AT&T M2X + Energia + LaunchPad

AT&T M2X Client Library

This is a basic tutorial on how to enable the Texas Instruments LaunchPad and Energia through the use of AT&T’s M2X service! AT&T’s M2X is a cloud-based data storage service and management tool set customized for the Internet of Things. M2X gathers data in real-time from connected devices and equipment and translates that data into meaningful information for quick decisions, automated actions, and strategic analysis. IoT encompasses a broad range of internet connected devices and services that are powering a new ecosystem. From wearables and smart thermostats to cars and planes, this new generation of smart connected ‘things’ are capable of data gathering, predictive analytics, and process automation. Such capabilities require powerful new infrastructure to support them and one of the options enabled in Energia is AT&T M2X.

AT&T M2X has a client library for Energia. Through these library API’s, we can enable our LaunchPad to access the M2X cloud computing through the use of internet connected hardware such as the SimpleLink WiFi devices and Ethernet capable microcontrollers. The library is available through Energia IDE but you can get the latest version on their GitHub.

AT&T M2X library GitHub: https://github.com/attm2x/m2x-launchpad-energia

In this tutorial, we will walk through getting M2X setup and then we demonstrate posting data streams with our CC3200 LaunchPad. We can see in real-time the data from inputs of the LaunchPad such as button presses, accelerometer data, and temperature.

There are places in the code that hold passwords and vital information that is unique to each user such as M2X API keys and Wi-Fi router information. Please read through the code and place your own passwords and tokens.

The first thing you will need to do is sign up for a M2X account at http://m2x.att.com.

Once you have signed up, you can create a new device. Name the device and indicate if you want the data streams to be public or private.

Once the device is created, M2X will assign an API Key and a Device ID. You will need this to access the device in the cloud and we will insert into our code later. Go ahead and click into your device.

Streams

Here you can create a stream. A stream is basically a time series graph, where you can see data graphed over a period of time.  This can be useful for a variety of things including data logging or data monitoring where you will want to trigger an action based on a value or threshold. Go ahead and add a stream and name it “buttonpress1″ with a numeric value. Since most LaunchPads have two pushbuttons, let’s go ahead and add a second stream and name it “buttonpress2″ with a numeric value. Now we should be set up on our cloud side and can take a look at the Energia code.

/* 
   LaunchPadWiFiButtonPost.ino 

   Author: Mark Easley
   This code example released to the public domain.
*/
#include <aJSON.h>
#include "SPI.h"
#include "WiFi.h"

#include "M2XStreamClient.h"

char ssid[] = "<ssid>"; //  your network SSID (name)
char pass[] = "<password>";    // your network password (use for WPA, or use as key for WEP)
int keyIndex = 0;            // your network key Index number (needed only for WEP)

int status = WL_IDLE_STATUS;

char deviceId[] = "<device ID>"; // Device you want to push to
char streamName1[] = "buttonpress1"; // Stream you want to push to
char streamName2[] = "buttonpress2"; // Stream you want to push to
char m2xKey[] = "<M2X API key>"; // Your M2X access key


int btn1;
int btn2;

WiFiClient client;
M2XStreamClient m2xClient(&client, m2xKey);

void setup() {

    Serial.begin(9600);
    pinMode(PUSH1, INPUT_PULLUP);
    pinMode(PUSH2, INPUT_PULLUP);
    
    // attempt to connect to Wifi network:
    Serial.print("Attempting to connect to Network named: ");
    // print the network name (SSID);
    Serial.println(ssid); 
    // Connect to WPA/WPA2 network. Change this line if using open or WEP network:
    WiFi.begin(ssid, pass);
    while ( WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
      // print dots while we wait to connect
      Serial.print(".");
      delay(300);
    }
  
    Serial.println("\nYou're connected to the network");
    Serial.println("Waiting for an ip address");
  
    while (WiFi.localIP() == INADDR_NONE) {
      // print dots while we wait for an ip addresss
      Serial.print(".");
      delay(300);
    }

    Serial.println("\nIP Address obtained");
  
    // you're connected now, so print out the status  
    printWifiStatus();
}

void loop() {

  btn1 = digitalRead(PUSH1);
  btn2 = digitalRead(PUSH2);
  Serial.print("btn1: ");
  Serial.println(btn1);
  Serial.print("btn2: ");
  Serial.println(btn2);

  int response = m2xClient.updateStreamValue(deviceId, streamName1, btn1);
  int response2 = m2xClient.updateStreamValue(deviceId, streamName2, btn2);
  Serial.print("M2X client response code: ");
  Serial.println(response);

  if (response == -1)
    while (1)
      ;
  if (response2 == -1)
    while (1)
      ;

  delay(3000);
}

void printWifiStatus() {
  // print the SSID of the network you're attached to:
  Serial.print("SSID: ");
  Serial.println(WiFi.SSID());

  // print your WiFi shield's IP address:
  IPAddress ip = WiFi.localIP();
  Serial.print("IP Address: ");
  Serial.println(ip);
} 

Using the code example you can replace <ssid> and <password> with your Wi-Fi router information. Next replace <device ID> and <M2X API key> with your own device ID and API key. Now you can flash your LaunchPad with the upload button and open the Serial Monitor. You should see the LaunchPad connect to the internet and then get a response from the M2X server. If you get a 200 response then you are successfully posting to the M2X stream. Go check your stream page and you should see the graph refresh between one and zero when you press your pushbuttons on the LaunchPad.

This is a basic example of posting data to the M2X service.   Using the pushbutton as a simple digital input, we can now easily translate this to other components like sensors that use analog input values. This will let us measure the world and send that data to the cloud so that it can be digested by any number of web services.

We can also fetch values from the M2X service. This can be useful for triggering events on the local hardware based on information coming from the cloud. For example you may have a LaunchPad posting data somewhere in the world and you want to do something like make a sound or flash a light with a LaunchPad somewhere else in the world when that data does something interesting.  There are many ways to accomplish this but using M2X is another good way for IoT applications.

Triggers

There is also the concept of Triggers inside of the M2X service. Triggers allow you to do an HTTP post to any service on the internet. If a stream has a certain value or threshold you want to track and act upon, you can use a trigger to post to other services on the cloud and even other connected hardware.  In the case of our LaunchPad, we can also do this directly using the Wi-Fi library, but there may be a reason with distributed projects that are taking in multiple cloud inputs where it makes sense to do it on the server side.

Location

Location data can also be stored in M2X. This can be useful for GPS enabled hardware where you may want to track the location of a device. You can also enter pre-set data for static applications or for testing purposes.

Charts

Embed custom charts on webpages to display your data streams. This can be useful for demos and dashboards.

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