Book Image

Hands-On Internet of Things with MQTT

By : Tim Pulver
Book Image

Hands-On Internet of Things with MQTT

By: Tim Pulver

Overview of this book

MQ Telemetry Transport (MQTT) is a lightweight messaging protocol for smart devices that can be used to build exciting, highly scalable Internet of Things (IoT) projects. This book will get you started with a quick introduction to the concepts of IoT and MQTT and explain how the latter can help you build your own internet-connected prototypes. As you advance, you’ll gain insights into how microcontrollers communicate, and you'll get to grips with the different messaging protocols and techniques involved. Once you are well-versed with the essential concepts, you’ll be able to put what you’ve learned into practice by building three projects from scratch, including an automatic pet food dispenser and a smart e-ink to-do display. You’ll also discover how to present your own prototypes professionally. In addition to this, you'll learn how to use technologies from third-party web service providers, along with other rapid prototyping technologies, such as laser cutting, 3D printing, and PCB production. By the end of this book, you’ll have gained hands-on experience in using MQTT to build your own IoT prototypes.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Title Page

Summary

We now have a fair idea about the most important areas related to the Internet of Things.

One thing that all IoT devices have in common is their connectivity—equipped with an internet connection, they can send and receive information, sense their surroundings, collect data, and control physical actuators. To be available over the internet, these devices need to have unique identifiers, usually in the form of their IP addresses.

You learned that IoT is being used in smart homes in the form of connected devices (for example, smart fridges and smart heating systems). This area has the most possibilities for your own experiments using an Arduino, sensors, and actuators.

We also had a look at two other areas where IoT is being used that gain a lot of traction: smart cars and industrial IoT. Smart cars will take over our streets and (at least partly) replace regular cars. The industrial IoT will help to automate factories around the world, improve efficiency, and minimize the need for manual maintenance.

You learned how a prototype differs from a product and that building quick-and-dirty experiments is often the fastest way to validate your ideas.

You also got a glimpse of voice control and learned that technologies such as Siri and Cortana can be used in physical prototypes as well.

While many of the use cases of IoT are in the commercial space, there is also a lot of room to create prototypes for the greater good using IoT development boards as you learned in the section about the Guardian, a device to help in stopping illegal deforestation.

In Chapter 2, Basic Architecture of an IoT Prototype, you will learn more about the IoT ecosystem—microcontrollers, protocols, apps, and libraries.