Janitor

Abstract

1. Introduction

Janitor is a standalone tool that monitors the availability of your IOT devices and alerts you in case a device goes missing or stops transmitting data. This is particulary useful if you have many sensors, possibly with unstable hardware or connection, so you can take action in case of any issues and monitor the stability of your devices.

Janitor does not aim to implement any additional functionalities, therefore is not an alternative to your other home automation software (e.g. HASS). Focusing on solely this functionality will enable to keep this tool simple and efficient.

Additionally, Janitor has a web interface where you can see the current status and historical data, remove items, change timeouts, intervals and thresholds and reload the configuration file (see screenshot below).

2. Objective

Availability monitoring and alerting for IOT devices

This project demonstrates how Go, MQTT can be applied to a real-world Internet of Things (IoT) problem.

4. Technology Stack

5. System Requirements

General requirements for this technology stack — check the README for exact versions.

• Go 1.20 or later
• Git (to clone the repository)

6. Installation & Setup

git clone https://github.com/a-bali/janitor.git
cd janitor

1. topic: "/sensors/#"

Full setup instructions are in the project README.

7. Future Enhancements

Suggested extensions you can add to make this your own project.

• Add a mobile dashboard using Blynk or Firebase
• Store readings in a cloud database for history charts
• Add alerts via SMS / Telegram when thresholds are crossed

8. Viva / Review Questions

Common questions examiners ask for projects in this domain.

1. Which microcontroller / board and sensors are used and why?
2. How does the device send data (Wi-Fi, MQTT, HTTP, Bluetooth)?
3. Where is the sensor data stored and visualised?
4. How is power consumption managed?
5. How would you secure the device and its communication?

9. Source Code & License

This project is developed by a-bali and published on GitHub under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Please follow the license terms and credit the original author when you use or modify this code.