Successful project completion – Open³ Toolbox

A Toolkit for Software and Hardware Developers

Both software and hardware developers can use this toolkit to develop individual components of an IoT system.

The Open³Toolbox enables SMEs and companies in the agricultural sector to quickly solve problems using IoT and innovate new products.

Municipalities can read and visualize the collected data and make it available to citizens for various digital services within the community.

As part of the project, various SDKs and hardware components were developed that work on all common platforms. This means that every IoT project no longer needs to start from scratch, as the data can be processed without significant additional development effort.

The following project results were targeted and achieved:

• A mature concept including system architecture

• A software client for configuring IoT devices and sensors

• A software client for querying the collected data

• A software server for communication with end devices and the client software

• A mobile app for displaying and analyzing collected data

Lessons learned

Implementing the overarching goal of integrating sensors and actuators into the system using a generic approach proved to be a significant challenge. We spent a considerable amount of time in meetings and discussions to find the best possible solution. Many ideas were implemented as prototypes, while some were discarded because the approaches proved ineffective.

The most important thing is not to be discouraged by minor setbacks and to always keep the big picture in mind to stay on track. Occasionally, we got a little lost in the details, but the well-structured project kept us on course.

Team collaboration has shifted primarily to online communication, revealing the crucial importance of a well-defined plan and structure for project success.

Suggestions

A significant first step has already been taken, and the system provides a solid foundation for future development. From the current perspective, the project is well-positioned for future advancements. The Open³ Toolbox is ideal for prototypes. For real-world applications, the source code can be further modified and adapted. Should sensors be used that are not currently supported by the Open³ Toolbox, they can be easily implemented and added to the Open³ Toolbox using the generic approach.

What's next?

The software was released as part of the Netidee project and can therefore be further developed by an open-source community. The developed software libraries are integrated and tested in various systems. Feedback from research institutions and developers interested in using such a system is collected and incorporated into new versions.

The libraries will be further developed and expanded as part of the "Dataskop" project.

Furthermore, the developed software libraries are being integrated into real-world applications developed by FOTEC, thus gaining experience in a real-world environment.