Add hardware mock sensors - DCAM, SPOD, RainWise weather, invalid by yanichka99 · Pull Request #144 · Azure-Samples/explore-iot-operations

yanichka99 · 2025-09-24T21:22:11Z

Purpose

Add hardware-mock-sensors folder with code samples and documentation for mock RainWise weather station, SENSIT SPOD sensor, DCAM device (SSE), and invalid data sensors

This PR introduces a new hardware-mock-sensors folder to the repository, providing containerized mock sensors for integration and testing with Azure IoT Operations. These sensors simulate real-world industrial hardware, including:

RainWise weather station (weather data)
SENSIT SPOD sensor (air quality data)
DCAM device (camera and confidence readings via Server-Sent Events (SSE) protocol)
Invalid data sensors (for error handling testing)

Each sensor exposes HTTP endpoints for polling or event streaming (DCAM uses SSE) and is deployable to Azure Container Instances or other cloud/container environments. The folder includes:

Source code for each mock sensor
General deployment instructions (Docker build/push, Azure CLI deployment)
Usage examples and endpoint documentation
Security and troubleshooting guidance

A version of these mock sensors were used in the development of the Facilities of the Future engagement (https://dev.azure.com/IndustrySolutions/IS%20Engagements/_workitems/edit/65082/), supporting in validating data flows without requiring physical devices.

co-authored with @mahomedalid and @renato-marciano

Does this introduce a breaking change?

[ ] Yes
[x] No

Pull Request Type

[ ] Bugfix
[ ] Feature
[ ] Code style update (formatting, local variables)
[ ] Refactoring (no functional changes, no api changes)
[x] Documentation content changes
[x] Other... Please describe: Adds new code samples and mock device implementations

How to Test

Clone the repo and check out this branch.
Follow the README in hardware-mock-sensors to build, deploy, and test each mock device.

What to Check

Verify that all mock device endpoints are accessible and return expected data.
Confirm that deployment instructions work for Azure Container Instances.

Other Information

This is a new folder addition; no existing code is affected.
For troubleshooting, refer to the README sections in hardware-mock-sensors.

RLeclair

LGTM, left a few comments! Thanks for putting this together!

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:25:47Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/dcam-mock-sensor-sse/Dockerfile

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Use Alpine Python runtime
+FROM python:3.13.6-alpine3.21


I’m not very familiar with Python Docker images, but for Rust we typically use Microsoft’s base images (Azure Linux). I noticed some other Dockerfiles in the repo use the slim version of the Python base image, though from my research that seems heavier. I’m not sure if that applies here, so feel free to ignore

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:27:30Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/invalid-mock-sensor/spod-data/missing-key-field.json

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{


I don't have the context but what does it mean to be missing a key field?

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:36:04Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/dcam-mock-sensor-sse/dcam-mock-sensor.md

+Before deploying, ensure you have:
+- [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/)
+- [Azure CLI](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/install-azure-cli)
+- [Azure Container Registry](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-registry/) (ACR) access


Are there any specific steps for getting access? Or is this referring to creating a ACR instance?

This will also apply for the root readme!

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:39:01Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/dcam-mock-sensor-sse/dcam-mock-sensor.md

+After retrieving the endpoint from the Azure CLI command, set an environment variable for the sensor to use in your API call:
+
+```
+export DCAM_SENSOR_ENDPOINT="http://dcam-mock-iot.eastus2.azurecontainer.io:8080"


Should this have the fill-in labels like above?

Suggested change

export DCAM_SENSOR_ENDPOINT="http://dcam-mock-iot.eastus2.azurecontainer.io:8080"

export DCAM_SENSOR_ENDPOINT="http://<your-dns-label>.<region>.azurecontainer.io:8080"

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:40:56Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/dcam-mock-sensor-sse/dcam-mock-sensor.md

+    --registry-username $SP_APP_ID \
+    --registry-password=$SP_SECRET \
+    --ip-address Public \
+    --dns-name-label "dcam-mock-iot" \


Should this DNS label also be fill in?

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:44:51Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/spod-mock-sensor/randomized-spod-sensor.py

+
+    response = jsonify(data)
+
+    # check if in the parameters come uuid, if yes, put the whole response in a html body


Maybe leftover comments?

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:45:20Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/spod-mock-sensor/randomized-spod-sensor.py

+    'batt':  (0, 100),      # volt
+    'chrg':  (0, 100),      # mA
+    'run':   (0, 100),      # mA
+    'tsen1': (0, 100),


Do these (here and below) require any unit comments?

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:49:03Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/weather-mock-sensor/randomized-weather-sensor.py

+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+
+# Define ranges for each measurement and field - this will be for fields in the metric system in the 'metric' array
+# TO:DO: update all measurement types under device_data with realistic ranges, rest of fields are generated between 0-100


Leftover TODO?

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:53:04Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/README.md

+After deployment, you can get the endpoint for each sensor using:
+
+```bash
+az container show -g $RESOURCE_GROUP -n weather-mock-sensor --query ipAddress.fqdn -o tsv


Should this be:

Suggested change

az container show -g $RESOURCE_GROUP -n weather-mock-sensor --query ipAddress.fqdn -o tsv

az container show -g $RESOURCE_GROUP -n <weather mock sensor image name> --query ipAddress.fqdn -o tsv

Same for the other two?

RLeclair · 2025-10-31T22:54:39Z

samples/hardware-mock-sensors/README.md

+- **Weather Mock Sensor**: Simulates weather data (temperature, humidity, wind speed, atmospheric pressure) and is designed to emulate a RainWise weather station.
+- **SPOD Mock Sensor**: Simulates SPOD sensor readings, specifically for SENSIT SPOD air quality sensors.
+- **Invalid Mock Sensor**: Produces malformed data for error handling testing.
+- **DCAM Mock Device**: Simulates camera data and confidence readings using Server-Sent Events (SSE) ([documentation here](./dcam-mock-sensor-sse/dcam-mock-sensor.md)).


Is there a reason why the DCAM readme is in another readme?

yanichka99 added 4 commits September 24, 2025 17:47

add mock devices

de6b8a9

update readmes

de21dcd

update folder name

2af7843

update intro

c6cf1bd

RLeclair approved these changes Oct 31, 2025

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Add hardware mock sensors - DCAM, SPOD, RainWise weather, invalid#144

Add hardware mock sensors - DCAM, SPOD, RainWise weather, invalid#144
yanichka99 wants to merge 4 commits intoAzure-Samples:mainfrom
yanichka99:add-mock-devices

yanichka99 commented Sep 24, 2025 •

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		@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
		# Use Alpine Python runtime
		FROM python:3.13.6-alpine3.21

	export DCAM_SENSOR_ENDPOINT="http://dcam-mock-iot.eastus2.azurecontainer.io:8080"
	export DCAM_SENSOR_ENDPOINT="http://<your-dns-label>.<region>.azurecontainer.io:8080"


		response = jsonify(data)

		# check if in the parameters come uuid, if yes, put the whole response in a html body

	az container show -g $RESOURCE_GROUP -n weather-mock-sensor --query ipAddress.fqdn -o tsv
	az container show -g $RESOURCE_GROUP -n <weather mock sensor image name> --query ipAddress.fqdn -o tsv

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yanichka99 commented Sep 24, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Purpose

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yanichka99 commented Sep 24, 2025 •

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