I was wondering if anybody has tried hosting http://www.nodered.org on the Udoo. Out of all the web services claiming to provide a "GUI for the Internet of Things", Node-RED appears to have great potential. RPi, BBB and Arduino integrations are well documented and the GUI interface can even be embedded into other applications. A Node-RED + Udoo combination seems like a no-brainer considering it would have 4x the capabilities of any of the abovementioned devices.. But it could also pave the way for more optimal integrations between embedded devices and web services. As it stands now, the "Internet of Things" is still a far off goal, with hardware programs written for hardware devices and software services written with little regard to real-life impact. Server-side javascript is a step in the right direction, but it accomplishes this by essentially imposing a software-oriented approach onto hardware, rather than creating something that can truly take advantage of both. For example, one of the things that makes Arduino so powerful is its enormous catalog of user-submitted sketches. The typical Arduino-programmer might be a software developer, but could be also be an electrical engineer, multimedia artist, short-wave radio enthusiast, competitive BBQer etc... Such a diversity is made possible by a simple syntax and accessible IDE. However, in order to incorporate an Arduino module into Node.js, one must essentially convert the Arduino into a javascript client by flashing it with Firmata. This would be fine if A. Everybody in the world was fluent in javascript or B. one could simply translate existing Arduino sketches into Javascript with the push of a button. Unless either one of these conditions can be met, then it may be time to think of new approaches. One noteworthy attempt to make Node.js more relevant to embedded applications can still be found in the "Bonescript" library developed for the Beaglebone Black. As the BBB includes a 32 Bit Microcontroller, the inputs and outputs on the board were preprogrammed into the library, so users should be able to program a blinking LED from a web-based IDE for example. Unfortunately, "Bonescript" never really appealed to anyone who wasn't already familiar with Javascript, which severely limited its user-base, which impacted its pace of development and so on... There were some early attempts to make "Bonescript" look more like the Arduino syntax, but this approach seems to have been dropped in favor of developing a new Arduino board altogether (supposedly the soon-to-be-released Arduino TRE). Whether or not the new "all in one" Arduino board will be a game changer remains to be seen. In any case, we have a possible game changer available right now! Enter the UDOO! Or more specifically, the interesting Node.js+UDOO Library. This library appears to take full advantage of the 32 bit microcontroller by mapping out the I/Os similar to "Bonescript". Unlike, its Beaglebone cousin however, the UDOO microcontroller can be programmed as an Arduino. So what does all this have to do with Node-RED? A Node-RED module for UDOO could potentially lead to capabilies far beyond those that already exist. As a host device, the UDOO would have 4x the capacity of the current RPi/BBB methods, while the Arduino module would be free to take advantage of its full extendibility instead of having to rely on running Javascript events through Firmata. Has anybody tried it yet? If not, give it a shot and post the results here!
