Internet has formerly been used to link ideas, then people and now it is starting to connect things together. IoT constitutes a good paradigm to enable people to design and modify things, and then sharing their designs and modifications. Through the internet, things are nowadays able to exchange raw data and information thus enabling the development of a new class of interconnected smart objects. In this paper a web platform for the design, co-design and sharing of smart objects is presented. The platform represents a design environment where physical shapes, sensing and actuation features, as well as functioning logics are integrated in a user friendly framework. A platform test has been performed in the context of the Maker Faire Rome 2013 demonstrating how the developed infrastructure acts as design enabler for both makers and mainstream users.

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INTERNET OF THINGS FOR
DESIGNING SMART OBJECTS
Gualtiero Fantoni, Ph.D
University of Pisa
Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering
Research Center "E. Piaggio"
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Presentation Summary
D. Mazzei1, G. Fantoni1,2, G. Montelisciani2, G. Baldi3
1 Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Italy
2 Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Italy
3 Medita Engineering, Pisa, Italy
• INTRODUCTION
• A PLATFORM FOR DESIGNING SMART OBJECTS
• AN EXEMPLARY CASE
• CONCLUSIONS
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Research Questions
• Is it possible to design products with high level of
customizability?
• What is the role of Internet of Things (IoT) in keeping
people interested in the creation and re-creation of smart
objects?
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DIY for All
• High entrance barriers;
• Low interoperability of the available systems;
• Separation of available tools: soft and hard.
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The Role of IoT
• Making is connecting together things, as well as ideas
and people;
• The impact of ICT and web 2.0: communities of people
helping each other, sharing ideas and creations;
Mass
Makers
Internet
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Allowing Anyone To Create Smart Objects
Customizability;
Modularity;
DIY for all;
Interconnectivity;
Designers and
Creative users
(artists, architects,
hobbyists)
Electronically skilled
users and makers
(previously called
nerds, now geeks or
even more politically
correct Pro-Ams)
Mainstream
users (my
mother, my little
nephew)
USERS
4 new
needs
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Customizability as a need
Poneblocks and Ara project
Smartphones look the same,
but when you switch them on ..
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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#SomeLand is both a set of “bricks” and a way of conceiving smart objects ready
for the new “Internet of Things” paradigm

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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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An Exemplary Case: The Puzzle Lamp
BODY Plastic Puzzle box
BRAIN Board: Arduino Uno + Ethernet Shield
Sensors: Temperature; Light; Sound;
Capacitive
Actuators: Diffusive RGB Led; Vibration
motor
WHEN (Value) DO (Value)
Touch Intensity (5 ÷ 10) Vibration (on)
Noise (0 ÷ 3) LED Blink (0 ÷ 5)
LED Color (Red)
Noise (3 ÷ 10) LED Blink (5 ÷ 10)
LED Color (Green)
Temperature (7 ÷ 10) Tweet (“It’s hot!”)
WHAT WHEN (Value) DO (Value)
Twitter Notifier Tweet (Received) LED Color (Red)
Smart Candle Noise (9÷10) LED (Off)
Weather Notifier Forecasts (Low Rain)
Forecasts (Medium Rain) LED Blink (3)
Forecasts (Low Rain)
Strobo Lamp Noise (10)
Led Blink (10)
Light (1)
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From a «geek» object
to a «user centered one»
• Online survey with few questions (#400 people):
• What are the last three actions you do before leaving home in the
morning?
• What are the reasons why you go back home immediately after being
exited?
• What are the first three actions you do when you enter home?
• What are the reasons why during the day you think of your house?
• A new shield has been designed: it has a Sparkcore/Arduino
(microcontroller), an IR receiver and emitter, a sound, a touch,
a light, a temperature and a humidity sensor. It is connected to
the web, thus several information can be gathered and mixed
for sure from your Social world but also from other channels
(city weather forecast, calendar, traffic condition).
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A use case as described by some users
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A use case as described by some users
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A use case as described by some users
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A use case as described by some users
? ? ?
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An example of possible uses
• It’s 07:30 a.m. The weather forecast says it will rain at 06:00
p.m., there’s traffic jam on the highway. SOME lights on the
umbrella icon and on the metro icon, while it does not highlight
the need of water for your flowers since the rain will water them
for you.
• You set the alarm clock for 07:30 a.m., you have an
appointment at the office at 08:30 a.m., but there is a strike in
the metro, and the flowers are thirsty. Therefore SOME wakes
you up a bit earlier since you can take your bicycle but you
need 5 minutes more and please… do not forget the flowers!
• 07:30 p.m. The day has been long, you are tired and you feel
cold even if the temperature is ok. For sure your house is even
colder than the office. Therefore you open the SOME App and
turn on the air-conditioner in winter mode.
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Conclusions
• The shield has been designed and it works
with both Arduino and Spark Core.
• The virtual machine is in progress and it manages both
Arduino and Spark Core, the platform and interface is
going to be made more attractive.
• An industrial designer is helping us with nice shapes and
a communication campaign.
• A new generation of more specialized SOME objects is
coming, the purpose is to test them with a series of
selected users (with different levels of interaction).
• May be you can be one of our backers in
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Acknowledgments
The project started during the course “PhDplus: Creativity, innovation, entrepreneurial
spirit”, University of Pisa.
The financial support of MISE Project “IoTPrise: Internet of Things: trasferimento di
tecnologie e creazione d’impresa” (Bando RIDITT, DM 22/12/2009); EU LLP
Programme – Leonardo Da Vinci (n° 2012-1-IT1-LEO05-02794): “EEC: European
Enterpreuners Campus”.
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