Build an MQTT-based IoT network

MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport) is a publish-subscribe-based (one-to-one or one-to-many) messaging protocol oriented to communication with sensors. MQTT architecture follows a star topology with one or more clients or nodes, and a central server — the broker — responsible of managing the network and relaying messages. This project describes an ESP8266-based adapter that allows any electronic device having a serial port to become an MQTT node connected to a Wi-Fi IoT network. A broker is built with a Raspberry Pi.

Rapid prototyping has been the craze for the last five, six years or so. Hundreds, maybe thousands of open source, open hardware platforms have been created by enthusiasts (including Elektor), were published on the Internet and have been entirely forgotten. Well, not entirely... One small group of indomitable boards still holds out against oblivion. These are their stories.