Pradeeka Seneviratne - Hands-On Internet of Things with Blynk

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First published: May 2018

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ISBN 978-1-78899-506-1

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Pradeeka Seneviratne is a software engineer with over 10 years of experience in computer programming and systems design. He is an expert in the development of Arduino- and Raspberry Pi-based embedded systems, and is currently a full-time embedded software engineer working with embedded systems and highly scalable technologies. Previously, he worked as a software engineer for several IT infrastructure and technology servicing companies. He has also authored Beginning BBC micro:bit , published by Apress.

Munawwar HussainShelia is a digital artist and software engineer based in Mumbai, India. An engineering graduate (BE) in computer science, his curiosity to try his hand at the next latest technology keeps him thinking ahead on the boundaries of coding. He started his career in mobile application development with Java and Android, before moving on to full-stack JavaScript (MEAN stack) Node.js, where he put his heart and soul into building more real-time web applications. Currently, he is in the role of data science, and extracts actionable intelligence and does predictive analytics from large datasets .

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Blynk is referred to as the most user-friendly IoT platform, providing a way to build mobile applications in minutes. With Blynk's drag and drop mobile app builder, anyone can build amazing IoT applications with minimal resources and effort. Blynk supports over 400 hardware platforms and major connectivity types. The hardware could be prototyping platforms, such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi, to industrial-grade ESP8266, Intel, Sierra Wireless, Particle, and Texas Instruments offerings.

This book uses Raspberry Pi as the main hardware platform and C++ for writing code to build projects.

The first part of this book offers how to set up the development environment with Raspberry Pi, Raspbian Stretch LITE, and various software components. Then, the reader will build the first IoT application with Blynk.

The middle part of the book presents how to use and configure various widgets (control, display, and notify) with Blynk app builder to build applications.

The latter part of the book will introduce how to connect with and use built-in sensors on mobile devices such as Android and iOS. After this, the reader will learn how to set up a personal Blynk server on Raspberry Pi. Finally, the reader will learn how to build a robot vehicle that can be controlled with a Blynk app through the Blynk cloud service.

This book is for those who want to build rapid IoT applications in minutes for connected products and services with only a basic understanding of electronics, Raspberry Pi, and C++.

, Setting Up a Development Environment, explains how to set up the development environment for Blynk with Raspberry Pi. It describes how to install Blynk libraries and some supporting software components that you can use to build Raspberry Pi-based IoT hardware. Then, you will build a control application with Blynk app builder. After that, you need to write a C++ application to connect with the Blynk cloud. Finally, you run the Blynk app to connect the Raspberry Pi to Blynk app builder through the Blynk cloud over a Wi-Fi network.

, Building Your First Blynk Application, explains how to build your first Blynk application to control an LED (or any actuator) attached to the Raspberry Pi from your smartphone or tablet. First, you will build an app with the Blynk app builder. Then, you will use digital or virtual pins to control the attached LED. After that, you will learn how to write a simple C++ application with nano text editor. Finally, you will build the application and run it to connect the Blynk app and the Raspberry Pi hardware.