UiTiOt-Vlab: A Low Cost Physical IoTs Testbed Based on Over-The-Air Programming Approach

Abstract

In the plethora of technologies in wireless networks and embedded systems, Internet of Things (IoTs) technology plays a vital role, be applicable in many different domains, such as agriculture, industry, education, transportation, just to name a few. The deployment of IoTs applications in these application domains normally requires complicated phases not only in the analysis, design, implementation but also in the actual operations, e.g., to control the devices and application remotely via the wireless protocols. Therefore, the development of a low cost physical IoTs-based reconfigurable testbed supporting well-known hardware and software platforms is significant and will be presented in this paper. By enabling over-the-air programming (OTAP) with a proper enhancement on Arduino ESP266 device, the proposed testbed system can be used for testing real-time IoTs application, as well as for (re)programming to change or adapt the operations of IoTs devices and IoTs applications remotely, through the wireless network protocols. In addition, the testbed system also provides a virtual laboratory for studying IoTs technology, be a cost-effective approach for students to share IoTs devices and practice IoTs programming remotely.