Lab 7: Software Sensor Application

With the connectivity and integration between the AMQ broker and OpenWhisk now complete, the next step is to integrate IoT data using a simulated software sensor.

Software Sensor

The software sensor is a Spring Boot based application that simulates GPS sensor data for the assets in the factory. It periodically sends location coordinates for each asset similar to how a real GPS sensor works.

Software sensor application is driven by a configuration file located at iot-serverless-software-sensor/src/main/resources/application.yml. The configuration file provides current location parameters for each asset.

Deploy the Software Sensor

Templates have been created to support the building of a custom image containing the application along with the deployment to OpenShift.

First, instantiate the template to build the image from the root of the project:

 $ cd /home/lab-user/iot-serverless/
 $ oc process -f applier/templates/software-sensor-build.yml | oc apply -f-

 imagestream "software-sensor" created
 buildconfig "software-sensor" created

A new BuildConfig and ImageStream will be created along with the triggering of the Source-to-Image based build in OpenShift.

A new build should be automatically triggered. Verify the build has started by running the following command:

 $  oc get builds -l application=software-sensor

 NAME                TYPE      FROM          STATUS    STARTED              DURATION
software-sensor-1   Source    Git@5896653   Running   About a minute ago

When a build is present and running, the logs from the build execution can be seen using the following command:

 $ oc logs -f builds/<build_name>

When the image has been built successfully, another template can be instantiated to create the associated DeploymentConfig and Service. A set of parameters must be provided when processing the template including the credentials for access the MQTT broker and the location of the broker within the iot-serverless project.

Execute the following command to instantiate the software sensor deployment template.

 $ oc -p MQTT_USERNAME=iot-serverless -p MQTT_PASSWORD=iot-serverless -p MQTT_APPLICATION_SERVICE=broker-amq-mqtt -p MQTT_TOPIC=proxsensor01 process -f applier/templates/software-sensor-deployment.yml | oc apply -f-

 service "software-sensor" created
 deploymentconfig "software-sensor" created

Scale up software sensor

By default, the software sensor is configured to have no running pods (specified by a replica count of 0). Execute the following command to enable the software sensor by changing the replica count to 1:

 $ oc scale dc/software-sensor --replicas=1

 deploymentconfig "software-sensor" scaled

Verify the software sensor is active by verifying the status using the following command:

$ oc get pods -l application=software-sensor

NAME                    READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
software-sensor-1-jg74d   1/1       Running   0          1m

A READY column indicating 1/1 denotes the service is ready and available

This application makes use of OpenShift Health Check to verify the connectivity of the MongoDB database. Before marking the pod active and healthy, HTTP requests are made on an endpoint exposed on the application supported by Spring Boot Endpoints. The source code for this health check can be found at iot-serverless-software-sensor/src/main/java/com/redhat/iot/MqttHealthIndicator.java

With the application running, access the software-sensor logs to confirm that it is transmitting data:

 $ oc logs $(oc get pods -l=application=software-sensor -o 'jsonpath={.items[0].metadata.name}')

 $ 2018-05-04 05:26:27.352  INFO 1 --- [    scheduler-3] com.redhat.iot.AssetRunner               : Running Scheduled Task for Asset: Chemical Pump LX-222 - Iteration: 2 - Latitude: 37.784218 - Longitude: -122.401858
 2018-05-04 05:26:27.353  INFO 1 --- [    scheduler-4] com.redhat.iot.AssetRunner               : Running Scheduled Task for Asset: Condensate duplex pump - Iteration: 2 - Latitude: 37.784269 - Longitude: -122.401312
 2018-05-04 05:26:27.362  INFO 1 --- [    scheduler-5] com.redhat.iot.AssetRunner               : Running Scheduled Task for Asset: Lighting control unit RT-SD-1000 - Iteration: 2 - Latitude: 37.7843430 - Longitude: -122.401159
 2018-05-04 05:26:32.352  INFO 1 --- [    scheduler-9] com.redhat.iot.AssetRunner               : Running Scheduled Task for Asset: Chemical Pump LX-222 - Iteration: 3 - Latitude: 37.784234 - Longitude: -122.401858
 2018-05-04 05:26:32.353  INFO 1 --- [    scheduler-1] com.redhat.iot.AssetRunner               : Running Scheduled Task for Asset: Condensate duplex pump - Iteration: 3 - Latitude: 37.784269 - Longitude: -122.401322
 2018-05-04 05:26:32.364  INFO 1 --- [   scheduler-10] com.redhat.iot.AssetRunner               : Running Scheduled Task for Asset: Lighting control unit RT-SD-1000 - Iteration: 3 - Latitude: 37.7843510 - Longitude: -122.401159
 2018-05-04 05:26:34.351  INFO 1 --- [    scheduler-7] com.redhat.iot.AssetRunner               : Running Scheduled Task for Asset: Robotic arm joint RT-011 - Iteration: 1 - Latitude: 37.784115 - Longitude: -122.40138
 2018-05-04 05:26:35.351  INFO 1 --- [   scheduler-11] com.redhat.iot.AssetRunner               : Running Scheduled Task for Asset: Teledyne DALSA Camera - Iteration: 1 - Latitude: 37.784312 - Longitude: -122.401241
 2018-05-04 05:26:37.352  INFO 1 --- [    scheduler-8] com.redhat.iot.AssetRunner               : Running Scheduled Task for Asset: Chemical Pump LX-222 - Iteration: 4 - Latitude: 37.784250 - Longitude: -122.401858

If no errors are observed, the deployment of the software sensor was successful and the IoT assets are transmitting values to the AMQ broker.