Scriptable allows you to write your own widgets using JavaScript and run the scripts on your iOS device. Anil Patro shared a starter template to create a ThingSpeak Graph widget using JavaScript on GitHub. You can use Anil’s code and modify it for your ThingSpeak channel and style.

Here are some steps to help you put a ThingSpeak widget on your iOS device:

1. Install Scriptable
2. Get the starter code on your device using iCloud sharing and edit on your desktop
3. Add a new widget to your Home Screen
   1. From the Home Screen, touch and hold a widget or an empty area until the apps jiggle.
   2. Tap the Add button  in the upper-left corner.
   3. Select a widget, choose from three widget sizes, then tap Add Widget.
   4. Select the Scriptable app
4. Customize the widget:
   1. Hold down on the widget and select Edit Widget.
   2. Enter a new parameter for your channel: CHANNEL_ID | FIELD_ID | results=X

iOS widgets refresh rate is controlled by the device. The widgets will update themselves on some schedule and eventually synchronize with recent ThingSpeak channel data.

Enjoy making custom widgets for iPhone and iPad thanks to Scriptable and Anil’s work. Anil also posted some widget code for CheerLights.

Installation

The Arduino IDE needs to have the ThingSpeak library installed in order for your devices to know how to send data to ThingSpeak. In the Arduino IDE, choose Sketch, Include Library, and Manage Libraries. Search for “thingspeak” and click Install.

Device Support

The ThingSpeak Communication Library supports many devices. Using the library makes the experience the same for each board type. When you learn one way to work with ThingSpeak, you will be to work with other devices in the same way.

• Arduino or compatible using a WiFi Shield
• Arduino or compatible using a WiFi Shield 101
• Arduino or compatible using an Ethernet Shield
• Arduino or compatible using a MKR ETH Shield
• Arduino MKR1000 (use the WiFi101 library version 0.13.0 or older. WiFi101 library versions 0.14.0 and newer have a bug that stops this ThingSpeak library from working properly)
• Arduino MKR1010
• Arduino VIDOR 4000
• Arduino GSM 14000
• Arduino Yún (Rev1 and Rev2)
• ESP8266 (tested with SparkFun ESP8266 Thing – Dev Board and NodeMCU 1.0 module)
• ESP32 (tested with SparkFun ESP32 Thing)

Each supported device includes three ThingSpeak examples.

• ReadField: Reading from a public channel and a private channel on ThingSpeak
• WriteSingleField: Writing a sensor value to a single field on ThingSpeak
• WriteMultipleFields: Writing sensor values to multiple fields and status in one transaction with ThingSpeak

Request Status Codes

To get the best compatibility with ThingSpeak IoT services, we recommend using the ThingSpeak library. The library has extra features that help you troubleshoot and get visibility into any issues with requests to ThingSpeak. I find it useful to store the last status code from ThingSpeak. I can use this code to understand if the request succeeded or failed. Here’s an example of how to use the “getLastReadStatus” method.

 // Read in field 1 of the private channel which is a counter  
 long fieldValue = ThingSpeak.readLongField(myChannelNumber, myFieldNumber, myThingSpeakReadAPIKey);  

  // Check the status of the read operation to see if it was successful
 statusCode = ThingSpeak.getLastReadStatus();
 if(statusCode == 200) {
   Serial.println("Field Value: " + String(fieldValue));
 }
 else {
   Serial.println("Problem reading channel. HTTP error code " + String(statusCode)); 
 }

The code behind the ThingSpeak library is available on GitHub. Discover other MathWorks Open Source and Community Projects on The MathWorks GitHub page.

Arduino IDE Installation

In the Arduino IDE, choose Sketch/Include Library/Manage Libraries. Click the ThingSpeak Library from the list, and click the Install button.

Particle / Spark IDE Installation

In the Particle/ Spark Web IDE, click the libraries tab, find ThingSpeak, and choose “Include in App”.

Compatible Hardware

• Arduino or compatible using an Ethernet or Wi-Fi shield (we have tested with Uno and Mega)
• Arduino Yun running OpenWRT-Yun Release 1.5.3 (November 13th, 2014) or later.
• Particle Core or Photon (Formally Spark)

ThingSpeak Examples

The library includes several examples to help you get started.

• CheerLights: Reads the latest CheerLights color on ThingSpeak, and sets an RGB LED.
• ReadLastTemperature: Reads the latest temperature from the public MathWorks weather station in Natick, MA on ThingSpeak.
• ReadPrivateChannel: Reads the latest voltage value from a private channel on ThingSpeak.
• ReadWeatherStation: Reads the latest weather data from the public MathWorks weather station in Natick, MA on ThingSpeak.
• WriteMultipleVoltages: Reads analog voltages from pins 0-7 and writes them to the 8 fields of a channel on ThingSpeak.
• WriteVoltage: Reads an analog voltage from pin 0, converts to a voltage, and writes it to a channel on ThingSpeak.

Complete open source code and examples for the ThingSpeak Library are available on GitHub. Discover other MathWorks Open Source and Community Projects on GitHub.

The sensor records the PM10 and PM2.5 dust levels to get an accurate indication of the dust in the air. This project is a great example of how a little sensor could turn into something important for protecting machine shops, construction sites, and garages.

[via shadowandy / GitHub]

[via GitHub]

We have come a long way since building cloud platforms for connected devices – now known as “The Internet of Things”. Here’s what our first website for the ThingSpeak project looked like 5 years ago…

Get started with IoT now:
Visit ThingSpeak.com or fork the project on GitHub!

First, create a new Channel, and fill out the field names as follows: Field 1 = “CPU Usage (%)”, Field2 = “Memory Usage (%)”, Field 3 = “Disk Usage (%)”.

Next, add the open-source server statistics script to your server, which can be found at: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iobridge/thingspeak/master/lib/server_stats.sh

Inside the script there’s an API Key variable, which should be replaced with your specific Channel’s API Key (leave the single quotes, and only replace the X’s): api_key='XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX'

For the script to work properly, install the “bc” package via: sudo apt-get install bc

Then make the script executable: chmod +x server_stats.sh

Finally, edit your crontab file: crontab -e

Make the script execute every minute by adding this line to your crontab (make sure you use the proper path to the script): * * * * * /path/to/server_stats.sh

The script will then automatically POST server stats to the Channel specified by the API Key every minute.

You can see some of the ThingSpeak server statistics here:

• https://thingspeak.com/channels/12370
• https://thingspeak.com/channels/12371

Electric Imp is a connectivity platform for connecting Wi-Fi devices to cloud services, much like RealTime.io and Iota Wi-Fi modules and Spark.io. Some Electric Imp module’s come in an SD card form factor and adds Wi-Fi connectivity to what’s connected to the Electric Imp module. Access to the Electric Module happens via the Electric Imp cloud. While connectivity is simplified with the Electric Imp system, you will need a data service like ThingSpeak to complete the Internet of Things experience. Once data from Electric Imp devices are in ThingSpeak, you can easily build applications and interactivity with other devices and platforms.

We put together a quick start tutorial for the Electric Imp and ThingSpeak, so you can quickly and easily get the Electric Imp talking to ThingSpeak. The tutorial uses parts from SparkFun – the Electric Imp Wi-Fi SD module, breakout board, and USB cable / power supply.

Get started now…  Check out the official Electric Imp and ThingSpeak Tutorial and source code on GitHub.

So, by using Java, a simple “Hello World” app becomes this easy…

Channel channel = new Channel(channelNumber, apiWriteKey);

Entry entry = new Entry();
entry.setField(1, "Hello World");
channel.update(entry);

All of the source code and documentation are available on GitHub. Get started right away with building your Internet of Things with the Java Programming Language and the ThingSpeak Cloud.

Excellent work Andrew – thanks for contributing to the Open Source ThingSpeak Community!

[via Angry Electron / GitHub]

Check out the tutorial, “ThingSpeak Temperature with Raspberry Pi“, to learn how to send sensor data using the BrickPi, a Raspberry Pi computer, and a temperature sensor for the LEGO^® MINDSTORMS^® NXT. The project uses ThingSpeak to store, share, and visualize sensor data collected by BrickPi-enabled projects. The Python code for the Raspberry Pi is available on GitHub and the entire project is open source!

[via  Dexter Industries]

We want to send a special thanks to powermik, oiotoshi, sekjal, and akinsgre for contributing new code and reporting bugs.

All of the latest code is available on GitHub, so start building your own Internet of Things today!

For more information, check out our tutorial and visit GitHub for the full source code. Thanks Daniel!

[via RubyGems.org]

Topics on the agenda:

• Switch over to Ruby on Rails 3.1
• ThingSpeak v2.0
• Active ThingSpeak Projects
• Adding modularity and tests to the GitHub repository
• …btw, we’re hiring!

Background on ThingSpeak:

ThingSpeak is an open source web application and API to manage devices, to create device interactions, and to store data. Users can use the hosted version of ThingSpeak or setup instances on their own servers by getting the source code from GitHub. The technology behind ThingSpeak is Ruby 1.9.2, Rails 3.0, EventMachine, Phusion Passenger, Nginx, and Memcached to form a highly scalable infrastructure for the emerging Internet of Things and its data model requirements.

You use ThingSpeak to Send and Receive “data” via simple HTTP requests, much like going to a web page and filling out a form. Data can be from
anything — Blood Sugar Levels measured by a glucose meter, Server Usage and Uptime reported by servers, or Location Info from a mobile phone. Once the data is in ThingSpeak, you can build applications that retrieve the data, use the data for process decision-making, and reporting.

[via Pittsburgh Ruby Users Group]

willnue added the ability to tweet to his GE Wireless Control Center Alarm system. He added an Arduino with Ethernet Shield and uses the ThingTweet app to connect the alarm to Twitter. Check out his detailed Instructables to learn more, build your own social thing, and enter the contest.

wilnue says,

This project will add tweeting capabilities to the GE 45142 Choice-Alert Wireless Control Center Alarm system. The alarm system allows you to connect up to 16 different sensors across 4 zones and with the addition of the Arduino powered AlarmingTweet you can enable it to keep you informed of its status anytime anywhere.

Good luck with the contest!

The latest Python code to interface to ThingSpeak is available on GitHub.

[via Australian Robotics]

Support for ThingSpeak is available on the ThingSpeak Community site which features a Blog, Forum, Documentation, and Tutorials. The documentation is the same for the open source release of the ThingSpeak API as the hosted web service on ThingSpeak.com.

What is ThingSpeak?

ThingSpeak is an open source “Internet of Things” application and API to store and retrieve data from “things” using HTTP over the Internet or via a Local Area Network. With ThingSpeak, you can create sensor logging applications, location tracking applications, and a social network of things with status updates.

In addition to storing and retrieving numeric and alphanumeric data, the ThingSpeak API allows for numeric data processing such as timescaling, averaging, median, summing, and rounding. Each ThingSpeak Channel supports data entries of up to 8 data fields, latitude, longitude, elevation, and status. The channel feeds support JSON, XML, and CSV formats for integration into applications.

The ThingSpeak application on GitHub also features time zone management, read/write API key management and JavaScript-based charts from Highslide Software / Torstein Hønsi.