.

• You should always run Blink-Up with the screen facing away from you and towards the device being configured, especially if you suffer from a medical condition that makes you susceptible to strobing light. Since there are audio prompts both at the start and end, you can close your eyes during the process.
• Your wireless configuration information is sent optically and unencrypted from your mobile device to the imp card. Although it would be very hard to eavesdrop on this transmission, be aware that such interception is, in theory, possible.
• The iOS or Android’s device screen should be as close as possible to the back of the imp, in order to block out ambient light or other interference.
• If the device is in a very brightly lit area (for example, in direct sunlight), shade the device if possible.
• If you are flashing an imp in an unhoused socket (eg, on a devboard), put your thumb over the imp logo on the side of the card during the process to block out light leakage through the side of the card.
• The device should be held still during the process.

If you have a router which has a WPS button, press the WPS button on the router then press the WPS button in the app to transmit the WPS command to the imp within 2 minutes.

When the imp is performing WPS, the LED will flash green, red, green, off. WPS setup usually takes 10-20 seconds to complete.

If your router has WPS but no button, you can use the WPS PIN function to configure WiFi. Often the WPS PIN will be listed on a sticker on the underside of the router.

Enter this PIN into the app, then press the “Send BlinkUp” button in the app to start the transmission.

For this, you need to know your WiFi network name (sometimes called “SSID”) and password. If you did not set these yourself, they may be listed on a sticker on the router.

In the app, the WiFi network name your iOS/Android device is connected to is already filled in; you can tap in the network name field to change this if needed.

The WiFi password cannot be automatically extracted by the app so you must enter this yourself. This password can be saved within the electric imp app in order to make setup of subsequent devices easier.

Note that your WiFi password can be in different forms: if you have a hex password (10 or 16 digits made up only of the characters 0-9 and A-F), enter this without spaces or punctuation. Note also that passwords are case-sensitive so make sure you type these correctly.

After entering these details, press the “Send BlinkUp” button in the app to start the transmission.