REEFmate - IoT Aquarium Controller

Inspiration

The REEFmate was inspired by my passion for Reef Aquariums, electronics and software development.

How it works

The brain runs on a micro computer, like the RaspberryPI/Odroid/PCDuino and is powered by a webserver running NodeJS, Angular and node red. It communicates with Arduino based Sensors and Actuators.

Functionality is divided in modules, for example, temperature control module. Each module has its own classic management UI and also an API, which is consumed to Node-Red. That allows regular users to manage temperature in a user friendly UI and Hackers, to customise temperature management the way they want, with Node-red.

Challenges I ran into

Just to name a few: Many wrong choices of technology; resilient connectivity management; device discoverability; operation system and application security; Transparent external access via the internet; Boot speed; Wrong choices of technology. Sourcing parts and coordinating manufacturing is another major challenge I am currently facing.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am very proud of how easy is to get started with the device and the contrast between and app that is user and hacker friendly at the same time. I have solved most common problems in any IoT app, which makes it a nice platform for IoT development. Things like discoverability, OS image packaging, OS security, auto updates, sensors/actuators communication protocol, resilient connections, reactive interface, fast booting, remote support, etc, etc.