- ThingsBoard running on a reComputer R2100
- A device connected via MQTT
- Simulated telemetry generated from Node-RED. In our guide, we will be using Node-RED to emulate device data for this setup. Learn more about Node-RED here
- A live industrial dashboard (motor, energy, vibration, etc.)
- Optional RPC control from the dashboard to the device
Hardware & Software Used
Hardware
- reComputer R2100 (Edge device) from Seeed Studio
- Development PC / Laptop
Software
- ThingsBoard Community Edition (CE)
- Node-RED (for sending simulated telemetry data)
- MQTT Broker (built into ThingsBoard)
Step 1 – Install ThingsBoard on the reComputer R2100
Log in to reComputer via Putty

Install ThingsBoard
Step 2- Start ThingsBoard and open the WebUI
Start ThingsBoard on your edge device
Open WebUI
Log in as Admin
Create a new Tenant

Add the user in the Tenant as 'Admin'

Log in as 'Tenant user.'

Step 3- Add a new device and send a test value
Let’s add a device that sends telemetry data to ThingsBoard.Add a device

Select the communication protocol

Get ThingsBoard MQTT connection details
- Broker URL: 192.168.0.195 (IP Address of the edge device)
- MQTT Port: 1883
- MQTT Topic: v1/devices/me/telemetry
- Username: IPOJzEMJHs0wWhzz2K3R
- Password: — leave blank —
Send a test value to ThingsBoard via MQTT






Step 4- Update telemetry data in the Node-RED
To visualize multiple parameters on the ThingsBoard dashboard, we need additional telemetry data. Use the following code in the function node of Node-RED.
Step 5- Create Dashboard
We will now create a dashboard to visualize telemetry data. The step-by-step information on creating the dashboard is given here: https://thingsboard.io/docs/user-guide/dashboards/?utm_source=inf&utm_medium=rjvr&utm_campaign=edgesetup

Add new widget

Select 'Cards' in the widget bundle

Select Label & value card

Configure the parameters
- Locate your IoT device. In our case, it is ‘IoT1.’
- Update the label to ‘Temperature.’
- Update the icon and color as required.
- Click on ‘Add’

Instead, use an Entity Alias resolved from the dashboard state.This allows the same dashboard to work across different devices and instances.
Visualize the Dashboard

Step 6- Import dashboard
ThingsBoard makes it really easy to share a dashboard. Follow these steps to duplicate my ThingsBoard dashboard.Click on Add Dashboard > Import

Download my dashboard
dashboard (3).json
About Entity Alias & Reusability (Important)
- The dashboard is not hard-coded to a specific device
- It can be reused across different ThingsBoard instances
- All widgets dynamically resolve the device from the dashboard state
You can change this at any time to point the dashboard to your own device.
Importing Dashboard
Drag and drop the file into the wizard, then click ‘Import.’ You will find the imported dashboard in the list.After importing the dashboard
If your device name is different fromIoT1, follow these steps:- Open the imported dashboard
- Click Edit → Aliases
- Select the alias (for example:
IoT1) - Choose your own Device
- Save the dashboard



Why Entity Alias is recommended
Using Entity Alias instead of selecting a device directly:- Makes dashboards portable and shareable
- Prevents broken widgets after import
- Allows the same dashboard to work with multiple devices
- Follows ThingsBoard’s best practices for production dashboards

