MicroSquad

MicroSquad is an Internet of Things orchestration framework focused initially on the BBC Micro:bit (a.k.a Microbit). To interface with the Microbit, it relies on Bitio : Using a single Microbit as a gateway, one can control remote Microbits over the radio. Messages are exchanged using the Influx line protocol (with a small custom parser implemented in micropython)

Basic MicroSquad functionalities include :

• Broadcast, group and unicast messaging.
• Assigning session identifiers (will be resent with each message from the client).
• Remotely controlling displays.
• Requesting remote sensor readings (buttons, gyroscope, compass, temperature, votes etc...).
• Controlling a 3D web-based scene where players can interact.

Software dependencies

For the MicroSquad Gateway :

• Python 3.8+
• https://github.com/AdventuresInMinecraft/Bitio

For the MicroSquad clients :

• The provided MicroSquad firmware to upload on each Microbit. For instance microsquad.hex

For the MicroSquad Web Interface :

• The spectacular Kenney Character Assets under Creative Commons Zero

How to use it

Flash the Microbits

• The Microbit Gateway uses https://github.com/AdventuresInMinecraft/Bitio - Simply download the latest compatible firmware and copy it to the Microbit flash drive to load it as the new firmware.
• The client firmware is available as a Github release. For instance microsquad.hex

Configure and start Mosquitto MQTT broker

Place the following file contents at location /etc/mosquitto/conf.d/listeners.conf :

listener 1883
protocol mqtt

listener 9001
protocol websockets 

allow_anonymous true

For a more comprehensive example, consult docs/samples/mosquitto.conf.

Start the Gateway

From modules/gateway, execute :

. ./setup-venv.sh
python -m microsquad.gateway.mqtt

Start the Web UI

From modules/web-ui, execute :

. source-path.sh
npm run serve