The situation
At SensiNet, each installation used a full laptop to reach a temperature receiver over USB and pass the readings on to a server. In 2008 Joakim was asked whether small Linux boxes, reflashed for a home-automation hobby, could take over that job.
What Joakim did
- Built the whole new chain: the gateway software on a small Linux box with a receiver of its own, the connection to the server, and the web interface.
- Any receiver could pick up the sensors, so Joakim ran the new box beside the old set-up as a live trial, with no risk to live data.
What came of it
When the trial held, SensiNet switched to the new system and moved the installations over on its own, because the gateway software did not depend on one kind of box. From 2015 the gateways also ran on the Raspberry Pi.
More cases
All cases in this streamTermoSense, 2011The data model followed the new hardwareIn 2011 SensiNet brought out hardware with several sensors per device. The platform assumed one sensor per device, so the model had to change with it.
Over 23 million reports moved to the new model
Read the case TermoSense, 2026Platform modernised while the alarms kept runningIn 2026 the platform had run for 18 years and was on PHP 7.4, with gateways on a design from 2010: a VPN, an old web-service protocol (SOAP) and polling. It had to be brought up to date without stopping the alarms.143 s → 1.3 s time for one query that counts alarms, on the live database
Read the case