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MonthSeptember 2015

Make your own data platform for the Internet of Things using Node.js and Express.js

September 21, 2015 / / 13 Comments

Prologue

I recently wrote a tutorial explaining how to make a connected barometer in which I used Thingspeak as an endpoint for the data. With the current buzz around the Internet of Things, a lot of similar services popped up : Plotly, the Wolframe data drop, Xively and even IBM Cloud to name a few.

What I find problematic with theses services is that you loose control over your data. What are they used for, what happens if the company closes ? You don’t want to lose your preciously collected data.

One solution is to create your own data platform. This way you keep full control over your database. You can set-up backups and are sure that your digital property wont be used for commercial purposes behind your back.

We will thus be making IoT.me, a web application using Node.js as a server, Express.js for the framework and MongoDB as the database (the MEAN stack, without the A).
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Make a connected barometer shield for Arduino Uno – using an ESP8266

September 5, 2015 / / 7 Comments

Prologue

I’ve never really considered connecting my projects to WiFi since the price of the shields was so high. The HUZZAH from Adafruit will set you back $39.95. Sparkfun sells this shield for $84.95. Way to expensive.

So you might imagine my excitement when I first heard about the ESP8266 through hackaday. A WiFi module for less than $5, that sounded ideal. I started to read about it, checking out the projects that flourished around this newcomer. It seemed easy enough to use, and I was already imagining how I would start this article. Something like :

“Meet the great ESP8266, a low cost, plug&play device that will allow you to easily connect your projects to the web”.

But things did not go as planned…The first module I bought was defective, and it almost drove me nuts trying to figure out what was it that I was doing wrong. When I started to think about leaving electronics behind forever and starting a new life as a shepherd in South America, I decided that spending an additional five bucks for a new module just in case mine was broken from the start was not too much.

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