Architecture for IoT Projects: Lessons from Smart LED Grow Lights

The Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized many industries by connecting devices in new and innovative ways, enhancing efficiency and functionality. One such industry transformation comes from the agriculture industry, where IoT devices, specifically smart LED grow lights, have made significant strides in improving productivity and profitability. This article explores how incorporating IoT architecture helped turn creative software ideas into a successful technology that assists farmers.

The Case Study: LumiGrow's Smart LED Grow Lights

LumiGrow leads innovation in agriculture with its smart LED grow lights. Initially conceived as a solution for growers to manage their lighting systems wirelessly, this product integrates with the bespoke smartPAR software to refine plant growth environments for increased quality and yield.

Client Challenges

LumiGrow's challenge was formidable. They sought to create a comprehensive system that could be controlled remotely and reliably, even as their network of LED grow lights expanded. The solution needed to reconcile the large, spatially extended nature of greenhouses with the constraints of WiFi, a technology not inherently designed for such expansive and demanding scalability.

Our Approach

Distributed Communication Architecture

The initial schema employed WiFi-controlled lamps paired with dedicated devices. However, scalability issues surfaced as the number of LED grow lights within a network grew. The breakthrough came with transitioning to a leader-follower communication architecture based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). This approach segregated devices into 'Leaders,' which communicated through WiFi and Bluetooth, and 'Followers,' which relied solely on Bluetooth.

The robust design of the BLE architecture assured a rapid and stable data flow, laying the foundation for a scalable grow light system.

DLI Algorithm for Solar Prediction

The Daily Light Integral (DLI) algorithm emerged as a critical component. It affords each farmer the power to configure their lighting environment, meticulously adapted to different types of plants for optimized growth. The collaboration between LumiGrow's scientists and our team made the complex lighting environment easy for growers to manage, effectively becoming a defensible piece of intellectual property.

Firmware Collaboration and Technical Debt Reduction

A collaborative effort between MEV and LumiGrow engineers promoted timely firmware updates, which enhanced product functions and facilitated roadmap progress. The ongoing engagement also emphasized reducing technical debt as we shipped new software, ensuring the software's quality level remained high through continuous integration and deployment, backups, and system monitoring.

Architectural Highlights

‍Web Application

The web application is at the forefront of an IoT project. It's the face of our IoT experience—the window through which users engage with a myriad of devices that manage to make life a bit simpler, more intuitive, and connected. Developers stack layers upon layers of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) designs, ensuring that every swipe, tap, and click seamlessly usher users through a world of interconnected digital processes.

Server Application

The middleware, which includes server applications, serves as the backbone, facilitating the storage, retrieval, and analysis of data. It's where MySQL, PostgreSQL, and S3 become game-changers—they manage the influx of data from countless devices, ensuring it's sorted and available for real-time analysis and decision-making.

MySQL: The Open-Source Relational Database

MySQL stands out for its reliability and ease of use in managing relational databases. It's ideal for projects that require structured data storage with strong relational integrity. MySQL can manage information from devices, track user sessions, and support user profiles, all of which contribute to personalized experiences in smart applications.

With its open-source nature, MySQL offers flexibility for emerging IoT projects, allowing customization and integration with other technologies.

PostgreSQL: Advanced Features for Complex Queries

PostgreSQL offers advanced features required for complex and large-scale data work. With support for JSON and query optimization, PostgreSQL is especially useful when handling multifaceted queries from IoT devices that require rapid execution.

Serving as an object-relational database, PostgreSQL can manage data types more complex than those that traditional relational databases handle. This scalability and sophistication in handling diverse data types come in handy for IoT applications.

S3: Scalability in Data Storage and Retrieval

Amazon's S3 provides a scalable, high-speed, web-based cloud storage service, perfect for IoT scenarios where devices generate massive amounts of unstructured data. It simplifies the process of collecting, storing, and analyzing diverse sets of information by offering an elastic architecture that can grow with your project needs. Whether it's historical data from sensors or real-time analytics, S3 ensures that data is readily available and secure.

Amazon Kinesis Data Streams and Data Firehose help set up a data ingestion pipeline quickly and easily with large-scale potential, ensuring incoming data is stored in a desired format (e.g. Parquet) on S3.

In combination with Amazon Athena, we could access S3 data by running complex SQL queries to extract filtered, grouped, and aggregated results for further processing and analytical analysis.

MQTT Broker

MQTT plays a crucial role in facilitating efficient and reliable communication within LumiGrow's IoT architecture. As a lightweight publish-subscribe messaging protocol, MQTT offers numerous features and advantages that enable seamless data exchange and real-time control in IoT environments. 

Utilizing a broker-based architecture, MQTT simplifies message routing and enables efficient scaling to handle large volumes of messages and devices effectively. In LumiGrow's setup, the MQTT broker is a core component, orchestrating communication between smart LED grow lights, sensors, and the server application.

Devices 

In LumiGrow systems, there are two roles: Leaders and Followers. This division is orchestrated to guide communication flows efficiently. 

Leaders are equipped with additional processing powers, driving complex tasks and making decisions on behalf of the Followers. They have WiFi which establishes a connection with the cloud to receive instructions, as well as Bluetooth for communication with Followers.

Followers execute instructions received via BLE protocol, gather data, and interact with the environment under the guidance of their Leaders. This hierarchy is designed to streamline IoT operations, enabling scalability while maintaining a lean communication protocol.

Lessons Learned

Building robust architecture for IoT projects, particularly in industries like agriculture, requires a meticulous approach to scalability, collaboration, application quality management, and protocol selection. 

Let's delve into the key takeaways from our exploration of lessons learned from LumiGrow's smart LED grow lights:

• Scalability is Key: IoT projects demand scalability, especially in dynamic environments like agriculture. Leveraging distributed communication architectures, such as mesh networks with BLE, ensures a seamless data flow even as the network expands and is crucial for sustaining long-term growth and performance.
• Collaboration is Essential: The success of IoT solutions hinges on collaborative efforts between engineering teams and domain experts. By fostering close collaboration, teams can navigate technical challenges, refine algorithms, and develop defensible intellectual property, ultimately driving innovation.
• Address Technical Debt: Managing technical debt is paramount for the longevity and reliability of IoT systems. Embracing continuous delivery and integration practices facilitates timely firmware updates and software quality maintenance, safeguarding against potential disruptions and vulnerabilities.
• Choose the Right Messaging Protocol: Selecting the appropriate messaging protocol, such as MQTT, is critical for efficient and reliable communication in IoT architectures. MQTT's lightweight framework, publish-subscribe model, and support for quality of service levels make it an ideal choice for facilitating seamless data exchange and real-time control in IoT environments.
• Broker-Based Architecture Enhances Scalability: Embracing broker-based architectures centralizes message routing, enabling efficient scaling in IoT ecosystems. By deploying a centralized MQTT broker, systems can effectively manage large volumes of messages and devices while ensuring seamless communication between components, which is essential for achieving robust and scalable IoT solutions.

By embracing these principles and lessons learned, companies can navigate the complexities of IoT projects with confidence, driving innovation and delivering value in dynamic industries like agriculture.

MEV is your partner for enhancing your technical systems and achieving innovation. We work with companies like LumiGrow all the time to take their solutions to the next level while freeing up their team to continue iterating on their product. Reach out to see if we can partner with you next.