ORB-C1-G

Senquip

Platform: ThingsBoard
Hardware Type: Other devices
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, GSM/GPRS, CAN Bus, Modbus, RS-485, RS-232
Industry: Transportation & Logistics, Industrial Manufacturing, Agriculture, Energy Management
Use Case: Fleet Tracking, Smart Metering, Smart Farming, Environment Monitoring

Introduction

The Senquip ORB-C1-G is a rugged, programmable telemetry device that connects to industrial sensors and systems including MODBUS, CAN Bus, current, voltage, and frequency inputs. It can maintain a simultaneous connection to the Senquip Portal and a third-party endpoint, allowing configuration changes and firmware updates from the Portal while sending measured data to ThingsBoard.

This guide describes how to send location, temperature, and CAN Bus data from an ORB-C1-G to ThingsBoard over MQTT, and visualize the data on a dashboard.

For the full hardware reference, see the ORB-C1 User Guide and Quick Start Guide.

Senquip ORB-C1-G installed on industrial equipment

Prerequisites

Hardware:

Senquip ORB-C1-G — 1×

Accounts:

Senquip Portal account with a registered device, configured for Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity
ThingsBoard instance: use ThingsBoard Cloud or install a local server

Hardware overview

Senquip ORB-C1-G open showing terminal block pinout

Pin	Name	Terminal marking	Description
1	Positive voltage in	PWR+	Positive system power (permanent or intermittent, like solar)
2	Negative voltage in	GND	Negative system power or ground
3	Source 1	SRC1	Switchable output with current measurement for 4–20 mA sensors
4	Ground	GND	Spare ground for sensor connection
5	Source 2	SRC2	Switchable output with current measurement for 4–20 mA sensors
6	Serial in	B / RX	RS485B in RS485 mode; receive in RS232 mode
7	Serial out	A / TX	RS485A in RS485 mode; transmit in RS232 mode
8	Input 1	IN1	Analog or digital input with edge detect capability
9	Input 2	IN2	Analog or digital input
10	Output	OUT1	Open collector output
11	CAN Bus High	CAN H	CAN Bus high connection
12	CAN Bus Low	CAN L	CAN Bus low connection

Configure ThingsBoard

Create a device

Go to Entities ⇾ Devices and click + Add device ⇾ Add new device. Enter a name (like Demo Senquip Device) and a short label (like SQ1). Select MQTT as the transport type and click Next: Credentials.
Select MQTT Basic as the credentials type. Enter the Client ID, User Name, and Password that you will also configure on the ORB-C1-G. Click Add.

Configure the ORB-C1-G

All configuration is performed on the Senquip Portal.

General setup

Give the device a meaningful name: Setup > General > Name = Demo Senquip Device.
Set the measurement and transmission interval to 5 seconds: Setup > General > Base Interval = 5.
Enable the GPS peripheral and set it to measure on every base interval: Setup > Internal > GPS > Interval = 1.
Enable the CAN peripheral and set it to measure on every base interval: Setup > External > CAN > Interval = 1. If this is the only CAN device on the network, select Tx Enable so the ORB-C1-G acknowledges CAN messages.
Click Save.

Configure the MQTT endpoint

Enable the MQTT endpoint and configure the connection:

Setting	Value
Setup > Endpoint > MQTT	Enabled
Broker Address	`thingsboard.cloud:1883` (or your ThingsBoard server address)
Client ID	The Client ID entered in ThingsBoard credentials
Data Topic	`v1/devices/me/telemetry`
Username	The User Name entered in ThingsBoard credentials
Password	The Password entered in ThingsBoard credentials

Click Save.

Senquip Portal MQTT endpoint settings with broker address and credentials

Verify data

Senquip devices send data in JSON format. Each measurement has a key and a value — for example, GPS latitude uses the key gps_lat with a value like -32.70245. Nested data such as CAN messages appears as separate rows.

Raw JSON telemetry payload from ORB-C1-G

In ThingsBoard, go to Entities > Devices, open the device, and navigate to the Latest telemetry tab. ThingsBoard automatically parses the JSON payload into a table of keys and values, including the nested CAN identifiers.

Build a dashboard

On the Latest telemetry tab, click a data key row and press Show on widget.
Choose a widget bundle matching your data type (for temperature, use Analog gauges), then click Add to dashboard. Create a new dashboard named Senquip Demo or add to an existing one.
Repeat for additional telemetry keys. For map widgets, configure the Latitude and Longitude under advanced settings to use the gps_lat and gps_lon keys. Resize and arrange widgets as needed and click Save.