Working with children, animals and geeks

Highlights from the first year of The Things Network Reading

…and a peek at the future

@markstanleyuk

mark.stanley@coraledge.co.uk

http://thingitude.com

Mark Stanley

This time last year…

…to build a global open crowdsourced Internet of Things data network

We’re on a mission…

TTN is growing fastTTN began in Amsterdam,August 2015

…steadily in the UK

…and growing nicely in Berkshire!

What is a “Things network”?

LoRaWANAES 128-bit encryption

IPAES 128-bit encryption

MQTT pub/sub authentication

TTN strengths and weaknesses

• Cheap and easy to set up

• FREE to use

• Low power: batteries last years

• Long range: up to 10km in open space

• Only handles tiny messages, but lots of them

TTN has many uses

• Monitor water levels in rivers to give early flood warning

• Track your cat, check the whereabouts of your tractor

• Preventative maintenance - baggage carousels at airports

• Beehive monitoring – temperature, weight

• Free parking space spotter

What I had in mind…

TTN Gateway

Flood sensorAir pollution

sensor

Parking space sensors x200

Toddler trackers x25

Parent uses app to find empty parking space, and drops child off at nursery and goes to work.

Uses ToddlerTracker app to keep eye on child during the day.

…in reality

Mark

Mike

Hedgehogtracking

GPS

LoraWAN gateway

Hedgehog, position, and time data available via TTN for yourapplication to use.

Hedgehog wearing LoraWAN+GPS devicesending data to gateway via radio every 15 mins.Gateway range >1km (expected >5km in park).

Grow a network to grow a networkREADING

GEEK NIGHT

What has worked for us?

1. Use existing hubs and meetups

2. Run workshops - make IoT real for people

3. Build a community, not a club

READING

GEEK NIGHT

Thames Valley

IoT Meetup

Use existing hubs and meetups

Thames Valley

IoT Meetup

READING

GEEK NIGHT

• Launchpad for TTN Reading

• Regular monthly slot to promote TTN

• Great for contacts:Mike; Oxford floodnet; UTC

• Several members have donated kit

• Brilliant supporter and gateway host

• Venue for our workshop, IoTchallenges, and Thingithon

• Great for business contacts

• Venue for Hotspot project base

• Biggest and best IoTmeetup outside of London

• Great for business contacts

• Enabled us to expand TTN beyond Reading

• Reading’s Hackspace• Brilliant supporter of

TTN• Venue for technical

workshop• Several members

are actively working on TTN projects

• At least 3 gateways have come via rLab

Run workshops

• IoT feels out of reach for most people• Workshops make it real and achievable• Lead to more gateways = bigger network

Workshop at GROW

GROW buys a gateway

8 attendees connect Arduino +

ThingInnovationsshield to TTN and see live data on the web

1 buys a gateway

1 works for Sage

Workshop at Sage

Sage buys a gateway

16 attendees,

same deal as before

Sage runs a nationwide

IoThackathon

Winning idea

presented at Sage Summit

in Chicago

Build a community, not a club

• Aim for a right old mix of people• FemaleArts magazine editor invited us to

a “Reading Year of Culture” meeting. • We met a clown. We talked technology.

Don’t do that.• But we also met Annette and Zsuzsi...

Annette

• Retired (ha!), runs RG Spaces charity• Reading’s third LoRaWAN gateway owner• Proud to own the world’s first (and only?)

Internet Tricycle• Fantastic promotion of TTN across Reading• Helped create a new project at MERL• …and fixed my crappy code

The Internet Tricycle

Zsuzsi

• Producer of Reading’s Year of Culture• Funded 3 Things Network projects Hotspots – IoT project with UTC students Darta – geeks and artists and Reading data Light Reading with Mike and rLab buddies

• Introduction to Reading Council staff TTN proof of concept project

Green meets Grey – IoT challenge“We're looking forward to working with The Things Network, on a project involving Microbits in the near future.”

Reading Hotspot project

Gateway

Thingitudeserver

Great use case for TTN

Lots of local help

• GROW provided free office space• YOU provided free laptops. Thank you to

Ant Parker, Peter Barnes, Tom Robinson• UTC Reading provided 4 excellent students

Kieron Cardall, Sam KimbinyiSimon Light and Tom Helyer

• …and we got lots of help along the way!

We made a thing…

LoraWANradio

module

Noise level sensor

Temperature and humidity

sensor

WiFidongle

Ceramic antenna

Real time clock

We made a thing…

LoraWANradio

module

Noise level sensor

Temperature and humidity

sensor

WiFidongle

Ceramic antenna

Real time clock

We wrote a lot of code…Raspberry

Pi

Database

Server

Applicationdev

Everything on GitHub

We put the Thing in a box…

…and the apps in the store

Ta-da! Any day now…

Our current focus in Reading

• Growing local TTN community Monthly TTN gatherings: 27 Nov at rLab Launching TTN Woky in the new year

• Reading 2016 Light Reading – talk to Mike!• Reading Council – traffic lights PoC• MERL / rLab garden project - talk to Mike!• Deploy the Hotspots in Reading venues

• Non-profit UK registered limited company

“Promote, support and develop community-led open source IoT projects”

• Help anyone starting IoT projects, including practical assistance with funding applications

• Building a good track record will make iteasier to fund future (bigger?) projects

is working on…

• Raising money to support more IoT projectsand communities

• Helping TTN grow further afield in the UK- Cardiff, Newcastle, Barnsley, Weymouth

• Hotspot – explore commercial potential• Investigating feasibility of providing a

managed service offering / TTN-in-a-box

Call to action

• Please come along to our monthly gathering

at rLab on Sun 27 Nov, 10am – 1pm

We offer a warm welcome, practical help with your questions, plenty of ways to get

started, and maybe a bit of inspiration!

See Events at thingitude.com for details

Thank you! Keep in touch

Twitter: @markstanleyuk Sign up for news: thingitude.com