UseCase.md

Use Case for MQTTBuzz

MQTTBuzz is useful for publishing notifications from anthing that emits messages

A typical workflow is outlined in this diagram

graph LR
    subgraph iot [IoT Devices]
       device1[Device 1]
       device2[Device 2]
       device3[Device 3] 
    end
    subgraph pi [Raspberry Pi]
       subgraph nodered[Node Red]
          flow[Flow]
       end
       subgraph mqtt[MQTT]
          topic1[Topic 1]
          topic2[Topic 2]
        end
    end
    subgraph mac [Apple Mac]
       subgraph mqttbuzz [MQTTBuzz]
          subscriber[Subscriber]
       end
       subgraph notifier [OSX Notifications]
           notification[Notification]
       end
    end
    device1 --> | API Calls | flow
    device2 --> flow
    device3 --> flow
    flow --> | Publication | topic1
    flow --> topic2
    topic1 --> | Subscription | subscriber
    topic2 --> subscriber 
    subscriber --> | Notify | notification

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In this case there are various IoT devices e.g. a thermostat which checks the ambient temperature, an oil tank holding heating fuel, a doorbell, etc.

In many cases, the user does not want to see the value all the time, only when a significant change happens. In our examples it is desirable to know:

• Thermostat - when the temperature drops below a certail value
• Oil Tank - when the level drops below a level
• Doorbell - when it is pressed

Node-Red is used to monitor these events (e.g. read the temperature every hour and only report when it changes by more than 3 degrees) and writes the alert to MQTT.

MQTTBuzz subscribes to the topic(s) for the alerts and publishes them on the Mac Desktop