Environmental Monitoring with TPS, Azure, and PowerBI

Step 0: Configure and Assemble the TPS

• Open LTPS Web Interface by simply entering its IP address in your browser, select the “Tibbits Layout” tab, and push the “Launch TPS Configurator…” button.

 

• Setup Tibbits Layout as shown on the screenshot below and click File/Save

 

Note: TPS needs to be rebooted to take new Tibbits Layout into effect.

• Assemble TPS according to the Tibbits Layout

Attention: it’s strongly recommended to shut down TPS before placing/removing Tibbits.

Step 1: First application

Node.js, Git and Python 2.7 are installed on each LTPS by default, but NPM is not.

• For installing, connect it to your device with SSH and do the following:

# Setup package repositories
smart channel --add 150a type=rpm-md name="LTPS all" baseurl=http://tibbo.com/downloads/LTPS/packets/all/ -y
smart channel --add 150c type=rpm-md name="LTPS cortexa" baseurl=http://tibbo.com/downloads/LTPS/packets/cortexa8hf_neon/ -y
smart update
# Install NPM
smart install nodejs-npm -y

then

# Create folder for application
cd /opt/node-apps/
mkdir environment
cd environment
# Install required modules
npm install @tibbo-tps/tibbit-28
npm install @tibbo-tps/tibbit-30
npm install @tibbo-tps/tibbit-35

/opt/node-apps/ folder is proposed to be used for your Node.JS apps.

• In any IDE or even a text editor create azure-app-0.js file with your application:

var tibbit28 = require("@tibbo-tps/tibbit-28").init("S11");
var tibbit35 = require("@tibbo-tps/tibbit-35").init("S13");
var tibbit30 = require("@tibbo-tps/tibbit-30").init("S15");
setInterval(function(){
  var illuminationData = tibbit28.getData();
  var humidityData = tibbit30.getData();
  var pressureData = tibbit35.getData();
  var dateTime = new Date();
  console.log("Date/Time: "+dateTime);
  console.log("Illumination: "+illuminationData.illumination);
  console.log("Humidity: "+humidityData.humidity);
  console.log("Temperature: "+humidityData.temperature);
  console.log("Pressure: "+pressureData.pressure);
},1000);

• Upload it to /environment folder and run:

$ node azure-app-0.js
Date/Time: Tue Jul 19 2016 13:50:54 GMT+0000 (UTC)
Illumination: 115
Humidity: 43.755340576171875
Temperature: 28.05670928955078
Pressure: 738.7398681640625

Step 2: Setting Up Microsoft Azure IoT Hub

Microsoft Azure IoT Hub is a service that allows bi-directional communications between your devices and a solution back end. To complete this part of the tutorial you’ll need:

• TPS device(s) prepared as shown on the Step 0

• An active Azure account

• A PC with installed Node.js

Create an IoT Hub

• Sign in to the Azure Portal

• Choose New > Internet of Things > Azure IoT Hub

• Configure your IoT Hub, then click “Create”

• Wait a few minutes until your IoT Hub has been created then select All Resources > [name of your IoT hub] and click “Keys” icon.

• In the Shared access policies blade select the “iothubowner” item and then copy the value of “Connection string” field.

Step 3: Registering Device Identities

There are three ways to register device identities: with a script using Azure API, with GUI App (for Windows only) and with multiplatform CLI tool. The third way seems to be the most convenient one.

Note: To use iothub-explorer you need Node.js version 4.x or later installed

• On your PC run:
• then:

where <connection-string> is an iothubowner connection string from Step 2.

• To register a new device and get its connection string:

Where <device-name> is e.g. “tps-centreville”.

• Make note of the connections string.

Step 4: Making devices IoT-enabled

• Connect with SSH to the TPS, change folder to /environment and do:

• Create azure-app-1.js file with the following app:

• Upload it to /opt/node-apps/environment folder on the TPS and run:

StartFragment

Event monitoring is the most remarkable and very useful feature for the purpose of debugging iothub-explorer. With iot-explorer, you can easily observe events sent by your devices to cloud and vice versa.

Note: this command requires providing iothubowner connection string even if you’re already logged in.

• On your PC do:

You can see every event as soon as it’s sent to IoT hub.

Step 5: Configure Stream Analytics

Note: To compelete this part of the tutorial you’ll need an active Microsoft Power BI subscription.

Before the information can be delivered to Power BI, it must be processed by a Azure Stream Analytics job.

• Choose New > Internet of Things > Stream Analytics Job

• Configure the Job, then click “Create”

• Wait a couple of minutes until the Job has been created, then select All resources > name of your Stream Analytics Job

• Click Inputs > Add

Set up input in the following way:

• Input alias : data-from-tps

• Source Type : Data stream

• Source : IoT Hub

• Subsriptiopn : Use IoT hub from current subscription

• Endpoint : Messaging

• Shared access policy name : iothubowner

• Consumer group : powerbi

• Click “Create”

For more detail: Environmental Monitoring with TPS, Azure, and PowerBI