Beyond the phone: Google embraces IoT with Android Things

1. Beyond the phone: Google
embraces IoT with Android Things
By giving away the hard stuff,
Google does to IoT what it did to mobile.
Carl Whalley
OTAMate
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlwhalley

2. IoT: Connect, Command, Control

3. 8.4 billion devices online in 2017
Earth’s population 2017:
7.6 billion
30 billion devices online in 2020
Market value $7.1T in 2020
Anything electrical can be online

4. IoT’s past is similar to mobile
No clear market leader OS
Nodes not powerful enough
Separate interfaces, protocols + UI’s
No enabler to standardise

5. Android outside mobile isn’t new

6. The Hardware/Software tipping point
RAM, CPU power sky rocketed
Fewer wheels re-invented
Local networks became the Internet
Software evolved to make use of it
- Multitasking
- Better real world modelling

7. Google spots another perfect storm
IoT ready for prime time
The brand:
- 90% of smartphone users already know Android.
Established Cloud infrastructure
- Google Cloud IoT
- Managed services/Analytics/Security

8. Eliminated barriers to entry
Android Things is free
Ultra low cost hardware
Android support already available in
terms of docs, skills, apps, marketing
Guaranteed compatibility with Googles
Mobile & Cloud services

9. Much more than just Android on a Pi
“Fleet” management
Device certification
Security
Scalability

10. The Android Things console

11. What’s development like?
Platform is current Android
- Familar AndroidManifest.xml etc
- Keeps up with latest Kotlin (Yay!)
- No emulator (yet)
- The familiar Android env is all there:
- Activities
- Lifecycles
- Views etc
- Distinguishes between production
and development boards
- Heavy emphasis on drivers for I/O

12. And the code?
No default UI!
- No home screen/status bar/navigation
- Roll your own UI or use hardware
- Ooops: Google always said don’t code
a back button
Many API differences & restrictions
- Permissions can’t be asked for interactively
- Google services missing: Ads/Pay/Play Store
- Does support Firebase/Maps/Location

13. Sensors and comms
GPIO
- General Purpose IO
- “Pins” with easy on/off detection
- Industry standard I2C, serial Tx/Rx
- Networking
- WiFi
- Bluetooth
Native
- C++ via JNI for when you need to hit the metal

14. Local AI
Tensorflow Lite
- Image classifier via camera
- AI Training performed off device
- Machine Learning:
data deployed as one processed image
- Can act as Edge Computing device
- Tensorflow has full Android Studio support
- Local AI means offline continuity support

15. Call your Driver!
Drivers Managed by Developers
- Display: LCD screen, OLED
- Location: GPS, WiFi
- HID: Touch pads, keyboards etc
- Supports sensor fusion:
combines data from different physical
devices into a single virtual one
- LoWPAN:
Low-power Wireless Personal Area Networks

16. Real projects
Hackster
- Air Quality monitoring via Taxis
- Home brewery
- 3 Axis CNC
- Smart home security monitoring
- Drain clog detector
- Drone controllers
https://www.hackster.io/google/products/android-things