Building an Edge Computing Device with IOT-Tree Server (Arm Linux)

A recent project required integrating devices from multiple manufacturers with simple coordinated control on site. I used IOT-Tree Server running on an Arm Linux board as the edge computing node.

1 Hardware: AtomPi-CA1 Board

I used the ALIENTEK AtomPi-CA1, a credit-card-sized board with an RK3568 chip (2GHz, 2/4GB RAM, Debian Linux). It has dual Ethernet ports — one for the device network, one for the office network, providing both isolation and convenient access.

Caveat: this board has no RTC battery backup, which limits time-sensitive features like data logging. Fine for real-time control.

1.1 IOT-Tree Installation

Download iot-tree-xxx.zip from GitHub (Linux version, no bundled JDK). Download Oracle JDK for Linux Arm64:

Extract both to the user’s home directory:

Edit iot-tree.sh — set JAVA_HOME to the JDK path:

chmod +x iot-tree.sh
./iot-tree.sh

For auto-start on boot, create /usr/lib/systemd/system/iot-tree.service:

[Unit]
Description=IOT-Tree Server
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/home/atom/iot-tree/iot-tree.sh linux_nohup
WorkingDirectory=/home/atom/iot-tree
Restart=always
StandardOutput=append:/home/atom/iot-tree/log/syslog.log
StandardError=append:/home/atom/iot-tree/log/syslog.log
SyslogIdentifier=iot-tree

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Manage the service:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable iot-tree
systemctl start iot-tree
systemctl stop iot-tree

2 Device Integration & Monitoring Screen

Same approach as the main series — refer to Part 7: Monitoring Screen Creation for details.

3 Coordinated Control via Message Flow

The联动 logic reads data from Manufacturer A’s device via Modbus, applies rules, and controls Manufacturer B’s device for energy savings. Implemented using IOT-Tree’s message flow (similar to Node-RED):

For details, see the official demo: Control Logic via Message Flow.

4 Summary

Modern Arm Linux boards can easily run Java and IOT-Tree Server, turning them into powerful edge computing hubs. With an HDMI display, keyboard, and mouse, such a device can even replace a central control room PC.