First Edition
Creating a maker friendly DIY IoT home automation solution
Project Wrap-Up
This is the final wrap-up post for my Eclipse Open IoT Challenge project. I set out to build a maker friendly DIY IoT home automation solution, driven by my dissatisfaction with the humidifier control plugs I owned.
So as a proof of concept for my maker friendly DIY IoT home automation solution I built a simple IoT air humidifier:
IoT air humidifier test drive
With the deadline coming close, I did a first test drive for a IoT air humidifier:
Adventures in Tycho
To build my OSGI bundels that implement the MQTT-SN gateway I went with Tycho since I saw that Kura uses Tycho and also the kura-greenhouse-demo uses Tycho as build system. I expected that the Tycho build system is quite similar to regular maven build system, but from my point of view (or lack of knowlege) Tycho is quite different than what I was used to from maven.
My first steps with Eclipse Kura
When I started this project I did not know anything about Kura besides its slogan which sounds like a perfect match to build my MQTT-SN gateway.
Kura is a Java/OSGi-based framework for IoT gateways. Kura APIs offer access to the underlying hardware (serial ports, GPS, watchdog, GPIOs, I2C, etc.), management of network configurations, communication with M2M/IoT Integration Platforms, and gateway management.
It’s also a couple of years ago since I worked with OSGI, Java and Maven and it’s also my first encounter with Tycho. So a lot of unknowns and challenges to tackle. I progressed quickly with the Kura Hello World Example but then my progress quickly slowed down.
But lets start from the beginning.
Sensor Node PCB
Before starting with the soft parts, I had to tackle the PCB design of the sensor nodes. This since my favorite PCB manufacturer was just about to close for Chinese New Year. I had to place the order before February 7, so that they get manufactured and shipped before the holiday. This week I just received an update:
Your order has been updated to the following status:
Shipped12.Feb - Smart-Prototyping
My sensor nodes PCB’s are on their way.
Project idea details
Let’s dive into some details after the last post gave an overview of my project idea.
My project idea for the Eclipse Open IoT Challenge
My idea for the Eclipse Open IoT Challenge came from my need to measure the humidity in my rooms, to track it and also control air humidifiers based on the humidity. I used some humidifier control plugs, but they were just not smart enough. Since I like electronic tinkering and have some interrest in IoT, why not build a DIY solution. For the Eclipse Open IoT Challenge this transformed into the more generic idea to build a maker friendly DIY IoT home automation solution.
Getting ready for the IoT challenge
Getting everything in place to blog about my Eclipse Open IoT Challenge project