The IBM IoT Platform has been designed to ensure that businesses and developers have access to an array of services that can help them innovate with the power of IoT. It offers simple yet strong resources that can connect several types of applications and devices from different parts of the globe. This service is known to be highly scalable, secure and open to all developers that want to connect, develop and manage their IoT solutions and software.
How IBM is using the IoT Platform service to introduce a change
Notably, this platform was launched in 2016 to help different customers to integrate IoT innovation into their daily business offerings. These customers only have to take advantage of the technical know-how and innovation of IBM to provide lower risk models that promote the implementation of IoT. With the aid of the IBM IoT Platform services, the digitization of various businesses has been made easier than ever before. One good example website using this type of platform is ASO.
To foster the ability of developers to utilize the IBM IoT Platform easily and quickly, IBM will allow developers to be able to access the platform for free. In other words, businesses and developers can make use of the platform to develop their abilities and explore the importance of IoT without paying anything. Also, IBM offers IoT education courses to ensure that technical innovators get a chance to improve their understanding of the process of developing IoT applications. This is done through the provision of different classes that will be hosted on Coursera as well as the Watson IoT Academy of IBM.
Raspberry Pi, Arduino Uno, and other smart devices can be easily connected to the IBM IoT Platform services. So, businesses and developers cannot have problems with using the services.
The roles of the IBM IoT Platform service
According to IBM, the IBM IoT Platform delivers everything you need to attach, receive and manage your connection. It is also good for device management, visualization and connectivity. This platform is also recommended for predictive, real-time and cognitive analytics. In addition, it is also good for information management such as storage and archive of information, management of unstructured data, management of metadata, parsing, and transformation, and weather APIs. Furthermore, it provides risk management services that include firmware updates, security analytics, organization-specific security, logging/auditing, blockchain management, and data protection.
The Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) is supported by the IoT Platform. It is worthwhile to note that MQTT is a network protocol that is known to be flexible and lightweight. Developers can use this protocol along with the IoT service to build their applications with ease.
In general, when the IBM IoT Platform service is used for the MQTT, it serves as the broker to control the distribution of messages to the applications and devices of the businesses and developers that are connected. It should be noted that machines that have the ability to public the data they receive are also included. Similarly, applications, on the other hand, are the programs that are capable of utilizing the information that they got from the devices. Both the devices and applications work together for the full implementation of IoT by businesses and developers.
How to build IoT applications with the aid of the IBM IoT Platform
Foremost, any application that relies on the technology of the IBM IoT Platform has three basic components, which are:
- Device-side programming
- Application-side programming
- IBM IoT Platform service configuration (device and application registration)
The 3 components must work effectively together to make sure that the application functions as developed and desired.
If you are building an application with the IBM IoT Platform, you will require the following
- Your IBM Cloud account which you can create for free
- A good understanding of the Python programming language
- An excellent understanding of the Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) works
Once you have the elements mentioned above, you can utilize the IBM IoT Platform to build your application. The step for building your application is described below:
- Configuration of the IBM IoT Platform service
Go to the IBM Cloud console and look for “Catalog”. Click it and select the “Internet of Things”. Afterward, choose the “Internet of Things Platform” to pick your preferred service plan. If you want a free plan, you should go for the Lite plan. However, this plan is only good for small projects. After setting up an IoT Platform service instance, go to the “Manage” segment and then click “Launch”. The service will be launched immediately.
At this point, you should check out the “Screen” section and write down your platform instance’s Organization ID. As an alternative, get your Organization ID from the URL of the management console. Notably, the URL is https://za6xa7.internetofthings.ibmcloud.com/.
Navigate to the “Devices” screen for the creation of a new device. You need to pay attention to the type and ID of the device. The last thing you need to do to configure the service is building a standard app that can be used for receiving and processing messages that are received from the device. You should note that every app comes with a unique access token and ID.
- Development of a device-side program
For the device-side programming to be possible, there is a need for it to connect to the IoT service via MQTT. Then the events must be published to applications and the applications must be used for subscribing commands. Generally, you need the Python SDK for this.
Start with the connection to the IoT platform service from a YAML file and follow it up with publishing of the events which are done with an IoT sensor device. If done properly, the IoT Platform will make it possible for you to publish the event to every program that is connected to the device events. After broadcasting the events, the device is fully prepared for the commands. Therefore, developers need to subscribe commands so that the device can execute every command that it has received in the callback function.
- Development of an application-side program
After creating the device-side program, the application-side program should also be created. Just as in the case of the device-side program, it is also created by using the Python SDK to connect to the IoT service via MQTT. The events are then published to applications and the applications must be used for subscribing commands.
You also need to connect to the IoT platform service through a YAML configuration file. Then, you will subscribe to the events via the IoT Platform service. A callback function is configured for the events through the function of the program. Afterward, the events in the specified queue will be expected to decide the next action of the app.
Lastly, commands are sent through the IoT Platform service.
- Launch the programs
Once you are done with all the steps above, your programs are ready to be launched. Foremost, run the app to listen for events. As the application is waiting, launch the device program so that an event can be sent from the device. The application will print the received event in the console. You need to follow these steps for commands too.
By following the steps highlighted above, clients can set up their IoT programs and start utilizing them for the improvement of their businesses.
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