IFTTT Maker channel behind a router

Inbound requests from IFTTT

The IFTTT Maker channel provides a great way to automate some common flows. One thing that has always been a challenge for me was the "that:" part of the Maker Chanel. That is, how should my "Thing" receive a Web Request, if it sits behind my router. Exposing the IP/Port from the router config makes this possible, though it is a bit of advanced.

Online PubSub Services

Online publish-subscribe services come in very handy in those cases. I've chosen for this example dweet.io for one and only reason - It is FREE and NO registration is required. That is you simply send an HTTP GET request to:

http://dweet.io/dweet/for/{ID}?{COMMAND}

Where {ID} is chosen by you, and then the recipient device polls from:

http://dweet.io/get/dweets/for/{ID}

It is as easy as that! I was impressed by the simplicity and usefulness of this online service.

Hardware for the Example

In this example I am using an ESP8266-based device that i was developing in the past few months. In fact now it is being crowdfunded @ indegogo - vESPrino - the IoT Dongle.

Of course any device can do, just you need to connect a button and a LED. And either program it to call the URLs or use the vESPrino firmware (I am now in the process of simplifying it so stay tuned if you want it.

Scenario

• vESPrino "Button" will trigger the Maker channel by sending an HTTP GET call to:

https://maker.ifttt.com/trigger/{EVENT}/with/key/{KEY}

• IFTTT will trigger the Sender Maker Channel who will send a call to dweet.io in this form:

https://dweet.io/dweet/for/{ID}?cmd=led_next

led_next is a command for the vESPrino firmware to cycle the LED color.

• vESPrino "LED Light" will poll dweet.io each couple of seconds and see if there are new dweets for it.

https://dweet.io/get/dweets/for/{ID}

Setup

If you have a vESPrino or a device with the Firmware, it takes just a couple of minutes to have a nice example running.

Step 1

Create a Maker Channel in IFTTT, and configure the "this:" like this:

Step 2

Create a Maker Channel for the "that:" direction and set it up like this:

IFTTT will make sure to call this URL when the event is triggered. And dweet.io will store the command "cmd=led_next". The vESPrino firmware recognizes this command and cycles the LED color.

Step 3

Setup Wifi on both vESPrinos like this:

Step 4 - vESPrino "Button"

Configure the button of the first vESPrino to send a specific event "vESPrino_bttn", to your IFTTT channel (identified by the key):

Step 5 - vESPrino "RGB Light"

Setup the dweet.io dweet ID on the other vESPrino - this is where it will listen for commands:

Step 6 - Action

Now connect both vESPrinos to power. Pressing the button on the first vESPrinos will cycle the LED on the second vESPrino. It takes 7-8 seconds of IFTTT to route a message between both Maker Channels (and up to several minutes for other channels). Here is how it looks like:

Done

This is it - now you can go further and create your own DIY stuff using IFTTT and dweet.io.