The Smart Lab IoT Automation Project

Overview

Led a team of 6 in transforming the IEEE Concordia club's workshop to a modern smart lab through interconnected devices, self-hosted services, and intelligent automation. This parent project encompasses multiple sub-projects, each contributing to a cohesive ecosystem of locally hosted smart devices.

Technical Stack

Network Infrastructure

• Containerization: Docker Compose
• Self-hosted IoT network (no cloud dependency)
• WiFi and Zigbee connectivity for diverse devices
• MQTT message broker for efficient communication
• InfluxDB for time-series data storage and analytics

Custom Hardware

• Built custom WiFi and Zigbee IoT devices
• Custom sensors deployed throughout the lab
• Unified automation through Home Assistant

Software Stack

• Home Assistant: Core home automation platform
• Node-RED: Flow-based automation programming
• InfluxDB: Time-series database for sensor data
• Grafana: Real-time dashboarding and visualization
• Portainer: Container management interface
• Zigbee2MQTT: Custom IoT network coordination

IoT Communication Protocols

• MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport)
• Zigbee
• TUYA
• Ethernet
• Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
• WiFi

Automation & Control

• Node-Red for optimized automation flows
• Voice control integration via Alexa
• Automated lab routines for energy efficiency

Technical Highlights

This project demonstrates expertise in:

• Multi-protocol IoT network design
• Docker containerization and orchestration
• Real-time data pipeline architecture (sensor → database → visualization)
• Custom embedded systems development
• Home automation logic programming
• Network security in IoT environments
• System integration across diverse platforms

Security System

• ML object detection on camera feeds
• Inference running on CORAL TPU for edge computing
• Automated control of lights, soldering irons, cabinet locks
• Real-time data-driven decision making
• Network security implementation throughout

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Technologies: Home Assistant, Node-RED, Docker, MQTT, Zigbee, ESP32, Python, InfluxDB, Grafana, Linux

Role: Project Manager & Lead Developer

Status: Active Development