In the context of my thesis in the subject industrial automation technology I have dealt extensively with the topic IoT and Node-Red and created a complete SCADA system including simulation environment. Here is an excerpt from the motivation for the assignment:
The alarm clock rings and the coffee is already made, because the coffee machine knew when the cell phone alarm clock will ring and the shutters in the whole house also already go up automatically.
Once described as "dreams of the future," functions like these are now already installed in an estimated 10 million [1] German households. "Home automation, smart homes and the Internet of Things (IoT) are no longer foreign words.
Thanks to the continuing consumer trend toward smart homes, more and more people are coming into contact with technology that is Internet-capable, has sensors and actuators, and can make fully automated decisions. As with the examples already mentioned, the Internet of Things is often easy to understand, but often complex to implement. One tool published by IBM that can help get started with this complex topic is Node-Red. With a graphical editor and building block system, it helps connect sensors and actuators easily.
The applications for the tool itself are almost unlimited. With Node-Red you can quickly, clearly and graphically connect multiple web services, query, analyze and store data. Thanks to the built-in dashboard, the insights gained can also be visualized in the web browser.
In this way, the tool fulfills many tasks of modern automation technology, which can often only be realized with a lot of programming effort. The large community behind Node-Red also makes it possible to greatly expand the range of functions through thousands of so-called "modules". Furthermore, the tool requires very little memory, can be installed on almost all environments and therefore also easily finds space on industrial systems.
