Step 4 Data Visualization

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Charts, visualization, graphs, oh my!

Why else would you connect your stuff to the network than to have pretty data visualization?? Right now there a few main ways for visualization I really recommend:

1. Grafana + InfluxDB servers

   • Requires a linux system to run as a server, a Raspberry Pi works great.
   • I recommend this if you've already got one running anyway.
   • Hands-down the best charting, customizability, prettiest, most open-source, option.
   • Most difficult / involved to setup.
   • Here's the JSON model I created for my dashboard, feel free to start with that! Please share your results and improvements!

2. Adafruit.io (or perhaps thingsboard.io) Online Service

   • Free, but limited number of data-streams and limited data rate
   • Gorgeous data plotting and widgets, nice customizable dashboards
   • You can easily download historical data, use their API to access things, script IFTTT integrations, etc

3. MQTT Explorer App

   • Free MQTT graphical client that has great real-time charting built in
   • Great for debugging full-speed behavior with no limits

4. Home Assistant Open Source Smart Home Server

   • Gives great little 24h data charts with very little configuration

Guides for these are forthcoming! Join the Discord Channel discord.gg/GtR3JShfGu and I'll help you get set up and write the docs.

A dashboard view using Grafana (for charts) and InfluxDB (for data storage)
Screenshot of my adafruit dashboard
Screenshot from MQTT Explorer running in real time