Question regarding SensorTile.box 3rd party integration

[Tbake]

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but not finding any better options after looking around your website a bit. I have an IoT Hub/Gateway application that provides the ability to build out a lot of typical IoT functionality without requiring any programming. It does this by integrating an object based rule engine into the Hub application and then providing an external configuration utility to build your application ruleset. So basically many typical IoT edge applications can be built very quickly, and again with no programming required. 

  At any rate, another feature is that it comes with a pre-supported suite of sensors, so users just select their sensor from a dropdown in the configuration utility and then all of the accessible BLE characteristics are exposed for them to use in building their rulesets. You can get an idea from a couple of video's linked below or visiting the main website. All of that said, who could I contact to look into adding support for the SensorTile.box into my platform? Obviously I'd need the BLE service and characteristic info but not sure if that's publicly available. I'll look for a reply here but you can also feel free to get back to us through our website at www.omniot.com.

  Thanks!

OmnIoT SoftHub MQTT comms example

OmnIoT SoftHub RuleEngine example

[Eleon BORLINI]

Hi @Tbake​ , thank you for sharing your company's activity, it seems really interesting. I've a couple of further question for you: do you develop the SW or also the HW implementing the IoT Hub? Which kind of experience do you have in IoT systems? The BLE characteristics you requires are not directly available, but I can check at least if the SensorTile.box has no HW blocking point. Regards

[Tbake]

Hi Eleon,

  Thank you for the reply... In regards to your questions -

>>> do you develop the SW or also the HW implementing the IoT Hub?

All the OmnIoT SoftHub software has been developed in house. It is highly portable c++ code so it can run on multiple hardware platforms. Currently we're only offering Raspberry Pi install packages though we are trying to partner with some additional companies that provide dedicated hub hardware as well (e.g. Avnet's Industrial IoT Gateway). The Linux version uses standard API's so we anticipate being able to port to any Linux based hardware with little trouble.

>>> Which kind of experience do you have in IoT systems?

My experience as the OmnIoT founder includes the implementations of multiple IoT projects in the last decade. Those projects ranged from physiological monitoring (wearables) to transportation logistics (freight monitoring) as well as others. Our goal though is to create a platform that can be used "off-the-shelf" for a variety of IoT scenarios. The commonality of many IoT applications is what led us to developing our rule engine. It specifically encompasses the functionality required for all of our previous (custom built) IoT endeavors.

>>> The BLE characteristics you requires are not directly available, but I can check at least if the SensorTile.box has no HW blocking point

Definitely let me know. We'd be happy to add support for the SensorTile.box to our platform (and of course to sign an NDA for the service/characteristic information). Adding new sensor support is usually a few days effort once we receive the device. From ST's standpoint it only gives your SensorTile.box user base more options in deploying your products (as well as another way to promote the SensorTile.box). The full SoftHub installation package can be downloaded by anyone from our website and is free to use for any non-commercial (i.e. resale) use. From our standpoint, the more sensors we add to our platform the more use cases it'll support. For that matter if there are any additional sensors you have coming available in the future we'd be interested in supporting them as well.

I hope that has answered your questions. Again, there are lot's of demo video's on our Youtube channel and of course full documentation on the Support page of our website. And if you have any additional questions please let me know.

  Thanks, Tal

[Eleon BORLINI]

​Dear Tal, thank you for your detailed and valuable answer: I read carefully and your system is interesting. I'll submit the internally and I'll come back to you. Regards

[Tbake]

That would be great. In the meantime we've recently uploaded a very brief new example video as well as a follow-up video illustrating how to build the configuration file for the example if you are interested. It might help you get an idea of how the SensorTile.box's functionality could be extended once support was added into the SoftHub. And again, there's no effort or investment on ST's part, if I can get my hands on a unit and get access to the characteristics+services (for entry mode I assume) I can add full support pretty quickly. You would effectively gain a highly customizeable dedicated hub/gateway platform for the SensorTile.box without having to do any actual work or spend any money. At any rate, thanks for your reply and for passing along my information... Tal

[Eleon BORLINI]

​I can suggest you in the meantime the Github link of the Android STDK of the SensorTile.box, BlueST, which is a multi-platform library (Android and iOS supported) that permits easy access to the data exported by a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device that implements the BlueST protocol. Please check if you can find here the characteristics and the services you require. Regards

[Tbake]

Thanks Eleon, I'll have a look at that in the next few days. Hopefully somewhere in there will be a full list of the BLE services/characteristics... where in the US is the best place to get a hold of the device itself? Thanks.

[Eleon BORLINI]

​You're welcome, I suggest you to go through mouser.com (STEVAL-MKSBOX1V1). Keep us updated on your project! Best regards

[Tbake]

Thanks, I'll check it out. By the way, do you know if anyone from ST will be at the IoT Expo this November in Santa Clara? I don't see you as an exhibitor so I'm guessing not but figured I'd check. Thanks again...

[Eleon BORLINI]

​I'm checking and maybe our America regionals will be there, of course you can contact them 😉 Please let me know if you need any support for the purchase of the board or in case of related issue. Best regards, Eleon