The Dummies Guide to IoT and MQTT
Inter·net of things — noun
the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.
“if one thing can prevent the Internet of things from transforming the way we live and work, it will be a breakdown in security”
Now after that cheerful start, since 2008–2009, we’ve had more things and devices connected to the internet than people. As of 2010 the things to people ratio has grown to 1.84 in 2010, and is growing still!
Connection of IoTs has transformed how we live and work, but the security of things has become a new problem that IoT must address. From security bugs, hackers, leaks, and corporate backdoors, suddenly your smart devices, don’t seem all that smart anymore.
At AIKEA, we feel that how devices are secured is just as important as how they talk to each other. Here is where a little something called MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) comes in.
Waaay back in 1999, two guys by the name of Andy Stanford-Clark and Arlen Nipper had the task of monitoring an oil pipeline out in the middle of a desert. The goals were to have a communication protocol that was efficient, lightweight, and used little battery power. The pair achieved this and more, making MQTT the international standard messaging protocol between industrial devices.
To prove MQTT’s versatility, Stanford-Clark has connected nearly everything in his home, to tell him when his light bulbs need replacing or when his mousetraps, to indicate when they need to be replaced.
While we question what kind of home necessitates smart mouse-traps, Stanford-Clark has nevertheless demonstrated that as the internet has evolved, MQTT has as well: becoming a secure alternative for communicating between devices. And is consequently become the messaging tool of choice for AIKEA.
AIKEA uses MQTT publish and subscribe protocol to communicate between its camera, the Raspberry Pi, and your messaging service of choice.
In this case, images of people from the camera are detected via the raspberry pi, and it sends a publish notification to the broker (also on the Raspberry Pi) an open source program called:
In contrast to other messaging services, the publish and subscribe model allows the broker in between to act as your personal concierge or doorman. Not only can it stop unauthorized devices to access AIKEA’s messages, but you can even ask it to send encrypted messages also. How you may ask? Stay tuned for IoT for dummies part two to find out!
