Creating virtual / fictional sensors

[saNGFVJ]

Hi, 

Does anyone know how to create virtual sensors to simulate an real IoT device before any construction begins?

Would be greatly beneficial to map design information to these sensors during the design phase and compare against the real measurements once construction handover is completed. Ideally being able to schedule information sent to Tandem to make full use of heat maps and graphs to present to the client would be great. 

Once the virtual sensors are created, hoping that we can do a simple swap between the physical and virtual sensors. 

Thanks, 

[derek_milz]

You can utilize the attached python program for simulating the following variables every 15 mins (this assumes your streams are already setup in Tandem, just waiting for data):

Name	Min	Max	Units
temperatureF	65.00	72.00	F°
temperatureC	18.33	22.22	C°
Co2	530.00	550.00	ppm
Humidity	30	50	%
Pressure	67.00	75.00	ppm
Room_occupancy	10	20	Persons
Building_occupancy	200	400	Persons
Motor_speed	1000	2000	Rpms
Motor_vibrations	.1	2	m/s²
Motor_frequency	55	60	Hz
Energy_usage	1000	Incremental	kWh

1.  Download the attached 'Sim Tandem Variables.txt' and open in a text-editor (such as notepad), perform a 'Save-As', and rename the file/extension to 'Sim Tandem Variables.py'

2.  Download Python onto your corresponding OS by going to python.org/downloads and follow the installation instructions.

3.  After the Python installation completes, we will also install the HTTP ‘Requests’ library by opening your cmd/terminal and entering:

Windows:   

python -m pip install requests

MacOS: 

curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py
python3 get-pip.py
pip install requests

4.  Open ‘Sim Tandem Variables.py’ in Notepad, Text-Editor, or your preferred code-editing tool such as Visual Studio Code.  Add your links from your Tandem Environment in the 'tandem_streams_endpoints' array, being sure to separate each one with a comma: 

5.  After updating all your Tandem Stream Links, save the updated changes and run the python program:

• Windows:          'Right-Click 'Sim Tandem Variables.py' > Open With > Python 3.11 (or current Python Version)
• MacOS:              'Right-click Sim Tandem Variables.py' > Open With > Python Launcher

Data will start publishing to your Tandem Streams every 15 minutes.  Leave this python program running as long as you want data publishing:

***Note, if you upgrade python from previous version and the window flashes and disappears run:

pip install --upgrade requests

6.  Feel free to link some or all values that apply to your simulation:

[derek_milz]

There are also multiple options available within the IoT industry to create virtual devices and simulate telemetry data including running code on a local machine, creating an Azure IoT hub and using a mobile device or virtual device as a simulated IoT device (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPEonu_NDnI), or using a specific vendor's device simulation such as Disruptive Technologies Studio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9pTnHa08W0).

[saNGFVJ]

Thanks for the comprehensive response, I will get stuck into it and post findings here!

[jens.krause]

Hi all.
I tested the script yesterday and it worked smoothly for me except for some minor issues that I wanted to share here:

• If the request library cannot be installed using 'python -m pip install requests', you might want to give 'py -m pip install requests' a try
• If you update your Python installation AFTER installing the library, you need to update the library, too. Using: 'pip install --upgrade requests'. Otherwise you will not receive the 'Data sent successfully' response when running the script
• After creating a new connection, it takes a while until the new URL that you can copy becomes available. Please wait several minutes after creating the connection and copying the URL before you try to run the script. Otherwise, you might see a 404 error
• After running the script, it can take several minutes until the first payload is visible in the connection. You can use 'Refresh' in the three dot menu of the connection to speed up the process