PILoT - Democratizing IoT Development

PILoT - Democratizing IoT Development

IoT Embedded Systems Software Development Library Containerization

Overview

PILoT (Platform Independent Library of Things) is a comprehensive IoT development framework that redefines traditional IoT development methodologies. It provides virtualized IoT platforms, peripherals, and supports robust continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) capabilities for IoT deployments. PILoT enables platform independence, resource sharing, and significantly accelerates the IoT development lifecycle.

Motivation

IoT development is often hindered by complex integration processes, limited interoperability, and challenging maintenance post-deployment. PILoT aims to democratize and accelerate IoT development by introducing concepts such as True Plug-and-Play (TPnP), embedded IoT containers, and streamlined remote development capabilities.

Key Innovations

True Plug-and-Play (TPnP)

  • Shifts peripheral driver development responsibilities from developers to peripheral manufacturers.
  • Encapsulates peripheral drivers directly into the hardware, enabling seamless peripheral integration and reducing setup complexities.

IoT Containers

  • Lightweight, embedded containers tailored specifically for resource-constrained IoT sensor nodes.
  • Supports the development and deployment of hardware-agnostic IoT applications, facilitating easy cross-platform operation.

Virtual Development Kits (VDKs)

  • Enables virtualized testing and development environments for peripherals, significantly reducing hardware dependency during development phases.
  • Facilitates remote and cross-continental IoT hardware and software development.

Core Features

  • Platform Independence
    Develop IoT solutions once and deploy across multiple hardware platforms with minimal adjustments.

  • CI/CD Pipelines
    Automate firmware upgrades and testing using virtualized IoT environments, dramatically simplifying and accelerating updates and deployments.

  • Peripheral Phantoms
    Bundles peripheral drivers and descriptors, ensuring peripherals integrate effortlessly into diverse IoT environments without extensive manual configuration.

  • Remote & Cross-Continent Development
    Supports distributed teams to collaboratively develop and test IoT hardware and software virtually, reducing development time and logistical overhead.

Technology & Architecture

PILoT’s architecture encompasses four primary development phases:

  • Design & Plan: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach using IoT blueprints.
  • Develop: IoT containers for virtualized hardware development.
  • Deploy: CI/CD pipelines with Over-The-Air (OTA) capabilities and zero-downtime upgrades.
  • Operate: Cloud-based system management with capabilities for remote control, monitoring, analytics, and monetization.

Applications & Benefits

  • Industrial IoT (Industry 4.0 & 5.0)
  • Smart Logistics and Container Tracking
  • Remote IoT Development and Testing
  • Cross-platform IoT Application Deployment
  • IoT Peripheral Manufacturing

Early Research & Foundation Work

The following works document the foundational research and the early concepts of PILoT:

  • “SandBoxer: A Self-Contained Sensor Architecture for Sandboxing the Industrial Internet of Things”
    Read the Paper

  • “Democratizing the Internet of Things Through Platform Virtualization” (PhD Thesis, Queen’s University, 2022)
    Read Thesis

Get Involved

Interested in exploring PILoT for your IoT projects or contributing to ongoing developments?

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