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.
• Access to the Raspberry Pi Web Simulator, which can be found here

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

Step 3 Click "Create" to start the creation process

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

Step 5 Click "Review + create"

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

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

Click on Devices under Device Management and Add device

Give the device a name and click on save

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.

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.

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.

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

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.