Building Connected Things

ThingLabs Workshops

ThingLabs provides a number of workshops of different lenghts and using different technologies. These workshops can range from one-hour to a full day or more. You can choose between using the Universal WIndows Platform and WIndows 10 IoT Core on a micro-processor, like the Raspberry Pi 2 or Node.js and Johnny-Five on either a micro-controller or micro-processor running a variaety of operating systems including Windows and Linux as well as Real-time Operating Systems (RTOS).

Table of Contents

Windows 10 IoT - Connected Nightlight (2-hours)

In this workshop you will begin by learning the basics of working with Windows 10 IoT Core by writing the IoT version of ‘Hello, World’ Next, you will build a Thing that reads ambient light and turns a light on when it gets dark enough. Once you have the Thing working you will connect it to an Azure IoT Hub. Finally you will create an Azure Stream Analytics job that will process the live data stream and output it to Power BI for reporting.

To complete this workshop you will need a Raspberry Pi 2 (power supply, etc.), a microSD card, an LED, a photoresistor, and a couple of resistors. You will also need a Microsoft Azure account (free trial is fine) and you will need a Power BI account to complete the final lab.

Estimated time to complete: 2-hours.

Go to ‘Connected Nightlight - Windows IoT Core’ ›

Node.js - Connected Weather Station (2-hours)

In this workshop you will begin by learning the basics of working with Johnny-Five &emdash; an open source Node.js framework for interacting with hardware, which works as a baseline control kit for hardware projects including Arduino, Particle Photon, Raspberry Pi, Beagle Bone, Intel Edison and more. This enables you to write applications in Node.js that can run on micro-processors (like the Raspberry Pi or Intel Edison) or control micro-controllers (like the Arduino or Particle Photon). You will start by writing the IoT version of ‘Hello, World’ Next, you will build a Thing that reads temperature and humidity. Once you have the Thing working you will connect it to an Azure IoT Hub. Finally you will create an Azure Stream Analytics job that will process the live data stream and output it to Power BI for reporting.

To complete this workshop you will need an Arduino Uno or Particle Photon and the appropriate SparkFun Weather Shield. You will also need a Microsoft Azure account (free trial is fine) and you will need a Power BI account to complete the final lab.

Estimated time to complete: 2-hours.

Go to ‘Connected Weather Station - Node.js & Johnny-Five’ ›