The Internet of Things revolution started in 2015 and will continue to be strong in 2016. 2015 was the year everyone talked about the Internet of Things. (So was 2014. And 2013.) But unlike before, it was the year everyone started making plans, laying groundwork, and building the infrastructure. Internet of Things is coming. It’s not a matter of if or whether, but when and how. The premise of IoT is that a connected world will offer gains through efficiency.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has been called the next Industrial Revolution — it will change the way all businesses, governments, and consumers interact with the physical world. The Internet of Things (IoT) is an environment in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer the data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)
and the Internet. IoT is also called the Internet of Everything. A critical component for the IoT system to be a success will be secure bi-directional communication, mobility and localization services.
In the future, everything will be connected. It won’t just be our phones that access the Internet; it will be our light bulbs, our front doors, our microwaves, our comforters, our blenders. You can call it the Internet of Things, The Internet of Everything, Universal Object Interaction, or your pick of buzzwords that begin with Smart. They all hold as inevitable that everything, everything will be connected, to each other and to the Internet. And this is promised to change the world. Remember that the objects themselves do not benefit us, but what services and functions they make it possible to obtain. We will enjoy the outcome, hopefully even better quality products, informative and reliable services, and even new applications.
There will be lots of money spend on IoT in 2016, the exact sum is hard to define, but it is estimated that nearly $6 trillion will be spent on IoT solutions over the next five years. IoT is now a very large global business dominated by giants (IBM, Intel, Cisco, Gemalto, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Bosch, GE, AT&T, T-Mobile, Telefonica and many others). I see that because it is still a young and quickly developing market, there will be lots of potential in it for startups in 2016.
There will be a very large number of new IoT devices connected to Internet in the end of 2016. According to Business Insider The Internet of Things Report there was 10 billion devices connected to the internet in 2015 and there will be will be 34 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020. IoT devices will account for 24 billion, while traditional computing devicesw ill comprise 10 billion (e.g. smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, etc.). Juniper research predicted that by 2020, there will be 38.5 billion connected devices. IDC says it’ll be 20.9 billion. Gartner’s guess? Twenty-five billion. The numbers don’t matter, except that they’re huge. They all agree that most of those gadgets will be industrial Internet of Things. The market for connecting the devices you use all day, every day, is about to be huge.
Businesses will be the top adopter of IoT solutions because they see ways the IoT can improve their bottom line: lowering operating costs, increasing productivity, expand to new markets and develop new product offerings. Sensors, data analytics, automation and wireless communication technologies allow the study of the “self-conscious” machines, which are able to observe their environment and communicate with each other. From predictive maintenance that reduces equipment downtime to workers using mobile devices on the factory floor, manufacturing is undergoing dramatic change. The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling increased automation on the factory floor and throughout the supply chain, 3D printing is changing how we think about making components, and the cloud and big data are enabling new applications that provide an end-to-end view from the factory floor to the retail store.
Governments are focused on increasing productivity, decreasing costs, and improving their citizens’ quality of life. The IoT devices market will connect to climate agreements as in many applicatons IoT can be seen as one tool to help to solve those problems. A deal to attempt to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2C was agreed at the climate change summit in Paris in December 2015. Sitra fresh market analysis indicates that there is up to an amount of EUR 6 000 billion market potential for smart green solutions by 2050. Smart waste and water systems, materials and packaging, as well as production systems together to form an annual of over EUR 670 billion market. Smart in those contests typically involves use of IoT technologies.
Consumers will lag behind businesses and governments in IoT adoption – still they will purchase a massive number of devices. There will be potential for marketing IoT devices for consumers: Nine out of ten consumers never heard the words IoT or Internet of Things, October 2015! It seems that the newest IoT technology extends homes in 2016 – to those homes where owner has heard of those things. Wi-Fi has become so ubiquitous in homes in so many parts of the world that you can now really start tapping into that by having additional devices. The smart phones and the Internet connection can make home appliances, locks and sensors make homes and leisure homes in more practical, safer and more economical. Home adjusts itself for optimal energy consumption and heating, while saving money. During the next few years prices will fall to fit for large sets of users. In some cases only suitable for software is needed, as the necessary sensors and data connections can be found in mobile phones. Our homes are going to get smarter, but it’s going to happen slowly. Right now people mostly buy single products for a single purpose. Our smart homes and connected worlds are going to happen one device, one bulb at a time. The LED industry’s products will become more efficient, reliable, and, one can hope, interoperable in the near future. Companies know they have to get you into their platform with that first device, or risk losing you forever to someone else’s closed ecosystem.
The definitions what would be considered IoT device and what is a traditional computing devices is not entirely clear, and I fear that we will not get a clear definition for that in 2016 that all could agree. It’s important to remember that the IoT is not a monolithic industry, but rather a loosely defined technology architecture that transcends vertical markets to make up an “Internet of everything.”
Too many people – industry leaders, media, analysts, and end users – have confused the concept of
“smart” with “connected”. Most devices – labeled “IoT” or “smart” – are simply connected devices. Just connecting a device to the internet so that it can be monitored and controlled by someone over the web using a smart phone is not smart. Yes, it may be convenient and time saving, but it is not “smart”. Smart means intelligence.
IoT New or Not? YES and NO. There are many cases where whole IoT thing is hyped way out of proportion. For the most part, it’s just the integration of existing technologies. Marketing has driven an amount of mania around IoT, on the positive side getting it on the desks of decision makers, and on the negative generating ever-loftier predictions. Are IoT and M2M same or different? Yes and no depending on case. For sure for very many years to come IoT and M2M will coexist.
Nearly a dozen contenders are trying to fill a need for long distance networks that cut the cost and power consumption of today’s cellular machine-to-machine networks. Whose technology protocols should these manufacturers incorporate into their gear? Should they adopt ZigBee, Apple’s HomeKit, Allseen Alliance/AllJoyn, or Intel’s Open Interconnect Consortium? Other 802.15.4 technologies? There are too many competing choices.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, two pioneers of the Internet of Things are expanding their platforms and partnerships. Crowdfunding sites and hardware accelerators are kicking out startups at a regular clip, typically companies building IoT devices that ride Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth Special Interest group is expected to release in2016 support for mesh networks and higher data rates.
Although ZWave and Zigbee helped pioneer the smart home and building space more than a decade ago, but efforts based on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 6LoWPAN are poised to surpass them. Those pioneering systems are actively used and developed. Zigbee Alliance starts certification for its unified version 3.0 specification in few months (includes profiles for home and building automation, LED lighting, healthcare, retail and smart energy). EnOcean Alliance will bring its library of about 200 application profiles for 900 MHz energy harvesting devices to Zigbee networks. Zigbee will roll out a new spec for smart cities. The Z-Wave Security 2 framework will start a beta test in February and Z-Wave aims to strike a collaboration withleading IoT application framework platforms. Zigbee alredy has support Thread.
The race to define, design and deploy new low power wide area networks for the Internet of Things won’t cross a finish line in 2016. But by the end of the year it should start to be clear which LPWA nets are likely to have long legs and the opportunities for brand new entrants will dim significantly. So at the moment it is hard to make design choices. To protect against future technology changes, maybe the device makers should design in wireless connectivity chips and software that will work with a variety of protocols? That’s complicated and expensive. But if I pick only one technology I can easily pick up wrong horse, and it is also an expensive choice.
Within those who want to protect against future technology changes, there could be market for FPGAs in IoT devices. The Internet of Things (IoT) is broken and needs ARM-based field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology to fix it, an expert told engineers at UBM’s Designers of Things conference in San Jose. You end up with a piece of hardware that can be fundamentally changed in the field.
There seems to be huge set of potential radio techniques also for Internet of Things even for long distance and low power consumpion. Zigbee will roll out a new spec for smart cities in February based on the 802.15.4g standard for metro networks. It will compete with an already crowded field of 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz networks from Sigfox, the LoRa Alliance, Ingenu and others. Weightless-P is an open standard announced by Weightless SIG, which operates at frequencies below one gigahertz. Weightless-P nodes and development cards will be expected to be in the market already during the first quarter of 2016, at the moment Weightless IoT Hardware Virtually Unavailable.
I expect LoRa Technology is expected to be hot in 2016. The LoRaWAN standard enables low-data-rate Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) wireless communication with a range of up to 10 miles, a battery life of 10 years, and the ability to connect millions of wireless sensor nodes to LoRaWAN gateways. LoRa® technology works using a digital spread spectrum modulation and proprietary protocol in the Sub-GHz RF band (433/868/915 MHz). I see LoRa technology interesting because lots of activity around in Finland in several companies (especially Espotel) and I have seen a convincing hands-in demo of the LoRa system in use.
It seems that 3GPP Lost its Way in IoT and there is fragmentation ahead in cellular standards. In theory 3GPP should be the default provider of IoT connectivity, but it seems that it has now failed in providing one universal technology. At the moment, there are three major paths being supported by 3GPP for IoT: the machine-type version of LTE (known as LTE-M) and two technologies coming from the Cellular-IoT initiative — NB-IoT and EC-GSM. So here we are with three full standardization efforts in 3GPP for IoT connectivity. It is too much. There will like be a base standard in 2016 for LTE-M.
The promise of billions of connected devices leads everyone to assume that there will be plenty of room for multiple technologies, but this betrays the premise of IoT, that a connected world will offer gains through efficiency. Too many standard will cause challenges for everybody. Customers will not embrace IoT if they have to choose between LTE-M and Sigfox-enabled products that may or may not work in all cases. OEM manufacturers will again bear the cost, managing devices at a regional or possibly national level. Again, we lose efficiency and scale. The cost of wireless connectivity will remain a barrier to entry to IoT.
Today’s Internet of Things product or service ultimately consists of multiple parts, quite propably supplied by different companies. An Internet of Things product or service ultimately consists of multiple parts. One is the end device that gathers data and/or executes control functions on the basis of its communications over the Internet. Another is the gateway or network interface device. Once on the Internet, the IoT system needs a cloud service to interact with. Then, there is the human-machine interface (HMI) that allows users to interact with the system. So far, most of the vendors selling into the IoT development network are offering only one or two of these parts directly. Alternatives to this disjointed design are arising, however. Recently many companies are getting into the end-to-end IoT design support business, although to different degrees.
Voice is becoming more often used the user interface of choice for IoT solutions. Smartphones let you control a lot using only your voice as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung have their solutions for this. For example Amazon, SoundHound and Nuance have created systems that allow to add language commands to own hardware or apps. Voice-activated interface becomes pervasive and persistent for IoT solutions in 2016. Right now, most smart home devices are controlled through smartphones, and it seems like that’s unlikely to change. The newest wearable technology, smart watches and other smart devices corresponding to the voice commands and interpret the data we produce – it learns from its users, and generate as responses in real time appropriate, “micro-moments” tied to experience.
Monitoring your health is no longer only a small group oriented digital consumer area. Consumers will soon take advantage of the health technology extensively to measure well-being. Intel Funds Doctor in Your Pocket and Samsung’s new processor is meant for building much better fitness trackers. Also, insurance companies have realized the benefits of health technologies and develop new kinds of insurance services based on data from IoT devices.
Samsung’s betting big on the internet of things and wants the TV to sit at the heart of this strategy. Samsung believes that people will want to activate their lights, heating and garage doors all from the comfort of their couch. If smart TVs get a reputation for being easy to hack, then Samsung’s models are hardly likely to be big sellers. After a year in which the weakness of smart TVs were exploited, Samsung goes on the offensive in 2016. Samsung’s new Tizen-based TVs will have GAIA security with pin lock for credit card and other personal info, data encryption, built-in anti-malware system, more.
This year’s CES will focus on how connectivity is proliferating everything from cars to homes, realigning diverse markets – processors and networking continue to enhance drones, wearables and more. Auto makers will demonstrate various connected cars. There will be probably more health-related wearables at CES 2016, most of which will be woven into clothing, mainly focused on fitness. Whether or not the 2016 International CES holds any big surprises remains to be seen. The technology is there. Connected light bulbs, connected tea kettles, connected fridges and fans and coffeemakers and cars—it’s all possible. It’s not perfect, but the parts are only going to continue to get better, smaller, and cheaper.
Connectivity of IoT devices will still have challeges in 2016. While IoT standards organizations like the Open Interconnect Consortium and the AllSeen Alliance are expected to demonstrate their capabilities at CES, the industry is still a ways away from making connectivity simple. In 2016 it will still pretty darn tedious to get all these things connected, and there’s all these standards battles coming on. So there will be many standards in use at the same time. The next unsolved challenge: How the hell are all these things going to work together? Supporting open APIs that connect with various services is good.
Like UPnP and DLNA, AllJoyn could become the best-kept secret in the connected home in 2016 — everyone has it, no one knows about it. AllJoyn is an open-source initiative to connect devices in the Internet of Things. Microsoft added support for AllJoyn to Windows in 2014.
Analysis will become important in 2016 on IoT discussions. There’s too much information out there that’s available free, or very cheaply. We need systems to manage the information so we can make decisions. Welcome to the systems age.
The rise of the Internet of Things and Web services is driving new design principles. The new goal is to delight customers with experiences that evolve in flexible ways that show you understand their needs. “People are expecting rich experiences, fun and social interactions… this generation gets bored easily so you need to understand all the dimensions of how to delight them”
With huge number of devices security issues will become more and more important. In 2016, we’ll need to begin grappling with the security concerns these devices raise. The reality of everything being connected can have unintended consequences, not all of them useful – Welcome to the Internet of stupid (hackable) things.
Security: It was a hot topic for 2015 and if anything it will get hotter in 2016. The reason is clear. By adding connectivity embedded systems not only increase their utility, they vastly increase their vulnerability to subversion with significant consequences. Embedded systems that add connectivity face many challenges, of which the need for security is both vital and misunderstood. But vendors and developers have been getting the message and solutions are appearing in greater numbers, from software libraries to MCUs with a secure root of trust.
Bruce Schneier is predicting that the IoT will be abused in conjunction with DMCA to make our lives worse instead of better. In theory, connected sensors will anticipate your needs, saving you time, money, and energy. Except when the companies that make these connected objects act in a way that runs counter to the consumer’s best interests. The story of a company using copy-protection technology to lock out competitors—isn’t a new one. Plenty of companies set up proprietary standards to ensure that their customers don’t use someone else’s products with theirs. Because companies can enforce anti-competitive behavior this way, there’s a litany of things that just don’t exist, even though they would make life easier for consumers.
Internet of Things is coming. It’s not a matter of if or whether, but when and how. Maybe it’ll be 2016, maybe the year after, but the train is coming. It’ll have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and probably eight other things, and you’ll definitely get a push notification when it gets here.
More interesting material links:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Development Kit Speeds Creation of IoT Demos
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=279702&cid=nl.x.dn16.edt.aud.dn.20160208&dfpPParams=ind_184,industry_auto,industry_machinery,kw_33,aid_279702&dfpLayout=article
A new “rapid prototyping tool” enables developers to bring Internet of Things (IoT) designs to life more quickly.
The Cross Domain Development Kit, or XDK, as it’s known, is targeted at system integrators and developers who want to quickly create a demo or proof-of-concept for IoT applications. “Too often, the problem is that when you want to do a proof-of-concept, you have to reinvent the wheel,” Thorsten Mueller, CEO of Bosch Connected Devices and Solutions GmbH, told Design News. “We wanted to come up with a solution — a very generic sensor that would allow you to do a fast proof of concept.”
Bosch’s solution incorporates both hardware and software. The hardware side includes a MEMS accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope, as well as humidity, pressure, temperature, acoustic, and digital light sensors. The kit also incorporates Bluetooth and WiFi hardware, a 32-bit ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller, integrated antennas, a micro SD slot card, and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The software side includes an integrated development environment, algorithm library, sample applications, and access to an online community for support.
Bosch claims the XDK goes beyond the reference designs typically offered by semiconductor companies. “A semiconductor company will sell you a reference design and hardware components, but not a ready-to-use sensor,” Mueller said. “With our product, a user can easily design a specific sensor device based on the data they collect with the XDK.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
One chip, wondrous variety
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/about-embedded/4441333/One-chip–wondrous-variety?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160210&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160210&elqTrackId=8c60bdc5a85242e7a15f2ba4d6097a73&elq=d3d67ade81db475daef9c94d39d158e9&elqaid=30773&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=26915
Embedded systems developers can spend a lot of time trying to locate a microcontroller that has the peripheral set they need without a lot of surplus that adds cost but no value. Then, they need to do it again on the next project, hoping to find something that lets them leverage the tools, expertise, and software they previously acquired. It would be nice if there was something available that had enough flexibility that a single device would meet the needs of many projects.
Cypress Semiconductor has developed what seems like just the thing. They recently announced the PSoC 4 L-series, the latest in a family of programmable systems on chip with a lot to offer. Based on the widely-supported ARM M0 architecture, the PSoC 4 family provides an almost bewildering degree of configurability.
On the analog side there are op amps, current-output DACs, comparators, and a 12-bit SAR ADC. You can connect these together as needed, configure the gains, and generally use them to create a custom front-end for all your sensor needs. Oh, and the pinouts for everything is also configurable, simplifying layout.
It all sounds like it would be a bear to use, but Cypress offers a PSoC Creator development tool that reduces most of the configuration to a drag-and-drop operation. Commonly-used configurations are available in libraries as “virtual chips”, and custom configurations are developed using schematic capture or Verilog.
While the L-series PSoC 4 is new, the family itself has been growing for the last few years. Prior members include families based on the Cortex-M3, Cypress M8, and 8051 cores as well as one with an integrated BLE radio.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Software expands wireless test set for M2M, IoT
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4441315/Software-expands-wireless-test-for-M2M–IoT?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160208&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160208&elqTrackId=851bf1a811ee4cc3b5659f15fedeced2&elq=fc9b4350a94743d0b96eaeba544af358&elqaid=30727&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=26873
Anritsu has added support for 802.11p, Bluetooth DLE, and Z-Wave to its measurement software product line for the MT8870A Universal Wireless Test Set, covering a frequency range from 10 MHz to 6 GHz.
The rapid expansion of the IoT/M2M applications market is increasing the need for wireless testing of communications terminals and modules. The majority of these products support both mobile wireless systems, such as LTE and W-CDMA, as well as short-range 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth in one unit, requiring a fast, all-in-one, test set for measuring multiple wireless systems.
The Universal Wireless Test Set MT8870A has been specifically designed for the high volume manufacturing test of all common cellular and short range wireless technologies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES OF IOT DESIGN
http://hosteddocs.emediausa.com/mentorpaper_93223111111111.pdf
Internet of Things (IoT) designs mesh together several design domains in order to successfully develop a product
that interfaces real-world activity to the internet. Individually, these design domains are challenging for today’s
engineers. Bringing them all together to create an IoT product can place extreme pressure on design teams.
This IoT device contains a sensor and an actuator that interface to the Internet. The sensor signal is sent to an
analog signal processing device in the form of an amplifier or a low-pass filter. The output connects to an A/D
converter to digitize the signal. That signal is sent to a digital logic block that contains a microcontroller or a
microprocessor. Conversely, the actuator is controlled by an analog driver through a D/A converter. The sensor
telemetry is sent and control signals are received by a radio module that uses a standard protocol such as WiFi,
Bluetooth, or ZigBee, or a custom protocol. The radio transmits data to the Cloud or through a smartphone or PC.
Each of these major IoT functional blocks can be assembled from off-the-shelf, discreet components. However,
there is strong pressure to converge the component from Figure 1 into a smaller number of individual packaged
devices.
Convergence improves the cost, size, performance, and power consumption of the IoT device. By creating a multi-
functional chip, the part count can be reduced and design integration can be improved. Figure 2 shows two
examples of convergence. A radio chip company adds a microcontroller and the A/D and D/A converter. A sensor
company adds the analog signal processing and A/D converter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Picking up Good Vibrations: Artificial Trees Harvest Energy
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1328891&
Researchers from the University of Ohio have shown that tree-like structures made with electromechanical materials are suitable for converting winds or structural vibrations into electricity.
The “trees” would be relatively simple structures – a trunk with a few branches and no leaves – and they may not be scaled up to sit among conventional forests or compete with windmills or solar farms. More likely they would be used at the small scale to power sensors that monitor the structural integrity of buildings, bridges and other civil engineering structures.
“Buildings sway ever so slightly in the wind, bridges oscillate when we drive on them and car suspensions absorb bumps in the road,”
Harne envisions tiny “trees” feeding voltages to a sensor on the underside of a bridge, or on a girder deep inside a high-rise building. In this way structural monitoring systems could be powered by the vibrations they are monitoring.
To test the math Harne and colleagues built a tree-like structure out of small steel beams connected by an electromechanical material polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) that would convert the movement into electrical energy. From a noisy high-frequency input it was possible to put the structure into low frequency oscillation producing an energy source at 2V.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The IoT Library: Sensor Design & Fusion in the Age of Smart
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=31&doc_id=1328850&
IoT designers need to learn how to integrate entire databases of “perceptual information” from data-rich sensors into future products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Puzzle Alarm Clock Gets Couple Up In The Morning
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/13/puzzle-alarm-clock-gets-couple-up-in-the-morning/
the most prominent number should be the next alarm.
To set the alarm, however, one must manually move the magnetized segments to the time you’d like to get up. Processing wise, for a clock, it’s carrying some heat. It runs on an Intel Edison, which it uses to synthesize a voice for the time, news, weather, and, presumably, tweets
Puzzle Alarm Clock
http://www.instructables.com/id/Puzzle-Alarm-Clock/
In this instructable I am going to show how to build an alarm clock that allows you to set the wake-up time by arranging the digits.
You can make the box out any material you like, as long the magnets are able to activate the reed switches through it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ridiculously Automated Dorm Room
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/13/ridiculously-automated-dorm-room/
Take three NRF24L0+ radios, two Arduino Nanos, and a Raspberry Pi. Add a bored student and a dorm room at Rice University. What you get is the RRAD: Rice Ridiculously Automated Dorm. [Jordan Poles] built a modular system inspired by BRAD (the Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm).
RRAD has three types of nodes:
Actuation nodes – Allows external actuators like relays or solenoids
Sensory nodes – Reports data from sensors (light, temperature, motion)
Hub nodes – Hosts control panel, records data, provides external data interfaces
The hub also allows [Jordan] to control things with his Android phone with Tasker. He has the Arduino and Raspberry Pi code on GitHub if you want to ridiculously automate something of your own. You’d probably want to adapt it to your dorm room, house, or RV, though.
Rice Ridiculously Automated Dorm (RRAD!)
To go where no Rice dorm has gone before: Automated Lighting n’ Stuff
https://hackaday.io/project/4898-rice-ridiculously-automated-dorm-rrad
This is a project inspired by Derek Low’s work on the Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm (BRAD).
I have designed a network of three NRF24L0+ radios (attached to two arduino nanos and one raspberry pi), which coordinate communication between the three types of nodes in my system:
- Actuation Nodes: A microcontroller which can switch relays or other external actuators (perhaps solenoids).
- Sensory Nodes: Microcontroller which measures and reports room brightness, temperature, and PIR motion detection.
- Hub Nodes: Raspberry Pi which hosts the control panel website, and runs the NodeJS program which coordinates the information between the sensory/actuation nodes, records room data in a MongoDB, and provides a socket for live update of sensory information to web or mobile clients.
I have also designed a set of tasker automations (android) which enable me to quickly control the room based on phone-based triggers.
Components
2 × Arduino Nano
1 × Raspberry Pi B
3 × NRF24L01+ Radios
1 × OLED
2 × PIR Sensors Motion Detectors on either side of room
3 × Tri-Color LED Strips
1 × LED Strip Power Supply/Control Box
1 × 1 Outlet Box
1 × 2xRelay Board
1 × Pushbutton
I have uploaded all of the project’s code to github. There are two separate repositories, one containing the code running the Raspberry Pi radio and associated web server, and another containing the code for the Arduino nodes. They are linked on the main project page
A tasker script will also automatically turn the lights to red at a designated sleep time, if the phone is in the room, in order to allow adjustment to lower light in the interest of good sleep hygiene.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home automation using RF mesh network and arduino
https://hackaday.io/project/5691-home-automation-using-rf-mesh-network-and-arduino
Creating home automation sensors and controllers that can be used around the house forming a mesh network for communication
The internet of Things is growing fast. With this project I aim to manufacture low cost sensors and controllers that anyone can plug and play to easily connect into their home. These will work together with open source Home Automation software to make any house responsive by monitoring and saving energy in an intelligent way.
The RF sensors I am building will be based on the arduino nano and could include the following sensors:
Temperature and Humidity
Light level
Noise sensor
PIR sensor
With external connections for other sensors such as:
Door/Window contact
Soil moisture
Smoke and gas sensors
Water leak sensors
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Plug and Play Smart Sensors
https://hackaday.io/project/2432-raspberry-pi-plug-and-play-smart-sensors
Control, manipulate, and extract data from things connected to the internet, or through a network structure.
A network of interchangeable sensor nodes, that can collect data in a variety of environments, and for a variety of purposes.Simply grab the sensors that you require, plug them into the available slots of the node, and turn the device on. Once turned on, the device automatically connects to the network, identifies the attached sensors, and begins data collection. With every node attached to the network, the network should then expand as each node will ideally be set up to repeat the wireless signal that originates at the Raspberry Pi server. The target cost for each node is under $100, which would make it very budget friendly.
All of the collected data will be stored in a database located on the central server. That data can then be gathered and
interpreted using a web-based interface. That interface will also have controls that send commands to controllable objects where applicable.
Tomi Engdahl says:
WinkHub Integration
https://hackaday.io/project/4368-winkhub-integration
Hacking the Wink Hub to be more user-friendly for use with OpenHab and other home automation stacks
Integrating a “rooted” Wink Hub into my Home Automation environment utilizing OpenHab
I plan to document the integration of the Wink Hub into my home automation environment. Currently, I have 3 GE Link light bulbs, and a NEST thermostat that will be integrated into the environment. The real meat of this project will be attempting to integrate DIY sensors built around the Digi Xbee devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Senmgr
(Sensor Manager) Private opensource back end for you IoT
https://hackaday.io/project/2168-senmgr
Opensource back end to handle real time communication between your devices, with a simple REST API.
Aims to have a consistent and generic usage to allow easy retrieving and transmitting data from any sensor.
With real time communication being done with web sockets
Tomi Engdahl says:
PyHouse
Home automation with IoT
https://hackaday.io/project/5528-pyhouse
One of my goals for this project is to have everything use IPv6. With many different IoT devices in each home, It does not make sense to try to cram everything into IPv4 addresses. Each home should get a /64 address space and that leaves room for a *LOT* of addresses.
The URL for PyHouse code is: http://github.com/DBrianKimmel/PyHouse
The code and fritzing diagrams for the Arduino projects is: http://github.com/DBrianKimmel/PyHouse_Arduino
Tomi Engdahl says:
NeoPixel Temperature Display
https://hackaday.io/project/6648-neopixel-temperature-display
Using a ESP8266 and MQTT to display environmental readings from nodes around the house on a OLED using DomotiGA and Mosquitto as the core.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low Cost Wireless Home Automation and Security
https://hackaday.io/project/5449-low-cost-wireless-home-automation-and-security
This is an IoT based wireless Home Automation and Security System
We have seen a lot of home automation systems in the past but with the trend of Internet of Things the systems are getting cooler. So this will be another IoT based low cost Home Automation and Security system which involves various sensor nodes connected to a gateway node via the famous nrf24l01+ radio modules which in turn will be connected to the internet via WiFi.
The main controller will also act as a WiFi gateway and push all the sensor data to a cloud based service called Thingspeak. The main controller will also have a GSM module in case there is no internet connection or WiFi.
Since the sensor and actuator nodes will be wireless hence they need to be very low powered so that it can run on battery for at least a year. Since Thingspeak can only parse data once every 15 seconds we will be putting our nodes into sleep for 16 seconds using the Low Power Library from Rocket Scream.
Components
6 × Arduino Pro Mini 5V 16Mhz This is the controller for sensor nodes.
1 × CC3200 SimpleLink WiFi Launchpad Main controller and IoT gateway
7 × NRF24L01+ Wireless Radio for sensor nodes
6 × AMS1117 3.3V LDO Regulator 3.3V Regulators for NRF24L01+ modules
1 × RFID Reader To authorize entry into the house
1 × SIM900 GSM Module Send notification in case WiFi not available
2 × PIR Motion Sensor To detect movements in the room
1 × Obstacle Detector To detect intrusion through windows
2 × 5V 2 channel relay modules To control appliances in the room
1 × Magnetic Door Contact Switch To detect door opening
This is the repository for the 2015 Hackaday Prize project which is Low Cost Wireless Home Automation and Security
https://github.com/noobtechie/2015HackadayPrize
Tomi Engdahl says:
Aaron Tilley / Forbes:
Amazon Echo gets Alexa integration with Ecobee so you can control thermostats via voice
Amazon Echo Can Now Control Thermostats
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aarontilley/2016/02/12/amazon-echo-can-now-control-thermostats/#70b32e407c8c
Amazon Echo has become a surprise hit among the tech crowd. The $180 tube-shaped speaker gives users access to Amazon’s cloud-based voice service, Alexa. It’s especially won over the smart home as an easier means of controlling devices. Rather than having to pull out a smartphone to simply switch a light on, just talk.
Now the Echo is expanding its role as the centerpiece of the smart home by directly integrating WiFi-connected thermostats into its system. The first partner here is with Toronto, Canada-based thermostat maker Ecobee.
Ecobee has been working with Amazon for the past six months on this integration, said Ecobee president and CEO Stuart Lombard. Most of that has been around refining the Alexa voice commands. For now, it’s pretty simple and obvious commands like “Alexa, turn the heat to 74
The integration is done through an API Amazon calls Alexa Connected Home Skills. Amazon first began directly integrating smart home devices with lighting systems last October. The thermostat is only the second smart home device category Amazon has integrated with Echo directly. (Users can control other smart home devices but have to go through a complicated setup process using third-party services like If This Then That.)
Ecobee is the second largest seller of Internet-connected thermostats in the US, with 24% share of the market, according to research firm NPD Group – second only behind Alphabet’s Nest.
Tips for Using Login with Amazon in Alexa Connected Home (CoHo) Skills
https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/TxNL8HYBBE7YTE/Tips-for-Using-Login-with-Amazon-in-Alexa-Connected-Home-CoHo-Skills
Tomi Engdahl says:
Controlling RGB LEDs With The Pi Zero
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/14/controlling-rgb-leds-with-the-pi-zero/
The Pi Zero is a great piece of hardware, even if you’re not designing another USB hub for it. [Marcel] wanted to control a few RGB LED strips from his phone, and while there are a lot of fancy ways you can do this, all it really takes is a Pi Zero and a few parts that are probably already banging around your parts drawers.
This isn’t a project to control individually addressable RGB LEDs such as NeoPixels, WS2812s, or APA102 LEDs. This is just a project to control RGB LEDs with five four connectors: red, green, blue, power, and or ground. These are the simplest RGB LEDs you can get, and sometimes they’re good enough and cheap enough to be the perfect solution to multi-colored blinkies in a project.
Control of the LEDs is accomplished through lighttpd. This does mean a USB WiFi dongle is required to control the LEDs over the Internet
Raspberry Pi Zero Ledstrip Controller
Raspberry Pi Zero Ledstrip Controller to control a RGB ledstrip via the browser of your phone or pc.
https://hackaday.io/project/9635-raspberry-pi-zero-ledstrip-controller
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open Sesame, from a Galaxy far, far away.
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/14/open-sesame-from-a-galaxy-far-far-away/
“The FORCE motion travels through my inner what-nots and is translated by the Pebble Classic accelerometer toggling a command sent to the (Particle) Cloud (City) which returns to the Particle Photon triggering a TIP120 to fire a button on an existing RF transceiver. May the ridiculous hand gestures be with you, always.” Thus was born the Gate Jedi , and you’ll need exactly 47 Midichlorians, and some other trivial parts, to build one.
The Pebble watch hooks up to his android smart phone. A Pebble (android) app sends the accelerometer data to the Particle (previously called Spark) cloud service. From there, the data is pushed to the Photon IoT board which runs a few lines of code. Output from the Photon turns on a TIP120 power transistor, which in turn triggers the existing RF trans receiver that opens the Gate
Gate Jedi
Force to Pebble to Android to Cloud to Photon to TIP120 opens Gate
https://hackaday.io/project/9528-gate-jedi
Pebble.js APP
https://hackaday.io/project/9528-gate-jedi/log/31409-pebblejs-app
A project log for Gate Jedi
Force to Pebble to Android to Cloud to Photon to TIP120 opens Gate
Photon Code
https://hackaday.io/project/9528-gate-jedi/log/31408-photon-code
A project log for Gate Jedi
Force to Pebble to Android to Cloud to Photon to TIP120 opens Gate
Tomi Engdahl says:
DARPA to Remake Itself Leaner
Goes for holy grail of unhackable IoT
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1328914&
Some of the most world-changing technologies—such as the Internet—were spawned by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), but the pace of change has accelerated. Instead of concentrating on big, expensive, long-term projects, DARPA’s new aim for its $2.9 billion budget will be smaller, more numerous and less expensive innovations that better address the crowd-sourced frontier facing us in the future.
“Today we want to give you a sense of where DARPA is going with its couple hundred programs on which we work with the Defense Department, and the vast resources of the research and academic communities,” said Arati Prabhakar, director of DARPA in a virtual roundtable session in Washington D.C.
For instance, its High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems (HACMS) program has found a new way to make embedded systems “unhackable.” Instead of spending all a program’s security resources trying to prevent a hacker from gaining entrance to a computer system, HACMS renders the system mathematically provable to be unhackable using formal proofs—and code synthesis methods—that enable executables to meet their formal specifications “no matter what.”
To prove that these new methods are indeed unhackable, the inventors of these technologies depend on formal mathematical proofs. However, to prove to the software community that the goal of “unhackability” for Internet of Things (IoT) embedded systems is achievable, the HACMS team built a provably unhackable operating system software kernel for a drone called Little Bird. “What we want to achieve with HACMS is to take whole classes of cybersecurity problems out of the picture,” said Prabhakar. “We challenged our most talented hackers to try to take over Little Bird, but they failed. We even gave the hackers its source code and they failed. Even when we gave them access to one of the subsystems—its camera module—the hackers could not break out of it to control the drone.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The IoT Library: Infrared LEDs Boost Machine Vision, Day and Night
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1328926&
Where do you go for in-depth, insightful help in understanding and selecting IR LEDs for CCTV application requirements?
The night has a thousand eyes; and so too, the day.
Increasingly these watchful eyes are part of security cameras and other full-spectrum imaging and sensing systems where improved visibility has become a design mandate due to less-than-ideal lighting conditions.
For these applications, designers are now integrating infrared LED components into their systems for the express purpose of secondary illumination.
Sponsor video, mouseover for sound
Infrared offer designers several advantages over visible light; among them: low power requirements, low cost, and high-security benefits. Specifically, infrared LEDs have a lower forward voltage, and a higher rated current compared to visible LEDs. A typical drive current for an infrared LED can be as high as 50 milliamps. IR LEDs are usually rated in milliwatts.
According to a TechSci Research study the increasing integration of infrared LEDs in automotive, consumer electronics and other allied industries, coupled with rising investments in infrared LED manufacturing, are the key drivers of today’s vibrant, global infrared LED market.
Today’s advanced surveillance systems often incorporate designs with IR illuminator units that have been synchronized with camera lenses to ensure the camera’s field of view at any time is appropriately illuminated.
With near-infrared light spectrum ranges from 700nm up to around 1,050nm, infrared LEDs are proving to be a useful light source for CCTV cameras used in night vision applications and where light levels are very low. The two most commonly used wavelengths are centered at 850nm and 940nm. The spectral emission range matches well to the sensitivity range of standard photodiodes, phototransistors or CCD and CMOS cameras with extended IR sensitivity.
According to one industry guide: infrared light sources are visible to the human eye up to around 780nm, with high-intensity sources being discernible as a faint red glow to around 850 nm. These lower wavelength devices are used in CCTV cameras in semi-covert applications. For covert operations, and in applications where light pollution is to be avoided, the higher wavelength devices are the preferred choice. However, fewer cameras are sensitive to 940 nm sources, and the illumination range may be shorter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBQ WLAN Thermometer
8-channel (BBQ)-Thermometer hooked to your WLAN
https://hackaday.io/project/9515-bbq-wlan-thermometer
Based on a Raspberry Pi and a small PCB with ADC and some step-up electronics, this thermometer designed by and for the BBQ-community offers the ability of monitoring and logging 8 different temperatures at a time. Hooked up to your local WLAN, you have access to a webbased GUI to display and control all functions.
Functions are:
8 Channel Data-Logging
Display of Thermo-Plots
USB-Webcam-capability
Raspicam-capability
Setting of high/low-alarm-tresholds to trigger
a) beeper alarm local
b) webinterface-sound
c) email
d) WhatsAp-Message
Tomi Engdahl says:
vThing Starter
Lower the entry bar to IOT Development as much as possible
https://hackaday.io/project/9661-vthing-starter
The goal of this project is to lower the bar to IOT Development as much as possible and allow a wider group of people to feel the joy of “physical” computing.
Currently I am missing a sub-10$ device, that i can plug to my computer and do some very simple things with Wifi. E.g. IFTTT-Button functionality. Changing colors of a RGB Led or measuring the temperature.
Recently i’ve been asked in my company to deliver a training on IOT Development. I announced that I’ll explain how people would learn how to join the IOT Stream using a simple 4$ device (for myself I meant, buying few NodeMCUs or Wemos.cc’s, and letting the people connect some stuff ona breadboard). 200 out of 500 people enrolled. This surprised me quite a lot. Apparently everybody wants be part of IOT (whatever that means for any of them).
What we currently have is:
4$ – NodeMCU, Wemos.CC – nice boards, that are cheap, yet require some additional knowledge in electronics to do some stuff more
20+$ – The Wio Link from seedstudio, Riots Kickstarter, and some others. They are quite versatile yet at 20+$, i really see them as a next level gadget, for the ones that see they have interest in IOT
50-100-200$ – E2E Integrated Systems, where everything is very simple and one could integrate a vast variety of sensors and devices, mostly w/o coding at all. I see this rather as devices for Consumers, that want to use the technology and not so much extend it.
So looking at a BOM for creating a simplistic device:
< 2$ – ESP8266
< 1$ – USB to UART CP210x (there are cheaper alternatives, but you need to install chinese drivers)
< 1$ – WS2812b Led, Caps, resistor,s usb ports, vreg
< 0.6$ – PCB (200 pieces min, may come less with scale)
< 0.3$ – SMT Stencil (60$ / 200, cheaper with scale)
< 1.5 $ – PCB Assembly
Which totals to <7.5$.
Tomi Engdahl says:
RF identification tags for tires
Radio frequency RF technology becomes more widely used all the time. Now, the French tire manufacturer, Michelin brings RF identification tags for tractor tires. This will facilitate the daily tire monitoring device and downloadable smartphone application.
Michelin tires for the supply of digitalised. The company brings the tractors first digital flash connected to the Michelin tires Services app, which comes pre-installed on electronic RFID chip.
Tractor Tyre radio frequency tag helps the tire and the machine monitoring and provides the älyphelimen up to date information on tires and load and is able to forward personalized messages, for example, the user needs of customized special offers.
When the tire application is downloaded to your smartphone, it can register the details of the tractor and tires.
Michelin brings the truck and other commercial vehicle tire the management of the digital tire applications.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/02/12/rf-tunnisteet-renkaisiin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Canonical releases Snappy Ubuntu Core for the Intel NUC IoT starter kit
Capable of being far too powerful for the job than strictly necessary
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2446966/canonical-releases-snappy-ubuntu-core-for-the-intel-nuc-iot-starter-kit
CANONICAL HAS announced the release of the Snappy Ubuntu Core lightweight operating system for another starter kit.
The Intel NUS DE3815TY version is the first fruit of a Canonical and Intel project to create a standardised development platform for creating and testing x86 Internet of Things (IoT) projects.
The announcement explained: “We focused on the Intel NUC for its relatively low cost point for a starter platform (around $150) and broad availability (you can even find them on Amazon).
“This affordable device running Ubuntu Core offers a simple developer experience, making embedded development accessible to all with a deployment-ready edge computing option for IoT.”
Snappy Ubuntu Core 15.04 is already available as a download image from the Canonical site with a 16.04 LTS version as soon as it’s launched. The use of LTS builds reflects the three-year warranty of the Intel NUC.
Computex: Intel updates IoT Gateway with support for Snappy Ubuntu Core
As well as support for Intel Core processors
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2411353/computex-intel-updates-iot-gateway-with-support-for-snappy-ubuntu-core
Ubuntu Core is available for the Intel® NUC
https://insights.ubuntu.com/2016/02/10/ubuntu-core-is-available-for-the-intel-nuc/?utm_source=Insights&utm_me
Over the last few months Canonical and Intel have been working together to create a standard platform for developers to test and create x86-based IOT solutions using snappy Ubuntu Core. The results are here today and we’re pleased to announce the availability of the Ubuntu Core images for the Intel® NUC DE3815TY on our developer site.
We focused on the Intel® NUC for its relatively low cost point for a starter platform (around $150) and broad availability (you can even find them on Amazon!). This affordable device running Ubuntu Core offers a simple developer experience, making embedded development accessible to all with a deployment ready edge computing option for IOT.
But the Intel® NUC could also ramp up for production environments. With the option for VGA screens or HDMI it can cover both new build or legacy deployments. It also has plenty of spare CPU makes it a future proof choice and with a 3 years guarantee lifecycle it’s definitely built to cover all your future computing needs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon’s IoT Hacking Contest Won By Voice-Controlled Drone
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/02/14/170220/amazons-iot-hacking-contest-won-by-voice-controlled-drone
On Thursday, Amazon announced the winners of its first-ever “AWS IoT Mega Contest,” a competitive hardware hacking event held in conjunction with Hackster last month which drew nearly a thousand participants. First place went to an RFID, infrared, light and sound sensor system that gathers data about a sleeping baby and to a voice-controlled drone that sends radio signals using a Raspberry Pi board. “IoT is here now,”
Voice-controlled Drones and Other Creations from Amazon’s IoT Hacking Contest
http://thenewstack.io/winners-announced-awss-iot-mega-contest/
Thursday, Amazon announced the winners of its first-ever “AWS IoT Mega Contest,” a competitive hardware hacking event held in conjunction with Hackster last month.
“There are lots of creative people out there,” wrote Jeff Barr, chief evangelist for AWS, in a post-event run-down of what he’d learned. It was just four months ago that Amazon announced AWS IoT platform. But Barr wrote this contest proves that “IoT is here now. People are building devices, sites, and applications that are sophisticated and useful.”
Nearly a thousand people participated. Hackster, which hosted the projects, is currently displaying the winners.
First place went to two projects which combined cutting-edge technologies with sound sensors — and of course, Amazon’s IoT platform.
Marian Mihailescu’s Baby NAP (Night Activity Program) was inspired by his own experience as a new parent.
All the sensors connect to a board which uploads their data to AWS, so all the data eventually arrives in a central dashboard. Does the baby prefer a certain hue of ambient light? Will he fall asleep faster with a song? Is his sleep affected by the light in the room? These questions are answered.
“The parents are able to draw intelligent observations about the baby’s sleep preferences,”
The other first-place entry converted voice input into remote-control radio signals for 3D Robotics’ open source drone, the IRIS+ quadcopter. Using Amazon’s “Alexa Skills Kit,” Chris Synan built a new application for Amazon’s voice-activated “Echo” personal assistant device, translating his voice commands into instructions for the Raspberry Pi board.”
“Alexa, talk to drone.”
“Welcome to the drone control,” Alexa responds.
“Command: launch.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino MKR1000 & Genuino MKR1000
Mkr1000 web
https://www.hackster.io/arduino/products/arduino-mkr1000-genuino-mkr1000
Arduino MKR1000 is based on the Atmel ATSAMW25 SoC (System on Chip), that is part of the SmartConnect family of Atmel Wireless devices, specifically designed for IoT projects and devices.
The ATSAMW25 is composed of three main blocks:
• SAMD21 Cortex-M0+ 32bit low power ARM MCU
• WINC1500 low power 2.4GHz IEEE® 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• ECC508 CryptoAuthentication
Tomi Engdahl says:
Modular Smart-Home IoT Node
Plug n Place: Plug your sensor and re-station it for a new application.
https://goo.gl/UoGjmf
This project envisions a uniform cloud based IoT solution for all monitoring and control solutions. The main aim is to sense the surroundings using a set of sensors, transfer the data to a cloud based analytics engine and control the sensed environment using the intelligence generated from the analytics engine.
The PIR sensor acts as a security measure for the IoT module as well as used as a proximity alarm. The ultrasonic module acts as a distance measurement unit as well as a water level sensor. The data is sent to the cloud using the ESP module connected to the arduino board.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pinball on cloud © GPL3+
Use Mkr1000 connected to a pinball to share your result with the world maybe in realtime !
https://www.hackster.io/Andromeda/pinball-on-cloud-a5fa93?ref=part&ref_id=15858&offset=5
My idea is to use MKR1000 to control points or calculate point connecting it to the pinball mainboard and trought a Windows 10 share it in the cloud in Azure.
You can also, in an advance configuration, challenge other people in the world !!!
Tomi Engdahl says:
AWS IoT Hack Series with MediaTek LinkIt One
https://www.hackster.io/shakataganai/aws-iot-hack-series-with-mediatek-linkit-one-05f95e?ref=platform&ref_id=4851_trending___&offset=0
Spend a day with Amazon Web Services and MediaTek Labs learning to get started in the internet of things.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Minimalist Thermostat © MIT
A thermostat that you won’t see
https://www.hackster.io/gusgonnet/the-minimalist-thermostat-bb0410?ref=platform&ref_id=4851_trending___&offset=2
A thermostat is a component which senses the temperature of a system so that the system’s temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint. The thermostat does this by switching heating or cooling devices on or off.
Since I wanted to test the concept of how it would be like to build a thermostat, I created a prototype.
The system is controlled by a Particle Photon or Core dev kit. Since it needs to know the temperature, a DHT22 is required. Also, to control the HVAC system I have at home, I used 5 volts relays.
This project will be messing around with an expensive system, my HVAC. When the time comes for the installation I want to be sure that nothing goes wrong, or at least minimize my chances of something going bad.
For this I have created a visual feedback system that I will use as my HVAC simulator. It’s made of Lego and pretty basic, so bear with me
The Finite State Machine library
Soon I discovered that there were no FSM libraries for the particle, but when searching a library for Arduino, I found this one. I tried it and it was an excellent fit for me.
With the permission of the original author, I ported and published it in the particle libraries for everybody’s benefit.
http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/FiniteStateMachine
Tomi Engdahl says:
Teardown: Amazon’s Echo voice-activated virtual assistant
http://www.edn.com/design/consumer/4441360/Teardown–Amazon-s-Echo-voice-activated-virtual-assistant?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_pcbdesigncenter_20160208&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_pcbdesigncenter_20160208&elqTrackId=f6a8673359a44ef9acc5c396beb4f9df&elq=df7c51e9a7494e9785d21c05090c7ad3&elqaid=30720&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=26867
Tomi Engdahl says:
William Herkewitz / Popular Mechanics:
MyShake Android app uses your phone’s accelerometer to detect earthquakes and automatically warn scientists
With “MyShake” App, Your Phone Feels Earthquakes and Automatically Warns Scientists
And MyShake won’t kill your battery life, either.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a19435/myshake-earthquake-app/
Your newest app hums away in the background as your phone lies on the coffee table. The gentle thump of your speakers, the quiver of sound waves from a slammed door or a coffee mug set down too abruptly—these things do not perturb it. But as soon as the app feels the telltale rumble of a earthquake, it perks up.
Shooting out a tiny data packet, the app automatically warns scientists at a central database about the quake within milliseconds. Your phone has just become a single node in an entirely cellphone-based earthquake early warning system, and if enough smartphones users around you download the app, then you soon could be getting instant warnings that a quake is rolling your way.
The new Android app is called MyShake, and you can download it for free from the Google Play Store starting today. Engineered by a team of seismologists and computer scientists led by Qingkai Kong and Richard Allen at the University of California, Berkeley, MyShake is not only the coolest citizen-science tool you can download on your phone (a low bar, perhaps) but also heralds a massive step forward for seismological research. Using your smartphone’s existing accelerometer, this is the first publicly available app to turn your phone into a mobile earthquake measuring station. In addition to releasing the app, the scientists also describe the underlying science and methods behind MyShake in a new paper published today in the journal Science Advances.
http://myshake.berkeley.edu/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Internet of Cats
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/15/cat-exploit-the-internet-of-cats/
With the miniaturization of technology, we’re now able to do some pretty crazy things with computers the size of credit cards. [Dennis] has been working on a rather unique project — he calls it the Cat Exploit — we call it the Internet of Cats.
By making pet-wearable tech (is that a new term?), it’s possible to create a mini war-driving server that stray cats (or other small animals) could wear. As they roam the streets, their feline-augmentation searches and taps into open or badly secured WiFi networks, repeating and spreading the signal to other Server Entities (other network-enabled cats), opening up the networks for all to use.
Cat Exploit
Cat Exploit is focussed on creating an independent WiFi network based on urban animals wearing minified wardriving servers.
https://hackaday.io/project/9667-cat-exploit
Cat Exploit is a project focussed on creating an independent and free WiFi network using cats (so-called Server Entities) and related species carrying a minified version of a wardriving-server. While roaming through streets and backyards of the urban area, they tap into open and badly secured WiFi networks in order to repeat and spread the signal through nearby Server Entities for everyone.
The range of usage is indeed very broad and depends on the “needs” of the users, reaching from general parasitic and almost restriction-free internet access to abusive and criminal driven activities.
Generally speaking, Cat Exploit takes place in a legal grey zone, though facing and criticizing outdated laws like the punishment of hotspot owners for users’ copyright violations. Moreover it is demonstrating and exploiting these weaknesses.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Integrated Capacitive Sensing and Bluetooth Low Energy
http://www.eeweb.com/blog/eeweb/integrated-capacitive-sensing-and-bluetooth-low-energy
The Bluetooth low energy (BLE) protocol has established itself as a formidable choice for wireless communication where multiple slave devices need to talk to a single master device. Factors that favor Bluetooth over competing communication protocols include:
Multi-vendor due very high rate of industry adoption. As per the Bluetooth SIG, by 2018, 90% of smartphones will support BLE. The adoption rate is high among other host devices such as PCs and smart TVs as well.
Published communication of 100m.
Ultra-low peak, average, and idle enabling most BLE slave devices to run for years on coin cell batteries.
Data transfer rates up to 1Mbps.
These advantages make BLE a best-fit choice for many Internet of Things (IoT) based devices, wearable electronics, wireless PC peripherals, remote controls, and other devices. In fact, the very advent of BLE has inspired innovators across the globe to create applications never fathomed before.
In a very simplistic sense, most BLE slave devices effectively capture an input and transfer the information using BLE to the client (i.e., a PC or smartphone). Thus, the key functionality of a BLE slave device can be identified as capturing the input, processing the input, and transmitting that processed input to the client (host) wirelessly using the BLE protocol.
When we consider the functionality of capturing an input we identify 2 segments:
Segment 1: Devices that capture input using sensors (i.e., sensor input devices or SIDs)
Segment 2: Device that capture input from a human user (i.e., human input devices or HIDs)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Within IT, the platform must be able to transform the data
it collects and push it into the cloud via IIoT standards.
Emerging standards include Asynchronous
Messaging Queuing Protocol (AMQP),
Message Queueing Telemetry Transport
(MQTT), Constrained Application Protocol
(COAP), and Data Description Services
(DDS). These standards allow for the retransmission of data in
the event it does not reach its destination
With the lack of computer networking infrastructure in OT,
this platform must be embeddable and run within a stand
-
alone appliance or an edge-based switch or router where
IT and OT converge.
Its flexibility will enable industrial data to be sampled
cyclically or based on some event or condition and be
published to the cloud independently of data collection.
Data filtering should be available through basic analytics.
As industry continues to define IIoT, the concepts and
realization of the optimal Embedded IIoT Solution will
continue to evolve.
Source: https://info.kepware.com/hubfs/Documents/Kepware-Industrial-IOT-eBook.pdf?submissionGuid=3d249656-6990-4632-b648-bd8ea68ba6d5
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.hackster.io/platforms
Tomi Engdahl says:
A major challenge for many Internet of Things devices is the need to operate for long periods without battery recharge or energy harvesting. Typical embedded CPU cores found in mobile phones/devices and PCs lack the architectural features to address these constraints.
Tomi Engdahl says:
David Priest / CNET:
Elgato unveils Eve Energy, a HomeKit-enabled, wall-socket smart control and sensor for $50, but requires an Apple TV for it to be controlled away from home
Elgato Eve Energy review:
Siri can’t save Eve Energy from mediocrity
http://www.cnet.com/products/elgato-eve-energy-switch-power-meter/
The Good The Elgato Eve Energy smart plug is compact, HomeKit enabled and features one of the deeper HomeKit apps out there.
The Bad The $50 price tag still feels a little high for products like this, and the app lacks the intuitive user interface of its competition. Worst of all, you can’t control it remotely without an Apple TV.
The Bottom Line Elgato’s Eve Energy smart plug is a solid product, but doesn’t leave enough of an impression in an already-saturated market.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Data Analytics Moves to the Edge
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1328945&
Connected devices tend to generate a lot of data, and extracting useful information from that data requires analysis, typically in the cloud. But getting that data ready for analysis can be the lion’s share of the extraction effort as well as time consuming. Analytics service provider Glassbeam has launched new services and software that the company claims can automate and speed data preparation as well as move analytics closer to the edge for real-time information extraction.
“There’s a chronic problem in the data world,” Glassbeam’s founder Punit Pandit told EE Times in an interview. “Today’s complex machines are constantly generating all kinds of data, but in different formats. Take an MRI machine, for instance. It has numerous sub components all generating information on the settings, health, and status of the subsystem, and not necessarily in a coordinated fashion. So you end up with multilayer log data. As a result, 60% to 80% of the time it takes to perform analytics on that data is spend on data preparation, transforming, and cleaning in order to get that data into a single database.”
Glassbeam, which provides data analytics services to companies such as IBM and Gridscape, has taken steps to reduce that effort. It has introduced Glassbeam Studio, a cloud-based GUI tool for transforming and preparing unstructured machine log data for analysis. Using a drag-and-drop interface, customers can create a data transformation script in SPL (semiotic parsing language) that will parse, store, and index unstructured log data into a structured format suitable for analysis. Out-of-the-box analytic capabilities include functions for trending, charting graphing, and the like.
There are many benefits to extracting information from machine data, Pandit added. Users can obtain insights into the health and utilization of their machines, for instance. Knowing machine health allows scheduling of maintenance before a failure occurs, while insight into machine utilization helps in predicting production capacity and anticipating a need for additional resources. For machine manufacturer, knowing how customers are configuring and using the machines and its features can lead to improvements and feature additions that customers will find most valuable.
An advantage of Edge Capabilities, Pandit added, is that it provides more immediate results than the cloud-based Studio. “Some 40% of IoT data is going to need edge-based analytics for real-time intelligence extraction and action,” Pandit said. “Say you have a system with network bandwidth usage peaking near capacity. Knowing that this is happening in real time could allow you to alter system behavior to compensate, such as changing the access point the equipment uses.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to choose a wireless technology
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4441392/How-to-choose-a-wireless-technology?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160216&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160216&elqTrackId=ba9e87105c9c417fac1248ca8ffa027e&elq=629c3053b04543e8bb780f818b0a195b&elqaid=30832&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=26973
Great ideas for cloud-connected devices are popping up every day. Choosing the right wireless solution to connect your device to the Internet can be challenging in a fragmented market of standards and technologies. The good news is that the number of good choices you can make for your application increases year over year. This article aims to point you in the right direction based on some fundamental properties of the technologies involved.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Solar-powered Weather Station Knows Which Way The Wind Blows
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/16/solar-powered-weather-station-knows-which-way-the-wind-blows/
rest of us rely on weather forecasts. These, in turn, rely on data from weather stations, and [Vlad] decided that his old weather station was in need of an upgrade.
His station, which uploads live data to the Weather Underground, needed to be solar-powered, weather-proof and easy to install. He seems to have succeed admirably with this upgrade, which is built around an ATmega328 and the 433 MHz link from the old station.
Riverside Weather Station
http://denialmedia.ca/riverside-weather-station/
My personal project for my Drafting and Design 11 class was a solar powered, automatic weather station. The goal was to design a small, compact weather station with the following requirements:
Must be solar powered, with a battery for operation at night
Must be compact in size, with a non-destructive mounting method
Must be able to upload data to the WeatherUnderground network
Must be weather-proof
Has to measure temperature, humidity, air pressure, and UV radiation
I connected the new sensors to an Atmega328 micro-controller, and powered everything using a MAX604 linear voltage regulator.
In order to upload data to the WeatherUndergroun network, I had to write an application for the computer on the receiving end of the 433Mhz radio using the PWS API. The software was written in C# using Visual Studio, and it was quite similar to the old weather station software.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Battle: Carriers’ Big Narrowband Push
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1328944&
Critics say that cellular network carriers, too preoccupied with 4G data-capacity issues, are neglecting their Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) opportunities.
However, despite widespread skepticism, the cellular industry is fully aware that non-cellular players such as the LoRa Alliance and Sigfox are ratcheting up the competition, using unlicensed spectrum for their edge in the emerging IoT network battle.
In response, cellular network operators will return to the Mobile World Congress next week to demonstrate a renewed commitment to Cellular IoT, recently agreed upon and designated as LTE Cat-M1 and LTE Cat-M2.
LTE chipmaker Sequans Communications S.A. revealed Tuesday (Feb. 16) that it has partnered with Gemalto, an LTE module supplier, to extend their LTE Category 1 collaboration. They’re developing a new set of narrowband LTE Machine Type Communication solutions (MTC) based on Category M1 and M2 technologies.
Cat-M1 will deploy the bandwidth of 1.4MHz (including guard interval) enabling “an average speed at around 200-300 kilobits per second,” Georges Karam, CEO at Sequans, told EE Times in an interview. Cat-M2 will use 200kHz (including guard interval) designed for “applications requiring 10 to 30 kbps in average.”
The move to M1 and M2 is significant, first, because it represents the cellular community’s coordinated effort to use narrowband technology to support massive numbers of IoT devices. Second, cellular players have now concentrated divergent plans, applying the LTE legacy network to the demand for Low-Power, Wide-Area (LPWA) networks.
The cellular community last year was sharply divided about how much existing LTE network can be repurposed for IoT.
After a showdown on M2M connectivity proposals at the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) plenary meeting in Phoenix, Arizona last September, the industry group reached a decision on the standardization of a new NB-IOT technology. The so-called “clean-slate” NB-IOT is now renamed LTE Cat-M2, and it will not pursue a spectrum separate from LTE.
Qualcomm masterfully united the cellular community, observed Karam, by giving neutral new names (M1 and M2) to the two narrowband-based technologies.
To be clear, the cellular industry is already pushing LTE Category 1 (LTE Cat 1) – using wideband technology (as opposed to narrowband) – for the M2M/IoT market. By moving from Cat 4 at 150Mbps to Cat 1 at 10Mbps, the cellular industry claims it has effectively made LTE viable for M2M and IoT apps.
A few networks are already configured to allow Cat 1 devices. Cat 1 LTE chipsets are available both by Sequans and Altair (which was acquired by Sony last month). The cellular industry’s goal is to keep ramping up Cat 1 devices in 2016.
Certainly, Cat 1 at 10Mbps seems ideal for home security IoT applications that might demand a video stream. But it represents overkill in small-data IoT devices that must be cheap while consuming much less power.
Triggering the cellular industry’s strong push for cellular IoT is its plan to sunset 2G and 3G services, to improve their 4G networks. For example, AT&T is shutting down 2G by January 1, 2017, and Verizon is killing CDMA. Since their current machine-to-machine (M2M) business customers have been dependent on the disappearing 2G/3G services, cellular carriers have two nagging questions to answer: First, where they can move those M2M customers, and second, what technology they must offer to support a massive number of low-throughput M2M/IoT devices. Mobile network operators (MNOs) can offer Cat 1 now
Sequans CEO Karam made it very clear, “We want to go very fast with M1.”
Sequans’ M1 efforts are backed by Verizon Wireless, an operator pushing M1. The new partnership with Gemalto announced today is designed to accelerate the IoT market. Gemalto owns roughly a 30 percent share of LTE module market.
Karam observed that with cellular industry now united to push M1 and M2 narrowband technology, “carriers will have a big avenue to make use of their LTE networks for IoT” ranging from LTE Cat 1 to the emerging LTE Cat-M1 and M2. “Carriers can make flexible solutions available by making tiers of wide-ranging IoT network choices.”
M1 and M2: specs and schedules
But where exactly do M1 and M2 stand in terms of technical standards and what do they entail?
In Karam’s opinion, 99 percent of LTE Cat-M1 specs are done. “We expect it will get a stamp of approval by the second quarter of 2016.”
The finalization of Cat-M2 specs will followed, perhaps “six months later,” he added.
As things stand, Cat-M1 will use 1.4 MHz with guard interval. The signal’s net bandwidth without guard interval is 1.08 MHz. Its peak throughput is 1 Megabit per second, split between downlink and uplink. In typical use, this will translate into an average speed around 200 – 300kbps, Karam explained.
Meanwhile, Cat-M2’s bandwidth is 200kHz including guard interval. Hence, its net bandwidth is 180KHz. Cat-M2’s peak throughput is 500kbps for downlink and 40kbps for uplink.
Cat-M1-based IoT products, likely to emerge on the market in 2017, are wearable IoT devices including tracking devices and smart watches that may feature screens. Devices that use Cat-M1 will be able to leverage LTE’s carrier-grade networks, Karam said. He estimates the Cat-M1 module price to be between $7 and $8.
Cat-M2-based products are expected to reach the market in 2018, said Karam, priced as low as $6 “because the M2 chip can integrate 20dBm Power Amplifier chip.”
Machina Research’s Markkanen acknowledged “competitive overlaps between the ‘dedicated’ and ‘cellular-based’ (3GPP) LPWA networks.”
Cat-M2’s options
It appears that there are three deployment options in Cat-M2. The first is to deploy it in the new frequency band (or refarming). In this case, it needs 200kHz to be available.
The second option is in the “in-band of an already used LTE frequency band.” For this option, carriers will use 200kHz out of a 10MHz or 20MHz LTE spectrum.
The last option is to use the “guard band” between two adjacent frequency bands already used (by LTE or 2G/3G).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smaller companies need revival to IoT developments
Only one in ten SME entrepreneurs to take advantage of the Internet of Things, says a report by the telecom operator Sonera. For many Finnish entrepreneur Internet of Things (IoT) is still relatively unknown thing. Only one in ten SME entrepreneurs have understood the IoT technology to promote business opportunities
Those entrepreneurs who are familiar with the Internet of Things opportunities, have developed a means of completely new products or services. Still, every second entrepreneur intends to do without the Internet of Things.
48 percent of surveyed entrepreneurs did not see IoT / M2M solutions to benefit their own business activities. Most of these entrepreneurs, however, there are those who do not know much explanation of the grounds for the concept.
Entrepreneurs who are already using or plan to use M2M solutions that need them most often According to the report the creation of products or services (50% of mentions).
The next highest IoT / M2M solutions sought cost savings (49%), as well as more efficient optimization work, or processes (49% of mentions). 28 percent take advantage of the IoT / M2M solutions for the creation of completely new growth.
11 per cent of respondents SME entrepreneurs feel M2M / IoT solutions to be necessary right now in their own companies. Among the entrepreneurs, who know the subject well, nearly half said that the topic of right now the current, 27 per cent in the near future.
“Companies need more user-friendly M2M solutions to get attached to the benefits offered by the Internet of Things”
Internet of Things has developed tremendously and the growth rate is hard.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/02/17/yritykset-tarvitsevat-heratyksen-iot-kehitykseen/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bluetooth 4.0 module minimizes IoT design time
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4441403/Bluetooth-4-0-module-minimizes-IoT-design-time?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160217&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160217&elqTrackId=92281fb391e64f959f2c7f8e2b559283&elq=174ddc5eae854b0b9d7851ca667b9f9c&elqaid=30871&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27013
anasonic’s PAN1760 Bluetooth Smart place-and-play module includes an embedded 26-MHz oscillator and 2.4-GHz antenna, reducing design time and BOM costs for ultralow-power portable products. The module, which is available from Rutronik, is based on Toshiba’s TC35667 SoC, with an integrated Bluetooth Smart controller, ARM7 CPU core, Bluetooth SIG-certified stack V4.1, API, and GATT profile.
The PAN1760 Bluetooth Smart module is compatible with the PAN1026 Bluetooth Smart-ready module and shares the same form factor and footprint.
Bluetooth SMART (Low Energy): PAN1760 Series
https://na.industrial.panasonic.com/products/wireless-connectivity/bluetooth/bluetooth-smart-low-energy/series/pan1760-series/CS2296
Tomi Engdahl says:
Energy Harvesting Sole Could Power Smart Shoes
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1328950&
Scientists at the Fraunhofer IPMS have developed a new energy harvesting device based on emergent electroactive polymers, which is small enough to be embedded in the sole of a shoe and can be used to power embedded sensors.
Based on thin films of dielectric polymers of large relative permittivity, the device is able to convert mechanical to electrical energy. As compared with traditional piezoelectric configurations, this concept works non-resonantly and can be optimized for capturing energy from mechanical power sources in the low frequency range. The film is small, flexible and easily embeddable into, for instance, the sole of a shoe, as researchers have demonstrated.
The vibration energy harvesters could be connected to electronics in garments and footwear that are able to track physical parameters such as speed, movement and temperature.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Medical and Biometric Sensors for Consumers
http://www.eeweb.com/news/medical-and-biometric-sensors-for-consumers
Consumers are beginning to take advantage of the array of tools now available to measure and improve their health. Already, smartphones can give users a lot of useful information by using the sensors that are built in or connected to them. Beyond these devices, wearables like smartwatches, smart clothes, and other gadgets will provide even more measurements and add usefulness by being at the right place (in/on one’s body) at the right time (while the user is active, asleep, at a medical appointment, or all the time). Companies and consumers alike will certainly take advantage of all the big and small data collected by way of these tools in the coming years.
Smartphones are #1 right now
The expectation is that six billion people will be using smartphones by 2020. With the ability to gather and store information, access networks, and connect to devices locally, smartphones are going to be a huge component of the consumer medical device market. For many people, the smartphone is their primary connection to the internet, way of conducting business, as well an amazing tool to address medical needs.
Smartphones are outfitted with a bevy of sensors, all of which are capable of measuring information about its user and the local environment, and without the need for any additional equipment. These components include:
optical sensors (can take HR and SpO2 readings)
accelerometers for pedometer and sleep monitoring
fingerprint reader for security
face recognition
microphones for sleep monitoring and speech recognition
temperature
barometer
orientation
Smartphones also have many ways to connect to other sensors through USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, etc., giving manufacturers a large array of communication tools to fit the best size, price, and capabilities for the sensors’ intended use. Being able to connect with other sensors is ok, but apps that are able to display and capture information are what will make them a powerful tool for a user and his / her doctor to use. Specifically, the programs which package all that data so that it is interesting and easy for users to understand will have a huge part in the success or failure of sensors in this area
Wearables are a rapidly developing segment
Smartwatches and wrist-worn devices are another segment that will be highly used to monitor our health. 100 million units of heart rate monitor (HRM)-enabled devices will be sold per year by 2018, with the majority of those units being wrist-based wearables. Many of the smartwatch variety are multi-function devices with phone, internet browsing, and apps.
Medical and biometric devices in the home
Home-use devices like bathroom scales are a part of many people’s daily routines, and can measure a great deal more than just its user’s weight. Scales can use electric currents and user entered values to measure weight, BMI (body mass index), fat % (percent body fat), LBM (lean body mass), water mass, muscle mass, bone mass, and more. These newer scales help consumers get past the single weight number and give a larger window into their health. Newer models connect with fitness devices and smartphones leverage these measurements into an even more powerful dataset.
Future tools
Cooking-Hacks (the open hardware division of Libelium) has its e-Health Sensor Platform V2.0 for Arduino and Raspberry Pi available. This is an exciting developmental tool for makers and developers for now, and they are sure to bring forward new ideas and tools in the near future. The e-Health Sensor is a versatile platform for connecting many types of health sensors into one tool that is easy to setup and communicate with. It should be noted that this platform is not fully certified for medical applications and is not intended for monitoring critical patients and professional diagnosis; however, it shows the way research and development for powerful and economical systems will be applicable for most of us.
Worth noting is that since Cooking Hacks is development-oriented, maker communities can access it, play with it, and in some cases develop useful applications that benefit everyone. This type of platform shows the promise of accessible, affordable, broad spectrum monitoring and tracking for everyone. Some types of monitoring and health information don’t require expensive equipment and specialists to gather, which should help consumers greatly reduce their costs.
The Connected World Will Benefit Your Health
Evolution of wearables, sensors, and smartphones is ongoing. With the combination of tools, tomorrow’s health tech adopters will be able to build a more complete picture of their health. Users will be able to conduct a physical at their convenience, let a physician take all their vitals and stats without being present, and it’ll all be completed at a very low cost. To the first point, there will likely be less of a need for ‘annual’ physicals; instead, users will adopt continuous physicals, so that conditions don’t go untreated between visits.
Tomi Engdahl says:
RPi + WinPhone + MS Band + Azure + Excel + Audio-Controlled LEDs = Hot Tub Time Machine From the Future
http://pjdecarlo.com/2015/06/rpi-winphone-ms-band-azure-excel-audio-controlled-leds-hot-tub-time-machine-from-the-future.html
Video Series – Guide to Developing with Windows 10 on Raspberry Pi 2
by Paul DeCarlo • February 16, 2016 • 0 Comments
http://pjdecarlo.com/2016/02/video-series-guide-to-developing-with-windows-10-on-raspberry-pi-2.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Publishing Data to Azure Event Hubs from Particle Core using Particle.io Webhooks
http://pjdecarlo.com/2015/06/publishing-data-to-azure-event-hubs-from-particle-core-using-particle-io-webhooks.html
Spark.io, creators of the most excellent Spark Core device are now known as Particle! Please keep in mind as a reader that the following information applies to the Spark Core device as well as Particle Core.
Sending messages to Azure Event Hub with Spark over AMS API Proxy
http://pjdecarlo.com/2015/03/sending-messages-to-azure-event-hub-with-spark-over-ams-api-proxy.html
In this article, I will describe how to publish data from a Spark Core to an Azure Event Hub for real-time processing using Azure Mobile Services as a message proxy.
Spark OS is a distributed operating system for the Internet of Things that brings the power of the cloud to low-cost connected hardware. Spark provides an online IDE for programming a Wi-Fi enabled Arduino-like device known as the Spark Core. Azure Event Hubs are a highly scalable publish-subscribe ingestor that can intake millions of events per second so that you can process and analyze the massive amounts of data produced by your connected devices and applications. Once collected into Event Hubs you can transform and store data using any real-time analytics provider or with batching/storage adapters.
To begin, I took an approach of using the Event Hubs Rest API Send Event. This seemed straightforward, simply create a request with the appropriate Request Headers over HTTP as HTTP and HTTPS are mentioned as supported in the documentation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco licks lips, eyes UK’s cyber, analytics and fin-tech startups
Try to look delicious, Blighty firms
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/18/cisco_looking_at_uk_cyber_analytics_and_fintech_startups/
Acquisition-hungry network giant Cisco is looking to gobble a string of UK businesses this year – specifically in cyber, “fin-tech” and analytics, Tom Kneen, head of business development at Cisco UK has said.
Speaking to The Register at Cisco Live in Berlin, Kneen said he “doesn’t see acquisitions stopping” at the pace the company has been going of late.”
Cisco’s most recent high-profile buy was of US Internet of Things outfit Jasper – but it has also snapped up a number of outfits in Blighty.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Surveillance Culture Brought To the Masses, Courtesy of Verizon
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/02/17/1822217/surveillance-culture-brought-to-the-masses-courtesy-of-verizon
Verizon is now offering a way to secretly track your family members’ whereabouts and driving habits with your smartphone: “Do you have a teen driver in your household and want to know every time they get a little overzealous with the accelerator? Or maybe you’re pretty sure your spouse’s frequent trips to ‘the office’ are not so innocent?”
Verizon’s “Hum” Device For Your Car Will Rat Out Speeding Teens, Wandering Spouses
http://consumerist.com/2016/02/17/verizons-hum-device-for-your-car-will-now-rat-out-your-speeding-teen-wandering-spouse/
Do you have a teen driver in your household and want to know every time they get a little overzealous with the accelerator? Or maybe you’re pretty sure your spouse’s frequent trips to “the office” are not so innocent? If so, then an upcoming update for Verizon’s “hum” in-car smart device might be just what you’re looking for.
The $15/month hum service was originally launched to collect vehicle diagnostics, connect users to roadside assistance, provide maintenance reminders. But this morning Verizon announced that it will be adding a slew of new features for the hum, including:
Boundary alerts: Lets you set up a boundary and receive alerts when your vehicle exits and enters the area.
Speed alerts: While the hum doesn’t know the speed limit of every road your vehicles on, you will be able to set up maximum speed limits so that you get an alert — through the app, via email or text — whenever a driver crosses that threshold.
Vehicle location: Even more precise than the geofencing of the boundary alerts, the hum will provide map-based tracking of your vehicle’s location, speed and travel direction.
Driving history: And just in case you missed all the alerts or your kid was savvy enough to change the account so that all the texts went to some other phone, the hum will provide “trip-based driving information to track driving efficiency, including duration, start and end times, idle times and max/avg. speeds.”