Chapter 7: IoT Devices & Endpoints

Chapter 7: IoT Physical Devices & Endpoints

• IoT devices are objects with unique identifiers that can send and receive data (e.g., user data) over a network.
• IoT devices report information about themselves or their surroundings via sensors.
• They may also trigger actions in the physical environment.
• Examples include home automation devices, industrial machines, cars with location tracking, and wearable devices for fitness data.

Outline

• An IoT device has basic building blocks.
• The Raspberry Pi is an exemplary IoT device.
• The Raspberry Pi has various interfaces.
• Programming the Raspberry Pi involves Python.
• Other IoT devices include the pcDuino, BeagleBone Black, and Cubieboard.

What is an IoT Device?

• An IoT "Thing" is any object possessing a unique identifier, capable of exchanging data (including user data) over a network.
• Examples include smartphones, smart TVs, computers, refrigerators, and cars.
• These devices connect to the internet and exchange information, or enable actuation of the physical entities.

IoT Device Examples

• Home automation devices can monitor and control appliances.
• Industrial machines transmit operational and health data to a server.
• Cars transmit location information to a cloud-based service.
• Wearable devices collect data like steps walked, and send to a cloud service.

Basic Building Blocks of an IoT Device

• Sensing: Sensors collect data from the environment, either built-in or attached externally.
• Actuation: Actuators perform actions based on sensor data.
• Communication: Modules transfer collected data to servers or other devices using various protocols.
• Analysis/Processing: Software analyzes the data and performs required actions.

Block Diagram of an IoT Device

• The diagram shows interconnected components like connectivity, processor (CPU/GPU), audio/video, and various memory/storage interfaces.

Exemplary Device: Raspberry Pi

• The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, credit-card sized computer.
• It runs various Linux flavors and performs almost all tasks of a standard desktop.
• Interfacing sensors and actuators is possible through general-purpose I/O pins.
• Python is readily supported on the Raspberry Pi operating system.

Raspberry Pi OS

• Raspberry Pi OS is based on the Debian Linux distribution.
• There are different versions available, including a full desktop version and a Lite version without the desktop environment.
• This allows a user-friendly environment with pre-installed applications and access to various software repositories.

Raspberry Pi Components

• GPIO Pins: General Purpose Input/Output pins for interacting with external devices.
• USB Ports: Connecting peripherals like keyboards, mice, and storage devices.
• Video/Audio Outputs: Connecting to monitors and TVs, with interfaces for HDMI and composite video, as well as audio jacks
• Ethernet and Wireless Connectivity: Offers wired connections through Ethernet and wireless connectivity options (using Wi-Fi adapters.)
• Power: Uses a micro USB or USB-C port for power input.

Raspberry Pi Interfaces

• Serial: For communication with serial peripherals, using Rx and Tx pins).
• SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface): A synchronous serial protocol for communication with multiple peripherals.
• I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit): A low-speed bus for connecting multiple devices, using SDA and SCL pins for data and clock signals respectively.

Linux on Raspberry Pi

• Distribution ports like Raspbian (optimized for the Raspberry Pi), Arch, Pidora (based on Fedora), RaspBMC (XBMC media center distribution), OpenELEC (XBMC media center distribution), and RISC OS are available

Other Devices

• pcDuino: A single-board computer similar to Raspberry Pi, offering a wide range of features for connectivity and projects.
• BeagleBone Black: A single-board computer with a Texas Instruments ARM Cortex-A8 processor, suitable for embedded programming, and prototyping.
• Cubieboard: A single-board computer with various ARM processors. Its different versions include the Allwinner-based A20 dual-core Cortex-A7 processor model.