#Connectivity

#IoT as a Multiple Pie

• Device Software
  • FreeRTOS
  • ESP/Arduino
  • Single-board computers (RPi, LattePanda etc)
• Connectivity
  • IoT Hub
  • IoT Manager
• Analytics Services
  • AWS
  • Google Cloud IoT Core
  • ThingsBoard

As a rule, most are not interested in sensors and servers, but data analytics. To get it, you need to decide which device to use, how to work with it and where to connect

#Device Software

Consider the example of a home weather station. It is necessary to collect data on air pollution (SDS011), temperature and humidity (BME). The ESP8266 microcontroller can handle this task.

Requirements:

• Correctly read data from sensors
• Have a unique identifier
• Transfer data to a known server
• Provide digital signature of data (optional)

You can find the current firmware here

#What is Connectivity?

In the IoT world, connectivity refers to the connection of various IoT devices to the Internet to send data and / or control the device.

Well-known architectural solutions can be roughly divided into 3 groups:

• Fully decentralized. For example, devices are connected by a mesh network. Not suitable for wide area networks due to high hardware requirements
• Centralized. For example, AWS. Provides a single entry point and ease of connection, but there is a high risk of failure in case of server problems
• Hybrid. For example, Robonomics Connectivity. Provides an address for devices on a "local" network and publishes data to a distributed IPFS message channel

#Comparison of AWS and Robonomics Connectivity

#Installing Connectivity on Aira

#Requirements

• VirtualBox 6.1 and above
• Aira OS ova image

Import Aira image in VirtualBox as described here

Set up a connection over SSH

When everything is set and you successfully log in via SSH, let's clone the main package and build it

git clone https://github.com/airalab/sensors-connectivity
cd sensors-connectivity
nix build -f release.nix

Now let's create a copy of the default configuration file for later usage. To learn about all the options check this article out. Then launch the package with roslaunch

cp config/default.json config/my.json
source result/setup.zsh
roslaunch sensors_connectivity agent.launch config:=$PWD/config/my.json

#Connect Sensor to Connectivity

#Requirements

• Nova SDS011 sensor
• Yarn Packet Manager

Now let's connect a real sensor, forward USB port to the virtual machine, set up a map and look at our own measurements

First, stop the Aira OS if it was running and add a corresponding USB device

Start the VM, connect via SSH and set comstation/port option according to your USB device in the VM. Also enable comstation and set your latitude and longitude. In the end config/my.json should look like this:

{
   "general":{
      "publish_interval":30
   },
   "comstation":{
      "enable":true,
      "port":"/dev/ttyUSB0",
      "work_period":0,
      "geo":"59.944917,30.294558",
      "public_key":""
   },
   "httpstation":{
      "enable":false,
      "port":8001
   },
   "mqttstation": {
      "enable": false,
      "host": "connectivity.robonomics.network",
      "port": 1883
   },
   "luftdaten":{
      "enable":false
   },
   "robonomics":{
      "enable":true,
      "ipfs_provider":"/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/5001/http",
      "ipfs_topic":"airalab.lighthouse.5.robonomics.eth"
   },
   "datalog":{
      "enable":false,
      "path":"",
      "suri":"",
      "remote":"wss://substrate.ipci.io",
      "dump_interval":3600,
      "temporal_username":"",
      "temporal_password":""
   },
   "dev":{
      "sentry":""
   }
}

If you don't have a real sensor, you can use sensors-connectivity/utils/virtual-sensor.py script to emulate one

Enable HTTPStation and disable COMStation by changing the configuration file as:

{
   "general":{
      "publish_interval":30
   },
   "comstation":{
      "enable":false,
      "port":"/dev/ttyUSB0",
      "work_period":0,
      "geo":"59.944917,30.294558",
      "public_key":""
   },
   "httpstation":{
      "enable":true,
      "port":8001
   },
   ...
}

and launching utils/virtual-sensor.py in a dedicated terminal in the VM

Save the file and launch connectivity from sensors-connectivity folder:

source result/setup.zsh
roslaunch sensors_connectivity agent.launch config:=$PWD/config/my.json

You should see first measurements in the console output

Look for your IPFS ID in the VM. It appears right after booting the image or via ipfs id command. We will need it later.

Now let's set up our own instance of the map. On your laptop (not in the VM) clone this repository and build the app:

git clone https://github.com/airalab/sensors.robonomics.network
cd sensors.robonomics.network
yarn install

Edit src/agents.json file and put your IPFS ID. For example:

[
  "12D3KooWSCFAD3Lpew1HijniE6oFTuo4jsMwHzF87wNnXkpCRYWn"
]

Launch the map:

yarn serve

Go to http://localhost:8080/ or the address yarn gave you and look for the sensor.

#Practice

#Trajectory 1. Flash a sensor ESP + SDS011

Requirements:

• ESP8266
• At least one of sensors SDS011, BME280, HTU21D

Use the instruction to connect a sensor to Robonomics Connectivity.

Check that your sensor appears on our map.

#Trajectory 2. Launch Connectivity

Requirements:

• ROS
• Python
• Nix (optional)

Build and launch sensors-connectivity

How it build, install here and configure here

General scheme of the package:

    station1 \                        / feeder1
    station2 -  sensors-connectivity  - feeder2
    station3 /                        \ feeder3

The choice is proposed to implement either a new station, for example, a random number generator, or a new feeder, for example, displaying a string on the screen.

Interface IStationhere.

Interface IFeederhere

Contributor @vourhey