PiNotify project

PiNotify seeks to provide a way to notify and send short (140 character) messages via a tablet display, along with physical blinking lights and a physical button.

The flashing lights will blink until the message is acknowledged.

See PiNotify Design.py for more details about the project design.

Disclaimer

This is not an official Google product.

Setup

The project consists of 3 apps that work in concert: a backend and web UI that runs on Google AppEngine, an Android app that runs on the tablet, and a Raspberry Pi app that controls the lights and physical button based on Bluetooth commands from the tablet.

Before the AppEngine and Android apps can be built and run, some setup is required. Most of this setup involves creating keys for Firebase Push Notifications and Google Cloud Endpoints, which are used to allow the Android app to communicate with the backend.

Comments marked in the code with SETUP_TODO are things that need to be done to build, run, and deploy.

Some of this setup can probably be simplified in the future.

Setup steps:

1. Create a Google Cloud Platform project and enable AppEngine on https://console.cloud.google.com.
2. cd appengine
3. mkdir lib
4. pip install -t lib google-endpoints --ignore-installed
5. Follow the instructions at https://firebase.google.com/docs/cloud-messaging/android/first-message to setup Firebase Cloud Messaging and add it to the Android app. This should replace the placeholder file app/google-services.json. You can link your Firebase project to your Google Cloud Platform project.
6. Follow https://cloud.google.com/endpoints/docs/frameworks/legacy/v1/python/getstarted/backend/setup to setup Google Cloud Endpoints.
7. In app/src/main/java/com/pinotify/BackendService.java, enter the Cloud Endpoints audience.
8. In appengine/api.py, enter the Android and web client IDs from your project's Cloud Console credentials section.
9. In appengine/web_handlers.py, add your Firebase cloud messaging API key.
10. Follow the instructions on https://cloud.google.com/endpoints/docs/frameworks/legacy/v1/java/generate-client-libraries-android to create a client library for Android. Place it in a lib/ subdirectory of app/.
11. When you launch the Android app, you'll need to enter the backend service URL. This can either be your local development server on the same WiFi, or your deployed backend URL.