LG201: IoT Prototype Development – Reflection

This is a fantastic module to start this course with, it’s like a proof of concept for IoT design. A headless device that you can set-up, connect to the internet and communicate with from a webserver. Once you can do that you can do anything, within reason.

Coding was my strength going into this module, but I have enjoyed the opportunities to learn new software and start thinking in new ways, looking at objects and thinking about making them. Up until now my electronic circuits have been on breadboards and glued into re-purposed objects like my Coffee Grinder and Apple Pi projects. Now I am excited about creating custom boards and physical devices, I think I did pretty well, but have loads still to learn in future modules.

I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to write about code, and about ideas, I have never blogged or even described my processes before… I just want to keep writing now. As I mentioned in my slightly humourous introduction, Project Management is my Achilles Heel, this is illustrated by the fact I have written about 20,000 lines of code to host these articles in a custom CMS. Yes, I can pop-up 3D models, respond to Web Sockets and display things exactly how I want… but none of that goes anywhere near the marking criteria for this module.

Trello has been great and laying out the Trello Board to reflect the goals of the module, really helped. It has enabled me to finish, what turned into, a huge body of work. I will adopt this going forward including the writing, then answering of tests and questions.

I started slowly, January can be a dark and nonproductive time for people with depression, spending more time on campus later in the module really helped. Lockdown stopped me from being able to continue this practice and to complete my final 3D product, but I will revisit this when things re-open again. This is my first academic exercise in 15 years, and there is work to do to find some balance between formal and informal writing styles. I have found this quite interesting, as the maker community and academia both have very different styles and are both full of great knowledge.

Internet of Things is a fledgeling industry, set for huge growth. Things are moving quickly and the specifics of what I learned in this module will no doubt be outdated as technology advances at pace. However, the knowledge of how things work and how to approach projects feels like a great start in my education.

I enjoyed this, I hope that comes across in my writing.