IoT Development

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected devices and objects that can communicate and share data seamlessly. By enabling devices to connect and exchange information, IoT enhances efficiency, automation, and real-time insights, revolutionizing how we interact with the world.

When refering to "internet of things" this usually implies individual devices connected to the internet, however this is not always the case as it is often more practical to make use of an internet gateway for connecting multiple devices to the internet via a single internet connection.

IoT Weather station in a public park

Types of solutions that we offer

Our IoT development services are not geared towards mass produced consumer IoT devices (altough we can certainly help with prototyping such devices!). We serve farms, companies, organisations that have a need to monitor something, somewhere via the internet - even in extremely remote locations without any internet or power.

The value proposition of our IoT development services is to tailor a hardware + software solution to gather valuable data remotely in the most cost effective manner possible. At a very basic level this could mean providing a hardware device with sensors, provisioned with the ability to connect to the internet via wifi, cellular or satellite connection. Data can then be published to (and visualized by) open source software like Grafana or in more complex cases, integrate IoT solutions with our MVP Development services to offer a completely custom IoT monitoring solution.

Example use cases

NFT Hydroponics system

Agriculture

Chemical plant

Industry

Trucks driving on a highway

Logistics

Small off-grid weather station

Environment

Hardware

Whether building web applications or embedded software, one thing is certain; requirements WILL change.

In the case of web applications, changes can easily be implemented and incur only development costs. When writing software that will run on embedded devices however, it is important to not go straight into designing custom hardware boards as it will likely mean having to develop and manufacture many different versions of the same hardware device, which will be extremely costly.

Arduino UNO with several shields fitted

At Terabyte Labs we've chosen the Arduino platform for all our IoT projects. Arduino boards have a modular open source design, which means we can start with a "base" controller board and then add/remove modules (or "shields" as they are called) as needed. Depending on the application we might choose either a standard Arduino controller OR an Espressif ESP32 controller mounted on a Arduino base board.

Arduino UNO

Arduino

Open-source hardware and software platform for creating interactive electronic projects. It consists of a programmable microcontroller and a development environment, enabling users to design and control a variety of devices, from simple gadgets to complex automation systems.

ESP32 on Arduino UNO board

ESP32

ESP32 modules, when used on Arduino boards, offer enhanced capabilities like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. This enables IoT projects, wireless communication, and remote control applications. The ESP32's dual-core processor and additional features provide increased performance and versatility for a wide range of projects.

Variety of Arduino shields
Image from Seeed Studio website

Adruino shields

Arduino shields are add-on boards extending the functionality of a base Arduino board with specific features such as sensors or communication modules. They simplify project development, reduce wiring complexity, and enable rapid prototyping by seamlessly connecting to Arduino boards. This enhances capabilities without intricate custom circuit building.

Screenshot of a IoT dashboard in Grafana
Image from Grafana website

IoT Dashboards

Gathering data form a multitude of connected devices is the first step. Visulalizing and interpreting IoT data can be extremely powerful, enabling businesses to make data driven decisions. Grafana is an open source data visualization tool that can be used for any type of monitoring ranging from web applications to sensor data generated by IoT devices.

Grafana dashboards are fully customized and can be set up to combine, filter, transform and visualize data from many different sources in addition to IoT device data.