Discover The AREST Framework by Marco Schwartz

Discover
the aREST Framework

Marco Schwartz
Discover the aREST Framework

Legal
About the Author
About the Accompanying Website
Introduction
0.1 The aREST Framework
0.2 Structure of the Book
0.3 Prerequisites
0.4 Getting Started
1 Learning the basics of aREST
1.1 Control an Arduino board via the Serial port
1.2 Control an Arduino board Remotely via Ethernet
1.3 Access Your Arduino Boards Wirelessly via WiFi
1.4 Use XBee Communications with Arduino & aREST
1.5 Learn to use Bluetooth LE to control Arduino boards
1.6 Control your Raspberry Pi board remotely with aREST
1.7 Control an ESP8266 module remotely with aREST
1.8 Run a User Interface on an ESP8266 module
1.9 Example project: Control a Lamp Remotely using the ESP8266
1.10 How to Go Further
2 Build local applications to control your projects
2.1 Control an Arduino Board from a Web Page via Ethernet
2.2 Control & Monitor an ESP8266 module from a Web page
2.3 Learn to Control & Monitor Arduino boards via Ethernet
2.4 Build a Web-based Application to Control Arduino boards via WiFi
2.5 Get Access to Your Raspberry Pi From a Dashboard
2.6 Record Data From ESP8266 Devices
2.7 Deploy the aREST Application on a Raspberry Pi
2.8 Record & Plot data from Your aREST Devices
2.9 Example project: Simple Wireless Home Automation System
3 Access Your Boards From the Cloud
3.1 Access your Arduino Boards from Anywhere
3.2 Control your Raspberry Pi using a Cloud API
3.3 Use Your ESP8266 Boards as Internet of Things Modules
3.4 Build Your Own Dashboard to Control your Devices From the Cloud
3.5 Control Several Boards from a Single Dashboard
3.6 Deploy your own aREST cloud server
3.7 Example project: Remote Data Monitoring from Multiple Boards
4 Build Mobile Applications using aREST
4.1 Build Mobile Applications for Android
4.2 Build Mobile Applications for iOS
4.3 Example Project: Control Your Home From Your Smartphone

Conclusion
Legal
Copyright 2016 by Marc-Olivier Schwartz
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented. However, the information contained in this book is given without
warranty, either expressed or implied. Neither the author nor the dealers & distributors of
this book will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or
indirectly by this book.
First eBook edition: January 2016
About the Author

I am Marco Schwartz, and I am an electrical engineer, entrepreneur and author. I have a
Masters degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from one of the top
Electrical Engineering school in France, and a Masters degree in Micro Engineering from
the EPFL university in Switzerland.
I have more than 5 years of experience working in the domain of electrical engineering.
My interests gravitate around electronics, home automation, the Arduino platform, opensource hardware projects, and 3D printing.
Since 2011 I have been working full-time as an entrepreneur, running websites with
information about open-source hardware and building my own open-source hardware
products.
About the Accompanying Website

This book has an accompanying website, aREST.io, which you can easily find by going at
http://arest.io/. On this website you will find more resources about the aREST framework.
Also, if at any moment you are encountering an issue while reading this book, like some
code that wont compile or a project that doesnt work, please contact me directly on the
following email:
contact@arest.io
Introduction
0.1 The aREST Framework

The story of the aREST framework starts in mid-2014, when I was already building a lot
of home automation & Internet of Things projects, mainly using the Arduino platform.
Back then, I was basically reinventing the wheel every time I was creating a new project.
For example, to access a measurement done by a board, I was re-writing a lot of code,
customized for the project I was working on.
At the same time, I got my first Arduino Yun, and I experimented with a sketch that
implemented a REST-like API for the board. This sketch was given you access to the main
functions of the board via WiFi, without having to modify the code for every new project
you wanted to create.
I was immediately seduced by the concept: have a code that you could write once, upload
to the board, and that then give you access to all the functions of the project remotely.
Therefore, I decided to create my own project that would implement the same concept. I
added a lot of improvements. The main improvement was to encapsulate everything in a
library, which was much more convenient than having an Arduino sketch containing all
the functions and that you needed to copy & paste at every new project.
I also made the library compatible with most of the Arduino boards, as well as most of the
ways of communication: WiFi, Serial, Ethernet, XBee I then had a library that could be
used in any situation, to access your Arduino board using the same set of commands,
independently of the hardware you were using. The aREST library was born.
Since then, I added many things to the aREST framework. I for example extended the
library outside of the Arduino space, making it compatible with the Raspberry Pi and the
ESP8266. I also developed the server-side part of the framework, so you can build nice
interfaces to control your boards remotely. Finally, in the end of 2015 I launched the
aREST cloud API, which allows anybody to control their aREST projects from anywhere
in the world.
More than 100 people try out the library every day now, and at the time the book was
written there was more than 200 users of the aREST cloud platform.
By writing this book, I wanted to share with you all the details about the aREST
framework, to allow you to create your own applications based on it. In order to teach you
the aREST framework, I will use step-by-step examples that illustrates all the aspects of
the framework.
Note that most of the examples of this book are in the home automation and IoT space, but
you can of course use the aREST framework for all the fields you can imagine, like
mobile robots, drones, or healthcare.
0.2 Structure of the Book

This book is organized in 4 parts. In each part, you will find step-by-step projects that
illustrate essential parts of the framework.
The first part is all about controlling single boards using the aREST framework. Thats
where you will learn all the commands that you can use inside the framework. For
example, you will learn how to control your boards via WiFi, make measurements
remotely, and define your own functions that can be called remotely.
The second part of the book is about controlling your aREST projects using graphical
interfaces. This is where your will learn to control Arduino boards from a web page, build
server-side applications to control many boards, and record & plot data right in your web
browser.
In the third part of the book, we will see all the features of the aREST cloud platform. You
will learn how to control individual boards from anywhere in the world, monitor them,
and build online dashboards to control your projects from anywhere. Youll even learn
how to deploy your own aREST-compatible cloud platform!
Finally, the last part of the book is about building mobile applications to control your
aREST projects. We will see how to build and deploy Android and iOS applications so
you can control your aREST projects from your smartphone or tablet.
0.3 Prerequisites
In this book, you will see that I mix several platforms, like Arduino, the Raspberry Pi, and
the ESP8266. However, as the aREST framework is universal, you can perfectly apply
everything you will learn in this book to Arduino for example.
Therefore, any prior knowledge in at least one of those platforms is really recommend to
follow the content of this book. However, you dont need to be an expert in embedded
electronics: well really keep the hardware part simple, to focus on the aREST framework.
In terms of programming languages, I will mainly use two of them: C/C++ for Arduino &
the ESP8266, and JavaScript for the rest (via Node.js and the Meteor platform).
Any knowledge in those languages is also recommended for this book. However, I will
really take things from the very basics to more advanced projects, so you can perfectly
learn project after project.
In terms of required hardware, I will provide a list of all the required components in every
section of the book. I will also give an overview of what you need in terms of software &
hardware in the next section.
0.4 Getting Started

Before you can actually get started and build your first projects using the aREST
framework, we need to install & get a few things.
You will the Arduino IDE for most of the projects of the book. You can get it from:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
Once its installed, open it, and go to Sketch>Include Library>Manage Libraries and
look for the library called aREST. Install it, you will use it in nearly all projects of the
book.
To use aREST on your Raspberry Pi, you will first need to have a fully functional
Raspberry Pi, with Raspbian installed on it. If thats not done yet, follow the instructions
from:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/installing-images/README.md
You will also need to have Node.js installed on your Raspberry Pi. If you dont have it
installed yet, install it using the instructions from:
http://weworkweplay.com/play/raspberry-pi-nodejs/
To build server-side applications, you will need the Meteor platform to be installed on
your computer. You can get it from:
https://www.meteor.com/install
About the hardware itself, as I mentioned earlier you will get the full list of the required
hardware in each project. However, there are three boards that you can be sure you will
use in this book several times per chapter.
The first board is the Arduino Uno board. However, you can use other Arduino boards as
well, like the Mega.
Then, you will often use a Raspberry Pi. It can be a Raspberry Pi B, B+, or 2 (or even a
Zero with a WiFi adapter)
Finally, you will need an ESP8266 board. I will mainly use the Adafruit ESP8266 board,
but any ESP8266 board can be used for the projects of this book.
1 Learning the basics of aREST

In this first chapter of the book, we are going to learn the foundations of the aREST
framework. We are going to learn the basic functions of the framework by going through
example projects using aREST. To illustrate all those basic functions of the aREST
framework, we are going to use several boards like Arduino, the Raspberry Pi, and the
ESP8266 WiFi chip.
At the end of the chapter, you will able to control all your boards remotely using the same
aREST commands, via Ethernet, WiFi, or even XBee.
1.1 Control an Arduino board via the Serial port

In this very first project of the book, we are going to cover the basics of the aREST
framework. To illustrate those basic commands, we are simply going to plug an Arduino
board to the USB port of your computer, and control it using the aREST library, via the
Serial port. Lets start!
1.1.1 Hardware & Software Requirements

For this first project, you will only need a board that is compatible with aREST and Serial
communications. In this section, I will be using an Arduino Uno board, but you could also
use an Arduino Mega or Due.
Of course, you need to have the latest version of the Arduino IDE installed, as well as the
aREST Arduino library. Please go through the Getting Started section of the previous
chapter if thats not done yet.
1.1.2 Hardware Configuration

As we will simply test the aREST library with the USB to Serial communications, we
dont actually need to connect any hardware components to our Arduino board. Simply
connect the board to your computer using a USB cable.
1.1.3 Learning the Basic aREST Commands

We are now going to configure your board, so we can send aREST commands to control it
via the Serial port. This is the complete sketch for this part:
// Libraries
#include <SPI.h>
#include <aREST.h>
// Create aREST instance
aREST rest = aREST();
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
Serial.begin(115200);
// Give name and ID to device
rest.set_id("1");
rest.set_name("serial");
}
void loop() {
// Handle REST calls
rest.handle(Serial);
This sketch is really basic, but already illustrates a lot about the aREST framework. It
always starts by including the aREST library:
#include <aREST.h>
Then, we create the aREST instance:

In the setup() function of the sketch, we also set an ID and name that identify the board:
rest.set_id("1");
rest.set_name("serial");
Finally, in the loop() function, we process the requests sent to the aREST library:
Note that you can find all the code for this part inside the GitHub repository of the book:
https://github.com/marcoschwartz/discover-arest
You can now open the Arduino IDE, and put this first sketch inside the IDE. Then, upload
the sketch to the Arduino board. After, that, open the Serial monitor, and make sure that
the Serial speed is set to 115200, and the Carriage Return option is selected.
Now, type the following command and send it to the board:
/mode/13/o
This will make pin number 13, which is connected to a LED on the Arduino Uno board, to
an output. You will also see the confirmation inside the Serial monitor:
After that, type:

/digital/13/1
This will make a digitalWrite() command to pin 13, and it will turn the LED on. If that
works, it means that aREST is working correctly. As earlier, you will also get the
confirmation in the serial port:
Lets now try to read data from inputs. You can simply read data from pin 7 by typing
first:
/mode/7/o
Followed by:
/digital/7
This will return the value of pin 7 in the Serial monitor:
To change the value of pin 7 of the board, you can simply connect a wire cable between
the 5V pin and pin 7.
We can also read analog data from the Arduino board via aREST. At the moment there is
nothing connect to the Arduino board on analog pins, but you will be able to read out
analog fluctuations on this pin. Simply type:
/analog/0
This will read the value on the analog pin A0, and return a value between 0 and 1023:
From this very first project of the book, you should know already have the foundations of
the aREST framework. You can already experiment with those commands now to really
get familiar with them, as we will use them in the whole book.
1.2 Control an Arduino board Remotely via Ethernet

In this section, we are going to see what really makes the strength of the aREST
framework: being able to control boards remotely via a network connection.
We are going to control an Arduino board, but this time using the Arduino Ethernet shield.
We will also learn about additional aREST commands.

You will need a board that is compatible with the Arduino Ethernet shied, like an Arduino
Uno that was used for this guide.
You will also need a the Arduino Ethernet shield or a similar, one LED, one 330 Ohm
resistor, a breadboard, and some jumper wires.
Arduino Uno (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11021)
Arduino Ethernet shield (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11166)
LED (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9590)
330 Ohm resistor (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/8377)
Breadboard (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12002)
Jumper wires (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12795)

First, place the Ethernet shield on top of the Arduino board, and plug an Ethernet cable
between the board and your router:
For the LED, simply connect it in series with the resistor, with the longest pin of the LED
connected to the resistor.
Then, connect the remaining pin of the resistor to pin 6 of the Arduino board, and the
remaining pin of the LED to the GND pin of the Arduino board.
1.2.3 Controlling the Board via Ethernet

We are now going to configure the Arduino board so it can be access via your local
network, using aREST commands. This is the complete sketch for this part:
// Libraries
#include <SPI.h>
#include <Ethernet.h>
#include <aREST.h>
// Enter a MAC address for your controller below.
byte mac[] = { 0x90, 0xA2, 0xDA, 0x0E, 0xFE, 0x40 };
// IP address in case DHCP fails
IPAddress ip(192,168,2,2);
// Ethernet server
EthernetServer server(80);
// Variables to be exposed to the API
int temperature;
int humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Init variables and expose them to REST API
temperature = 24;
humidity = 40;
rest.variable("temperature",&temperature);
rest.variable("humidity",&humidity);
rest.set_id("008");
rest.set_name("dapper_drake");
// Start the Ethernet connection and the server
if (Ethernet.begin(mac) == 0) {
Serial.println("Failed to configure Ethernet using DHCP");
// no point in carrying on, so do nothing forevermore:
// try to congifure using IP address instead of DHCP:
Ethernet.begin(mac, ip);
}
server.begin();
Serial.print("server is at ");
Serial.println(Ethernet.localIP());
}
void loop() {
// listen for incoming clients
EthernetClient client = server.available();
rest.handle(client);
}
As you can notice, there are several similarities between this sketch and the basic Serial
example that we saw in the first project.
Here however, there are some details that you need to modify in the code. You need to set
the MAC address of your Ethernet shield, which you can find on the bottom of the shield:
Its also time to introduce a new feature of aREST: variables. Variables can be used to
automatically fetch values by using aREST commands. This is perfect to get
measurements from a sensor for example. Here, to simplify things, we will simply define
fixed values for two variables:
temperature = 24;
humidity = 40;
Finally, in the loop() part of the sketch, we handle the request in a very similar fashion to
the first example of the book:
You can now configure your board with the code from this section. Dont forget to modify
the MAC address inside the code.
Then, open the Serial monitor. You should see the IP address of the board being displayed.
I will assume for the rest of this chapter that it is 192.168.115.102. After that, go to your
favorite web browser, and type:
192.168.115.102/id
You should instantly get the confirmation from the board in JSON format:
{
"id": "008",
"name": "dapper_drake",
"connected": true
}
Congratulations, you can now control your Arduino projects remotely via Ethernet! Lets
try more commands, for example to light up the LED on pin 6. First, go back to your
browser and type:
192.168.115.102/mode/6/o
Followed by:
192.168.115.102/digital/6/1
This should instantly light up the LED connected to pin 6, with the same commands that
we used in the first project of this book.
1.2.4 More aREST Commands

Well use this project to illustrate the behavior of additional aREST commands.
Remember the variables that we exposed to the API? We can call them easily from the
web browser, for example with:
192.168.115.102/temperature
You should immediately get the answer back in JSON format:

{
"temperature": 24,
"id": "008",
"name": "dapper_drake",
"connected": true
}
You can now access any variable that you define on your board via your web browser!
This is something you can use just for your own information, for your own web
applications, or as we will see in the second chapter of this book, for aREST server-side
applications.
1.3 Access Your Arduino Boards Wirelessly via WiFi

In this project, we are going to control aREST projects wirelessly, via WiFi. We are going
to connect the CC3000 WiFi chip to an Arduino board, and access it wirelessly. We will
also use this chapter to explore more functions of the aREST framework.

This project is based on Arduino along with a CC3000 WiFi chip. I will use an Arduino
Uno and an Adafruit CC3000 breakout board, but you can of course use equivalent
components.
This is the list of the components that you will need for this project:
Adafruit CC3000 breakout board (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1469)
You will also need to install the Adafruit CC3000 WiFi library. You can install it from the
Arduino library manager, by going to Sketch>Include Library>Manage Libraries and
search for the library from there.

First, place the CC3000 board on the breadboard. Then, connect the IRQ pin of the
CC3000 board to pin number 3 of the Arduino board, VBAT to pin 5, and CS to pin 10.
Then, you need to connect the SPI pins to the Arduino board: MOSI, MISO, and CLK go
to pins 11,12, and 13, respectively. Finally, take care of the power supply: Vin goes to the
Arduino 5V, and GND to GND.
connected to the resistor. Then, connect the remaining pin of the resistor to pin 6 of the
Arduino board, and the remaining pin of the LED to the GND pin.
This is the final result:
1.3.3 Controlling the Board via WiFi

We are now going to configure the Arduino board so you can control your board via WiFi.
This is the complete sketch for this part:
// Import required libraries
#include <Adafruit_CC3000.h>
#include <SPI.h>
#include <aREST.h>
#include <avr/wdt.h>
// These are the pins for the CC3000 chip
#define ADAFRUIT_CC3000_IRQ 3
#define ADAFRUIT_CC3000_VBAT 5
#define ADAFRUIT_CC3000_CS 10
// Create CC3000 instance
Adafruit_CC3000 cc3000 = Adafruit_CC3000(ADAFRUIT_CC3000_CS,
ADAFRUIT_CC3000_IRQ, ADAFRUIT_CC3000_VBAT, SPI_CLOCK_DIV2);
// Your WiFi SSID and password
#define WLAN_SSID "your_wifi_name"
#define WLAN_PASS "your_wifi_password"
#define WLAN_SECURITY WLAN_SEC_WPA2
// The port to listen for incoming TCP connections
#define LISTEN_PORT 80
// Server instance
Adafruit_CC3000_Server restServer(LISTEN_PORT);
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Function to be exposed
rest.function("led",ledControl);
rest.set_id("008");
rest.set_name("mighty_cat");
// Set up CC3000 and get connected to the wireless network.
if (!cc3000.begin())
{
while(1);
}
if (!cc3000.connectToAP(WLAN_SSID, WLAN_PASS, WLAN_SECURITY)) {
while(1);
}
while (!cc3000.checkDHCP())
{
delay(100);
}
Serial.println();
// Print CC3000 IP address. Enable if mDNS doesn't work
while (! displayConnectionDetails()) {
delay(1000);
}
// Start server
restServer.begin();
Serial.println(F("Listening for connections"));
// Enable watchdog
wdt_enable(WDTO_4S);
}
void loop() {
Adafruit_CC3000_ClientRef client = restServer.available();
wdt_reset();
// Check connection, reset if connection is lost
if(!cc3000.checkConnected()){while(1){}}
wdt_reset();
}
// Print connection details of the CC3000 chip
bool displayConnectionDetails(void)
{
uint32_t ipAddress, netmask, gateway, dhcpserv, dnsserv;

if(!cc3000.getIPAddress(&ipAddress, &netmask,
&gateway, &dhcpserv, &dnsserv))
{
Serial.println(F("Unable to retrieve the IP Address!\r\n"));
return false;
}
else
{
Serial.print(F("\nIP Addr: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(ipAddress);
Serial.print(F("\nNetmask: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(netmask);
Serial.print(F("\nGateway: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(gateway);
Serial.print(F("\nDHCPsrv: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(dhcpserv);
Serial.print(F("\nDNSserv: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(dnsserv);
Serial.println();
return true;
}
}
// Custom function accessible by the API
int ledControl(String command) {
// Get state from command
int state = command.toInt();
digitalWrite(6,state);
return 1;
}
In this sketch, you will need to modify some things so it can work. You need to change
your WiFi network settings:
#define WLAN_SSID "your_wifi_name"
#define WLAN_PASS "your_wifi_password"
We also introduced a new feature of aREST, functions. Those are functions that you define
inside your sketch, and that you then declare to be exposed to the aREST API. You will
then be able to call them from a web browser, for example.
First, you need to declare your function in the setup() function of the sketch:
Then, implement the details of your function in the sketch. It needs to return an int, and
take a String as the input parameters. The parameters in the String are then separated by
commas.
For example, in this project I defined a simple function to switch the LED on or off
according to the input parameter:

return 1;
}
Now, put all the code inside your Arduino IDE, and modify your WiFi name & password.
After that, upload the code to the board, and open the Serial monitor.
After a while, you should see the IP address of the board inside the Serial monitor. Lets
suppose for the rest of this project that it is 192.168.115.104. To check if your board is
responding to aREST commands, go to a web browser and type:
http://192.168.115.104/id
You should immediately see the answer in JSON format:

{
"id": "008",
"name": "mighty_cat",
"connected": true
}
Now, lets try a new function of the aREST API: the possibility to write analog values on
outputs. On the Arduino Uno board, this will have the effect of sending PWM signal on
the desired pin. First, set pin 6 as an output:
http://192.168.115.104/mode/6/o
Then, set the value of pin 6 using:

http://192.168.115.104/analog/6/10
You should get the confirmation in your web browser:

{
"message": "Pin D6 set to 10",
"id": "008",
"connected": true
}
This is basically the equivalent of an analogWrite(6, 10) function inside Arduino. You
should see that the LED is now only lightly glowing. You can basically use values from 0
to 255, just as you would do directly in the code.
1.3.4 Using aREST Functions

Lets now go back to the function that we exposed to the API via:
We will see that it is really easy to access this function remotely. Simply type:
http://192.168.115.104/led?params=1
You will immediately get the response in your browser:

{
"return_value": 1,
"id": "008",
"connected": true
}
As we passed 1 as a parameter, you should also see that the LED is now on. Note that
you can pass several parameters to the function, and they need to be separated by commas.
You can now define your own aREST functions, and call them remotely!
1.4 Use XBee Communications with Arduino & aREST

With the projects we saw so far, we used aREST over several way of communications, like
Ethernet or WiFi. But aREST is not limited to HTTP-based communications. In this
project, we are going to use XBee radios to communicate between your computer & an
Arduino board running aREST. As an example, well see how to read data from a remote
sensor, via XBee.

This project will be composed of two separate devices: the Arduino Uno board, connected
to a DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor, along with an XBee radio. The other part
will be a USB XBee explorer board, with an XBee radio, connected to your computer.
This is the list of required components for the Arduino & XBee device:
DHT11 sensor (https://www.adafruit.com/products/386)
XBee Series 1 module (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11215)
This is the list of required components for the device you will connect to your computer:
XBee explorer board USB (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11373)
XBee Series 1 module (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11215)
You will also need to install the library Adafruit DHT sensor via the Arduino library
manager.

Lets first configure the Arduino XBee module. First, place the XBee radio on top of the
XBee shield, and then place the shield on the Arduino board.
Lets now connect the DHT11 sensor. The DHT sensor signal pin (pin number 2 of the
sensor) has to be connected on pin 7 of the Arduino board. Also connect the VCC pin (pin
number 1 of the sensor) of the sensor to the Arduino 5V pin, and GND to GND. Finally,
insert the 4.7K Ohm resistor between pin number 1 and 2.
For the XBee explorer board, simply place the XBee radio on top of the USB board, and
connect it to your computer via the USB port.
This is the completely assembled hardware:
1.4.3 Monitoring Your Board via XBee

Lets now see how to access the measurements made by the sensor via XBee. This is the
complete sketch for this part:
// Libraries
#include <SPI.h>
#include <aREST.h>
#include "DHT.h"
// DHT
#define DHTPIN 7
#define DHTTYPE DHT11
DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);
// Variables
float temperature;
float humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
Serial.begin(9600);
rest.set_id("1");
rest.set_name("xbee");
// Variables
rest.variable("temperature", &temperature);
rest.variable("humidity", &humidity);
// Start DHT
dht.begin();
}
void loop() {
// Read data
humidity = dht.readHumidity();
temperature = dht.readTemperature();
}
As you can see, it is really similar to the sketch that we saw in the first project of this
book. The only difference is the code for the DHT sensor, as well as the speed of the Serial
port (9600).
Its now time to program our board. Make sure to set the switch on DLINE on the XBee
shield, and upload the sketch. Then, set it again to UART.
After that, select the Serial port corresponding to your XBee explorer board, go to the
Serial monitor (make sure the speed is set to 9600), and type:
/id
The command will be sent to your Arduino board via XBee. You should immediately get
the answer inside the Serial monitor:
Then, you can really easily get the temperature data with:
/temperature
You should immediately get the answer from the board inside the Serial monitor:
You can now control your projects via XBee as well, using the aREST commands!
1.5 Learn to use Bluetooth LE to control Arduino boards

In this section, we are going to learn how to control your Arduino projects using Bluetooth
Low-Energy (LE) technology. This is really useful if you want to build projects that need
to run on batteries.

This is the list of the components you will need for this project:
Adafruit Bluetooth LE breakout (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1697)
You will also need the Adafruit nRF8001 library:
https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_nRF8001
You can of course also install this library using the Arduino library manager. Finally, if
you are using an iOS device you will need to get the Adafruit Bluefruit LE Connect app:
https://itunes.apple.com/app/adafruit-bluefruit-le-connect/id830125974?mt=8
If you are using Android, you need to get the Nordic nRF app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nordicsemi.nrfUARTv2

First, we are now going to connect the Bluetooth LE module. Connect the power supply of
the module: GND goes to Arduino GND, and VIN goes to Arduino 5V pin. After that, you
need to connect the different wires responsible for the SPI interface: SCK to Arduino pin
13, MISO to Arduino pin 12, and MOSI to Arduino pin 11. Then, connect the REQ pin to
Arduino pin 10. Finally, connect the RDY pin to Arduino pin 2, and the RST pin to
Arduino pin 9.
Arduino board, and the remaining pin of the LED to the GND pin of the Arduino board.
This is a picture of the final result for this section:
1.5.3 Controlling Your Arduino Board via Bluetooth

Its now time to configure our Arduino board so we can control it via Bluetooth. Here, the
handling of aREST functions will be quite different from what we saw earlier.
// Libraries
#include <SPI.h>
#include "Adafruit_BLE_UART.h"
#include <aREST.h>
// Pins
#define ADAFRUITBLE_REQ 10
#define ADAFRUITBLE_RDY 2 // This should be an interrupt pin
#define ADAFRUITBLE_RST 9
// BLE instance
Adafruit_BLE_UART BTLEserial = Adafruit_BLE_UART(ADAFRUITBLE_REQ,
ADAFRUITBLE_RDY, ADAFRUITBLE_RST);
int temperature;
int humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
Serial.println(F("Adafruit Bluefruit Low Energy nRF8001 Print echo demo"));
BTLEserial.begin();
rest.set_id("008");
pinMode(6,OUTPUT);
}
aci_evt_opcode_t laststatus = ACI_EVT_DISCONNECTED;
void loop() {
// Tell the nRF8001 to do whatever it should be working on.
BTLEserial.pollACI();
// Ask what is our current status
aci_evt_opcode_t status = BTLEserial.getState();
// If the status changed.
if (status != laststatus) {
// print it out!
if (status == ACI_EVT_DEVICE_STARTED) {
Serial.println(F("* Advertising started"));
}
if (status == ACI_EVT_CONNECTED) {
Serial.println(F("* Connected!"));
}
if (status == ACI_EVT_DISCONNECTED) {
Serial.println(F("* Disconnected or advertising timed out"));
}
// OK set the last status change to this one
laststatus = status;
}
if (status == ACI_EVT_CONNECTED) {
rest.handle(BTLEserial);
}
}
You can now grab the whole code, and also upload it to the board. Also open the Serial
monitor. Then, you are going to need some way to communicate with the BLE breakout
board. The best is to use the mobile application that you downloaded earlier.
I will use the iOS application as an example, but you can of course use the Android
version as well.
Open the app, and you should see a list of devices listed. Click on UART:
Then, click again on UART:
You should see inside the Serial monitor that a device is connected to the BLE module:
Now, send the following command to check if the board is responding:

/id /
You should get the answer inside the application:
Note that here you need to send another / character at the end of the command, to
indicate that it is the end of the message.
You can now try all the usual aREST commands, you can for example try to turn the LED
on:
Congratulations, you can now control your Arduino projects via Bluetooth LE!
1.6 Control your Raspberry Pi board remotely with aREST

So far, we only saw how to control Arduino boards using the aREST framework.
However, over the years aREST was modified and improved to support more boards from
different manufacturers. In this section, we are going to see how to use aREST to control
the very popular Raspberry Pi board.

Lets first see what you need for this project. I used a Raspberry Pi 2 board, but it will
work on any Raspberry Pi that can be connected to your local network.
You will also need some way to connect your Pi to your local network. I used an USB
WiFi dongle, but you can also use the Ethernet connection of the Pi.
This is the list of all the components that you will need for this project:
Raspberry Pi (https://www.adafruit.com/products/2358)
USB WiFi dongle (https://www.adafruit.com/products/814)
You will need your Pi to be completely configured with Raspbian, and with Node.js
installed on it. If thats not done yet, please go back to the Getting Started section of the
Introduction chapter.
Then, log to your Pi either via an external screen or via SSH. Then, type:
ifconfig
This will give you the IP address of your Pi, you will need it in a moment.

Its now time to configure your Raspberry Pi. Simply place the LED in series with the
resistor on the breadboard. Then, connect the other end of the resistor to pin 7 of the
Raspberry Pi. You can find a list of GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi 2 at the following link:
http://pi4j.com/images/j8header-2b-large.png
Then, connect the other end of the LED to one GND pin of the Pi.
1.6.3 Controlling Your Raspberry Pi Remotely

We are now going to configure the Raspberry Pi so it can be controlled via aREST. Here,
we of course cant use the Arduino aREST library to configure our board. This is why I
created a dedicated library called pi-aREST for the Raspberry Pi, that is using Node.js.
This is the complete code for this part:
// Start
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var piREST = require('pi-arest')(app);
piREST.set_id('34f5eQ');
piREST.set_name('my_new_Pi');
temperature = 24;
humidity = 40;
piREST.variable('temperature',temperature);
piREST.variable('humidity',humidity);
var server = app.listen(80, function() {
console.log('Listening on port %d', server.address().port);
});
You can now take the file to a folder on your Raspberry Pi, go this folder via a terminal,
and type:
sudo npm install pi-arest express
This will install all the required components for pi-aREST. Then, start the software with:
sudo node pi_arest.js
The aREST API is now available on your Pi as well. Lets assume for the rest of this
chapter that the IP address of your board is 192.168.115.106. You can test the aREST
API by simply going to your web browser, and type:
http://192.168.115.106/id
You should immediately receive the answer in JSON format:

{
"id":"34f5eQ",
"name":"my_new_Pi",
"hardware":"rpi",
"connected":true
}
Lets now try to light up the LED. Here, there is a difference with the Arduino aREST
software: we dont need to set the pin as an output first, this is done by the Raspberry Pi
software for you. Simply type:
http://192.168.115.106/digital/7/1
You should that the LED is now on, and you should also get the confirmation in the
browser:
{
"id":"34f5eQ",
"name":"my_new_Pi",
"hardware":"rpi",
"connected":true,
"message":"Pin 7 set to 1"
}
Then, we will also test the variable command of aREST, which also works with the
Raspberry Pi. This is done by defining variables in the code with:
piREST.variable('temperature',temperature);
piREST.variable('humidity',humidity);
Now, type the following command in your browser:

http://192.168.115.106/temperature
You will immediately get the answer in your browser:

{
"id":"34f5eQ",
"name":"my_new_Pi",
"hardware":"rpi",
"connected":true,
"temperature":24
}
Here, we just set values to those variables, but you could of course link them to
measurements coming from a sensor.
1.7 Control an ESP8266 module remotely with aREST

In this section, we are going to use aREST on yet another type of hardware: the ESP8266
WiFi chip. This chip is a $5 component that embeds a processor along with a WiFi chip,
making it the perfect board for cheap and powerful wireless projects. As an example, we
are going to run aREST on the board and grab data from a sensor wirelessly.

For this project, the most important component will of course be the ESP8266 WiFi chip.
For the rest of this book, I will use the Adafruit ESP8266 board, as its really convenient
to use. Of course, you can use any ESP8266 module that you wish, most of them are
compatible with aREST.
This is the list of components for this section:
Adafruit ESP8266 breakout board (https://www.adafruit.com/products/2471)
FTDI USB converter (https://www.adafruit.com/products/284)
To program the board, we are going to use the well-known Arduino IDE, which will be
very convenient. You just need to install the board definition for the ESP8266. To do that,
follow this procedure:
Start the Arduino IDE and open the Preferences window.
Enter the following URL into the Additional Board Manager URLs field:
http://arduino.esp8266.com/package_esp8266com_index.json
Open Boards Manager from Tools > Board menu and install the esp8266 platform.
You will also need to install the Adafruit DHT library, that you can install from the
Arduino library manager.

Lets now assemble the hardware for this project. Simply place your ESP8266 module on
the breadboard, and the DHT sensor next to it. Then, connect the first pin of the DHT11
sensor to the VCC pin, the second pin to pin number 5, and the last pin of the sensor to
one GND pin of the ESP8266.
1.7.3 Control ESP8266 Remotely

We are going to see that the sketch for the ESP8266 is really similar to the one for the
Arduino boards. This is the complete sketch for this part:
#include "ESP8266WiFi.h"
#include <aREST.h>
#include "DHT.h"
// DHT11 sensor pins
#define DHTPIN 5
// Initialize DHT sensor
DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE, 15);
// WiFi parameters
const char* ssid = "wifi-name";
const char* password = "wifi-password";
// Create an instance of the server
WiFiServer server(LISTEN_PORT);
float temperature;
float humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Init DHT
dht.begin();
rest.set_id("1");
rest.set_name("esp8266");
// Connect to WiFi
WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
Serial.println("WiFi connected");
// Start the server
server.begin();
Serial.println("Server started");
// Print the IP address
Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
}
void loop() {
//rest.glow_led();
// Reading temperature and humidity
WiFiClient client = server.available();
if (!client) {
return;
}
while(!client.available()){
delay(1);
}
}
Just as with Arduino with the CC3000 WiFi chip, you will need to set your WiFi name and
password:
Compared to an Arduino sketch, only the part to handle requests is different:

if (!client) {
return;
}
delay(1);
}
Its now time to upload the sketch. Make sure you opened the file in the Arduino IDE, and
modify your WiFi name and password. Then, connect the FTDI USB converter to the
board, put your board into bootloader mode. You can check the documentation of your
board to know how to do this.
Now, upload the sketch to the board, and open the Serial monitor. Then, reset the board.
You should see the IP address of the board displayed in the Serial monitor.
After that, go to your favorite web browser, and type:
You should immediately see the answer in JSON format:

{
"temperature": 25.00,
"id": "1",
"name": "living_room",
"connected": true
}
As you can see, its really easy to use the same aREST commands that we used so far on
the ESP8266 chip.
1.7.4 Access all Variables on Your Board

We are going to use the ESP8266 board to illustrate one more feature of the aREST
framework: getting all variables on the board, using a single request.
For that, simply type the IP address of the board, without any command:
http://192.168.115.102/
You will get the following answer:
{
"variables":
{
"humidity": 32.00
},
"id": "1",
"name": "esp8266",
"connected": true
}
As you can see, you can now access all the variables on the board, using a single
command. Note that this is also available on other boards running the aREST framework!
1.8 Run a User Interface on an ESP8266 module

We are going to see one more basic feature of the aREST framework before moving on to
the first example of this book. We are going to see how to run a graphical user interface
(GUI) right on the ESP8266 chip itself, so you can control outputs and monitor inputs
from a web page, without the need of any other components.
For that, we are going to use another library that is built on top of aREST, called aREST
UI. This will allow us to easily create interface elements within the Arduino code.

to use. Of course, you can use any ESP8266 module that you wish, they are all compatible
with aREST.
LED and 330 Ohm resistor
At this point, you should already have the ESP8266 board definitions installed into the
Arduino IDE, as well as the DHT11 library.
You will need to install one more library: aREST UI. You can do so by looking for
aREST_UI inside the Arduino library manager.

Lets now assemble the hardware for this project. Simply place your ESP8266 module on
the breadboard, and the DHT sensor next to it. Then, connect the first pin of the DHT11
sensor to the VCC pin, the second pin to pin number 5, and the last pin of the sensor to
one GND pin of the ESP8266.
For the LED, simply place it on the breadboard in series with the resistor, the longest pin
in contact with the resistor. Then, connect the other end of the resistor to pin number 4 of
the ESP8266, and the other end of the LED to one GND pin.
1.8.3 Controlling Your ESP8266 with a Graphical Interface

Lets now configure the ESP8266 so we can run the aREST UI interface on it. This is the
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <aREST.h>
#include <aREST_UI.h>
#include "DHT.h"
#define DHTPIN 5
aREST_UI rest = aREST_UI();
// WiFi parameters
float temperature;
float humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Init DHT
dht.begin();
rest.set_id("1");
rest.set_name("esp8266_ui");
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Start the server
server.begin();
// Create UI
rest.title("ESP8266 UI");
rest.button(4);
rest.label("temperature");
rest.label("humidity");
}
void loop() {
if (!client) {
return;
}
delay(1);
}
Lets now see the differences between this new sketch and other sketches using aREST.
You need to include the aREST UI library:
#include <aREST.h>
#include "DHT.h"
Then, instead of creating an aREST instance, we create an instance of aREST_UI:

After that, in the setup() function, we define the interface elements of our sketch. We set a
title, a button to control the LED, and two labels for the sensor measurements:
rest.title("ESP8266 UI");
rest.button(4);
rest.label("temperature");
rest.label("humidity");
Now, grab the code again from the GitHub repository of the book, and upload it to the
board, following the instructions we saw earlier.
Then, open the Serial monitor to grab the IP address of the board. Then, you can simply
type this IP address in a web browser, to access the interface, like:
http://192.168.115.102/
You should immediately see the interface inside your web browser:
You can try it now: for example, just click on the ON button. The LED should instantly
turn on. You can now create your own interfaces that are running on your ESP8266 board,
without the help of any external component or service!
1.9 Example project: Control a Lamp Remotely using the

ESP8266
Before ending this chapter about the basics of the aREST framework, we are going to see
a real-life example on how to use aREST. We are going to build a simple lamp controller,
that will allow the user to switch a lamp on and off via WiFi.

to use. Of course, you can use any ESP8266 module that you wish, they are all compatible
with aREST.
Powerswitch Tail Kit (https://www.adafruit.com/products/268)
At this point, you should already have the aREST UI library installed, as well as the
ESP8266 board definitions. If thats not done yet, have a look at the previous chapters to
know how to do this.

The configuration for this project is very simple: first, place the ESP8266 module on the
breadboard. Then, connect the Vin+ pin of the PowerSwitch Tail to the pin number 5 of
the ESP8266. Finally, connect the two remaining pins of the PowerSwitch Tail to the GND
pins of the ESP8266.
This is the result at this point:
Now, you can connect an electrical appliance to the PowerSwitch Tail Kit, for example a
lamp. I used a 30W lamp for this project. Also connect the other part of the PowerSwitch
Tail to the mains electricity.
1.9.3 Controlling a Lamp Remotely with aREST

We are now going to see how to configure the ESP8266 board so you can control the lamp
via WiFi. We are again going to use the aREST UI library to create the interface. This is
the complete sketch for this part:
#include <aREST.h>
// WiFi parameters
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
rest.set_id("1");
rest.set_name("lamp_control");
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Start the server
server.begin();
// Create UI
rest.title("Lamp control");
rest.button(5);
}
void loop() {
if (!client) {
return;
}
delay(1);
}
}
Now, grab the complete code, modify your WiFi network parameters, and upload the code
to the board using the instructions we saw earlier. Also open the Serial monitor to get the
IP address of the board. You might need to reset the board at this point.
Then, go to your web browser, and type the IP address of the board:
http://192.168.115.102/
You should see the graphical interface in your browser:
You can now try the interface: just by pressing a button, you can switch the lamp on and
off. Congratulations, you can now built home automation projects using the aREST
framework!

In this first chapter of the book, we learned about the basics of the aREST framework. We
learned about those basics by using a wide variety of hardware and communication
mediums, like Ethernet or WiFi communications. We also saw that even those basic
knowledge can allow you to create complex projects, like graphical interfaces hosted on
the boards themselves.
In the next chapter, we are going to see how to go further, and create web-based
applications that will allow you to easily control your boards running aREST.
tag, you need to import jQuery, AjaxQ, and of course the aREST.js library:
You also need to import the script.js file, that will contain our JavaScript code.
Then, we define a simple interface where we have two buttons to control the LED on the
board:
Digital pin 6:

On

Off

I also added several other elements to illustrate all the functions of aREST. This is an
element to use PWM commands on pin 6:
PWM pin 6:

Finally, we also create an element that will contain the readings of the analog pin A0 on
the board:
Analog pin A0:

Lets now see the script.js file. The first step is to create a new aREST device, with the IP
address of the board:
var device = new Device("192.168.115.105");
We also set pin 6 as an output:

device.pinMode(6, "OUTPUT");
Next, we define the controls on the buttons:

// Button
$('#on').click(function() {
device.digitalWrite(6, 1);
});
$('#off').click(function() {
device.digitalWrite(6, 0);
});
As you can see, each button calls a digitalWrite() function, which is really similar to the
function that you can use on an Arduino sketch. The first command will simply call a
/digital/6/1 function on the aREST API, which in return will call a digitalWrite(6, 1)
function on the board.
For the PWM control of the same pin, I created a slider:
$('#slider').mouseup(function() {
var val = $('#slider').val();
device.analogWrite(6, val);
});
This will call the analogWrite() function on the board every time the slider is modified.
Finally, we create a loop to read data from the analog pin A0, every 5 seconds:
device.analogRead(0, function(data) {
$("#A0").html(data.return_value);
});
setInterval(function() {
device.analogRead(0, function(data) {
$("#A0").html(data.return_value);
});
}, 5000);
As you can see, we use the analogRead() function, which does exactly the same thing as
its Arduino counterpart.
Its now time to test our project! Make sure to grab the code from the GitHub repository,
and modify the script with the IP address of your board.
Then, simply open the HTML file with any web browser. You should immediately see the
interface in your browser:
You can now try the different controls, and the LED should react accordingly. Especially
use the slider to modify the luminosity of the LED.
We can now build simple interfaces for your aREST projects. Later in this book, we are
going to see how to build more complex applications to also record data locally.
2 Build local applications to control your

projects
In this chapter, you will learn how to build applications to control your aREST boards
from your computer. We will start by controlling projects from a single web page, and
then we will move to building more complex applications based on the Meteor
framework.
This will be the chapter where you will learn to control several boards running aREST
from the same application, and do more complex projects like recording data measured by
the aREST boards, and plotting this data in live inside your web browser.
2.1 Control an Arduino Board from a Web Page via

Ethernet
In this first project of the chapter, we are going to use a library for JavaScript called
aREST.js to control aREST devices from a web page. This is the perfect library if you
want to easily control aREST devices from a graphical interface, in the case where you
dont need to record and store data for example.
As an example, we are going to use an Arduino Ethernet board running aREST, that we
will completely control from a simple HTML page using aREST.js.

Lets first see what we need for this project. You will need a board that is compatible with
the Arduino Ethernet shied, like an Arduino Uno that I will use for this section.
You will also need a the Arduino Ethernet shield or a similar, one LED, one 330 Ohm
This is the list of components that were used in this project:

First, place the Ethernet shield on top of the Arduino board, and plug an Ethernet cable
between the board and your router.
connected to the resistor.
Then, connect the remaining pin of the resistor to pin 6 of the Arduino board, and the
remaining pin of the LED to the GND pin of the Arduino board.
2.1.3 Control Your Ethernet Board from a Web Page

Lets now see how to control the board from a web page. Here is the complete sketch for
this part:
// Libraries
#include <SPI.h>
#include <aREST.h>
// Ethernet server
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
rest.set_id("008");
}
server.begin();
}
void loop() {
}
This is something we already saw in the previous chapter, so I wont go into details here.
Just make sure to modify the MAC address in the sketch, and upload it to your Arduino
board. Then, open the Serial monitor to get the IP address of the board.
We are now going to see the to build the interface for this project. It will be composed of
two parts: an HTML page, and a JavaScript file.
Lets first see the content of the HTML page. In the
2.2 Control & Monitor an ESP8266 module from a Web

page
In this section, we are going to continue exploring the aREST.js library, this time by using
it to read data from a sensor connected to the ESP8266 module.

For this example project, you will need components that we already used in the previous
chapter, like an ESP8266 module, a DHT sensor, and breadboard & jumper wires.
This is the list of the required components for this project:
ESP8266 Huzzah module (https://www.adafruit.com/products/2471)
You will also need to have the board definitions installed for the ESP8266, as well as the
DHT library from Adafruit. It should already be done at this point, but if thats not the
case refer to the previous chapter before moving on.

Lets now see how to configure this project. First, place the ESP8266 module on the
breadboard, and also place the DHT11 sensor on it.
The DHT sensor signal pin (pin number 2 of the sensor) has to be connected on pin 5 of
the ESP8266. Also connect the VCC pin (pin number 1 of the sensor) of the sensor to the
ESP8266 3.3V pin, and GND to GND.
2.2.3 Control Your ESP8266 from a Web Page

Lets now see how to control the ESP8266 board from a web page, and grab data from the
sensor. This is the complete sketch for this part:
#include <aREST.h>
#include "DHT.h"
#define DHTPIN 5
// WiFi parameters
float temperature;
float humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Init DHT
dht.begin();
rest.set_id("1");
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Start the server
server.begin();
}
void loop() {
if (!client) {
return;
}
delay(1);
}
As you can see, its a typical sketch for the ESP8266 that we already saw earlier. Just
make sure to modify the WiFi network name and password, and upload the sketch to the
board. Then, open the Serial monitor to grab the IP address of the board.
Lets now see the details of the interface. As in the previous section, it will be composed
of an HTML page and a JavaScript file. This is the part in the HTML page to display the
temperature & humidity:
<div class='row'>
<div class="col-md-2">Temperature:
<span id='temperature'></span>
</div>
<div class="col-md-2">Humidity:
<span id='humidity'></span>
</div>
</div>
To update those fields, we need to define some code inside the JavaScript file:
// Temperature display
device.getVariable('temperature', function(data) {
$('#temperature').html(data.temperature);
});
// Humidity display
device.getVariable('humidity', function(data) {
$('#humidity').html(data.humidity);
});
Those commands are basically the equivalent of calling a variable exposed by the aREST
API. Note that we need to use callbacks here, as we can only update the value of the
indicator in the interface when we have the answer from the board.
Its now time to test our project! Make sure to grab the code from the GitHub repository,
and modify the JavaScript file with the IP address of your board.
Then, simply open the HTML file with any web browser. You should immediately see the
interface in your browser:
As you can see, the temperature & humidity data is immediately displayed inside the
interface. Here, this is just the instant values from the board. We are going to learn how to
store measurements data on your computer later in this chapter.
2.3 Learn to Control & Monitor Arduino boards via

Ethernet
So far in this chapter, we saw how to control aREST devices using a simple web page and
some JavaScript code. This is great for simple applications, however it is not suited for
more complex projects. For example, using a simple web page you cant really plan
automated actions, connect with external APIs, or store data locally.
This is why we need to use a real web server to connect to aREST devices for more
complex applications. To help you out in this task, I developed a module for the very
popular Meteor framework that makes it really easy. You can learn more about Meteor at
http://meteor.com/.
To illustrate the basics of this Meteor aREST module, we will use again an Arduino Uno
board that we will control via Ethernet.

You will need an Arduino board, like an Arduino Uno that was used for this project. You
will also need an Ethernet shield for Arduino. You will also need one LED, one 220 Ohm
This is the list of the required components for this part:
DHT11 sensor + 4.7k resistor (https://www.adafruit.com/products/386)
You will need to have the Meteor framework installed on your computer. If thats not done
yet, follow the instructions from the Getting Started section in the Introduction.

The hardware configuration for this project is quite simple, as this is something we already
saw earlier in the book. First, place the shield on top of the Arduino board.
the Arduino board. Also connect the VCC pin (pin number 1 of the sensor) of the sensor
to the Arduino 5V pin, and GND to GND. Finally, insert the 4.7K Ohm resistor between
pin number 1 and 2.
2.3.3 Configure Your Arduino Ethernet Board

We first need to configure the Arduino board so we can access it via Ethernet. This is the
// Libraries
#include <SPI.h>
#include <aREST.h>
#include "DHT.h"
// DHT 11 sensor
#define DHTPIN 7
// DHT sensor
// Ethernet server
int temperature;
int humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
rest.set_id("1");
}
server.begin();
}
void loop() {
// Make measurements
humidity = (int)dht.readHumidity();
temperature = (int)dht.readTemperature();
}
This is a sketch we already saw several times in this book, so I wont detail it. Just make
sure to modify the MAC address of the board, and upload the code to the board. Then,
open the Serial monitor to grab the IP address of the board.
Finally, go to a web browser, and check that the board is online with:
http://192.168.115.104/id
You should get the answer in the browser:

{
"id": "1",
"name": "arduino",
"connected": true
}
2.3.4 Build a Web Application to Control Your Boards

Now that the board is configured, we are going to dive into the core of this section:
building an application based on Meteor.
Compared to other frameworks like Node.js that separate the server and the client parts,
Meteor allow you to code everything into a single framework.
Well first define an HTML file containing the interface:
<template name='home'>
<body>
<div class='container'>
<h3>Arduino Monitoring</h3>
<div class='row'>
<div class='col-md-3'>
Temperature: <span id='temperature'></span> C
</div>
Humidity: <span id='humidity'></span>%
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</template>
This file is really basic, as it only contains two containers for the temperature and
humidity.
Then, inside a JavaScript file, we will define both the code for the server and the client:
if (Meteor.isServer) {
Meteor.startup(function () {
// Add device
aREST.addDevice('http', '192.168.115.104');
});
}
if (Meteor.isClient) {
// Main route
Router.route('/', {name: 'home'});
// Rendered
Template.home.rendered = function() {
// Refresh temperature & humidity
Meteor.call('getVariable', 1, 'temperature', function(err, data) {
console.log(data);
$('#temperature').text(data.temperature);
});
Meteor.call('getVariable', 1, 'humidity', function(err, data) {
$('#humidity').text(data.humidity);
});
}
}
Lets see the detail of this code. On the server side, we need to call the aREST module to
add the board to the application database:
Dont worry about the database itself: Meteor is taking care about it for you. Then, on the
client side, we define a route for our application:
This will simply load the home template whenever we access the root of the server.
Then, still on the client side, we call the getVariable method, which is also included into
the Meteor aREST module.
To call this function, we simply need to send the ID of the device we set in the code, and
the variable we want to get:

console.log(data);
});
});
In the same time, we update the indicators in the interface inside the callbacks of those
methods.
Its now time to test the project! Grab all the code from the GitHub repository, and put all
the files in a folder on your computer. Then, go to this folder with a terminal, and type:
meteor create .
This will initialize a new Meteor project inside this folder. Then, install the aREST Meteor
module with:
meteor add marcoschwartz:arest
Finally, start the project with:

meteor
Now, navigate to the app with a web browser at:

http://localhost:3000
You should immediately see the interface in your web browser, with the measurements
made by the board.
At this point, you can wonder why we are doing all this, as we could do the same without
Meteor. However, the difference is that we now have a much more solid infrastructure for
our project, from which we could easily record data for example.
2.4 Build a Web-based Application to Control Arduino

boards via WiFi
In the previous section, we saw the basics of the aREST module for Meteor. In this one,
we are going to learn more about the aREST module for Meteor. We are going to build a
Meteor application again, this time to control a board connected to your local network via
WiFi.

For this project, we are going to use components we already used earlier: an Arduino Uno
board, and the Adafruit CC3000 breakout board. Here, well also add a 5V relay to the
project, so we can control an output from the Meteor application.
This is the list of the required components for this project:
Adafruit CC3000 breakout board (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1469)
DHT11 (https://www.adafruit.com/products/386)
Relay (https://www.pololu.com/product/2480)
Also make sure that the Adafruit CC3000 library is installed. If not, you can grab it using
the Arduino IDE library manager.

First, place the CC3000 board on the breadboard. Then, connect the IRQ pin of the
CC3000 board to pin number 3 of the Arduino board, VBAT to pin 5, and CS to pin 10.
Then, you need to connect the SPI pins to the Arduino board: MOSI, MISO, and CLK go
to pins 11,12, and 13, respectively. Finally, take care of the power supply: Vin goes to the
Arduino 5V, and GND to GND.
the Arduino board. Also connect the VCC pin (pin number 1 of the sensor) of the sensor
to the Arduino 5V pin, and GND to GND. Finally, insert the 4.7K Ohm resistor between
pin number 1 and 2.
For the relay, connect the IN (or SIG) pin to pin number 7 of the Arduino board. Then,
connect VCC to the 5V pin of the Arduino board, and GND to the GND pin of the
Arduino.
2.4.3 Configure Your WiFi Board

Lets now configure the Arduino board. This is a sketch we are already familiar with at
this point:
#include <Adafruit_CC3000.h>
#include <SPI.h>
#include <aREST.h>
#include <avr/wdt.h>
#include "DHT.h"
#define DHTPIN 4
// These are the pins for the CC3000 chip
#define ADAFRUIT_CC3000_IRQ 3
#define ADAFRUIT_CC3000_VBAT 5
#define ADAFRUIT_CC3000_CS 10
// Create CC3000 instance
Adafruit_CC3000 cc3000 = Adafruit_CC3000(ADAFRUIT_CC3000_CS,
ADAFRUIT_CC3000_IRQ, ADAFRUIT_CC3000_VBAT,SPI_CLOCK_DIV2);
// Your WiFi SSID and password

#define WLAN_SSID "wifi-name"
#define WLAN_PASS "wifi-password"
// Server instance
Adafruit_CC3000_Server restServer(LISTEN_PORT);
// Variables
int temperature;
int humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Init DHT
dht.begin();
rest.set_id("1");
rest.set_name("cc3000");
// Expose variables
// Set up CC3000 and get connected to the wireless network.
Serial.print(F("CC3000 init "));
if (!cc3000.begin())
{
while(1);
}
Serial.println(F(" done"));
if (!cc3000.connectToAP(WLAN_SSID, WLAN_PASS, WLAN_SECURITY)) {
while(1);
}
while (!cc3000.checkDHCP())
{
delay(100);
}
Serial.println();
// Print CC3000 IP address. Enable if mDNS doesn't work
while (! displayConnectionDetails()) {
delay(1000);
}
// Start server
restServer.begin();
Serial.println(F("Listening for connections"));
// Enable watchdog
wdt_enable(WDTO_4S);
}
void loop() {
Adafruit_CC3000_ClientRef client = restServer.available();
wdt_reset();
// Check connection, reset if connection is lost
if(!cc3000.checkConnected()){while(1){}}
wdt_reset();
}
// Print connection details of the CC3000 chip
bool displayConnectionDetails(void)
{
uint32_t ipAddress, netmask, gateway, dhcpserv, dnsserv;
if(!cc3000.getIPAddress(&ipAddress, &netmask,
&gateway, &dhcpserv, &dnsserv))
{
Serial.println(F("Unable to retrieve the IP Address!\r\n"));
return false;
}
else
{
Serial.print(F("\nIP Addr: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(ipAddress);
Serial.print(F("\nNetmask: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(netmask);
Serial.print(F("\nGateway: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(gateway);
Serial.print(F("\nDHCPsrv: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(dhcpserv);
Serial.print(F("\nDNSserv: ")); cc3000.printIPdotsRev(dnsserv);
Serial.println();
return true;
}
}
Make sure to modify the WiFi network name and password, and upload the code to the
board. Then, open the Serial monitor to grab the IP address of the board, you will need it
later.
2.4.4 Create the Meteor Application

Its now time to build the web-based application to control the board via a graphical
interface. Here again, we are going to use the Meteor aREST module.
This is the template that we will use for the interface:
<body>
<h3>Arduino WiFi Control & Monitoring</h3>
<div class='row'>
<div class="col-md-2">
<button id='on' class='btn btn-primary btn-block' type="button">
On
</button>
</div>
<button id='off' class='btn btn-danger btn-block' type="button">
Off
</button>
</div>
</div>
<div class='row'>
<div class='col-md-3'>Temperature:
<span id='temperature'></span> C</div>
<div class='col-md-3'>Humidity:
<span id='humidity'></span>%</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</template>
If we compare this file to the interface we created in the previous section, we can notice
that we added two buttons, that we will use to control the relay.
Lets now see the JavaScript file, that will contain all the code for the server & the client.
For the server, we just need to set the IP address of the target board using the aREST
Meteor module:
// Add device
});
Now, inside the client code, we need to define two events, that will link the buttons inside
the interface to actual commands sent to the board.
This is done by the following piece of code:
Template.home.events({
'click #on': function() {
Meteor.call('digitalWrite', 1, 7, 1);
},
'click #off': function() {
}
});
As you can see, you can call the digitalWrite() method inside Meteor, just as you would
call the function inside an Arduino sketch.
Finally, we also need to do some things at the moment the page is loaded. This is done
inside the rendered function of Meteor. This is the equivalent of the setup() function of
Arduino.
Inside this function, we will set pin 7 as an output, and also refresh the measurements of
the sensor:
// Set pin
Meteor.call('pinMode', 1, 7, 'o');
console.log(data);
});
});
}
Its now time to test the project! Grab all the code from the GitHub repository, and put all
the files in a folder on your computer. Then, go to this folder with a terminal, and type:
meteor create .
This will initialize a new Meteor project in this folder. Then, install the aREST Meteor
module with:

meteor
Now, navigate to the application with a web browser at:

You should immediately see the interface displayed on your computer:
You can try it now, for example to control the relay. We could stop here, but we are going
to do an extra thing here. Because we now have a solid application running with the
Meteor framework, its easy for us to define triggers, for example to take a given action
when a condition is met.
As an example, well set the relay to the On state whenever the temperature falls below
20 degrees. This could simulate the behavior of a thermostat, for example.
To do that, we need to implement it on the server side. Indeed, you dont want to have the
page opened in your browser so the application can check if the condition is met.
To implement that, we will the SyncedCron module for Meteor, that allows us to create
automated tasks that will be repeated automatically on the server in the background.
This is the code for this part:
SyncedCron.add({
name: 'Check temperature',
schedule: function(parser) {
return parser.text('every 1 minute');
},
job: function() {
// Check temperature value
if (data.temperature < 20) {
// Activate relay
}
});
}
});
As you can see, whenever the temperature falls below 20 degrees, we simply switch the
relay to on.
You can now build more complex applications based on the aREST Meteor module, by
defining triggers that are executed when a given condition is met.
2.5 Get Access to Your Raspberry Pi From a Dashboard

In this chapter, we saw how to control Arduino boards as well as ESP8266 modules using
web-based applications. But thats not everything that can be done by the aREST
framework: you can also control Raspberry Pi boards right from the web application. And
this is exactly what we are going to do in this project.

For this project, we are going to need components that we already used in this book:
mainly a Raspberry Pi, that can be a Raspberry Pi B, B+, or 2.
This is the list of all the required components for this project:
Raspberry Pi (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2358)
330
Ohm
resistor
(https://www.sparkfun.com/products/8377)
(https://www.adafruit.com/products/386)
Breadboard & jumper wires (https://www.adafruit.com/products/64)

For this project, we are simply going to use a LED as an indicator for our Raspberry Pi.
Simply place the LED in series with the resistor on a breadboard, the longest pin of the
LED in contact with the resistor.
Then, connect the other end of the resistor to the GPIO pin 7 of the Raspberry Pi, and the
other end of the LED to one GND pin of the Raspberry Pi.
2.5.3 Configure Your Raspberry Pi

Lets now see how to configure your Raspberry Pi, so it can be controlled from a web
application. We are going to use again the pi-aREST module for this project.
This should be some code you are already familiar with:
// Start
piREST.set_id('34f5eQ');
piREST.set_name('my_new_Pi');
});
Save this code inside a JavaScript file on your Pi, and then navigate to the folder with a
terminal. Then, type:
This will install all the required modules for this project. Then, start the software with:
sudo node arest.js
Your Raspberry Pi is now ready to be controlled remotely by the Meteor application.
2.5.4 Control Your Raspberry Pi from a Dashboard

Lets now see how to build the Meteor application to control your Raspberry Pi remotely.
This is the code for the HTML file, that will define the interface:
<body>
<h3>Raspberry Pi Control</h3>
<div class='row'>
On
</button>
</div>
Off
</button>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</template>
Then, inside the JavaScript file, we add the Raspberry Pi board to the Meteor application:
// Add device
});
}
For the client part, we link the buttons to the digitalWrite function of the aREST Meteor
module:
// Main route
// Events

Meteor.call('digitalWrite', "34f5eQ", 7, 1);
},
Meteor.call('digitalWrite', "34f5eQ", 7, 0);
}
});
}
Now, repeat the procedure that we saw earlier to start the Meteor application, and then
visit the server with the web browser. You should immediately have access to the
interface:
2.6 Record Data From ESP8266 Devices

We are now able to control any board from a Meteor application running on your
computer. In this section, we are now going to learn how to actually record data on the
server.
As an example, we are going to make an ESP8266 board measure data, and send it to the
server so it can be recorded. Instead of the server constantly querying the board for data,
we are going to introduce a new feature of aREST: the publish() function, allowing the
board to send data by itself to the server, that will then record this data inside a database.

You will need an ESP8266 board, like the Adafruit ESP8266 board that was used for this
guide. To program the board, you will need a FTDI breakout board. You will also a
DHT11 sensor, a breadboard, and some jumper wires.
This is the list of the required components for this part:

Lets now see how to assemble this project. First, place the ESP8266 module and the
DHT11 sensor on the breadboard.
the ESP8266 board. Also connect the VCC pin (pin number 1 of the sensor) of the sensor
to the ESP8266 VCC pin, and GND to GND.
2.6.3 Configure Your ESP8266 module

We are now going to configure the ESP8266 so it send data regularly to the server. We
will make it publish the temperature and humidity measured by the sensor, at regular
intervals.
#include <aREST.h>
#include "DHT.h"
#define DHTPIN 5

// Remote server
char* servername = "192.168.115.101";
int port = 3000;
aREST rest = aREST(servername, port);
// WiFi parameters
WiFiClient restClient;
// Counter
int counter;
// Measurement interval
int measurement_interval = 60 * 1000; // 1 minute
// Variables
float temperature;
float humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Init DHT
dht.begin();
rest.set_id("1");
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Start the server
server.begin();
// Start counter
counter = millis();
}
void loop() {
// Publish
if ( (millis() - counter) > measurement_interval) {
if (restClient.connect(servername, port)) {
rest.publish(restClient, "temperature", temperature);
rest.publish(restClient, "humidity", humidity);
}
counter = millis();
}
if (!client) {
return;
}
delay(1);
}
}
This sketch is quite similar to what we already saw in previous projects, with some
differences. First, we define a server name and port at the beginning of the sketch:
char* servername = "192.168.115.101";
int port = 3000;
The servername variable is basically the IP address of your computer. This will tell the
ESP8266 to send data to the server running on your computer. You need to modify this
variable with the IP address of the computer where your Meteor server will run.
Then, we define the interval between two measurements made by the board:
In the loop() function of the sketch, we actually publish the data at the interval we defined
before:

}
counter = millis();
}
As you can see, the publish() function is quite simple to use: we just pass the client, the
name of the event (here the variables names), and the value to publish.
You can now already upload this code to the board. However, it wont do anything until
we have the server running on your computer.
2.6.4 Record Data to Your Meteor Application

We are now going to see how to record data inside a Meteor application, and how to
access this data. Thanks to the Meteor aREST module, most of it will happen
automatically in the background.
What we are going to do is to display all the measurements on the main page. This is the
code for the interface of the main page:
<body>
<h3>ESP8266 Monitoring</h3>
<div class='row row-title'>
<div class='col-md-3'>Time</div>
<div class='col-md-1'>Device</div>
<div class='col-md-2'>Variable</div>
<div class='col-md-2'>Data</div>
</div>
{{#each events}}
{{> event}}
{{/each}}
</div>
</body>
</template>
You can see that we use a template called event, and this is what we need to define now.
This is the definition of the event template, which is located inside the same file:
<template name='event'>
<div class='row'>
<span class='label label-primary'>
{{livestamp timestamp}}
</span>
</div>
<div class='col-md-1'>{{device}}</div>
<div class='col-md-2'>{{variable}}</div>
<div class='col-md-2'>{{value}}</div>
</div>
</template>
For each event (or each datapoint published by the board and recorded on the server), we
will print the timestamp, the device ID, the variable name, and the value of the recorded
data.
On the server side, we add the device on startup:
});
}
For the client, we create a helper called event to return all the events recorded by the
server:
// Main route
Template.home.helpers({
events: function() {
return Events.find({}, {sort: {timestamp: -1}});
}
});
}
Its now time to test the project! Make sure that you grab the code from the GitHub
repository, and navigate to the folder where the files are located. Then, type:
meteor create .
This will initialize a new Meteor project in this folder. Then, install the aREST Meteor
module with:

meteor
Now, navigate to the app with a web browser at:

You should immediately see the interface displayed on your computer, with no recordings
at the moment:
You should see that after a few seconds, some data will appear on the main page:
Every minute, you will see another couple of points being added to the page:
You can also use the API of the aREST Meteor module to get all events as a JSON array.
Just go to:
http://localhost:3000/1/events
This will immediately return all the events that were recorded by this device so far on this
server. You can now record events on your Meteor server, allowing you to build your own
applications using those recordings! Of course, you can use those events as you wish
inside your own applications.
2.7 Deploy the aREST Application on a Raspberry Pi

In this section, we are going to learn how to run an aREST server on the Raspberry Pi
itself, without the need of any external component or service. We are also going to use the
official Raspberry Pi camera and display the pictures taken by the Raspberry Pi right on a
graphical interface.

Lets first see what we need for this project. You will need components we already used
earlier in this book, like a Raspberry Pi board (B/B+/2), a DHT11 sensor, and a
PowerSwitch tail kit. You will also need the official Raspberry Pi camera.
This is the list of all the components you will need for this project:
Powerswitch tail kit (https://www.adafruit.com/products/268)
DHT11 sensor + 4.7k Ohm resistor (https://www.adafruit.com/products/386)
Raspberry Pi camera (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1367)
You will of course need to have your Raspberry Pi fully configured with Node.js installed,
which should be the case at this point.

Lets now see how to assemble the hardware for this project. First, place the DHT sensor
on the breadboard. The DHT sensor signal pin (pin number 2 of the sensor) has to be
connected on pin 4 of the Raspberry Pi. Also connect the VCC pin (pin number 1 of the
sensor) of the sensor to the RPi 3.3V, and GND to GND. Finally, insert the 4.7K Ohm
resistor between pin number 1 and 2.
For the PowerSwitch Tail Kit, connect the Vin+ pin of the kit to the Raspberry Pi GPIO
pin 7. Then, connect the two other pins to GND pins of the Raspberry Pi.
For the Raspberry Pi camera, the procedure is really simple. Simply insert the Raspberry
Pi camera connector into the dedicated connector on the Raspberry Pi board. Then, secure
the connection with the little piece of plastic on the Pi.
2.7.3 Create a Dashboard on Your Pi

We are now going to see how to create a graphical user interface for your Pi, that will run
on the Raspberry Pi itself. This will be based on the pi-aREST module, that we already
used before.
Inside the main app.js file of a typical pi-aREST project, you simply need to add a route
for the interface file that we will code in moment:
// Interface routes
app.get('/interface', function(req, res){
res.render('interface');
});
Now, lets see the interface, defined in interface.jade. Jade is basically a templating
language for HTML, that can allow us to easily create HTML files. This is the header of
this file:
doctype
html
head
title Raspberry Pi Interface
link(rel='stylesheet',
href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.0/css/bootstrap.min.css
link(rel='stylesheet',
href="/css/interface.css")
script(src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-2.1.1.min.js")
script(src="/js/interface.js")
Then, this is how we define the interface, with buttons to control the PowerSwitch Tail
Kit, indicators for sensor data, and a space for the picture taken by the camera:
body
.container
h1 Raspberry Pi Interface
.row.voffset
.col-md-4
div Lamp
.col-md-4
button.btn.btn-block.btn-lg.btn-primary#on On
.col-md-4
button.btn.btn-block.btn-lg.btn-danger#off Off
.row.voffset
.col-md-6
div#temperature Temperature:
.col-md-6
div#humidity Humidity:
.row.voffset
.col-md-6
img#camera(width=640, height=360)
Now, we will define the behavior of the interface in a file called interface.js. First, we need
to link the buttons of the interface to the corresponding aREST commands:
// Click on buttons
$("#on").click(function() {
$.get('/digital/7/1');
});
$("#off").click(function() {
$.get('/digital/7/0');
});
Then, we define functions to refresh the data coming from the sensor:
function refreshSensors() {
$.get('/temperature', function(json_data) {
$("#temperature").text('Temperature: ' + json_data.temperature + ' C');
$.get('/humidity', function(json_data) {
$("#humidity").text('Humidity: ' + json_data.humidity + ' %');
});
});
}
We also execute this function every 5 seconds:

refreshSensors();
setInterval(refreshSensors, 5000);
Now, lets see how to take a picture from the camera at regular intervals. This is
something that is also integrated into the pi-aREST module, using the /camera/snapshot
command. We define a function inside the script to take a new picture every 10 seconds,
and we use this picture to refresh the picture inside the interface:
// Take picture
$.get("/camera/snapshot");
}, 10000);
// Reload picture
d = new Date();
$("#camera").attr("src","/pictures/image.jpg?" + d.getTime());
}, 1000);
Its now time to test the project! Make sure to grab the code from the GitHub repository of
the book, put all the files in a folder, and navigate to this folder using a terminal. Then,
type:
sudo npm install node-dht-sensor express pi-arest
Be patient, this can take a while on older Raspberry Pi boards. Then, start the project with:
sudo node app.js
Now, you can access the interface by going to the IP address of your Pi, followed by port
3000, and the interface route. For example:
http://localhost:3000/interface
You should immediately see the interface inside your browser, with the buttons, sensor
data, and also the picture taken by the Pi. Note that this interface is really running on the
Pi itself, and does not require an external computer to work.
2.8 Record & Plot data from Your aREST Devices

In this section, we are going to learn how to record & plot live data coming from an
Arduino board. We will connect a simple sensor to an Arduino Ethernet board, and make
it send data to an aREST Meteor server. Then, on your computer we are going to use this
data to make a live plot of the recorded data.

Lets first what you need for this project. We are going to use components that we already
used before, like an Arduino Uno, and Ethernet shield, a a DHT11 sensor.
This is the list of all components we will use in this project:

First, place the DHT sensor on the breadboard. The DHT sensor signal pin (pin number 2
of the sensor) has to be connected on pin 7 of the Arduino board. Also connect the VCC
pin (pin number 1 of the sensor) of the sensor to the Arduino 5V pin, and GND to GND.
Finally, insert the 4.7K Ohm resistor between pin number 1 and 2.
2.8.3 Configuring Your Ethernet Board

Lets now configure the board. This is a sketch we already more or less, as it uses the
same publish() function that we discovered earlier in the chapter.
// Libraries
#include <SPI.h>
#include <aREST.h>
#include "DHT.h"
// DHT 11 sensor
#define DHTPIN 7
// Remote server
char* servername = "192.168.115.101";
int port = 3000;
// DHT sensor

// Ethernet server & client
EthernetClient restClient;
// Counter
int counter;
// Measurement interval
int temperature;
int humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
rest.set_id("1");
}
server.begin();
// Start counter
counter = millis();
}
void loop() {
// Make measurements
humidity = (int)dht.readHumidity();
temperature = (int)dht.readTemperature();
// Publish
}
counter = millis();
}
// Listen for incoming clients
}
There are some things you will need to modify in this sketch. First, modify the MAC
address and put the one from your Ethernet shield.
Then, you need to set the IP address of the server inside the sketch:
char* servername = "192.168.115.101";
int port = 3000;
In the loop() function, we publish data (temperature and humidity) to the server at regular
intervals:
}
counter = millis();
}
You can now already upload the code to the board. Also open the Serial monitor to get the
IP address of the board. At this point it wont do anything, as you need the server to be
running on your computer.
2.8.4 Recording & Plotting Data

We are now going to see how to configure a server using the Meteor aREST module, so it
can record data, and plot it in live straight into your web browser.
Lets first define the interface. This is the home template, where we define two graphs:
<body>
<h3>Ethernet Monitoring</h3>
<div class='row'>
{{> highchartsHelper chartId="temperature"
chartWidth="100%" charHeight="100%"
chartObject=temperatureChart}}
</div>
{{> highchartsHelper chartId="humidity"
chartObject=humidityChart}}
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</template>
The most important elements in this interface are the charts, defined by the following line
(here for temperature):
{{> highchartsHelper chartId="temperature"
chartObject=temperatureChart}}
For this project, we are going to use HighCharts (http://www.highcharts.com/) to plot the
data recorded on the server. This is a very convenient library to plot data in JavaScript
applications, and it is easy to integrate in Meteor.
On the server side, we need to add the board in our project:
});
}
Then, in the rendered function, we need to format the data so it can be used by the charts
elements. This is done by the following piece of code:
Tracker.autorun(function () {
// Get all events for temperature
eventsTemperature = Events.find({variable: 'temperature'}).fetch();
eventsHumidity = Events.find({variable: 'humidity'}).fetch();
// Split in arrays
timestamps = [];
temperatureData = [];
humidityData = [];
for (i = 0; i < eventsTemperature.length; i++){
timestamps.push(moment(eventsTemperature[i].timestamp).format('HH:mm'));
temperatureData.push(parseFloat(eventsTemperature[i].value));
humidityData.push(parseFloat(eventsHumidity[i].value));
}
// Set session variables
Session.set('timestamps', timestamps);
Session.set('temperatureData', temperatureData);
Session.set('humidityData', humidityData);
});
}
Especially notice this function:

Tracker.autorun()
This will ensure that the data is refreshed whenever a new measurement point comes in,
and therefore that we will plot live data.
Then, we can finally link this data to the charts we defined before. This is for example for
the temperature chart:
Template.home.temperatureChart = function() {
return {
title: {
text: 'Temperature',
x: -20 //center
},
xAxis: {
categories: Session.get('timestamps'),
tickInterval: 10
},
yAxis: {
title: {
text: 'Temperature (C)'
},
plotLines: [{
value: 0,
width: 1,
color: '#808080'
}]
},
tooltip: {
valueSuffix: 'C'
},
series: [{
name: 'Temperature',
data: Session.get('temperatureData')
}]
};
};
Its now time to test the project! First, grab all the code from the GitHub repository of the
book:
Then, navigate to the folder where the files are located with a terminal, and type:
meteor create .
After that, add the aREST Meteor module and the HighCharts module with:
meteor add maazalik:highcharts marcoschwartz:arest
Finally, start the application with:

meteor
To access the plots, go to:

http://localhost:3000/
You should immediately see the live recording of the data being displayed on your screen.
This is the result after several minutes of recording:
You can of course build on this project to make other recording applications. For example,
you can personalize the graphs for your own needs, by visiting the HighCharts website
and looking at the examples there. You can also add more boards to the projects, and plot
all the data in live inside the application.
2.9 Example project: Simple Wireless Home Automation

System
As an example for this chapter, we are going to build another home automation project.
This time, we are going to use what we learned in this chapter to build a simple home
automation system based on the ESP8266 board.
We will use three different boards to make a simple motion sensor, a lamp controller, and
temperature & humidity sensor. Then, we will integrate everything into a single
dashboard.

First, lets see what we need for this project. There will be three parts in this project: a
temperature & humidity measurement module, a lamp controller module, and a motion
sensor module.
These are the required components for the temperature & humidity sensor module:
These are the required components for the lamp controller module:
PowerSwitch tail (https://www.adafruit.com/products/268)
These are the required components for the motion sensor module:
PIR motion sensor (https://www.adafruit.com/products/189)
For all modules, you will need a FTDI USB converter to program the ESP8266 chip:

Lets first assemble the sensor board. Connect the DHT sensor signal pin (pin number 2 of
the sensor) has to be connected on pin 4 of the ESP8266. Also connect the VCC pin (pin
number 1 of the sensor) of the sensor to the ESP8266 3.3V pin, and GND to GND. This is
the completely assembled sensor module:
Now, for the lamp controller, connect the Vin+ pin of the kit to the ESP8266 pin 4. Then,
connect the two other pins to GND pins of the ESP8266.
This is the assembled lamp controller:
Also connect a lamp or another appliance to the PowerSwitch Tail, and the other end of
the PowerSwitch Tail to the mains electricity.
The motion sensor module is quite easy to assemble. Connect the OUT (or SIG) pin of the
motion sensor to pin number 5 of the ESP8266. Then, connect the VCC pin of the sensor
to the 3.3V, and GND to GND.
This is the completely assembled motion sensor:
2.9.3 Configure Your Sensor Board

We are now going to configure one board after the other, starting by the sensor board. This
is the complete code for this module:
#include <aREST.h>
#include "DHT.h"
#define DHTPIN 5
// WiFi parameters
// Variables
float temperature;
float humidity;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Init DHT
dht.begin();
rest.set_id("1");
rest.set_name("esp8266_control");
// Expose variables
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Start the server
server.begin();
}
void loop() {
if (!client) {
return;
}
delay(1);
}
}
This is already a sketch with saw several times, so I wont detail it here. Just make sure to
change your WiFi name and password, and upload the sketch to the board. Then, open the
Serial monitor and reset the board to get the IP address of the board.
Now, just check that the board is responding to aREST commands by typing the following
command in your web browser, of course by changing the IP address:
You should get the answer in JSON format:

{
"id": "1",
"name": "esp8266_control",
"connected": true
}
2.9.4 Configure Your Lamp Control Board

Lets now move on to the lamp controller module. This is the complete sketch for this
part:
#include <aREST.h>
// WiFi parameters
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
rest.set_id("2");
rest.set_name("esp8266_lamp");
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Start the server
server.begin();
}
void loop() {
if (!client) {
return;
}
delay(1);
}
}
This is already a sketch with saw several times, so I wont detail it here. Just make sure to
change your WiFi name and password, and upload the sketch to the board. Then, open the
Serial monitor and reset the board to get the IP address of the board.
Now, just check that the board is responding to aREST commands by typing the following
command in your web browser, of course by changing the IP address:
http://192.168.115.105/mode/4/o
Then, switch on the lamp or the appliance connected to the PowerSwitch Tail by typing:
http://192.168.115.105/digital/4/1
2.9.5 Configure the Motion Sensor Board

Finally, we are going to configure the motion sensor board. This is the complete sketch for
this part:
#include <aREST.h>
// Remote server
char* servername = "192.168.115.101";
int port = 3000;
// WiFi parameters
WiFiClient restClient;
// Variable
bool motion = false;
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
rest.set_id("3");
rest.set_name("esp8266_motion");
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Start the server
server.begin();
// Set motion sensor pin
pinMode(5, INPUT);
}
void loop() {
bool motionStatus = digitalRead(5);
// Publish
if (motionStatus != motion) {
rest.publish(restClient, "motion", motionStatus);
}
}
motion = motionStatus;

if (!client) {
return;
}
delay(1);
}
}
This is already a sketch with saw several times, so I wont detail it too much here. What
changes here is that we only publish data to the server when we detect a change on the
motion detector, which is done by the following piece of code:
bool motionStatus = digitalRead(5);
// Publish
if (motionStatus != motion) {
rest.publish(restClient, "motion", motionStatus);
}
}
motion = motionStatus;
Just make sure to change your WiFi name and password, as well as the IP address of your
computer, and upload the sketch to the board. Then, open the Serial monitor and reset the
board to get the IP address of the board.
2.9.6 Build Your Home Automation Dashboard

Its now time to build the home automation dashboard that will allow us to control
everything within the same interface. It will again be based on the Meteor framework,
along with the aREST Meteor module.
We first define the interface of the project:
<body>
<h3>Home Automation System</h3>
<div class='row'>
<div class='col-md-3'>Temperature:
<span id='temperature'></span> C</div>
<div class='col-md-3'>Humidity:
<span id='humidity'></span>%</div>
</div>
<div class='row'>

On
</button>
</div>
Off
</button>
</div>
</div>
<div class='row'>
<div class="col-md-2">Motion sensor:</div>
<div class="col-md-2"><span id='motion'>{{motionStatus}}</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</template>
The interface is composed of three elements: buttons to control the lamp, text indicators
for the sensor readings, and finally another indicator for the motion sensor status.
Then, on the server side, we add the three modules to the server:
// Add device
});
}
Then, in the rendered function, we set pin 4 to an output, and also refresh the
measurements from the sensors:
// Set pin
Meteor.call('pinMode', 2, 4, 'o');
console.log(data);
});
});
}
We also create a dedicated helper for the motion sensor status. As this is directly linked to
the database of Meteor, this will be automatically refreshed whenever a new status is
recorded by the application. This is the code to do that:
Template.home.helpers({
motionStatus: function() {
// Motion sensor
var sensorState = Events.find({}, {sort: {timestamp: -1}}).fetch()[0];
console.log(sensorState);
if (sensorState.value == '1') {
return 'Motion detected';
}
if (sensorState.value == '0') {
return 'No motion';
}
}
});
Finally, we define two events to link the buttons inside the interface:
Meteor.call('digitalWrite', "2", 4, 1);
},
Meteor.call('digitalWrite', "2", 4, 0);
}
});
Finally, we define a route for the page containing the interface:

Now, grab all the code from the GitHub repository of the book, and put it all inside a
folder on your computer. Then, initialise a new Meteor project with:
meteor create .
Then, install the aREST meteor module with:

Finally, start the project using:

meteor
You can now go to your favorite browser and type:

You should see the interface of your home automation system:
You can now try it, for example by clicking on a button. You can also pass your hand in
front of the motion sensor: the indicator inside the interface will change immediately.
You can of course now connect more modules to the interface, as its really easy to do
using the Meteor aREST module. At the end, you can have a complex home automation
system based on the aREST framework.

In this chapter, we learned how to control your aREST projects using graphical interfaces
running on your computer. We learned how to control your projects from a simple web
page, and also from a web server. Finally, as an example for this chapter, we built a
complete home automation system based on aREST.
You can now experiment with what you learned in this chapter, and create your own
projects based on it. What we saw in this chapter is especially useful when you want to
create projects with several aREST boards, that you want to control & monitor within the
same interface.
In the next chapter, we are going to see another important part of aREST that was
introduced in 2015 into the framework: the cloud access. You will learn how to access any
of your aREST projects from anywhere in the world, and control your projects from cloud
dashboards.
3 Access Your Boards From the Cloud

This chapter will be focused on the cloud access of the aREST framework. Indeed, aREST
makes it really easy to control your projects from anywhere in the world. We will learn
how to control individual boards from a cloud server, and then how to control several
boards from a cloud dashboard. At the end of the chapter, you will even learn how to
deploy your own aREST cloud server!
3.1 Access your Arduino Boards from Anywhere

aREST can be used to control Arduino boards from anywhere in the world, by
communicating with the board via MQTT commands through the Ethernet library. The
Arduino board basically acts as a web client that accepts incoming commands from the
cloud.arest.io website, and process those commands via the library. You can then control
your Arduino board via any web browser, anywhere in the world, via cURL calls, or via
web-based applications.

You will need an Arduino board, like an Arduino Uno that was used for this project. You
will also need an Ethernet shield for Arduino. You will also need one LED, one 220 Ohm
You will also need to install the PubSubClient library via the Arduino library manager.

Simply place the Arduino Ethernet shield on your Arduino board, and connect the shield
to your local network using an Ethernet cable.
Arduino board, and the remaining pin of the LED to the GND pin.
3.1.3 Control Your Boards from the Cloud

We are now going to configure your Arduino board so it can be accessed from anywhere
in the world. As we will see, the sketch is mainly similar to the one we used to control our
aREST projects within your own local network.
// Libraries
#include <SPI.h>
#include "Ethernet.h"
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include <aREST.h>

// Clients
EthernetClient ethClient;
PubSubClient client(ethClient);
aREST rest = aREST(client);
// Unique ID to identify the device for cloud.arest.io
char* device_id = "9u2co4";
void setup() {
// Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
Serial.println("Hello aREST !");
// Set callback
client.setCallback(callback);
rest.set_id(device_id);
rest.set_name("arduino");
// Start the Ethernet connection
}
// Set output topic
char* out_topic = rest.get_topic();
}
void loop() {
// Connect to the cloud
rest.loop(client);
}
// Handles message arrived on subscribed topic(s)
void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length) {
rest.handle_callback(client, topic, payload, length);
}
Lets see what we modified compared to other aREST sketches we saw so far. The cloud
version of aREST uses MQTT t communicate with a server deployed in the cloud, so well
need to set several things related to MQTT communications.
First, we included the PubSubClient library in addition to the other required libraries:
#include <SPI.h>
#include "Ethernet.h"
#include <aREST.h>
We also need to client a PubSubClient client instance, and to pass it to aREST:

PubSubClient client(ethClient);
Then, in the setup() function, we set the callback. Well see what that does later:
We also set an ID for our aREST device. This is very important, as it will identify the
device on the cloud server. You will use this ID later to control your board from the cloud
server. Please modify this ID here so you have your own unique ID on the server:
We also set the output topic for the aREST cloud server communications:
In the loop() function, we simply need to pass the client instance to aREST:
Finally, we define the callback that we set before:

}
This function will simply handle the data received by the board via MQTT from the cloud
server, and answer accordingly.
You can now open the Arduino IDE and open the code for this project. Save the sketch
somewhere, and modify MAC address inside the sketch. You will find the MAC address
below the Ethernet shield. Also give an unique ID to your board. Then, upload the sketch
to the Arduino board.
Go to your favorite web browser, and type:
cloud.arest.io/9u2co4/id
You should immediately get the answer from the server:

{
"id": "9u2co4",
"name": "arduino",
"connected": true
Now, try to power down the device, wait around 10 seconds, and type the same command
again. You should get the following answer:
{
"message": "Requested device is not online",
"connected": false,
"id": "9u2co4"
}
Next, activate the device again, and type the following inside your browser:
cloud.arest.io/9u2co4/mode/5/o
This will make pin number 5, which is connected to the LED, to an output. After that,
type:
cloud.arest.io/9u2co4/digital/5/1
You should get the following answer:

{
"message": "Pin D5 set to 1",
"id": "9u2co4",
"name": "arduino",
"connected": true
}
This will make a digitalWrite() command to pin 5 and it will turn the LED on. If that
works, it means that aREST is working correctly, and that you can access your board from
anywhere in the world.
3.2 Control your Raspberry Pi using a Cloud API

So far in this book, we saw how to control your projects based on the Raspberry Pi from
within your local network, using the aREST framework. In this section, we are going to
take another approach. We are going to see how to connect your Raspberry Pi to the
aREST cloud server, so it can be controlled from anywhere in the world.
You will then be able to call the aREST API from any web browser or web application.
This will allow you to control your Raspberry Pi from the dashboard that comes with the
API, but also from your own web applications if you wish. As an example, we will see
how to read the data from a sensor & how to control a lamp.

In order to illustrate the functionalities of the project in this chapter, we are going to use a
setup that we already saw earlier in this book: we will connect a DHT11 sensor to the
Raspberry Pi to measure temperature & humidity, and also a PowerSwitch Tail Kit to
control a lamp or other electrical devices.
This is the list of the components you will need for this project:

saw earlier in the book. For this project, you can either use a cobbler kit as we did in
earlier chapters, or just wire directly the Pi to the breadboard.
The first step is to connect the pin number 1 of the PowerSwitch to pin number 13 of the
Raspberry Pi. Finally, connect the two other pins of the PowerSwitch to a GND pin of the
Raspberry Pi.
the Raspberry Pi. Also connect the VCC pin (pin number 1 of the sensor) of the sensor to
the RPi 3.3V, and GND to GND. Finally, insert the 4.7K Ohm resistor between pin
number 1 and 2.
3.2.3 Connecting to the Cloud Server

Its now time to connect our Raspberry Pi project to the aREST cloud server, that we will
use to control it remotely.
As usual, we will use Node.js to connect our Pi to the aREST live server which is
deployed in the cloud. This is the complete code for this part:
// Libraries
var sensorLib = require('node-dht-sensor');
// Set ID & name
piREST.set_id('p5dgwt');
piREST.set_name('pi_cloud');
// Connect to cloud.aREST.io
piREST.connect();
// Start server
});
// Sensor readout
var sensor = {
initialize: function () {
return sensorLib.initialize(11, 4);
},
read: function () {
// Read
var readout = sensorLib.read();
temperature = readout.temperature.toFixed(2);
humidity = readout.humidity.toFixed(2);
// Set variables
piREST.variable('temperature', temperature);
piREST.variable('humidity', humidity);
console.log('Temperature: ' + temperature + 'C, ' +
'humidity: ' + humidity + '%');
// Repeat
setTimeout(function () {
sensor.read();
}, 2000);
}
};
// Init sensor
if (sensor.initialize()) {
sensor.read();
} else {
console.warn('Failed to initialize sensor');
}
Lets now see the most important parts of this code. First, we declare the Node.js modules
that we will use for this project:
Then, we set an ID & a name to our project. Make sure to modify the ID, as it will identify
your Raspberry Pi project on the aREST server:
piREST.set_name('pi_cloud');
After that, the rest of the code is dedicated to connecting to the cloud server. At the end of
the code, we initialise the DHT11 sensor:
sensor.read();
} else {
}
Note that you can find all the code inside the GitHub repository of the book:
Its now time to test it. Put all the code into a file (named here cloud.js), and inside the
folder where the file is located type:
sudo npm install pi-arest express node-dht-sensor
This will take a while, especially on the first versions of the Raspberry Pi. After that, type:
sudo node cloud.js
This will connect the Raspberry Pi to the cloud API, and you should see the confirmation
in the console.
We are now going to use the cloud API by hand before using it from a dashboard later in
this book. For that, go to your favorite web browser, and type:
https://cloud.arest.io/p5dgwt/temperature
Of course, replace the ID of the board in the URL by the one you set in the code. You
should get the answer of the Pi in JSON format:
{
"id": "p5dgwt",
"name": "pi_cloud",
"hardware": "rpi",
"connected": true,
"temperature": 24
}
As you can see, the temperature is returned as a field in the JSON object. This will be
useful for later to grab the temperature from a dashboard.
We can now do the same to turn on any electrical device connected to the PowerSwitch
tail kit:
https://cloud.arest.io/p5dgwt/digital/13/1
You will get the confirmation as a JSON message:

{
"id": "p5dgwt",
"name": "pi_cloud",
"hardware": "rpi",
"connected": true,
"message": "Pin 13 set to 1"
}
Its really important here to notice that those commands are called from a cloud server,
and that they can be called from anywhere in the world!
3.3 Use Your ESP8266 Boards as Internet of Things Modules

aREST can be used to control ESP8266 boards from anywhere in the world, by
communicating with the ESP8266 via MQTT commands. The ESP8266 board basically
acts as a web client that accepts incoming commands from the cloud.arest.io website, and
process those commands via the library. You can then control your ESP8266 board via any
web browser, anywhere in the world, via cURL calls, or via web-based applications.
3.3.1 Hardware & Software Configuration

You will need an ESP8266 board, like the Adafruit ESP8266 board that was used for this
guide. To program the board, you will need a FTDI breakout board. You will also need
one LED, one 220 Ohm resistor, a breadboard, and some jumper wires.
You will need to get & install the aREST Arduino library and the PubSub library. You can
install those libraries using the Arduino library manager.
You will also need to install the ESP8266 boards definitions for Arduino. You can find the
procedure at the following link:
https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino

Simply place the ESP8266 board on your breadboard, and then connect the FTDI breakout
board to it.
ESP8266 board, and the remaining pin of the LED to the GND pin.
3.3.3 Controlling Your ESP8266 Remotely

We are now going to connect your ESP8266 board to the aREST cloud server. This is the
complete code for this part:
#include <aREST.h>
// Clients
WiFiClient espClient;
PubSubClient client(espClient);
// WiFi parameters
// Declare functions to be exposed to the API
int ledControl(String command);
// Functions
void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length);
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Set callback
// Function to be exposed
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Set output topic
}
void loop() {
rest.loop(client);
}

}
// Custom function accessible by the API
return 1;
}
As you can see, the code is quite similar to what we saw earlier in this book. What you
need to change here is the device ID, which identifies the device on the network:
Then, modify the WiFi network name and password in the code:
You can now open the Arduino IDE, and grab the code from the GitHub repository of the
book. Save the sketch somewhere, and modify the WiFi name & password inside the
sketch. Also give an unique ID to your board. Then, upload the sketch to the ESP8266
board. Go to your favourite web browser, and type:
cloud.arest.io/9u2co4/id
You should immediately get the answer in JSON format:

{
"id": "9u2co4",
"name": "esp8266",
"connected": true
}
Its also easy to call a function present on the board, that has been exposed to the aREST
API. First, type:
cloud.arest.io/9u2co4/mode/5/o
After that, type the following command to call the function:

cloud.arest.io/9u2co4/led?params=1
Then, you will get the answer in JSON format:

{
"return_value": 1,
"id": "9u2co4",
"name": "esp8266",
"connected": true
}
You can now control your ESP8266 boards from anywhere! As they only cost around $5,
it makes it the perfect solution for your Internet of Things projects.
3.4 Build Your Own Dashboard to Control your Devices

From the Cloud
We are now able to control any board from the cloud using the aREST cloud API. In this
section, we are going to see how to create our first online dashboard to control an
ESP8266 board from the cloud, using aREST.
You will be able to build your own dashboard to control a LED remotely. Well also see
how to read data from your board and display it inside the dashboard. Lets start!

The hardware requirements for this section are really similar to other projects in which we
already used the ESP8266 chip.
This is the list of the required hardware for this chapter:
For the software part, you will need to instal the PubSubClient library for the Arduino
IDE.
You also need to have the ESP8266 board definitions installed inside your Arduino IDE
software.

Lets now assemble the hardware for this chapter. To help you out, this is the schematic for
this chapter:
First, place the ESP8266 board on the breadboard. Then, place the resistor in series with
the LED. Connect the resistor to pin number 5 of the ESP8266 board, and the other end of
the LED to one GND pin of the ESP8266.
3.4.3 Setting Up Your ESP8266 Board

Its now time to configure the ESP8266 board so it can connect to the aREST cloud server.
This is the complete code for this chapter:
#include <aREST.h>
// Clients
char* device_id = "3g83df";
// WiFi parameters
const char* ssid = "your-wifi-name";
const char* password = "your-wifi-password";
int temperature;
int humidity;
// Functions
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Set callback
temperature = 24;
humidity = 40;
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Set output topic
}
void loop() {
rest.loop(client);
}
}
For this section, I didnt want to complicate things by using a sensor, so I just defined two
variables that contains data:
int temperature;
int humidity;
In the setup() function, I assigned some arbitrary values to those variables:
temperature = 24;
humidity = 40;
Of course, you could perfectly connect a sensor to your board, and use the readings from
this sensor to feed the aREST variables that we declared in the sketch.
As usual, you will also need to change the ID of the device in the sketch, as well as you
WiFi name & password.
After that, put the board in bootloader mode, and upload the code to the board. You can
quickly check in the Serial monitor that the board is indeed connected to aREST.io.
3.4.4 Controlling Output

Lets now see how to control the LED from a dashboard that we will create. To do that, we
need to introduce a new tool inside the aREST framework: the cloud dashboard service,
which is available at:
http://dashboard.arest.io/
Go to this URL, and create an account. You will instantly be taken to the page where you
can create a new dashboard:
After creating a new dashboard, you will see it in the main window:
Click on your newly created dashboard, and create a first element to control the LED on
the board. Put a name, the ID of your device, and also assign pin 5 to this dashboard
element. This is how it looks like:
Then, add the element by clicking on the Create button, and you will see that the element
has been added to the dashboard:
Finally, its time to test your dashboard element! Simply click on the ON button: you
should immediately see the LED turning on on your board.
Also note that every time you create a new dashboard element to control a digital pin, this
pin is automatically set as an output by the cloud API.
3.4.5 Displaying Data

We are now going to move further with the dashboard we created earlier, and display the
data that is present on the board inside the dashboard.
Go back to the dashboard, and create a new element with the same device ID, of the
variable type, linked to the temperature variable:
You will rapidly see the value of the variable displayed in your dashboard. You can now
do the same for the temperature variable:
You can now create a dashboard to control a single board, in the cloud, using the aREST
framework. You can of course use what you learned in this chapter to control all kind of
on/off devices from your dashboard, for example a relay.
You can also use the cloud dashboard service to display temperature, humidity, or
measurements coming from other sensors.
3.5 Control Several Boards from a Single Dashboard

In this section, we are going to expand on what we learned in the previous project. Instead
of controlling a single board, we are going to see how to control several boards from the
same online dashboard. This is great if you want to have several home automation projects
based on the Raspberry Pi, all located in different rooms in your home.
We are first going to setup two Raspberry Pi boards, and connect them to the same cloud
API we used in the previous chapter. Then, we will control those boards within the same
online dashboard. Lets start!

We are first going to see what we need for this section. There will be basically two
different projects: one Raspberry Pi will be attached to the DHT11 sensor that already
used earlier in this book, and the other Raspberry Pi to a PowerSwitch Tail Kit so you can
control electrical appliances.
For the Raspberry Pi that will be used to control electrical appliances, this is the list of the
components you will need:
For the Raspberry Pi that will be used to measure data, this is the list of the components
you will need:
Both of the Raspberry Pi boards should of course be configured as we already configured
all of them before. This means having Raspbian installed, along with Node.js, and
connected to your local network & to the Internet.

saw earlier in the book. There are two projects to configure here, so I will treat them
separately.
For the Raspberry Pi that will be used to control electrical appliances, the first step is to
connect the pin number 1 of the PowerSwitch to pin number 13 of the Raspberry Pi.
Finally, connect the two other pins of the PowerSwitch to a GND pin of the Raspberry Pi.
For the other Raspberry Pi, the DHT sensor signal pin (pin number 2 of the sensor) has to
be connected on pin 4 of the Raspberry Pi. Also connect the VCC pin (pin number 1 of the
sensor) of the sensor to the RPi 3.3V, and GND to GND. Finally, insert the 4.7K Ohm
resistor between pin number 1 and 2.
This is a close-up of the final result:
3.5.3 Connecting Your Boards the Cloud Server

Lets now connect both boards to the cloud server. Again, we will use the cloud API from
the aREST framework. Well first take care about the Raspberry Pi that is attached to the
DHT11 sensor:
// Libraries
// Set ID & name
piREST.set_name('pi_sensor');
piREST.connect();
// Start server
});
// Sensor readout
var sensor = {
initialize: function () {
return sensorLib.initialize(11, 4);
},
read: function () {
// Read
var readout = sensorLib.read();
temperature = readout.temperature.toFixed(2);
humidity = readout.humidity.toFixed(2);
// Set variables
piREST.variable('temperature', temperature);
piREST.variable('humidity', humidity);
console.log('Temperature: ' + temperature + 'C, ' +
'humidity: ' + humidity + '%');
// Repeat
setTimeout(function () {
sensor.read();
}, 2000);
}
};
// Init sensor
sensor.read();
} else {
}
As for the previous chapter, make sure to give an unique ID to the board. Also, make sure
to give a name to the board here, it will be used in the dashboard to identify which boards
is connected to the dashboards functions.
Its now time to connect this Raspberry Pi to the cloud server. Put all the code into a file
(named here cloud.js), and inside the folder where the file is located type:
sudo npm install pi-arest express node-dht-sensor
sudo node cloud.js
in the console.
Lets now deal with the Raspberry Pi that will control an electrical appliance. This is the
code for this Pi:
// Libraries
// Set ID & name
piREST.set_id('r6hwcy');
piREST.set_name('pi_lamp');
piREST.connect();
// Start server
});
As with the other Pi, make sure to modify the ID & name in the code.
Again, we will connect this Pi to the cloud API. Put all the code into a file (named here
cloud.js), and inside the folder where the file is located type:
sudo node cloud.js
in the console.
Both our Raspberry Pi boards are now connected to the cloud API. You can test that a
board is actually connected by typing the ID in the board after the URL of the cloud API
server. For example:
https://cloud.arest.io/p5dgwt
If you can see the device answering with its name and ID, it means that it is currently
online.
3.5.4 Adding all Boards to a Cloud Dashboard

We are now going to see how to control all those boards using a cloud dashboard. We will
use the same aREST dashboard service that we used in the previous section. Just head
over to:
After creating an account there, add a new dashboard:
From there, you will be able to access all the variables from your Pi board and control
them remotely. First, add the temperature & humidity indicators from the Raspberry board
with the DHT sensor:
As you can see, the name of the device will appear on the dashboard, so you can easily
identify to which device the data corresponds.
Finally, add an On/Off element for the second Raspberry Pi. This is is the final result
inside the dashboard:
Of course, feel free to try the button for example. Any electrical appliance connected to
the second Raspberry Pi should immediately turn on. Congratulations, you can now
control several devices from your a cloud dashboard, from anywhere in the world!
In this section, we integrated several Raspberry Pi boards into a single dashboard, so you
can control your home automation projects from anywhere. Of course, you could perfectly
add more boards to the project, and control them all from a single interface. And you can
of course pack several sensors and controllers on every board as well!
3.6 Deploy your own aREST cloud server

So far in this chapter, we saw how to connect your devices to the aREST cloud server.
This is a very convenient way to instantly connect any device to the cloud and access it
from anywhere.
However, there are cases where you want to use your own server, for safety reasons for
example. Luckily for you, aREST is completely open-source, and you can actually use the
code on your own cloud server.
In this section, we are going to see how to deploy your own aREST-based cloud server
and connect a device to it.
3.6.1 Create & Configure Your Digital Ocean Account

The first step for this section is to have somewhere where you can deploy your server
code. I will use Digital Ocean for that, which is a very convenient and cheap service to
create a server in the cloud. You can go create an account at:
https://www.digitalocean.com/
Once this is done, create a Droplet, which is a server instance in the cloud:
As the image, choose Ubuntu:
You can choose the cheapest plan, as we wont need a lot of computing power:
Finally, create the Droplet:
You will see the Droplet in the list of Droplets on your account, along with the IP address
of the Droplet:
You will need this IP address in a moment. Now, you should also have received a
password via email. However, I recommend setting up SSH keys on your computer, to
access your server without password. You can learn how to do it using the tutorial found
on this page:
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-ssh-keys2
3.6.2 Deploy Your Cloud Server

We are now going to deploy the aREST code on your freshly created cloud server. First,
grab the code from:
https://github.com/marcoschwartz/meteor-arest-mqtt
Put the code in a folder on your computer, and type:
meteor create .
This will initialise a new Meteor project. Then, install the required Meteor modules with:
meteor add meteorhacks:npm percolate:synced-cron iron:router http
After that, simply test the project with:

meteor
If everything goes well, stop the local Meteor server. We are now going to install a tool
called Meteor Up to easily deploy our project on your Digital Ocean server. For that, type:
npm install -g mup
Followed by:
mup init
This will create several files in your folder, including a file called mup.json. Open this file,
and paste the following code:
{
// Server authentication info
"servers": [
{
"host": "159.203.92.147",
"username": "root",
//"password": "password"
// or pem file (ssh based authentication)
"pem": "~/.ssh/id_rsa"
}
],
// Install MongoDB in the server,
// does not destroy local MongoDB on future setup
"setupMongo": true,
// WARNING: Node.js is required! Only skip
// if you already have Node.js installed on server.
"setupNode": true,
// WARNING: If nodeVersion omitted will setup 0.10.36 by default.
// Do not use v, only version number.
"nodeVersion": "0.10.40",
// Install PhantomJS in the server
"setupPhantom": true,
// Show a progress bar during the upload of the bundle to the server.
// Might cause an error in some rare cases if set to true,
// for instance in Shippable CI
"enableUploadProgressBar": true,
// Application name (No spaces)
"appName": "arest",
// Location of app (local directory)
"app": ".",
// Configure environment
"env": {
"ROOT_URL": "http://localhost",
"PORT": 3000
},
// Meteor Up checks if the app comes online just after the deployment
// before mup checks that, it will wait for no. of seconds configured below
"deployCheckWaitTime": 15
}
The only thing you need to modify here is the IP address of your Droplet, and also insert
your password if you are using the password method to access your server.
Then, you can configure the server with:
mup setup
When this is done, deploy your application with:

mup deploy
You should see the following in the terminal:

[159.203.92.147] - Uploading bundle
[159.203.92.147] - Uploading bundle: SUCCESS
[159.203.92.147] - Setting up Environment Variables
[159.203.92.147] - Setting up Environment Variables: SUCCESS
[159.203.92.147] - Invoking deployment process
[159.203.92.147] - Invoking deployment process: SUCCESS
Once this is done, congratulations, your deployed your own aREST server on the cloud!
3.6.3 Connect a Device to Your Cloud Server

This is great, but it wont be finished unless we actually connect a device to the server.
Lets see how to do that. We are again going to use an ESP8266 board for this example.
This is the complete code for this part:
#include <aREST.h>
// Clients
aREST rest = aREST(client, "159.203.92.147");
// WiFi parameters
// Declare functions to be exposed to the API
int ledControl(String command);
// Functions
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Set callback
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Set output topic
}
void loop() {
rest.loop(client);
}
As you can see, the code is really similar to the one we saw earlier in this chapter. The
only difference is this part:
aREST rest = aREST(client, "159.203.92.147");
As you can see, you need to pass the IP address of the server as a second argument. This
will indicate to aREST to connect to your own server and not the aREST cloud server.
Now, configure the board with the code we just saw, by making sure to insert the IP
address of your server, and also to enter your WiFi name and password.
Then, upload the code to the board. You can now check the connection with your own
server by going to the IP address of the Droplet, followed by port 3000. For example:
http://159.203.92.147:3000/9u2co4/id
You should receive the confirmation from the server:

{
"id": "9u2co4",
"name": "esp8266",
"connected": true
}
Congratulations, you just connected a board to your own cloud server! You can now do
everything we did so far in this chapter, but this time by using your own server. You can
now also buy a domain name if you wish, and redirect it to the IP address of your Droplet.
3.7 Example project: Remote Data Monitoring from

Multiple Boards
As an example for this chapter, we are going to see how to deploy a remote data
monitoring system based on the ESP8266 module. We will see how to configure the
boards, and then monitor them within a single cloud dashboard.
This is great for real-life applications, like the monitoring of a remote house or cabin,
where you need to monitor data at several places in the location you want to monitor.

For this example project, you will need components that we already used in previous
sections of this chapter, like an ESP8266 module, a DHT sensor, and breadboard &
jumper wires.
This is the list of the required components for one module:
I used two modules for this example, but you can of course use as many as you wish.

Lets now see how to configure a given module. First, place the ESP8266 module on the
breadboard, and also place the DHT11 sensor on it.
the ESP8266. Also connect the VCC pin (pin number 1 of the sensor) of the sensor to the
ESP8266 3.3V pin, and GND to GND.
This is the final result, using two monitoring modules based on the ESP8266:
3.7.3 Configuring the Boards

Lets now configure our modules. This is the complete code for this part:
#include <aREST.h>
#include "DHT.h"
#define DHTPIN 5
// Clients
// WiFi parameters
const char* ssid = "your-wifi-name";
const char* password = "your-wifi-password";
float temperature;
float humidity;
// Functions
void setup(void)
{
// Start Serial
// Init DHT
dht.begin();
// Set callback
rest.set_name("sensor2");
// Connect to WiFi
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println("");
// Set output topic
}
void loop() {
rest.loop(client);
}
}
There are some things you will need to change here before uploading the code. For each
module, you need to set your own WiFi network name and password. Note that you could
perfectly use different WiFi networks for different modules: as they will all connect to the
same cloud server, this wont be an issue.
Then, you need to give an unique ID to every module, defined by the line:
Now, upload the code to each module. You can also verify that each module is connected
to the aREST cloud server by checking the Serial monitor or by sending them the id
command via the aREST cloud server.
3.7.4 Monitoring Data from a Dashboard

We are now going to create a new dashboard from which you will be able to constantly
monitor your boards. First, if thats not done create a dashboard at:
Then, create a new dashboard:
For each module, create two entries, one for the temperature, and one for the humidity:
This will be the final result in your online cloud dashboard:
You can now monitor several boards from anywhere in the world, allowing you to monitor
the complete status of your home or a cabin while you are away! Of course, you can add
other sensors to each module to monitor even more data using aREST.

In this chapter, we saw how to use the cloud capabilities of the aREST framework. We
learned how to control devices from anywhere in the world, wether it is an Arduino board,
a Raspberry Pi, or ESP8266 boards. We also saw how to create online dashboards to
control and monitor your projects from anywhere.
You can now apply this to all your projects that require to be accessible from anywhere in
the world. It can be home automation projects like the one we built in this chapter, but you
can also think about projects in the industrial space. I heard for example from someone
monitoring their farm remotely using the aREST framework, even as they were living 10
kms away! You can also imagine controlling a mobile robot remotely, from anywhere in
the world.
In the next chapter, we are going to see another important part of the aREST framework:
how to build mobile applications based on the aREST framework.
4 Build Mobile Applications using aREST

In the last chapter of this book, we are going to learn how to build mobile applications to
control your aREST projects. You will learn how to easily build applications for Android
and iOS, so you can control your aREST projects from your mobile devices.
4.1 Build Mobile Applications for Android

In the first section of this chapter, we are going to see how to build a native application for
the Android platform. For that, we are again going to use Meteor, which is a framework
that we already saw earlier in this book. We will see that from there, it is really easy to
build an Android application.
As for the hardware, you can basically use any project you will found in this book. I used
a simple ESP8266 board, configured with a basic aREST sketch, and with a LED
connected to pin 5. You can refer to previous chapter if you need instructions on how to
build the hardware.
But first, we need to install several tools so you can build Android applications from
Meteor. The easiest way to do that is to install Android Studio:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Once thats done, open it, and look for the Android Virtual Device Managed (AVD), and
open it:
From there, we will be able to create a virtual device on which we will run the application.
From the menu, select the default device:
Then, in the next menu, you will need to select the x86_64 image for Android 5.1. Indeed,
at the time this book was written, Meteor didnt support Android 6.0. Click on the
Download button:
Now, wait for the package to be installed:
After that, select the image you just downloaded:
Finally, validate the creation of the device:
You should the virtual device inside the virtual devices manager:
Now, we are going to see the code for the application we will deploy on the Android
device.
First, the interface. We will simply use an interface with two buttons to turn the LED on or
off:
<head>
<title>Android</title>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,
initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no">
</head>
<body>
<h1>ESP8266 Android Control</h1>
{{> home}}
</body>
<template name="home">
<div class='row'>
<button id='on' class='btn btn-block btn-primary'>
On
</button></div>
<button id='off' class='btn btn-block btn-warning'>
Off
</button></div>
</div>
</div>
</template>
Note here that we inserted this line, that we didnt see earlier in this book:
This will allow the interface to be perfectly scaled for your mobile device.
Then, lets see the JavaScript code for the client:
// Pin mode
Meteor.call('pinMode', "192.168.115.105", 5, 'o');
}
// Events
Meteor.call('digitalWrite', "192.168.115.105", 5, 1);
},
}
});
}
As you can see, we simply call Meteor methods at each click of a button.
As the Meteor aREST module doesnt support mobile applications yet, we need to define
those methods in the code:
Meteor.methods({
digitalWrite: function(ipAddress, pin, state) {
HTTP.get('http://' + ipAddress + '/digital/' + pin + '/' + state);
},
pinMode: function(ipAddress, pin, state) {
HTTP.get('http://' + ipAddress + '/mode/' + pin + '/' + state);
}
});
}
Then, navigate to the folder where the code is located, and type:
meteor create .
Next, install the required modules with:

meteor add twbs:bootstrap http
Now, add the Android platform using:
meteor add-platform android
Finally, run the project on the Android virtual device with:

meteor run android
This will open the Android virtual device emulator, from which you will be able to use the
interface. Try to press on a button: it should instantly turn the LED on or off.
Of course, you can also deploy your application on your own Android device! Simply
make sure your phone is connected to your computer, and type:
meteor run android-device
Congratulations, you can now build Android applications using aREST!
4.2 Build Mobile Applications for iOS

In this section, we are going to build a mobile application to allow to control your aREST
devices using an iOS device.
Note that this section is only for OS X users. Otherwise, you wont be able to follow the
instructions of this section.
As for the hardware, you can basically use any project you will found in this book. I used
a simple ESP8266 board, configured with a basic aREST sketch, and with a LED
connected to pin 5. You can refer to previous chapters if you need instructions on how to
build the hardware.
The first step is to install Xcode, using the Mac App Store:
Then, you need to open Xcode at least once, so you can install the required components
and to accept the Xcode terms. The procedure is over once you get to the Xcode main
screen:
Once this is done, you can close Xcode.

Lets now see the code for this section. First, the interface. We will simply use an interface
with two buttons to turn the LED on or off:
<head>
<title>iOS</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>ESP8266 iOS Control</h1>
{{> home}}
</body>
<div class='row'>
<button id='on' class='btn btn-block btn-primary'>
On
</button></div>
<button id='off' class='btn btn-block btn-warning'>
Off
</button></div>
</div>
</div>
</template>
Note here that we inserted this line, that we didnt see earlier in this book:
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale
This will allow the interface to be perfectly scaled for your mobile device.
Then, lets see the JavaScript code for the client:
// Pin mode
}
// Events
},
}
});
}
As you can see, we simply call Meteor methods at each click of a button.
As the Meteor aREST module doesnt support mobile applications yet, we need to define
those methods in the code:

Meteor.methods({
},
}
});
}
Make sure to enter the IP address of the board you want to control inside the Meteor code.
Then, navigate to the folder where the code is located, and type:
meteor create .
After that, install the required modules for the project:

Then, add the iOS platform with:

meteor add-platform ios
You are now ready to test the project! You can simply start it by typing:
meteor run ios
After a while, the iOS emulator will start, and your application will be loaded:
You can use it by pressing one of the buttons: the LED connected to the ESP8266 board
should immediately respond.
If you now want to deploy this application on your iOS device, you will need to have a
paid Apple iOS Developer Account.
If thats the case, simply make sure your device is connected to your computer, and type:
meteor run ios-device
After a while, you will have your application ready to be used on your iOS device.
Congratulations, you can now build iOS applications to control aREST devices!
4.3 Example Project: Control Your Home From Your

Smartphone
For this last example project of the book, we are going to continue build mobile
applications to control aREST projects, and this time we are going to build an application
that could be used to control a smart home.
In your home, you could want to control a lamp for example, along with wanting to know
the current temperature and humidity in a room. This is exactly what we are going to do in
this project.
For the hardware, we are going to re-use a project that we built in previous chapters. The
hardware will based on an ESP8266 running aREST, along with a PowerSwitch Tail
(connected to a lamp) and a DHT11 sensor. I invite you to go back to the previous
chapters to learn more about how to build those projects.
I will build this application for iOS as I am an iOS and OS X user, but you could perfectly
build it for Android as well.
It always start by coding the interface:
<div class='row'>
<button id='on' class='btn btn-block btn-primary'>On</button>
</div>
<button id='off' class='btn btn-block btn-warning'>Off</button>
</div>
</div>
<div class='row'>
Temperature: <span id='temperature'></span> C
</div>
Humidity: <span id='humidity'></span>%
</div>
</div>
</template>
Compared to previous projects in this chapter, you can see that we added indicators for
temperature & humidity.
Therefore, we will need to update this data inside the code for the client:
// Events
},
}
});
// Pin mode
// Variables
Meteor.call('variable', "192.168.115.105",
'temperature', function (err, data) {
});
Meteor.call('variable', "192.168.115.105",
'humidity', function (err, data) {
});
}
}
Of course, you will need to change the IP address for the one of the board you are using.
Then, for the server code, we simply define all the function we need to communicate with
the aREST API running on the board:
Meteor.methods({
},
},
variable: function(ipAddress, variable) {
var answer = HTTP.get('http://' + ipAddress + '/' + variable);
return answer.data;
}
});
}
Now, grab all the files for this project, and navigate to the folder with a terminal. Then,
initialise a new Meteor project with:
meteor create .
After that, install the required components:
Then, add the iOS platform:

meteor add-platform ios
Then, run the application on the virtual iOS device with:

meteor run ios
You should see the following application inside the emulator:
As you can see, the measurement from the sensor immediately appeared inside the
application. You can also deploy it on your own iOS device (if you are part of the iOS
developer program) with:
meteor run ios-device
You now have all the required knowledge to build an application to control your smart
home! You can for example add more devices, and control them all within the same
application.

In this chapter, we saw how to build applications for Android & iOS, to control your
projects running aREST. We saw thats it is really easy to do using the Meteor framework,
that can be used to automatically generate mobile applications from existing Meteor code.
You can literally take projects that you built earlier in the second chapter of this book, and
use them as applications on your mobile device. Of course, you can also use this chapter
to build applications in other fields than home automation, for example to control a mobile
robot from your phone.
Conclusion
This is already the end of this book, and I really hope you enjoyed learning about the
aREST framework! Before I give you some parting advices, lets summarize what we
learned in this book.
In the first part of the book, we saw the basics of the aREST framework, and you learned
how to control individual boards using aREST. In the second part of the book, we saw
how to build graphical interfaces & server-side applications to control your aREST
projects.
In the third part of the book, we learned how to control your projects from anywhere in the
world. Finally, in the last part of the book you learned how to build mobile applications to
control your aREST projects.
You now have all the tools to build your own projects using the power of the aREST
framework. There are limitless possibilities, but here are three project ideas that could use
the aREST framework:
1. Inexpensive remote monitoring and control of a mountain cabin using the aREST
cloud platform and ESP8266 boards
2. Control of a mobile robot based on the Raspberry Pi using the aREST meteor
application and a nice graphical interface, using the Raspberry Pi camera as the
robots eyes
3. Web-connected healthcare sensors based on the ESP8266, that send results in realtime to your own aREST cloud server
If you create a project using the aREST framework and you would like to share it with the
community, or if you have feedback about this book or aREST itself, dont hesitate to send
me an email at:
contact@arest.io
Thanks again for reading this book, and have fun creating amazing projects with the
aREST framework!

Discover The AREST Framework by Marco Schwartz

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Discover

the aREST Framework

Discover the aREST Framework

4.3 Example Project: Control Your Home From Your Smartphone

About the Author

About the Accompanying Website

0.1 The aREST Framework

0.2 Structure of the Book

0.4 Getting Started

1 Learning the basics of aREST

1.1 Control an Arduino board via the Serial port

1.1.1 Hardware & Software Requirements

1.1.2 Hardware Configuration

1.1.3 Learning the Basic aREST Commands

Then, we create the aREST instance:

After that, type:

This will return the value of pin 7 in the Serial monitor:

1.2 Control an Arduino board Remotely via Ethernet

1.2.1 Hardware & Software Requirements

1.2.2 Hardware Configuration

1.2.3 Controlling the Board via Ethernet

1.2.4 More aREST Commands

You should immediately get the answer back in JSON format:

1.3 Access Your Arduino Boards Wirelessly via WiFi

1.3.1 Hardware & Software Requirements

1.3.2 Hardware Configuration

1.3.3 Controlling the Board via WiFi

uint32_t ipAddress, netmask, gateway, dhcpserv, dnsserv;

int state = command.toInt();

You should immediately see the answer in JSON format:

Then, set the value of pin 6 using:

You should get the confirmation in your web browser:

1.3.4 Using aREST Functions

You will immediately get the response in your browser:

1.4 Use XBee Communications with Arduino & aREST

1.4.1 Hardware & Software Requirements

1.4.2 Hardware Configuration

1.4.3 Monitoring Your Board via XBee

1.5 Learn to use Bluetooth LE to control Arduino boards

1.5.1 Hardware & Software Requirements

1.5.2 Hardware Configuration

1.5.3 Controlling Your Arduino Board via Bluetooth

Then, click again on UART:

Now, send the following command to check if the board is responding:

You should get the answer inside the application:

1.6 Control your Raspberry Pi board remotely with aREST

1.6.1 Hardware & Software Requirements

1.6.2 Hardware Configuration

1.6.3 Controlling Your Raspberry Pi Remotely

You should immediately receive the answer in JSON format:

Now, type the following command in your browser:

You will immediately get the answer in your browser:

1.7 Control an ESP8266 module remotely with aREST

1.7.1 Hardware & Software Requirements

1.7.2 Hardware Configuration

1.7.3 Control ESP8266 Remotely

Compared to an Arduino sketch, only the part to handle requests is different:

You should immediately see the answer in JSON format: