IoT on Bald Engineer

Hologram.io connects Adafruit FONA

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 03:00:18 +0000

While the buzzword “IoT “is relatively new, there has been a long time “internet of things” in operation. Those devices are called the far less sexy term “M2M” or machine-to-machine. These devices, around since the 90s, contain a microprocessor, some sensors, sometimes electromechanical hardware, and a cellular radio. These M2M devices were (and still are!) the early “Internet of Things.” Thanks to Hologram.io, you can join this new/old trend for free.

Multiple MQTT Topics with Arduino PubSubClient

Wed, 01 Feb 2017 13:00:22 +0000

In my Arduino MQTT Examples, I kept things simple by only subscribing to a single topic. One of the strengths of MQTT is that a device can subscribe (or publish) to multiple topics. The broker will sort things out. Even though my first example only showed one, it is straight forward to get the Arduino PubSubClient library to subscribe to Multiple MQTT topics. The quick answer is that you need to look at the MQTT response to find out which topic sent the payload.

Adafruit Temperature Sensor Comparison

Wed, 27 Jul 2016 15:00:32 +0000

Getting back to my IoT projects, I decided to pick up a temperature sensor. While looking through the Adafruit breakout boards, I found they offered nine different digital temperature sensors! This list is in addition to the analog TMP36 temperature sensor, so that’s ten. I needed an Adafruit Temperature Sensor comparison. With so many options, I quickly found myself getting lost between the various modules. The 10 I found all measured temperature and provided an I2C interface. Except for the MCP9808 board, they all made at least one other type of measurement. The MCP9808 is the cheapest digital temperature sensor breakout that Adafruit offers, and also the most accurate.

Hands-on with Arduino Create and Arduino IoT

Wed, 06 Apr 2016 13:00:00 +0000

This past weekend Arduino fans celebrated Arduino and Genuino Day 2016. In classrooms, maker spaces, and impromptu meet-ups around the world enginerds got together to learn and create with Arduino. At the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation on Berkeley’s Campus, I first heard that Arduino Create had been launched. In addition to hands-on learning workshops, there was a display of Arduino/Genuino projects by students. In the afternoon, three Arduino co-founders gave a short talk. David Mellis spoke on Machine Learning. Tom Igoe did his first talk on Technology and Humanities. Lastly, Massimo Banzi talked about IoT.

Arduino to ESP8266, 5 reasons to switch

Wed, 02 Mar 2016 16:00:04 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I posted four things to know about the ESP8266 before using one. The biggest surprise from that post is people seem to think I do not like the ESP8266! This idea is not the case; the ESP8266 is awesome. I like them so much that my Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 has become my go-to Arduino board. Wait what? James uses something other than Arduino? Yes, I do! I have many different boards and have used most of them for one task or another.

MQTT Tutorial for Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and ESP8266

Wed, 24 Feb 2016 16:00:45 +0000

This week’s MQTT Tutorial connects a Raspberry Pi, ESP8266 (or Arduino), and a PC together. Remember last week’s post provided an overview of message brokers and MQTT. We learned that MQTT is a hub and spoke protocol for sending messages between IoT devices. Clients can subscribe or publish messages to a central server, called a broker. Now it’s time to connect our IoT devices together! For this MQTT tutorial, I have three main elements: • My Computer, which will act as the broker. • Raspberry Pi running Python • ESP8266 controlling an LED

MQTT Introduction and Tutorial Part One

Wed, 17 Feb 2016 16:00:25 +0000

MQTT is an easy way for Internet of Things (IoT) devices to communicate with each other. This light-weight protocol can be used with a simple 8-bit Arduino to a Raspberry Pi to a multi-core PC to Amazon Web Services. It is that versatile. This MQTT Tutorial is broken into two parts. Part one is an MQTT Introduction. You’ll understand how publish/subscribe message brokering works. Next week, Part two will be a tutorial on using MQTT to communicate between a PC, Raspberry Pi, and ESP8266.

Raspberry Pi GUI Tutorial

Wed, 03 Feb 2016 17:58:53 +0000

My favorite Raspberry Pi add-on is the PiTFT from Adafruit. With it, you easily get a Raspberry Pi GUI interface and touch screen. The PiTFT software install is just a few things and it is good to go. Adafruit PiTFT - Click for more info This screen is what I needed for my IoT project. The Pi+Screen will act as the primary controller for all of my things. The problem is I didn’t know much about writing GUI applications in Linux. So what could I do to create a Raspberry Pi GUI?

IoT: Internet Of Nothing

Thu, 28 Jan 2016 14:00:44 +0000

IoT (n): Internet of Things Things that connect with the internet, to share information. Devices that communicate with each other. No wait. Nothing does. It’s the Internet Of Nothing! It continues to amaze me how few Internet of Things (IoT) devices actually communicate with each other. Isn’t Internet connectivity suppose to make it EASIER for things to talk? Computers have been communicating with the Internet for 45 years. Why can’t Light Bulbs from two manufacturers do it?

Is the Raspberry Pi Zero worth $5?

Wed, 16 Dec 2015 16:00:57 +0000

What makes the Raspberry Pi so attractive? At $35 it is an unbelievable value for a single board computer. Since its introduction, a price race to the bottom has begun. The C.H.I.P. claims to have started shipping the $9 computer. Which, many pointed out, doesn’t cost $9 once you add things like support for display. I would like to point out, I was an early backer and have yet to receive one.

Four ESP8266 Gotchas and a tip for a first time users

Wed, 02 Dec 2015 16:00:13 +0000

Adding WiFi to any project can be difficult. There are a few off the shelf options that make it easier. One option is the official Arduino WiFi shield. This full-featured shield uses its integrated microcontroller to handle the WiFi protocol, security, and the TCP/IP stack for you. From “plug it in and go” perspective, this is an awesome option for Arduino-based projects. Plenty of example code supports the nicely designed hardware. The main downside to some people is the price.