Hackster Live Event! - Particle Weather Station Workshop

Background

This series walks through using a Particle Photon with DHT11 sensor to publish data via a Particle Cloud Webhook to an Azure Event Hub. We then look at consuming those messages with Stream Analytics and Power BI, as well as Node.js and .NET clients.

This is true end to end Enterprise grade Internet of Thing scenario that will introduce you a variety of IoT concepts:  

• Provisioning and programming a Wi-Fi enabled microcontroller (Particle Photon)
• Interacting with a digital sensors to gather data directly from the Photon (DHT11)
• Creating a scalable cloud infrastructure for message aggregation and broadcast (Azure Event Hubs)
• Visualizing data in real-time using a customizable dashboard (PowerBI)
• Consuming data through client code (Node.js and .NET)

This content has been created specifically for use at upcoming Hackster Live events. We will update as soon as dates and locations are announced. That said, participants can expect to receive the necessary hardware and software to complete the series at no cost (while supplies last) by attending a Hackster Live event in person. You are also free to use this content as-is in your own events or to follow along with at your own pace. In fact, we encourage you to do so! Let us know if you have any issues, need assistance, or if you just want to share your event with us by leaving a message in the comments.

What is Hackster Live?

Led by a network of passionate ambassadors, Hackster.io is giving their community and partners a voice in envisioning what's next in hardware, the cloud, and connectivity, and the magic that happens when they all come together. Through sponsored events that take place around the world in local meetups, hardware enthusiasts are able to come together to spark innovation and share knowledge with their communities.

Hackster Ambassadors run these live events that benefit their communities. They are supported by providing access to hardware, software and learning materials through Hackster partners. Hackster also assists with the training necessary to build a welcoming community and run stellar events.

Prerequisites

In order to complete this workshop, you will require the following:

• Particle Photon
• DHT11 Sensor
• Active Microsoft Azure Subscription (Free Trial)

Content

The content comes in the form of a 6 part video series:

• Part 1 - Overview & Event Hub Setup [15:14]
• Part 2 - Particle Cloud & Photon Prep [16:07]
• Part 3 - Photon DHT11 Circuit, Webhook & Code [34:20]
• Part 4 - Reporting with Power BI [22:39]
• Part 5 - Receiving Events with Node.js [15:29]
• Part 6 - Receiving Events with C# [17:31]

The total run time for this content is approximately 2 hours. Videos follow a logical flow and are designed to be completed in order. However, Parts 4 - 6 may be completed at your own choosing after completing Parts 1 - 3.

Suggested Format

Format is ultimately up to the event leader. However, you will want to ensure that you have enough time to complete the content in your meetup session. It is also highly suggested that a leader complete the content thoroughly before the event to be able to assist with any issues that may arise during an event.

The suggestions below may assist in defining an appropriate format for your group:

We suggest that attendees complete Part 1 prior to the workshop, this way they can have all of their cloud infrastructure ready to go on the day of the event. This will also reduce remaining content to approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.

It may make sense to split the content into multiple sessions. For example, a first session could complete Parts 1 - 3, leaving attendees with a provisioned photon device that can publish data into the cloud. The next session would cover Parts 4 - 6, OR let attendees choose content according to preference as Parts 4 - 6 may be completed in any order. A third session could optionally focus on leveraging the knowledge learned in previous sessions to inspires a local Hackathon event around the workshop content.

If covering Part 4, it may also be useful to have attendees complete the extra content for Creating a Power Bi Account before the event.

Part 1 of 6 - Overview & Event Hub Setup

In this video we walk through:

• [00:35] Slides and Code Link
• [00:46] Solution Architecture Overview
• [02:42] Naming and Region Best Practices
• [04:33] Solution Architecture Overview
• [04:56] Current Portal Limitations
• [06:00] Service Bus Namespace and Event Hub Creation
• [08:36] Event Hub Configuration
• [09:37] Shared Access Policies
• [12:38] Consumer Groups

Part 2 of 6 - Particle Cloud & Photon Prep

In this video we walk through:

• [01:06] Tools
• [02:12] Particle-CLI overview
• [04:44] Creating a Particle Cloud login
• [06:00] Installing the Particle-CLI
• [08:27] Connecting the Photon to your computer
• [10:55] Identifying your Photon
• [11:54] Connecting your Photon to WiFi
• [13:13] Claiming your Photon

Part 3 of 6 - Photon DHT11 Circuit, Webhook & Code

In this video we walk through:

• [01:10] DHT11 sensor overivew
• [02:58] DHT11 circuit demo
• [05:05] Particle Cloud Webhook overview
• [09:43] Webhook demo
• [14:20] Photon code overview
• [20:19] Monitoring overview
• [22:39] Photon code demo
• [28:21] Monitoring demo

Part 4 of 6 - Reporting with Power BI

In this video we walk through:

• [00:31] Overview
• [03:47] Understanding Stream Analytics Inputs and Outputs
• [05:59] Stream Analytics query overview
• [07:53] Power BI sign up demo
• [09:34] Stream Analytics job setup
• [18:26] Power BI demo

Part 5 of 6 - Receiving Events with Node.js

In this video we walk through:

• [01:06] Azure-Event-Hubs library overview
• [02:14] Visual Studio Code overview
• [02:47] Node code overview
• [07:46] Node code demo

Part 6 of 6 - Receiving Events with C#

In this video we walk through:

• [00:57] .Net Client overview
• [03:06] .NET code overview
• [09:29] .NET code demo

Final Words

We hope that you found this content informative, useful, and inspiring.  By leveraging the Photon microcontroller with Azure Event Hubs, you can proceed with the knowledge to create a scalable Enterprise grade IoT solution that operates on a variety of clients consuming high throughput sensor data.  

Let us know what you think!  We're curious to know how you might have used this content in your meetup, how you modified the content to your own preference, or how you plan to use what you learned in a future project.  Feel free to share your insighst in the comments below =)

Until next time, Happy Hacking!