Oh, IoT I will definitely turn my idea of connected world into reality but how to start what are pre-requisite I should look for before starting Prototyping or selecting IoT Development Boards or IoT Development Kits………Many such questions will be answered below.
IoT, the term which has revolutionize the way we live has brought us more closer to each other (Smart Home, Smart Industry etc) or more precisely to our own body(Wearable). Prototyping is the best way to start any project whatever design technology it may be. Today there are wide numbers of Development Boards present which are cheap and have many in-built facilities. Such boards can be broadly categorized as Single board Microcontrollers and Microcomputers.
Microcontrollers are built in single board which supports special programming environment and they are enriched with low power processor. Microcontrollers use very less power when operated at low frequencies and instead of operating system they use firmware. Their primary purpose is to collect the sensor data. Today in Market there are number of microcontrollers to select from like ESP8266 chip comes with full TCP/IP stack and Wi-Fi connectivity and many more. Most powerful prototyping solution like BeagleBoard or Raspberry PI falls under the category of Microcomputers where large amount of sensor data is to be processed. Microcontrollers are equipped with quad-core processors and graphic accelerators, operate at a frequency of 1.5 GHz and are powered by a classic OS (mostly Linux). Unlike microcontrollers, microcomputers use custom software and support multiple output devices.
Take care of following features while selecting Development board
- Specifications: Memory, Processor, I/O capability etc
- Cost
- Programming support/options
- Open Design: timely enhancement
- Compatibility with sensors and actuators
- Cellular connectivity
- Cloud platform access
- Location positioning support
IoT Development kits with unique features
Arduino Platform
- Easy to use and huge community for technical support.
- Apart from official shields can also work with 3rd party Wi-Fi
Raspberry Pi Boards
- No requirement for extra shields hardware for connecting to internet.
- Connection to wireless and LAN occur automatically.
ESP8266 Wi-Fi chips
- Easy to integrate it on PCB so perfect for building prototyping.
- Comes with Plug and play Wi-Fi module
Spark Core (as well as Photon and Electron)
- No need of attaching extra board for Wi-Fi capability.
- Comes with connected Cloud Platform
- Easy to integrate on PCB
