How we created an IoT App for Smart Home Devices!
Raise your hand if you’ve witnessed the Internet of Things (IoT). I don’t blame you if you haven’t. Although a quick Google search will turn up lots of articles and posts explaining what the Internet of Things is and its many possible benefits.
The definition of the Internet of things has evolved due to the convergence of many technologies, real-time analytics, machine learning, commodity sensors, and embedded systems
When we talk about IoT Applications, Smart Homes are most likely the first thing that we think of. The best instance I can think of here is Jarvis, the AI home automation employed by Mark Zuckerberg. Also, Allen Pan’s Home Automation System where functions in the house are activated by a string of musical notes.
Helix Tech built an IoT Application “Spintly” for its client Mrinq Technologies. The Smart Lightning App provides users with an interface to control their Smart devices using their Smartphones. The Smart devices supported include Smart bulbs, RGB lights, Smart switches. It uses BLE mesh technology to achieve this. The app lets the users control the intensity, colour of the smart devices along with the ability to switch them on/off.
Problems
This App aimed at creating a modern Smart Lighting App with Spintly mesh lighting technology and an easy-to-use intuitive User Interface. The App also needed to have features to enable deep power savings and bring down infrastructure costs while providing interoperability standards for lighting with advanced commissioning tools. The App aimed at supporting Smart devices like smart bulbs, RGB lights, and Smart Switches.
Challenges
The main challenge was to build a very intuitive UI/UX for the iOS platform, as we needed to create quite a few custom controls which would make the UI very user-friendly and intuitive. The App interface also needed to be slick and smooth and needed to use the APIs along with the integration with the BLE mesh technology.
Solution
Our Team did extensive work on the UI/UX aspect of the App so that it is very intuitive for the App user to control the supported Smart devices from the App with minimal taps. Extensive use of custom UI elements enabled the UI to be slick and presented the information in an easier to understand format. Integration with AWS Web Service APIs and the BLE mesh technology was another standout feature of the solution.
Technology
Technology stack for Spintly Smart Lighting App for various modules are as follows
1. UI: iOS SDK
2. Backend Services: AWS Cognito Services for authentication/authorisation, Backend Services hosted on AWS Servers
3. Device communication: BLE Mesh-based proprietary library developed by Mrinq technologies
Conclusion
IoT iterates improve and keep building. Its networks don’t arrive pre-assembled, they build over time. The Internet of Things (IoT) has combined hardware and software to the internet to create a smarter world. It has been growing at a significant pace and offers numerous opportunities.
IoT applications are expected to turn out billions of everyday objects with connectivity and intelligence. It is already being deployed broadly, in various domains, namely:
- Wearables
- Smart home devices
- Health care
- Smart cities
- Agriculture
- Industrial Automation
So, it is a great time to begin exploring the true potential of this technology. Because with IoT, the future is now!
Want to build an IoT Application in any of these domains? Reach out to us to Book a 30 mins free consultation.
We are happy to connect and we make sure we serve you the best.
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