LX Group discusses the Google Cloud Platform
Recently Google announced their new Cloud Platform services, which allow almost anyone to build applications, websites, store and analyse data using Google’s infrastructure. This is an exciting development for those looking to implement a scalable Internet-of-things system at a minimal cost – so we’ll take an overview of the system as it stands today. Almost everyone is aware of the researched information, computing power and infrastructure available for Google’s myriad of services, and now it’s possible to harness some of this for your own needs. With the introduction of their “Cloud Platform”, you can harness this power that Google has used internally for years to provide Google’s familiar high-speed, high-scale big-data products and services such as Search, YouTube, Google Docs and GMail and make it available as cloud computing services for use with your own Internet-of-Things projects. Large-scale, high-speed, distributed “cloud” storage and computation with large amounts of data is … Continue reading
LX Group discusses MQTT and how it works for the Internet of Things
Although we have recently been focusing on the systems and hardware that can be used in various Internet-of-things applications, there’s much more to learn and understand. One particular aspect is the way in which devices send and receive data between themselves and servers – and an example of that is MQTT. Message Queue Telemetry Transport, or MQTT, is an open protocol for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications that enables the transfer of telemetry-style data in the form of messages from a network of distributed devices to and from a small message “broker” server – whilst maintaining usefulness over high-latency, expensive or bandwidth-constrained networks. This publish/subscribe messaging transport protocol is designed to overcome the challenges of connecting the rapidly expanding physical world of sensors and actuators as well as personal computers and mobile devices. The origin of MQTT goes back to the late 1990s, where co-inventor Andy Stanford-Clark of IBM became immersed in … Continue reading
LX Group examines the Nearbus IoT Open Project
In this instalment in our series of articles focusing on various Internet-of-things systems, we explore the new Nearbus Open IoT Project. Although not the most complex of systems, Nearbus offers a level of control and interaction with devices and sensors which is ideal for demonstrations, proof-of-concept designs or even simple products where rapid development and low-cost are the main requirements. Unlike other systems, Nearbus takes a different approach to device control. After loading the Nearbus on the device’s microcontroller, it is considered to be part of the “cloud” and as such transparent to the web services or API. In other words, you can read or write to the MCU’s registers directly from the cloud – which makes control much simpler than other systems. By “virtualising” the hardware in the cloud, it makes it much easier for existing services to interact with the real hardware, and in a more secure manner. … Continue reading
Google Glass: A Major Step Towards Ubiquitous Computing
Google Glass might be a controversial point of discussion in the media (and not just because of how it looks; more on this later), but what about the future? Recently, we looked at Machine to Machine Communication and the Internet of Things, both of which are fundamental building blocks towards a world of ubiquitous computing. This could be described as a “post-desktop” paradigm whereby interactions and data processing between us, computers and everyday objects are all seamlessly integrated and largely invisible. Exciting stuff. What is Google Glass? For those unaware, Google Glass is an augmented reality headset created by Google’s ‘secret’ research and development lab. It’s essentially a wearable computer with a tiny display which Google claims is akin to viewing a 63 cm monitor from a distance of 2.5 mtrs It supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, has a microphone, voice recognition system, small touchpad and a camera with 720p video … Continue reading
LX Group examines the ThingSpeak IoT Platform
Continuing from our previous articles which are focusing on a range of currently-available Internet-of-Things systems, we now move forward and explore another addition to the Internet-of-Things marketplace in more detail – the system known as “ThingSpeak”. Considered to be one of the first openly-available IoT platforms, ThingSpeak operates on their own free server platform, or you can run the software on your own personal servers – and as the entire system is open-source, it’s easier to work with and customise. As with the other systems examined, ThingSpeak gives your devices the opportunity to interact with a server for simple tasks such as data collection and analysis, to integration with your own custom APIs for specific purposes. Due to the open-source nature the start-up cost can be almost zero, and unlike other systems ThingSpeak is hardware agnostic – giving your design team many hardware options. However as always, let’s consider the … Continue reading
Smart Farming with the Internet of Things
As the “Internet of Things” becomes increasingly prevalent this year, much has been written and systems devised to allow all manner of data to be gathered, analysed and devices controlled via wireless data networks. However these systems aren’t limited to items of a technological nature, as the broad IoT can also be of great benefit to primary producers and agriculture of almost any type. But how? It’s simple – if more data about a particular item of interest is available, you can make better decisions concerning that item. If that data was available in real-time, you can make informed decisions faster. Let’s consider four areas in the farming arena that can benefit from this technology with some example possibilities. Horticulture – There’s much more to achieving profitable returns on horticulture than just planting a seed and hoping it will grow. Apart from monitoring the weather – wireless sensors can be … Continue reading
Should We Be Worried About Machine to Machine Communication?
We’re at a stage in the technology revolution where it’s difficult to tell whether the idea of machine to machine communication (M2M) is genuinely creepy, or if we’ve all just been watching too many sci-fi movies. If cinema classics such as the Terminator and The Matrix franchises are to be believed, encouraging too many advances in M2M may not bode well for the future of humanity. In the real world however, this new technology means miracles performed for business, medicine, education and day-to-day life. In 2012 the machine to machine communication industry generated over $26 billion, and that’s expected to rise to $33 billion by the end of 2013. From Fiction to Fact And therein lies the rub. There are different levels of M2M and, in fact, this technology has been used in more basic forms for many years in technology engines and industry. We certainly don’t lose any … Continue reading
LX Group examines the Ninja Blocks system
Continuing from our previous articles which are focusing on a range of currently-available Internet-of-Things systems, we now move forward and explore another successful addition to the Internet-of-Things marketplace in more detail – the system known as “Ninja Blocks”. An Australian invention, developed only last year and originally released via the ubiquitous Kickstarter crowd funding system – Ninja Blocks are now a commercial product and available for use. It is billed as the “ Internet of things for the rest of us” – however anyone person or organisation can make good use of it. Like other systems the Ninja Blocks consist of two major elements – the hardware devices and attached I/O devices, and the software environment. Using this combination you can create sets of “rules” that allow interaction between the hardware and the end user with a variety of methods. For example temperature can be monitored remotely, alerts can be sent when … Continue reading
LX Group examines the Electric Imp system
Continuing from our article last week which examined the Twine wireless sensor blocks, we now move forward and explore another recent addition to the Internet-of-Things marketplace in more detail – the “Electric Imp”. Although the name sounds somewhat toy-like, the system itself is quite the opposite. It’s a unified hardware, software and connectivity solution that’s easy to implement and quite powerful. It offers your devices WiFi connectivity and an incredibly simple development and end-user experience. That’s a big call, however the system comprises of a relatively simple hardware solution and software development environment that has a low financial and learning entry level yet is quite customisable. Like other systems it comprises of a hardware and software component, so let’s examine those in more detail. Hardware – Unlike other IoT systems such as Twine or cosm, the Electric Imp has a very well-defined and customisable hardware structure that is both affordable … Continue reading
Should You Be Excited About the ‘Internet of Things’?
The statement “we’re on the brink of a revolution” typically induces an eye rolling response. The phrase has been bandied around by just about every marketing company which, frankly, makes it sound boring. Furthermore, if anything genuinely ‘revolutionary’ was imminent for humanity, surely we’d know all about it? Well, not necessarily, and for those unaware: we really are on the brink of a revolution. This particular revolution comes in the form of a very tangible technological transition referred to as ‘the Internet of Things’ (IoT). The phrase was coined in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, a tech guru hailing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). ‘Things’ in this instance refers to day-to-day material objects and devices which historically have not been connected to the Internet. But we are now entering an age where everything is connected via the Internet, rather than just the varying types of computers that we … Continue reading
