A Hacker’s Starter Pack for IoT & Hardware Hacks
So you want to do an IoT hack? Well, if you don’t know where to start, you’re in the right place!
IoT stands for the “Internet of Things”, it incorporates objects like fridges, toasters, thermostats, and anything else that can be made “smart” through software. A very common IoT device category that you may know is the smart assistant which includes products like the Amazon Alexa or Google Home. These IoT devices communicate with many other things and can integrate well with products like smart light bulbs, smart outlets, and much more. If you want to learn more about the IoT and how it is changing the way we do business and live you can check out these articles:
- https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-the-internet-of-things-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-iot-right-now/
- https://www.recode.net/2015/1/15/11557782/a-beginners-guide-to-understanding-the-internet-of-things
IoT hacks fall under two main categories. You could build something for an IoT device, such as making a new Alexa Skill, or you could make a unique smart object. An example of this might be making a water bottle that learns to cool itself in different temperature settings.
An IOT hack requires a few things:
- The IoT hardware itself
- A programming language
- A unique idea
- * A device to control the hardware
- ** An API to use
* this is only necessary if you are trying to make a new IOT device
** this is only necessary if you are going to develop something new for a device or company that is already in the IoT space
As for hardware to use, there are many options. At SLO Hacks, we will have the 2019 MLH Hardware lab available. This google doc has a list of all the hardware provided to you during the course of the hackathon. It may be useful to look over this list and see what hacks you could put together with these devices. If you are looking for specific boards/kits to use, this guide can help you choose the hardware that is right for your project. If you are looking for ideas for projects using Raspberry Pis or Arduinos here is a list of some helpful sites:
- Pi My Life Up: This has open and closed source projects.
- Adafruit: They have guides, videos, forums, and blogs about building iot projects with Raspberry Pis.
- Arduino Project Hub: This site has around 200 project outlines and guides.
Since many technological solutions now involve connected devices, it can be helpful to use one of the many IoT applications. Cloud hosting has become a wide-spread and generally appreciated method of developing and running various technology solutions, and IoT (which directly depends on the Internet) definitely benefits from all the advantages of cloud computing. There are special cloud-based IoT platforms that support the Internet-based functions of the application running, maintenance, analytics, data storage, and security measures. You may find these platforms helpful in building your IoT Hacks:
- Google Cloud:
- Cloud IoT Core allows connecting various devices and gathering their data.
- Cloud Pub/Sub processes event data and provides real-time stream analytics.
- Cloud Machine Learning Engine allowing the building of ML models and use of the data received from IoT devices.
2. Amazon Web Services (AWS):
- AWS IoT Core allows devices to connect to the Internet and to each other and exchange data.It also enables communication between devices from different manufacturers.
- AWS IoT Device Management allows easy addition and organization of devices.
- AWS IoT Analytics providing a service for automated analytics of large amounts of various IoT data.
For more information about other IoT platforms such as Cisco IoT Cloud Connect, IBM Watson IoT, and Microsoft Azure IoT check out this article.
Finally, here are some miscellaneous resources and communities for building IoT projects.
- Hackerster.io has project ideas and outlines. It is a community all about how people have hacked together IoT projects. There are lots of pictures and in depth descriptions of past projects.
- IoT For All looks at IoT topics like healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain, and infrastructure. It also looks at IoT strategy, analytics, and what the internet of things means for actual people.
- The IoT magazine has a number of quick reads and cool articles that may be useful to learn more about IoT.
- The r/IOT subreddit is completely dedicated to the internet of things.
Good luck and happy hacking!
Thanks to Emily O’Neal (Cal Poly CS ‘21) for putting together this guide!
