I'm working on a front-end for an app using FlutterFlow and would like to see some data coming from Node-RED to the app. The project's integrated with Firebase but I haven't played with it very much.
Here's kind of a rough outline of the project-
PLC sends data to a broker via MQTT
Node-RED grabs that data and does some light processing. Also zips an API call to openweathermap, and does some simple work on email notifications currently with GSMTP.
The next step, as I see it, is linking my FlutterFlow/Firebase project into the Node-RED & MQTT side of things.
Anyone done this or something similar? Any input on whether this is the proper way?
Great question. I've learned Node-red isn't capable of it for a few reasons. This is for a commercial product, and we need the data from customer's [smart home] devices to only reach those who are authorized to see that data. So there's an authentication hurdle on the MQTT layer, the administrative layer, and the app layer. We also need the data the MQTT broker & Node-red gets to automatically segregate itself from other devices that are connected to the same broker. I'm not aware of any way to build user authentication (in terms of customer logins, forgotten password) into Node-RED and that's the biggest reason I started looking around for alternatives.
I only have maybe 2-3 working days playing with FlutterFlow, but so far I'm loving what I see. It's got an interface that's quite intuitive to me, with the ability to dive into things that are beyond my understanding (Node-red is similar in this aspect) and it has Firebase integration built in from the get go. I already have some nice things working in Node-red, and figured it would be quickest to link Node-red and Flutterflow together.
