sensorsmake

SensorsMake is a modular, open-source ecosystem for sensor-driven systems, combining hardware modules, firmware, software libraries, and deployment tools to support rapid prototyping and scalable deployments.

Origin and philosophy: Developed by open-hardware and open-source communities to lower integration barriers and promote vendor-neutral interfaces. It is designed for hobbyists, educators, researchers, and small teams.

Architecture: The design comprises three layers: hardware modules (sensors, compute blocks, power), the software stack (firmware templates, drivers, data processing, protocol adapters), and deployment options (edge devices and cloud backends). It favors standard communication protocols (MQTT, CoAP) and plug-and-play connectors with consistent addressing.

Hardware and software components: Common hardware includes ESP32- and Raspberry Pi-based boards, modular sensor suites, and power options. Software libraries cover sensor drivers, data encoding, eventing, and a modular firmware framework with OTA updates and reproducible builds.

Applications and governance: Widely used in environmental monitoring, smart buildings, agriculture, and education. The project emphasizes interoperability and community governance, with licensing under permissive terms and open contribution. Challenges include fragmentation and maintaining compatibility across modules.