Objectives

In this Exercise you will learn how to:

  • Connect physical devices to Monitor
  • Map device Physical Interfaces to Logical Interfaces
  • Create realtime Rules and Actions on device events
  • Understand how device data is stored

Before you begin:
This Exercise requires that you:

  1. Have completed the pre-requisites required for all labs
  2. Have a Nordic Thingy. This is how you purchase Nordic Thingy.

Connect a Physical Device

It’s time to connect a real, physical device. For this exercise you will use a Nordic Thingy. Learn more about the Nordic Thingy and its various sensors here

Connect Nordic Thingy to the Internet

Let’s connect the a Nordic Thingy to the internet using Google Chrome on your computer. We are using Google Chrome because it has a built in Bluetooth listener. Using the connectivity page below you can connect your Nordic Thingy device to the internet and the Maximo Asset Monitor Cloud Service. You first need to pair the Thingy via Bluetooth to your computer.

  1. Carefully remove the rubber overlay to find the power switch next to the micro-usb port. A blue light should illuminate when the device is powered up.
  2. Power on the Nordic Thingy. Push the tiny switch to the left of the micro-web port
  3. Use Bluetooth in the Google Chrome Browser to connect your device to the internet. Open a tab with this web address: https://nrf52t-v2.mybluemix.net/.
  4. This method will only work on Google Chrome as it has a built in Bluetooth listener. Below is the connectivity page you’ll need to revisit if you get disconnected at any point.
    Click Connect button. Connect Thingy in Chrome 
  5. In the list of devices, find the one matching your device, select it and click Pair. You may need to rename the Thingy if you are in close range with others also using their own Thingy. Pair Bluetooth
  6. Once paired, a form will pop up. The form's presence indicates that the Thingy is connected to your computer via Bluetooth. In order to connect the Thingy to the IoT Platform, we will need to obtain the information to fill in missing fields in the form. We will obtain this information in the next section.

Connect Nordic Thingy to Maximo Asset Monitor

The Nordic Thingy has connectivity to the internet. You must first register device types and then devices with the IoT Platform service included with Maximo Asset Manager before they can securely send and persist data there.

  1. Navigate to and bookmark the Maximo Asset Monitor Dashboard page.
    You will use this throughout the Exercise: https://dashboard-beta.connectedproducts.internetofthings.ibmcloud.com/preauth?tenantid=Monitor-Demo
    which will bring you to the Home screen
  2. Log in to Maximo Asset Monitor. Click Login button. Login to Maximo Asset Monitor 
  3. After logging in, you’ll land in Home Screen. Maximo Asset Monitor Home 
  4. Click Services tab in the left side menu Connect Devices Menu  
  5. Next to the Watson IoT Platform Service title, click View Details. A new window will open.   Connect Devices Launch Button  
  6. Click View More. Copy and paste the link of the Host URL into a new tab in your browser
    or simply press Launch (you might need to login in again with your IBM Id). Connect Devices Launch Button   Connect Devices Launch Button  
  7. A new page will open. Navigate to the Device Types tab Devices Types Tab  
  8. Click Add Device Type button in the top right corner. Devices Types Tab  
  9. Now create a new device type and name it <your last name>_thingy. For example, smith_thingy. In the figures below, you will see that the device type name has a dash in it.
    DO NOT PUT A DASH OR PERIOD IN YOUR DEVICE TYPE NAME.
    There is an issue in Monitor right now where the pipeline will break if there is a dash or period in your device type name. Devices Types Add Type  
    Devices Tab  
  10. Click Next until you get past Finish. You’ve finished creating a device type.
  11. Now you will register a new device using the Device Type you just created. Make sure to name the device the same name as your Thingy from the earlier step. Navigate back to the Browse tab and Add Device Devices Add Device   Devices Add Device Information   click Next until you reach Finish: Devices Add Device  
  12. Once you finish creating the device, make sure you copy and make note of the device credentials! Your device must provide device credentials to connect to the IOT Platform Service. Devices Add Device Finish  
  13. A Nordic Thingy needs the IoT Platform tenant organization ID to connect to the IoT Platform Service. You can also find the Org ID in the top right of the screen or the browser URL. Make note of the Org ID for use in the next step. Devices Add Device Finish  
  14. Navigate back to the Thingy page within your Chrome Browser showing the sensor values and enter the Organization ID, the Device Type, the Device ID, and the Authorization Token into the corresponding fields in the form. Devices Add Device Finish  
  15. Click the Save button to write the token to the Thingy. You should see both the device connection and the IoT Platform service connection status indicators are green if successful. Devices Add Device Finish  
  16. You should also now see data flowing from the Thingy to your corresponding Device ID in the IoT Platform service back in the Devices tab. Devices Add Device Finish 
  17. Flip the Thingy upside down to create an error condition. It will beep and the light will turn red. Click on one of the rows to see the event payload in JSON format.
    Notice the err value in the payload changed to 1. Devices Add Device Finish 
  18. Press the large black button on the top of the Thingy to clear the error.

Note: This exercise demonstrated how to manually add a device to Maximo Asset Monitor. You would most likely programatically add devices using the included Watson IOT Platform Service REST APIs and Python SDK.

Interfaces, Rules and Notifications

You will create an alert notification when the Nordic Thingy has an error condition. In this next section you will learn how you can:

Create a Physical Interface

  1. Make sure your Nordic Thingy is turned on and actively sending sensor data to the IoTP service. You may need to reconnect the Thingy in the Chrome browser using this web link and steps provided earlier.
  2. Check if the Thingy is connected. Click Browse tab in the IoT Platform service and searching the devices list for device status and recent events. Browse Devices  
  3. Navigate to the Device Type for your Thingy and click Interfaces tab. Make sure Advanced Flow is selected and click Create Physical Interface button. Device Type Advanced Flow  
  4. Leave the default name for the physical interface and then click Next.
  5. Click + Create event type button on the next page. If your Nordic Thingy is still actively sending events, then you should see the status event show up.
  6. If the status event does not automatically appear, check the connectivity back in Browse in the device list. Select status and then click Add.
  7. Click Done to complete the creation of the physical interfaces. Add Event Types to Physical Interface  

Create a Logical Interface

  1. Next, click + Create Logical Interface button to begin creating the logical interface. Leave the default name as is and click Next
  2. Click + Add Property button, expand the d and select and save the err property. Add Event Types to Physical Interface   Add Property to Physical Interface  
  3. Let’s do the same for “tmp”, except this time we’ll use the mapping field to convert the temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit using JSONData script functions. Select + Add Property
  4. Select d.tmp and change the name to temperature
  5. Then in the mapping field, click pencil icon to edit
  6. Add the following equation: d.tmp * 1.8 + 32. Notice that to input the numbers 1.8 and 32 you have to first select the Value operator. Another option is to switch the Advanced Editor button and paste the formula. It may cause a syntax error if you mistype, so be careful.
  7. Click green check mark when complete
  8. Click save Add a Calculated Property to a Physical Interface  
  9. Add the remaining properties with the names as shown below Add a Calculated Property to a Physical Interface  
  10. Click Next to move onto Notifications. Notifications allow you to take action when certain conditions occur.
  11. Change the State Update Notification criteria to State Changes. This will send data to your Logical interface only when the value changes. If you want to send the event all the time even when the values are the same as previous events select All events.
    Click the Xin the upper right corner to close this dialogue box and make sure to hit the Apply button to save changes. Add a Calculated Property to a Physical Interface  
    Add a Calculated Property to a Physical Interface  
  12. Click Add notification + button. This will raise a notification event in IoT Platform when the Thingy’s error condition is set to 1
  13. Enter the Name, description, criteria and condition as shown below.$state.err = 1
  14. Click Apply
  15. Click Done Save Physical Interface Definition  
  16. The interface creation is almost complete. Back in the interface view, click Activate button and activate the interfaces. If successful, you should see a green rocket ship icon next to each interface. Add a Calculated Property to a Physical Interface  
  17. You can check to see if your interface is working, by browsing to your device, select the State tab and switch the interface to your newly created interface. Temperature should now be shown in Fahrenheit. Check Physical Interface State Events  

Store Data

This next exercise focuses on how and what database tables your device data is stored in. Make sure you have completed the earlier steps in this Exercise. You should already have a device type with an active physical and logical interface and at least one device of that type sending data.

  1. You can check if your device is connected and sending data through an interface by browsing devices in the IoT Platform service and checking your devices status, recent events and state. Look at logs tab for troubleshooting issues. You should see values update when look at the state interface. Make sure you Nordic Thingy is powered up and sending data through Chrome Bluetooth connection. Device Data State  
  2. Device data flows through a physical interface, transformed into a logical interface and stored in a time series database table within DB2 Warehouse called IOT_<Device Type Name>. To see the table go back to the Maximo Asset Monitor window and click on Services in the left menu. Services  
  3. Click View Details Services  

Note: When you click on View Details, and you see fields that say admin only, then please contact an administrator on the account to give you the respective DB2 link, username, and password. If instead of DB2 Warehouse, your tenant uses PostgreSQL, download DBeaver and enter the information given in the View Details tab. More information on Maximo Asset Monitor and PostgreSQL can be found here.

  1. Next to Db2 Warehouse on Cloud, and click Launch DB2 Credentials  
  2. The DB2 page opens in another tab. You may see a second sign in dialog labeled Attention to change your DB2 password. Ignore the second sign in dialog.
  3. Copy and paste the username and password from the View Details window into the Db2 login page and press Sign in. Search Entity Types  
  4. Select Datain the left menu followed by selecting the Tables tab. Your table is located under the BLUADMIN Schema. To quickly find your table enter your surname used in naming the Device Type in the search field followed by pressing Enter. Selecting the BLUADMIN Schema should reveil your table as IOT_<Device Type Name>. Search Entity Types  
  5. Click on your IOT_<Device Name> table and then click the View Data button to see the data.
    Search Entity Types  

Congratulations you have successfully connected a device and have it sending and storing data in Maximo Asset Monitor. In the next Exercise you will view the available dashboards and create new dashboards to monitor your Thingy.