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References: Networking, IoT, and Advanced MicroPython

  1. MQTT - Wikipedia - Covers the MQTT publish-subscribe messaging protocol designed for IoT devices with constrained bandwidth; explains brokers, topics, QoS levels, and why MQTT is preferred over HTTP for real-time sensor telemetry.

  2. Internet of Things - Wikipedia - Overview of IoT architecture including edge devices, gateways, cloud platforms, and data flows; provides context for how hydroponic sensor nodes fit into a full IoT monitoring and control system.

  3. Watchdog timer - Wikipedia - Explains hardware and software watchdog timers that automatically reset a microcontroller if it stops responding; essential for building crash-resilient hydroponic automation nodes.

  4. MicroPython for the Internet of Things - Charles Bell - Apress - Comprehensive coverage of Wi-Fi connectivity on ESP32, MQTT client implementation, HTTP request handling, NeoPixel control, OLED display drivers, and memory management strategies for long-running IoT applications.

  5. Programming the Raspberry Pi Pico/W - Simon Monk - McGraw-Hill - Chapters on Pico W Wi-Fi networking, MQTT sensor data transmission, boot.py and main.py startup sequence, and OTA firmware update patterns for remote hydroponic monitoring systems.

  6. MicroPython: Network Module - MicroPython.org - Official documentation for Wi-Fi connection management on ESP32 and Pico W, covering WLAN object configuration, connection state checking, and IP address assignment.

  7. MicroPython: uMQTT Simple - MicroPython Library - Source and documentation for the lightweight umqtt.simple MQTT client library used to publish sensor data from MicroPython nodes to broker platforms like Mosquitto and HiveMQ.

  8. Raspberry Pi: Pico W Networking - Raspberry Pi Foundation - Official guide to Wi-Fi setup on the Pico W using MicroPython's network module, including connection examples and troubleshooting for typical IoT connectivity issues.

  9. Real Python: Socket Programming - Real Python - Tutorial on low-level TCP/UDP socket programming in Python; provides the foundation for understanding how MQTT and HTTP libraries build on top of socket connections in MicroPython.

  10. Python Docs: JSON - Python.org - Official documentation for the JSON encoding/decoding library; MicroPython's ujson module mirrors this API and is used to serialize sensor readings into structured payloads for MQTT transmission.