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TechBubble Technologies finalists in the Hackster / Microsoft / Arduino World Maker Challenge

 Adam Milton-Barker | Feb 13, 2016 | All TechBubble | 3590

Last year Hackster announced the largest Arduino Maker competition in the world. Sponsored by Microsoft and Arduino the competition gives the opportunity for innovators to create game changing projects based on the currently unreleased MKR1000.

The competition is split into two stages, the first stage was the chance for innovators to submit their project ideas with the hope of being selected for the finals and to be one of the first in the world to own a MKR1000.

Out of 4350 participants and 1729 projects the project submitted I submitted has been selected in the winning 1000 and I will be one of the proud people to be the first in the world to receive the Arduino/Genuino MKR1000. The next step is to complete the entire project battling to be one of the 3 winners in the final. If my project wins best project in Europe I will be flying to Rome to present the project booth in the Microsoft booth at the Maker Faire!

Below you will find some background on the IntelliLan IoT Network and the project competition project which will be submitted by March 25 this year with hope of being chose as best project in Europe:

The IntelliLan IoT Network:

The IntelliLan IoT Network is a local IoT Network made up of an IoT security system, MQTT Broker and IoT gateway built on a Linux RaspberryPi B+, the gateway is called the IoT JumpWay. The IoT JumpWay allows access to and control of IoT devices built on Intel Galileo, Arduino Uno and Raspberry Pi B+. The devices use sensors to monitor the locations that they are positioned. The devices use MQTT to communicate with the IoT JumpWay which stores data and allows control, management and monitoring of the devices via a web API on the TechBubble GUI. The GUI can be logged into using normal password/username combination or with NFC authentication via an Arduino Uno. The above description is for a history of the network and devices that will be monitored by competition entry. Just to verify the above network/API's and devices are my own work.

TIA, an Artificial Intelligence Virtual Assistant for the IntelliLan IoT Network:

For the Arduino MKR1000 Maker Challenge I will be creating 3 additional IoT devices that will be controlled and managed via a Universal Windows App. The three devices will be as follows:

  • A fingerprint authentication device built on an Arduino Uno that can be used to login to the Windows Universal App.
  • An NFC authentication device built on an Arduino Uno that can be used to login to the Windows Universal App.
  • An IoT security system built on the MKR1000 that includes a motion sensor, temperature sensor, light sensor, sound sensor and motor fan.

The two Arduinos will be connected directly to the Universal Windows App via serial and the app will be able to cummincate with these boards when login is required. Users will be able to login using password, NFC or fingerprint authentication. On first load of the app users will be able to connect to their desired Azure IoT Hub, once connected users will be able to see the main view which will show a list of all devices on the network and a short overview of stats from the devices on the network. There will be a red and green LED on each authentication device, if the user makes a false authentication attempt the red LED will show, once successfully logged in the green LED will stay on until the user logs out.

The Universal app will be a weak Artificial Intelligence virtual assistant named TIA (TechBubble Intelligent Assistant) that will be powered by SIML. Users will be able to interact with TIA using voice recognition to navigate the application, manage device settings/features and monitor the stats from IoT devices on the network. TIA will also include voice synthesis to make the experience more user friendly.

The MKR1000 will communicate with the Universal Windows App via MQTT. When the MKR1000 detects too much heat (level settable via the application), it will turn the motor/fan on, the user will also be able to turn the fan on and off as well as speed it up and down via the application.

Users will be able to add and edit devices via the application and will be able to set trigger points that will issue vocal warnings from TIA and optional flashing LED and buzzer.

For stats I will be trying Stream Analytics and any additional devices on the network will interact with the application via MQTT which will push the data to the Azure IoT Hub.

I am planning on integrating MySql, Stream Analytics, IoT hub and possibly machine learning in addition to the above features.