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Blockchain, IoT and AI guide

A plain summary of everything we talk about in the club: what these technologies are, what they are good for and what we use them for. The glossary and frequently asked questions live here too.

BLOCK 01 · THE BIG PICTURE

Three fields, three different questions.

Blockchain tries to answer “has this record really not changed?”, IoT answers “what is happening in the physical world right now?” and AI asks “what is this data telling us?”. Put them together and a new question appears: how can we trust the data we measure, and how do we make sense of it?

01 · BLOCKCHAIN

What is blockchain?

A ledger whose records are kept together by many computers instead of one central place, and are very hard to change after the fact. It bases trust on rules anyone can check, not on a single institution.

WHAT IT IS GOOD FOR
Showing that a record has not been altered, running rules without an intermediary (smart contracts) and letting several parties share one record.
ITS LIMIT
It is not the answer to every problem. It is not built for storing large files, and on its own it cannot prove that the data was correct to begin with.
02 · IoT

What is the Internet of Things?

Physical objects that carry sensors and small computers, connect to a network, take measurements, share data and receive commands. It ranges from a smartwatch to a soil-moisture station in a field.

WHAT IT IS GOOD FOR
Making the physical world measurable: monitoring and automating things like temperature, humidity, location and energy use from a distance.
ITS LIMIT
Measurements are exposed to sensor errors, connection drops and security holes. The quality of the data depends heavily on the quality of the hardware.
03 · AI

What is artificial intelligence?

Getting a computer to make predictions and find patterns by learning from examples instead of having every rule written by hand. In our field it is mostly used to make sense of data coming from sensors.

WHAT IT IS GOOD FOR
Forecasting from sensor data, catching unusual readings and supporting decisions.
ITS LIMIT
A model is only as good as the data it was trained on. Wrong or unbalanced data gives wrong results, and the reasons are not always easy to explain.
04 · INTERSECTION

Why are they strong together?

IoT produces the data, AI makes sense of it and catches abnormal values, and blockchain makes the record shared and hard to change. It makes sense where several parties, such as a producer, an auditor and a buyer, must trust the same record.

WHAT IT IS GOOD FOR
Keeping data traceable and verifiable from its source to the user. Agro-Block grew out of this intersection.
ITS LIMIT
If wrong data is written to the chain, the record is wrong and permanent. That is why checks and anomaly detection should happen close to the data source.
Read the notesExplore Agro-Block

BLOCK 02 · HOW IT WORKS

A measurement’s journey to the chain

From the moment a sensor takes a reading to the moment it becomes a record anyone can verify, there are four steps.

  1. 01

    Measure

    A sensor measures a physical quantity (temperature, for example) and a microcontroller reads the value.

  2. 02

    Transmit

    The data travels over a protocol to a gateway and on to a server. If needed it is pre-processed at the edge and abnormal values are filtered out.

  3. 03

    Record

    An oracle carries the data to a smart contract. The record, or the hash of the record, is written to the ledger and can no longer be changed quietly.

  4. 04

    Verify

    Users can read the record themselves. If the hash matches, they can see that the data has not changed since it was recorded.

WATCH OUT

A chain does not make wrong data right.

Blockchain shows that a record has not changed since it was written; it does not show that the measurement was right in the first place. A faulty sensor can make a wrong value permanent. That is why sensor calibration, anomaly detection and device signatures are an essential part of the system.

See the flow in Agro-Block

BLOCK 03 · TECHNOLOGIES

What does each layer do?

We listed what each layer is generally used for and some common examples. The “In the club” line shows our own real choices.

Blockchain layer

The layer where records are kept and rules are run through smart contracts.

COMMON EXAMPLES

  • Ethereum
  • Solidity
  • Hyperledger Fabric
  • Test networks

IN THE CLUB

[The network, development framework and test environment we use in the club]

IoT and hardware layer

Devices that collect data from the physical world and, when needed, carry out commands, along with the communication that links them.

COMMON EXAMPLES

  • ESP32
  • Arduino
  • Raspberry Pi
  • MQTT
  • LoRaWAN

IN THE CLUB

In ReLoop AI we will use an Arduino UNO Q, a camera, temperature and humidity sensors and servo motors. [Add the hardware used in Agro-Block.]

Software and interface layer

Applications that collect, process and show the data, and the server side that talks to the blockchain.

COMMON EXAMPLES

  • Python
  • JavaScript
  • Web interfaces
  • REST API

IN THE CLUB

[The languages, frameworks and hosting we use in the club]

Data and AI layer

The layer that cleans and analyses sensor data and catches abnormal values.

COMMON EXAMPLES

  • Machine learning
  • Anomaly detection
  • Edge computing

IN THE CLUB

In ReLoop AI we plan to develop an image-classification model (edge AI) that runs on the Arduino UNO Q. [Add other model and data approaches.]

BLOCK 04 · WHERE TO START

A path in three steps.

You do not have to go in order; find the step you are at and continue from there.

  1. 01

    Grasp the concept

    Read the three pieces in Notes, and look up any term you get stuck on in the glossary below.

    Go to the notes
  2. 02

    Try something small

    Reading data from a sensor or writing a simple smart contract on a test network are good first steps. [Write the club’s workshop or meetup plan.]

    See the events
  3. 03

    Join a project

    Join the Devs Team and work on a real problem; Agro-Block is one example.

    Start your application

BLOCK 05 · GLOSSARY

Glossary of terms

Terms are listed in learning order: core concepts first, then devices, then where the two meet. You can filter by category.

35 terms

BLOCKCHAIN

Blockchain

blokzincir

A record structure kept in blocks, where each block is cryptographically linked to the previous one and copies are held by many computers on a network. Quietly changing an old record would break every block after it, so tampering shows.

EXAMPLEPicture a class where everyone keeps their own copy of the ledger: if you secretly edit one page, the other copies give you away.

RELATED: Distributed ledger · Block · Hash

BLOCKCHAIN

Distributed ledger

dağıtık defter (DLT)

The same ledger being shared across many participants instead of sitting in one central place. Blockchain is the best-known kind of distributed ledger, though not every distributed ledger is built as a chain of blocks.

RELATED: Blockchain · Node

BLOCKCHAIN

Block

blok

A package that collects the transactions from a period of time. Each block carries the hash of the previous block, which is what links blocks into a chain.

RELATED: Hash · Blockchain

SECURITY

Cryptography

kriptografi

The science of protecting the secrecy, integrity and authenticity of information with mathematics. Hashing, encryption and digital signatures are the building blocks of blockchain.

RELATED: Hash · Digital signature

SECURITY

Hash

özet fonksiyonu

A function that turns any data into a fixed-length “fingerprint”. Change a single character and the hash changes completely; rebuilding the data from the hash is practically impossible. Hashes are what link blocks together.

EXAMPLEIf the hash of a sensor record sits on the chain, changing the record later makes the hash stop matching.

RELATED: Block · Cryptography

BLOCKCHAIN

Node

düğüm

A computer connected to the network that keeps a copy of the ledger and checks incoming transactions against the rules. The more independent nodes a network has, the harder it is for one party to control the ledger.

RELATED: Consensus mechanism · Distributed ledger

BLOCKCHAIN

Consensus mechanism

uzlaşma mekanizması

The set of rules by which nodes agree, without a central authority, on which block gets added to the ledger. Proof of Work and Proof of Stake are the best-known examples.

EXAMPLELike a class rule that a line only goes into the ledger once the group has agreed on it.

RELATED: Proof of Work · Proof of Stake · Node

BLOCKCHAIN

Proof of Work

iş kanıtı (PoW)

A method in which a node proves it spent real computing effort, by solving a hard puzzle, before adding a block. Bitcoin uses it; security rests on the computing power spent, and energy use is high.

RELATED: Consensus mechanism · Proof of Stake

BLOCKCHAIN

Proof of Stake

hisse kanıtı (PoS)

A method in which the right to propose and validate blocks goes to participants who lock up a certain amount of assets in the network. A validator that breaks the rules can lose part of what it locked. Ethereum switched to it in 2022.

RELATED: Consensus mechanism · Proof of Work

SECURITY

Public and private key

açık / özel anahtar

Two keys that match each other mathematically. The public key (like an address) is shared; the private key stays only with its owner and is used to sign transactions. Anyone who loses their private key or hands it to someone else loses control.

RELATED: Digital signature · Wallet

SECURITY

Digital signature

dijital imza

A signature made with a private key and checked with a public key. It proves who a message came from and that it was not changed on the way. On a blockchain every transaction is signed by its owner; in IoT, signing the data a device produces helps verify its source.

RELATED: Public and private key · Cryptography

BLOCKCHAIN

Wallet

cüzdan

An app or device that stores private keys and lets you sign transactions on the network. Assets are not inside the wallet but on the ledger; the wallet holds the authority to reach them, which is the key.

RELATED: Public and private key · Token

BLOCKCHAIN

Smart contract

akıllı sözleşme

A program that runs on a blockchain and executes by itself once pre-written conditions are met. After it is published it runs the same way for everyone, so trust moves from an intermediary to code. A badly written contract also runs, bugs included.

EXAMPLELike a vending machine: enter the money and your choice correctly and it hands over the item, with nobody to ask.

RELATED: Oracle · Gas · dApp

BLOCKCHAIN

Token

jeton

A digital unit on a blockchain that represents a value, a right or an asset. A reward point, a ticket or a certificate can also be expressed as a token; not every token is a currency.

RELATED: Wallet · Smart contract

BLOCKCHAIN

Transaction fee (gas)

işlem ücreti

The price paid to the participants who run the network for making a transaction or executing a smart contract. On Ethereum this unit is called gas; the more work a contract does, the higher the fee.

RELATED: Smart contract · Node

BLOCKCHAIN

Public and permissioned networks

kamusal / izinli ağ

Anyone can join and read the ledger of a public network (Bitcoin, Ethereum). In a permissioned network the participants are decided in advance, which suits systems shared by organisations. Hyperledger Fabric is an example of a permissioned network.

RELATED: Node · Consensus mechanism

BLOCKCHAIN

dApp

decentralised application

An application whose back end partly runs on smart contracts. Its interface can be an ordinary web or mobile app, while the critical rules and records live on the chain.

RELATED: Smart contract · Wallet

IOT

Internet of Things (IoT)

nesnelerin interneti

Physical objects that carry sensors and software and connect to the internet or a network to collect and share data and receive commands. It ranges from a smartwatch to a soil-moisture station in a field.

RELATED: Sensor · Embedded system · Gateway

IOT

Sensor

sensör

A component that turns a physical quantity such as temperature, humidity, light, motion or position into an electrical signal. In an IoT system data is born at the sensors; the quality of a measurement depends on the sensor’s quality and calibration.

RELATED: Microcontroller · Actuator

IOT

Actuator

aktüatör

A component that turns a command into physical action: a relay, motor, valve or pump. The sensor measures and the actuator acts; together they form an automation loop.

EXAMPLEOpening an irrigation valve when soil moisture drops.

RELATED: Sensor · Microcontroller

IOT

Microcontroller

mikrodenetleyici

A small, low-power computer that puts a processor, memory and input/output pins on a single chip. Arduino and ESP32 boards are examples; they are often used to read sensors and send data to the network.

RELATED: Embedded system · Sensor

IOT

Embedded system

gömülü sistem

A computer system built into a device to do one specific job. The control board of a washing machine, the engine control unit in a car or a sensor node are all embedded systems.

RELATED: Microcontroller · Internet of Things (IoT)

IOT

Gateway

ağ geçidi

A middle layer between devices in the field and the internet or cloud that gathers data and prepares it for transmission. It is used when small devices cannot, or should not, reach the internet directly.

RELATED: MQTT · LoRa / LoRaWAN · Edge computing

IOT

MQTT

messaging protocol

A lightweight publish/subscribe messaging protocol designed for IoT. Devices publish data to a “topic” and interested applications subscribe to that topic. It works well on weak connections and on devices with few resources.

RELATED: Gateway · Edge computing

IOT

LoRa / LoRaWAN

long-range wireless

A low-data-rate wireless technique that reaches kilometres on very little power; LoRaWAN is its network protocol. It suits wide areas with weak internet, such as fields, and is not meant for moving large files.

RELATED: Gateway · Sensor

IOT

Edge computing

uç bilişim

Processing data on a device close to its source (at the edge) instead of sending all of it to the cloud. It cuts delay and network load and helps basic work continue even when the internet drops.

EXAMPLEA sensor node filtering out a meaningless reading on its own before it is sent towards the chain.

RELATED: Gateway · Anomaly detection

INTERSECTION

Oracle

kahin

A blockchain cannot see the outside world by itself. An oracle is the bridge that makes information from outside the chain, such as a sensor reading or an exchange rate, readable by a smart contract. It is the critical link between IoT and blockchain.

EXAMPLEThe service that passes the temperature measured by a weather station on to the contract.

RELATED: Smart contract · Sensor · Data integrity

INTERSECTION

Traceability

izlenebilirlik

Being able to follow, step by step, the path a product or piece of data has taken from its source to its present state. In food and agriculture it answers “where did this come from and under what conditions was it kept?”.

EXAMPLEBeing able to see which plot a tomato came from and the temperature it was kept at during transport.

RELATED: Supply chain · Verifiability

INTERSECTION

Data integrity

veri bütünlüğü

The assurance that data has not changed since it was recorded. Blockchain strengthens integrity, but it does not prove on its own that the data was correct to begin with.

RELATED: Hash · Oracle

INTERSECTION

Verifiability

doğrulanabilirlik

The ability of a third party to check that a record really came from the claimed source and has not changed. On a blockchain, records are kept in a form that everyone, or authorised parties, can inspect.

RELATED: Traceability · Digital signature

INTERSECTION

Supply chain

tedarik zinciri

All the stages a product passes through from producer to consumer: production, storage, transport and sale. Because several parties need a shared record here, it is one of the use cases most often studied for blockchain.

RELATED: Traceability · Smart agriculture

INTERSECTION

Smart agriculture

akıllı tarım

Supporting farming decisions with sensors, automation and data analysis: when to irrigate, what is happening on each plot, under what conditions a crop was grown. Agro-Block is a project working in this area.

RELATED: Sensor · Traceability

DATA AND AI

Machine learning

makine öğrenmesi

A computer learning patterns in data from examples, without every rule being written by hand. In IoT it is used to forecast weather from sensor data or to spot a fault in advance.

RELATED: Anomaly detection · Federated learning

DATA AND AI

Anomaly detection

anomali tespiti

Finding unexpected values that depart from normal. It is used to catch cases such as a failing sensor sending meaningless readings, and it can help with the question “how do we keep wrong data off the chain?”.

EXAMPLEFlagging as suspicious a temperature that jumps by 20 °C within a single minute.

RELATED: Machine learning · Edge computing · Data integrity

DATA AND AI

Federated learning

federe öğrenme

Training a model on the devices where the data lives, without collecting the data in one place; only model updates are shared. It is interesting for IoT in terms of privacy and the load of moving data.

RELATED: Machine learning · Edge computing

FAQ

Frequently asked

The things people most often ask about club life, applying and the technical side.

Club and membership

[Draft answer: Yes. No prior knowledge is needed; you can start with the Notes section and the glossary in the Guide, and ask your questions at the first meetup. Edit to match the club’s real policy.]

Browse the notes

[Write the real information about membership fees.]

There are four teams right now: General Management, the Communications Team (public relations), Social Media, and the Devs Team (software and project development). You can see who has which role on the Team page.

See the team

[Draft answer: Work such as social media, communications and organisation does not need coding; for technical projects, being willing to learn is enough. Edit to match what the club really expects.]

[Write which departments members come from.]

[Write how often the club meets and the expected time commitment.]

Applying

Fill in the form on the Join page: your name, email, department, year and area of interest are enough. When you send the form, your application goes straight to the team. You can also send the same details as a ready-made message on WhatsApp or by email.

Start your application

[Write the response time. Mention whether the reply goes to the email address or the phone number given in the form.]

Until you send the form, what you type stays in your browser, and you can check it in the preview and edit it first. Once sent, your application is stored in the club’s application inbox and used only to review your application. The details are in our Privacy Notice.

Privacy Notice

Use the “ready-made message” option under the form to send the same details on WhatsApp or by email, or copy the message with the “Copy message” button and send it through another channel. You can also reach us by email (iaublockchainandiot@gmail.com) or on Instagram (@iau_blockchainandiot).

[Write the selection process; if there is none, say so.]

Technical questions

No. Cryptocurrencies are the best-known use of blockchain, but the technology itself is a record structure. It is also explored for supply-chain traceability, digital identity and shared record keeping. Agro-Block belongs to that second group.

See the big picture

IoT devices produce data; blockchain keeps the record of that data shared and makes it hard to change afterwards. It makes sense where several parties, such as a producer, an auditor and a buyer, need to trust the same record.

See the step-by-step flow

No. Blockchain shows that a record has not changed since it was written; it does not show that the measurement was right in the first place. A faulty sensor can make a wrong value permanent. That is why sensor calibration, anomaly detection and device signatures are part of the system.

Read the three pieces in Notes first and look up any term you get stuck on in the glossary. Then try something small: reading data from a sensor or writing a simple smart contract on a test network are good first steps.

See the suggested path

No. Development and experiments run on test networks, where tokens have no monetary value. You do not need to handle real assets to learn.

For the blockchain side a computer and a browser are enough. For the IoT side a development board such as an ESP32 or Arduino and a few sensors will do. [Write the equipment and shared workspace the club provides.]

Events and projects

[Write whether events are open to everyone.]

Go to events

[Write how project ideas are evaluated.]

[Write whether the project is taking new members.]

See the project

Yes. With Agro-Block we placed third at the ÜNİFEST 2026 Project Competition in the “Agriculture, Food Safety and Livestock Technologies” category. We also prepared our ReLoop AI project for the Arduino UNO Q Türkiye Innovation Project Competition. [Write the result and the plans for the next competition.]

See the projects

Yes. ÜNİDES is the programme through which the Ministry of Youth and Sports supports the projects of university student communities, and the club has projects under it. [Write the project names and the term.]

ÜNİDES projects

Yes. ReLoop AI is our project that aims to assess camera and sensor data with an AI model running on an Arduino UNO Q and route waste the right way. [Add other AI work.]

Explore ReLoop AI

The easiest way to learn is to build together.

The application is short: your name, email, department and area of interest are enough. Send the form and the team will get in touch.

Join the club