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International Journal of Sensors, Wireless Communications and Control

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 2210-3279
ISSN (Online): 2210-3287

Research Article

An Affordable, Scalable, Open Architecture, IoT Eco-system for the Academic Community

Author(s): Anantha Radhanand, K. Naga Balaji Kumar and Swetha Namburu*

Volume 11, Issue 7, 2021

Published on: 29 October, 2020

Page: [774 - 781] Pages: 8

DOI: 10.2174/2210327910999201029192934

Price: $65

Abstract

Aim: Today, Internet of Things (IoT) applications are extended from smart homes to ehealth, cyber security, data analytics, logistics and management of assets. There are many upcoming IOT solutions and platforms like ThingWorx, Xively, and Yaler. However, the existing eco-systems are not vibrant because of the high entry-level barrier and low potential for any stakeholder. Especially, the academic community requires a comprehensible way to create IoT services, develop their skillsets and build applications around them. In this regard, this work presents an affordable and scalable IoT eco-system with an easily programmable hardware platform, a private web server on the cloud and a user-friendly mobile application.

Background: Home automation controls the devices and appliances in the home environment to increase the comfort and convenience. To design a typical immune home automation system, we need to incorporate different sensors, wireless networking and a central node that can collect data and act as a gateway for the internet connection.

Objective: Delivering an IoT solution involves the use of multiple technologies that cut across traditional engineering stream boundaries - sensors, microcontrollers, wireless networking, network protocols, web programming, and mobile app development. The open challenge is to put the entire ecosystem together either through new development or through configuartion of existing components.

Methods: In this work, we incorporated a suitable hardware platform that can be easily programmed. The platform is open so that new sensors and actuators can be added as per requirement. The existing web services are used to post and retrieve data from the cloud. In addition, mobile apps can be developed to make data available to the user.

Results: A custom-built GISMO based IoT cloud system is developed with sensors and nodes to form an infrastructure. The framework will assure standard design that establishes a functional link between hardware, software and web applications. A private web service using HTTP server and MQTT broker is designed with access from anywhere with a public IP. The web services are coded in PHP and since it is an in-house development, the addition of new services and maintenance of existing services are easy.

Conclusion: The IoT eco-system developed provides a platform for a quick out-of-the-box implementation of an IoT project. Other sensors such as a PIR sensor, an RTC module, an ultrasonic sensor, a soil moisture sensor have been interfaced to the GISMO module using the IOs brought out onto the expansion header. The GISMO thus can serve as a generic hardware platform for sensor/actuator interface in the IoT scheme. The eco-system can be replicated in other institutes and can serve as a base to implement applications like sensor-to-cloud interface, cloud-to-actuator interface, cloud-based alerts and notifications, HTTP and MQTT protocols usage.

Keywords: Interntet of Things (IoT), GRIET IoT sensors module (GISMO) boards, arduino nano boards, sensors, web services, mobile apps.

Graphical Abstract

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