An Open-source Testbed for IoT Systems

A research team that wants to validate a new IoT solution has to implement a testbed. It is a complex step since it must provide a realistic environment, and this may require skills that are not present in the team. This paper explores the requirements of an IoT testbed and proposes an open-source solution based on low-cost and widely available components and technologies. The testbed implements an architecture consisting of a collector managing several edge devices. Security levels and duty-cycle are tunable depending on the specific application. After analyzing the testbed requirements, the paper illustrates a template that uses WiFi for the link layer, HTTPS for structured communication, an ESP8266 board for edge units, and a RaspberryPi for the collector.