Getting Started with the Internet of Things: Connecting Sensors and Microcontrollers to the Cloud (Make: Projects) [Paperback]

Cuno Pfister (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2011 | Series: Make: Projects

What is the Internet of Things? It's billions of embedded computers, sensors, and actuators all connected online. If you have basic programming skills, you can use these powerful little devices to create a variety of useful systems—such as a device that waters plants when the soil becomes dry. This hands-on guide shows you how to start building your own fun and fascinating projects.

Learn to program embedded devices using the .NET Micro Framework and the Netduino Plus board. Then connect your devices to the Internet with Pachube, a cloud platform for sharing real-time sensor data. All you need is a Netduino Plus, a USB cable, a couple of sensors, an Ethernet connection to the Internet—and your imagination.

• Develop programs with simple outputs (actuators) and inputs (sensors)
• Learn about the Internet of Things and the Web of Things
• Build client programs that push sensor readings from a device to a web service
• Create server programs that allow you to control a device over the Web
• Get the .NET classes and methods needed to implement all of the book's examples

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (June 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449393578
• ISBN-13: 978-1449393571
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Parallel Processing Computers

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Cuno Pfister studied computer science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zürich). His PhD thesis supervisor was Prof. Niklaus Wirth, the designer of the Pascal, Modula-2 and Oberon programming languages. Dr. Cuno Pfister is the Managing Director of Oberon microsystems, Inc., which has worked on everything from mobile solutions to a large hydropower-plant monitoring system with 10,000 sensors.

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (June 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449393578
• ISBN-13: 978-1449393571
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Parallel Processing Computers

More About the Author

I became interested in modern programming languages on small devices during my PhD studies under Prof. Niklaus Wirth. As a founder of Oberon microsystems I was involved in various industry projects, from building a power-plant monitoring system to creating a real-time Java operating system.

My interests center on the very small meeting the very large: microcontrollers that talk to compute clouds in Web of Things applications. In particular, I am interested in programming models that are easy to use, and allow the creation of maintainable, robust, and deterministic software across all devices involved in a Web of Things application.
I am living in Zürich, Switzerland. I can be reached at [e-mail].

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to the Netduino+ platform! September 22, 2011

By Larry Beck

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased a Netduino Plus (N+) board for $60 from Amazon because I had outgrown the Arduino platform with its limited address space and it looked like the N+ with built-in Ethernet and MicroSD support would be great for my data-capturing application. On a whim I also decided to order the "Getting Started with the Internet of Things" (GSIOT) book because I had found the "Getting Started with Arduino" book (also from Make) to be helpful for my son to get started with Arduino and these books are both less than $15. I didn't realize until I received GSIOT that it was written specifically for the Netduino+ and includes many incredibly well thought out examples that have led me through really understanding how to effectively use the N+ and using the free Microsoft Visual Studio C# Express to program it and run programs in debug mode.

I would not recommend purchasing the GSIOT book unless you have a Netduino Plus to run the examples on. Because the N+ is programmed in C# using the .NET Micro Framework, the examples would probably be incredibly frustrating to port to another platform. For the N+ they are very instructional. I've done a lot of programming and implementations for many different small microprocessor platforms, various computer languages, and other programming learning exercises ranging from database to web page programming and each time I sought out the best learning material I could find and never have I had a learning experience go as smoothly as it has with Cuno Pfister's GSIOT book.... He has come up with a series of examples that begin with a classic HelloWorld example and lead the reader through short example programs that blink an LED, read a simple sensor (a potentiometer), program the N+ as a client to the Pachube web service using three different methods, and finally programming the N+ to be a HTTP Server for sensors and actuators through his Yaler (relay in reverse) reverse HTTP relay service. The examples are as simple as they could possibly be (one reviewer has commented correctly that the board is over-kill for the examples) but still demonstrate some pretty sophisticated solutions to the problems one encounters in talking to and from the "cloud".

I really appreciated the insight that Dr. Pfister provided into the problems and their solutions because over the last few months I have "hacked" together my own methods for capturing sensor data and getting it to a database on a remote server and his examples have made clear some much improved solutions. The fact that he doesn't show me how to interface to a specific sensor or how to display to a specific display is not important since I can find many other sources for that information (and I really only expect so much for my $15!). It was very refreshing to have him show me how to do something with high-level calls to a library and then to show me how to do it with low-level calls to Sockets and to explain to me in both cases exactly what was going on. I also appreciated his acquainting me with the Pachube service as it's a real resource for me working out my solutions before I have to get my own services going. And his Yaler relay service to allow talking to my little N+ servers without having to mess with my home routers and DSL modem is fantastic!

One of the reviewers mistakenly said there were no versions of the examples available. I found the examples at [..] which is where I downloaded the Gsiot.PachubeClent and Gsiot.Server libraries from.

I'm really looking forward to implementing my projects on the Netduino Plus platform using the information I have learned from this book. I have gone back and forth on whether I like working in the Microsoft programming environment and for a while thought that nothing could ever be better than Java or C++ and Eclipse (and sometimes Arduino) for my embedded projects but I really think Microsoft has done a good job with "porting" .NET to work on small devices with the .NET Micro Framework and it's great that they've gotten the free Visual Studio C# Express version to work for developing on the Netduino platform, and that Secret Labs has put together such a cost-effective platform and, finally, that Dr. Pfister has put together such an awesome little book. Read more ›

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Guide To Enabling Sensors & Micro's to Talk To the Internet May 31, 2011

By Ira Laefsky VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This practical guide by a prominent Swiss Computer Scientist enables a concrete path to using sensors, actuators and microcontrollers with the Internet.
The examples are written and described for step-by-step completion around the easy and cost-effective Netduino Plus microcontoller and the C# (Java-like)
language but they could easily be re-written for a standard Arduino and Ethernet Shield. This is the first "full-service" DIY manual for enabling sensors, actuators and their data to talk to Internet & HTTP/HTML applications. Good use is made of the Pachube HTTP data collection and forwarding site as well as
SOAP protocols. While I was first an Arduino enthusiast (and still am) the Netduino Plus at $60.00 offers a powerful, easy to understand circuit board &
development environment that includes a built-in Ethernet Port and slot for the addition of a Micro-SD card. Good support can be obtained from the Netduino
home site (Secret Labs). The book follows the excellent format of "Getting Started With The Arduino" and "Getting Started With Processing"; it offers the
first hands-on introduction to communication with Internet & HTTP Protocols for the Data Storage and Processing of Sensor Data and the Internet of Things.

An important and valuable Hands-On Introduction to the Internet of Things and Protocols for Web and Internet Processing of Sensor, Actuator and Microcontroller Data.

--Ira Laefsky, MSE/MBA IT & HCI Researcher and Consultant
Formerly on The Senior Staff of Arthur D. Little, Inc. and DIGITAL Equipment Corporation

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good for Starting Netduino Development June 7, 2011

By Adrian Bowles

Format:Paperback

The book is a good introduction to development embedded internet enabled applications using the Netduino. The netduino runs .NET Microframework and uses C# and Visual Studio development environment. VS is a windows product - so anyone wanting to do development using Mac/Linux or not using C# this book is probably not for you. Quite simply put it is related to developing for a specific platform using a specific development environment. Express versions of VS can be used and are free to download.

The book discusses the Pachube service to read and control the netduino over the internet which is a very common request for these type of devices. Whilst not covering really low level functionality of the Microframework it is designed as an introduction. It is a small book but covers enough to get you going and the examples can be modified easily for different sensors on the netduino. Sure the netduino is much more high powered than most of the examples require but again this is what most people are wanting to do when they get started here. The level is pitched for beginners who may not be experience software engineers experienced with C# but the examples are simple enough to walk through with only a limited knowledge of the language.

Are there more detailed books on the microframework? - sure. Is the hardware overkill for most of the examples provided in the book? Yep. But this is a good introductory book to hobbyists/developers wanting to use the Netduino hardware. The book is specific and there are more detailed books but this is really an introductory book and meets the goal well.

The negative reviews tend to ding the book for what its not rather than address what it actually is.... Specific hardware, product not supported on different platforms, hardware to powerful, not enough detail. Lets state this clearly the book is an INTRODUCTION to NETDUINO development using the Internet. If thats what your looking for there are not that many books on the subject and this meets the requirement. After you get started you can get other books that deal more specifically with networking and/or microframework which are more general in hardware and detailed on .NET Microframework. Read more ›