Node.js for Embedded Systems

How can we build bridges from the digital world of the Internet to the analog world that surrounds us? By bringing accessibility to embedded components such as sensors and microcontrollers, JavaScript and Node.js might shape the world of physical computing as they did for web browsers. This practical guide shows hardware and software engineers, makers, and web developers how to talk in JavaScript with a variety of hardware platforms. Authors Patrick Mulder and Kelsey Breseman also delve into the basics of microcontrollers, single-board computers, and other hardware components.

• Use JavaScript to program microcontrollers with Arduino and Espruino
• Prototype IoT devices with the Tessel 2 development platform
• Learn about electronic input and output components, including sensors
• Connect microcontrollers to the Internet with the Particle Photon toolchain
• Run Node.js on single-board computers such as Raspberry Pi and Intel Edison
• Talk to embedded devices with Node.js libraries such as Johnny-Five, and remotely control the devices with Bluetooth
• Use MQTT as a message broker to connect devices across networks
• Explore ways to use robots as building blocks for shared experiences

Table of Contents

Chapter 1       Connecting Worlds

• Why the Internet of Things?
• JavaScript for Distributed Programming
• JavaScript Runtime Environments
• The Node.js API

Chapter 2       Blink with Arduino

• Getting Started with Microcontrollers
• Arduino
• The Firmata Bridge
• Functional Blocks of an MCU
• Firmware

Chapter 3       Espruino

• The Espruino Hardware
• Programming Espruino
• Variable Blink
• Modules
• Flashing Espruino Firmware

Chapter 4       The Tessel 2

• Hardware
• Toolchain
• Pin Abstractions
• Embedded Internet with System-on-Chip

Chapter 5       Particle Photon

• The Particle Photon
• Particle Command-Line Interface
• OTA Code Deploys

Chapter 6       Single-Board Computers

• The Raspberry Pi
• BeagleBone
• The Intel Edison
• Boards with 64-Bit Instruction Sets
• Using Embedded Linux
• Network Configuration
• Running Node.js
• Deploy Projects with Git

Chapter 7       Components for Prototyping

• Wiring Circuits
• Basic Components
• Sensors
• Actuators
• Multimedia
• Cables

Chapter 8       Node.js Libraries for Hardware

• JavaScript for the Hardware Abstraction Layer
• The node-serialport Library
• The Johnny-Five Library
• The LibMRAA Library
• The Cylon.js Library

Chapter 9       Exploring Network Protocols

• The Hypertext Transfer Protocol
• Building a Weather Station
• The Transmission Control Protocol and User Datagram Protocol
• The WebSocket Protocol

Chapter 10     Web Frontends for Things

• Adding Static Pages
• Basic jQuery
• Websockets in a Browser
• The D3.js Library for Plotting Data
• P5.js

Chapter 11     Entering the Cloud

• Publish–Subscribe Pattern
• The MQTT Protocol
• Cloud Services
• System Design with NodeRED

Chapter 12     Making Robots with Node.js

• What Is a Robot?
• Why Build Robots in Node.js?
• The Tessel Project
• Robot Kits
• Example Project: The Robot Claw
• Example Project: Move a Vehicle

Chapter 13     Wireless Data with Bluetooth

• The Bluetooth Low Energy Protocol
• Libraries for Bluetooth
• Example Project: Proximity Detection

Chapter 14      Toward the Physical Internet

• What Are Shared Experiences?
• Impacts of the Physical Internet

Chapter 15     From Products to Toolkits

• JavaScript as a Toolkit
• The Power of Modularity
• Modularity in Hardware
• Node.js: Driving Innovation in the IoT
• Building Good Technology

Appendix        Node.js

• Module Basics
• The Node Package Manager

Appendix        Early Hardware for IoT Systems

• Raspberry Pi
• BeagleBone
• Intel Galileo