Azure IoT And Raspberry PI - Send Sensor Data To Azure Using Python

Introduction

This article demonstrates how to send data from Raspberry Pi to Microsoft Azure. Microsoft provides a suite of IoT services, which you can use to create any kind of very large application.

About Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft.
Azure cloud services to help your organization meet your business challenges.
it supports many different programming languages, tools, and frameworks.
Azure provides 600 different types of services.

Azure IoT Hub

Azure IoT hub is a managed IoT service which is hosted in the cloud
It lets you connect, monitor, and manage billions of IoT assets
This cloud-to-device connectivity means that you can receive data from your devices.

Step 1

First, Open the Raspberry Pi terminal.
Next, we have to install some Azure IoT Package, so run some command to the Raspberry Pi and also install the Python package.

Install the below packages:

sudo pip3 install azure-iot-device
sudo pip3 install azure-iot-hub
sudo pip3 install azure-iothub-service-client
sudo pip3 install azure-iothub-device-client

This above package command requires this particular application.

Step 2 - Create IoT Hub

Next, go to Azure portal " https://portal.azure.com ".
Create a resource >> IoT Hub.

Azure IoT And Raspberry PI - Send Sensor Data To Azure Using Python

It is a dedicated service which is provided by Microsoft and it can be directly configured to your Raspberry Pi.

Next, create one IoT Hub Service and fill in the necessary details, give some name at recognizable into your IoT Hub.
Let us give the name as raviraw299. It is available and click on next-create.

Here you can decide how you want to your IoT Hub to be, so there are three categories provided - S, B, F

S - Standard (S1, S2 & S3)
B - Basic (B1, B2 & B3)
F - Free (F1).

B1, B2 & B3 are very basic and the below protocol is not available here.

Click on Review+ Create button. Now this step to create the Azure IoT Hub. After creating Azure IoT Hub you have space where you can perform experimental Azure.
Next, create a device where you can actually receive some data from the hardware.

Step 3 - Create an IoT Device

Go to the IoT Device and click on new, and give the device ID (mypi).

Three types of authentication algorithms are there.

Symmetric
X.509 Self Signed
X.509 CA Signed.

We choose the symmetric algorithm because it uses a long text string performing the authentication, and click on save.

Click on the device and then you will go to all the properties related to the device. You will see something called the primary connection string and copy the connection string.

Step 4

Create a new DHT 11 sensor sample program, the name of the program is simulateddeivce.py.

Source Code

import random
import time
from azure.iot.device import IoTHubDeviceClient, Message
CONNECTION_STRING = "Connection_String Here"
TEMPERATURE = 20.0
HUMIDITY = 60
MSG_TXT = '{{"temperature": {temperature},"humidity": {humidity}}}'
def iothub_client_init():
client = IoTHubDeviceClient.create_from_connection_string(CONNECTION_STRING)
return client
def iothub_client_telemetry_sample_run():
try:
client = iothub_client_init()
print ( "IoT Hub device sending periodic messages, press Ctrl-C to exit" )
while True:
temperature = TEMPERATURE + (random.random() * 15)
humidity = HUMIDITY + (random.random() * 20)
msg_txt_formatted = MSG_TXT.format(temperature=temperature, humidity=humidity)
message = Message(msg_txt_formatted)
if temperature > 30:
message.custom_properties["temperatureAlert"] = "true"
else:
message.custom_properties["temperatureAlert"] = "false"
print( "Sending message: {}".format(message) )
client.send_message(message)
print ( "Message successfully sent" )
time.sleep(3)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
print ( "IoTHubClient sample stopped" )
if __name__ == '__main__':
print ( "IoT Hub Quickstart #1 - Simulated device" )
print ( "Press Ctrl-C to exit" )
iothub_client_telemetry_sample_run()

Now before you run the Python program create an azure shell (CLI). When you open it for the first time it will ask you to create storage.

See below to add the extension:

az extension add --name azure-cli-iot-ext

See below to start device monitor to check incoming DHT 11 data,

az iot hub monitor-events --hub-name raviraw299 --device-id mypi

hub-name = YourIoTHubName
device-id = MyPythonD

Step 5

Run the Python program simulateddevice.py

Output

This program sends data every 10 seconds, let me just run this program. Exactly the same message is sent from Raspberry to Azure command-line interface (CLI). You can see there is no latency at all.

This is the most basic starting point of starting Azure IoT Hub.

Summary

In this article, you learned how to send data from Raspberry Pi to Microsoft Azure

If you have any questions/ feedback/ issues, please write in the comment box.

8 Comments

Join the conversation! Your thoughts help the community grow.

SueAnn Tan6y ago
Do you have the source code for sending the actual dht11 sensor data to azure?
ken zack6y ago
Please teach me .
ken zack6y ago
Raspberry pi4 has buster.
ken zack6y ago
Is it possible with type4 of Raspberry pi ?
Guest User6y ago
Nice article, thanks for sharing
- Ravishankar Velladurai6y ago
  Thanks for your feedback
Logesh Palani6y ago
Helpful one :)
- Ravishankar Velladurai6y ago
  Thank you for your feedback, Logesh Palani