Articles

Encrypted Mosquitto broker in Kubernetes

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Mosquitto can usually be installed on an Ubuntu server fairly easily using the APT package manager. By Default, the broker handles unencrypted MQTT connections but it can be configured to use SSL certificates obtained, for example, using Certbot and thus enable MQTTs connections. This configuration is usually achieved by editing the Mosquitto configuration file in /etc/mosquitto so as to point to certificates obtained independently. However, when deploying Mosquitto to Kubernetes, one would prefer not to edit configuration files manually after install. Moreover, in Kubernetes, one can use Cert-manager to obtain SSL certificates. Thus, this article presents an efficient method to deploy a secure MQTTs broker in Kubernetes.
KubernetesMQTTTutorials

IoT RFID reader

IoT RFID reader thumbnail
RFID is a conveninent technology for access control and authentication. In this project, I connected an RC522 RFID reader to an ESP32 in order to use it for IoT applications. Additionally, to provide feedback to the user, the ESP32 is also connected to an SSD1306 OLED display and a buzzer. I chose an ESP32 over an ESP8266 simply because of the amount of GPIOs required.
ESP8266RFIDPCB designProjectsIoT +1

HUD Goggles

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This headset enables the overlay of information on top of its user's field of view. The field of view of the user is captured by a camera and then fed to video goggles, while a MAX7456 OSD chip overlays text on the video feed.
ArduinoProjectsElectronics

IoT EM4305 RFID Reader

IoT EM4305 RFID Reader thumbnail
RFID tags come in various forms and sizes, from standard plastic cards to chips that can be implanted in one's hand. I got particularly interested in RFID rings, which can be purchased online for less than USD 20$. Those are based on EM4305 chips, which require a compatible reader. Thus, I designed an IoT EM4305 reader that can exchange data over MQTT with other devices.
IoTFeaturedESP8266Projects

"Resizing" a PVC and its PV in Microk8s

With the storage addon enabled, microk8s can automatically provision a PV when a PVC is created. The size of the PV is set according to that of the PVC. However, PVCs cannot be resized after creation. The PVC could be deleted and recreated with a larger size but this would result in the deletion of the PV and, by extension, all the data stored so far in it. This article presents a workaround to resize a PVC and its corresponding PV without any loss of data.
TutorialsMediumKubernetesMicrok8s

Cashless payment system

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A company I worked for had a coffee machine for which employees could purchase coffee. However, the payment was done by putting coins in a jar. Not only did this present the obvious risk of theft, this system was also impractical for people not carrying spare change at all time. I decided to solve this issue by designing this cashless payment system.
ElectronicsProjectsIoTMongoDBNode.js +1

Getting Python's requests library to use a local DNS (Core-DNS, Docker-compose, etc.) while behind a proxy

When using Python's requests library, the requests are send through the proxy set as environment variables. Consequently, if the DNS to be used comes before said proxy, the host might not be resolved. This typically happens when resolving a host in Kubernetes using Core-DNS. If the request first leaves the Kubernetes cluster to reach the proxy, then the DNS server becomes unreachable, making the request fail.
DevOpsPythonTutorials

IoT lock

IoT lock thumbnail
Have you ever left your apartment and couldn't remember if you locked your front door or not? Sadly, if it is unlocked, there is not much you can do about it until you get back home. This system is an attempt to solve the problem. Simply put, it consists of attaching an actuator to the door's original locking mechanism control it with through WiFi.
FeaturedMechatronicsCAD3D printingIoT +3

GitLab CI Microk8s integration

GitLab CI Microk8s integration thumbnail
GitLab provides Kubernetes integration out of the box, which means that GitLab CI/CD Pipelines can be used to deploy applications in Kubernetes easily. This guide presents how to integrate a Kubernetes cluster in a GitLab Project and follows Gitlab documentation. For this particular case, the cluster will be that of a Microk8s Kubernetes distribution.
Microk8sGitLabTutorialsKubernetes

IoT air conditioner controller

IoT air conditioner controller thumbnail
Air conditioners consume a fair amount of electricity. As such, forgetting to turn one off before leaving one's home can result in an expensive electricity bill. This is a Wi-Fi enabled controller for air condtioners, which can turn the unit on or off according to MQTT messages. It is built around an Wemos D1 mini and interfaces with the AC using an IR LED.
ElectronicsMQTTIoTESP8266Projects