Arduino IoT Cloud simplifies the node, edge design

By Majeed Ahmad, contributing writer

Arduino has introduced the IoT Cloud platform that allows developers, system integrators, and maker hobbyists to program boards without needing to program via Arduino Sketch. The public beta release of the Arduino IoT Cloud features automatic dashboard generation as well as webhooks and Transport Layer Security (TLS) support.

According to Luca Cipriani, Arduino’s CIO, the IoT Cloud platform marks an end-to-end IoT design approach encompassing hardware, firmware, cloud services, and design know-how. So developers can quickly and automatically generate a sketch and make the device operational within minutes after unboxing a board.

The Arduino IoT Cloud platform is especially targeted at boards for battery-powered IoT edge applications like environmental monitoring, energy monitoring, and industrial automation. “The IoT Cloud provides a streamlined way to create local IoT nodes and edge devices,” said Massimo Banzi, CTO and co-founder of Arduino.

Banzi quoted the example of an IoT greenhouse that can remotely turn the lights on and off, start the irrigation system, and read and adjust the temperature inside the greenhouse without human intervention. It can be automated and controlled using an Arduino MKR WIFI 1010  board along with the Arduino IoT Cloud.

Simply attach the relevant sensors such as temperature, light, and humidity sensors, actuators such as an irrigation pump, and switches such as lights and fan to the board and upload the Arduino Sketch software. The IoT greenhouse will be up and running in minutes to automatically control the properties of the actuators via a simple web interface.

The properties are stored in the Arduino IoT Cloud and can be remotely changed without the need to visit the greenhouse. And once the system is in place, it will wait for events and react to them as necessary.