Simulating IoT Solutions with the Raspberry Pi Web Simulator and Azure IoT Hub
Tags: cloud, azure, raspberrypi, iot
Published: 2023-04-18 21:33:20

Azure IoT Hub is a cloud service provided by Microsoft that allows you to securely connect, monitor, and manage Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The Raspberry Pi Web Simulator is a web-based application that lets you imitate the Raspberry Pi environment in your browser without the need to buy a physical device. 

This blog would focus on the benefits of using a web-based simulator like the Raspberry Pi Web Simulator to test IoT solutions, and how it can be connected to Azure IoT Hub for data management.

**Basic requirements**

Before we start, you will need the following:

- An Azure account with an active IoT Hub (I explain how to sign up / log in to azure [here](https://dev.to/henriettatkr/creating-a-virtual-machine-in-azure-a-step-by-step-guide-for-beginners-387f).
- Access to the Raspberry Pi Web Simulator, which can be found [here](https://azure-samples.github.io/raspberry-pi-web-simulator/#GetStarted)

**Setting up Azure IoT Hub**

First, we need to create an Azure IoT Hub. Follow these steps:

Step 1 Log in to the Azure portal.
Step 2 Search for "IoT Hub" and select it
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/790ne5jouc7fhku8ur7m.png)
Step 3 Click "Create" to start the creation process
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/oemjr74ix5qir8w09ed1.png)

Step 4 Fill out the required information, such as subscription, resource group, IoT Hub name, and region

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/9ap7y7k79ec0uwy117uv.png)


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1bb7x4scgl7d93v5pkgg.png)

Step 5 Click "Review + create"

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/yhq56crvgl27bs8e4mcu.png)

Step 6 Review your configuration, and then click "Create" to create the IoT Hub.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/b4475ix2fzouw8ca6oyk.png)

After the IoT Hub is created, click on Go to resources to register the device 

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qe3iy2hgrr9xt691u62j.png)

Click on Devices under Device Management and Add device 

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/8y6rou5zu8kux6g3uwa9.png)

Give the device a name and click on save

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/i1m21dmsqmtn0gzr7pe1.png)

Once the device is added open the device and copy the **_Primary connection String_** that should be used on the Raspberry Pi to begin transferring data.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/dc074x5qvp68inhau15f.png)

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/3foextl4j4rmjqzxim60.png)

**Connecting Raspberry Pi Web Simulator to Azure IoT Hub**

Now that we have set up the Azure IoT Hub, let's connect the Raspberry Pi Web Simulator to it. 

Follow these steps:

Step 1 Open the Raspberry Pi Web Simulator in your web browser.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/oycm2c1vjz5jc0u0mose.png)

Step 2 Replace **_Your IoT Hub device connection string_** in line 15 with the **_Primary connection string_** of the device you created earlier and Click on the **Run** button to run the code.
 
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/yok9w98gubjroi19icco.png)


Step 3 If everything is set up correctly, the simulator will send a message to the IoT Hub as seen below

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/2fel6ycbbctrkaxao2k9.png)

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/edtyxcmxffzzbn4nl7p6.png)

**Conclusion**

In this blog, we have learned how to connect the Raspberry Pi Web Simulator to Azure IoT Hub. With this connection, you can simulate your IoT solution without needing any physical hardware and easily manage them from the Azure portal. You can now use this knowledge to build and test your own IoT projects and take advantage of the power of Azure IoT Hub.