What does IoT actually mean? And what should you be focusing on when you look at it?

1. Internet of Things –
The actual things to pay attention to.
Philip Wheat
Phil@SingularityInnovations.com

2. “Internet Of Things”
 It’s a marketing term
 And not a very good one at that
 Has been known previously as:
 Connected Systems
 Smart Environments
 Pervasive Computing
 Sensor Web
 Lots of others.

3. Why is it a bad term?
“Internet” –
 Many (Most?) of the devices in IoT aren’t Internet devices in the fact
that they don’t use TCP/IP
 Large groups of IoT has no connection to Internet resources
 The model is completely different than traditional Internet appliances.
 “Things”
 It’s not about things but what processors are connected to.
 “Things” are monitored by and communicate to devices, not part of the
network itself (Unless you want lots of problems.)

4. But we’re just going to have
to live with the term.

5. What makes up an IoT device?
A processor – The Brains
Storage – You need at least a little
Input/Output – Because you don’t want to be another
Algol
Communications – OK, this is I/O as well, but we’ll talk
about this one a bit more
Power
That’s it!

6. The Processor
 Huge number of choices
 Popular ones are ATMega, Cortex, Xtensa, ARM, Atom
 Enough power in most of them to run emulation layers
 Development tools are key
 Go with a static typed language!
 LUA, C variants, Node.js, Python are all popular
 Pay attention to libraries.

7. Storage
 Two types – Dynamic and Static
 Dynamic storage is normally reserved for your executing
programs.
 Static storage for logs, data recording, files, etc.
 Both are more flexibly configured than in larger systems.
 Removable vs soldered vs on-chip
 How much you have can affect your architecture

8. Input/Output
 This is the fun part.
 The list is almost endless:
 Digital I/O
 Analog to Digital conversion
 PWM
 2 Wire
 1 Wire
 I2C
 Serial
 ….

9. Communications
 Not just TCP/UDP
 (But if you want… ESP32/ESP8266/Cortex
 Light
 Infra Red
 Visible Light
 Near Ultra Violet
 Audio
 Voice
 Ultrasonic
 RF
 Fixed Frequencies
 Frequency Hopping

10. Power
 Mains
 Battery
 Rechargeable
 Non-Rechargeable
 Solar
 Others
 Dealing with Power Levels
 Voltages
 12V
 5V
 3.3V
 Others

11. A good option to start with.
 “Arduino” is a common starting point – easy to get into.
 Lots of hardware can be “Arduino” compatible
 Hardware – Expansion pin compatible
 Software – Can run sketches
 Not all “compatible” systems are actually that compatible. Be prepared to spend
time if you move between hardware.
 Hardware varies in clock speed, I/O types and numbers, memory sizes, storage
sizes, voltage…. The list goes on.

12. Getting Started
 ARDUINO 1.8.3 – or later
 Your choice of boards – there’s a LOT to choose from
 A goal
 A Plan

13. Let’s put a project together!

14. Project: Wifi Scanner
 Hardware –
 WEMOS Dev board $7.00
 MicroUSB Cable $9.00
 That’s it!
 Software –
 Arduino IDE
 ESP8266 Board support
 That’s it!

15. Project: Touch Controlled Lamp
 Hardware –
 Sonoff Single module
 Pins for board
 Resistor
 Capacitor
 Wire
 Metal Plate
 Lamp
 Software –
 Arduino IDE
 ESP8266 Board support
 Arduino Examples

16. Project: Pretty Lights
 Hardware –
 Teensy LC
 Neopixels Ring
 Neopixels strip
 Wire
 Software
 Arduino IDE
 Teensy Board Support
 Adafruit Utilities Library

17. What now?
 Get started!
 Pick a project
 Research your hardware
 Define your software
 GO!