Morten, an electronic systems engineer at Monomous, has developed a board designed to provide a flexible platform for IoT experimentation, as well as a sample design for use with KiCad 7: IoT Thing based on an Espressif ESP32 microcontroller module.
“The board is a universal IoT device based on the ESP32-WROOM module,” Morten said of his creation. “[Has] the following features: [Silicon Labs] SI7021 I2C temperature and humidity sensor, fast connector for other I2C devices, CP2104 USB to serial UART [bridge] and built-in programmer for ESP32, RGB LED, as well as a button interface for LED strip, four level switching outputs and a fused power supply (with power relay) provided on screw terminals.”
In short, because it supports external LED strips and is compatible with the popular WLED project firmware, it is a full-featured board suitable for a range of common IoT applications, from environmental monitoring and appliance control to smart lighting systems. Easy expansion with external hardware add-ons via I2C connector.
However, the board is more than the sum of its parts: IoT Thing was developed late last year as part of a step-by-step tutorial posted by Morten on YouTube that walks users through the design process using the free and open-source KiCad. 7 software. Once the design is complete, the board will be ordered and delivered assembled – Morten’s latest video demonstrates the software aspects of the project.
“[I want to] show you what you can do,” Morten said in the video, “and how fast you can run this board with something. I’ll tell you more in the next . project boards and everything that goes with it.”
Both videos are embedded above and can be viewed on Morten’s YouTube channel; The hardware design files and firmware source code have been published on GitHub under the MIT license.
Post time: Jul-17-2024