Getting started with the Azure Sphere Starter Kit! Here I wanted to make a simple blog informing makers, hobbyist, engineers & etc on how to get going with the hardware. I will also add a bit of information about the software setup.
There are two Mikro BUS sections and an unpopulated section for UART Pmod (meant for right angle header). Pmod header allows for more UART devices. For reference, I chose a
Pmod MTDS: Multi-Touch Display System. Using the Pmod header would allow both MikroBUS clicks (1 & 2) to remain vacant. This would maximize the development board and open new secure IoT possibilities.
| Pros: | Cons: |
|---|---|
| 3.3V and 5V option in same section (MikroBUS Click) | Lengthy software connection process |
| Many peripheral choices (7 segments, RBG, IR, Touch sensors, LCD screens, etc) | New development board so little information is available. |
| Nice quality pcb and well written documention & datasheet. Guides by Microsoft | |
| Great concept for securing IoT devices | |
| Board stays nice and cool to touch, no over heating or hot spots (1-5hrs running) | |
| Variety of on-board sensors |
Software
I will admit I have more experience with hardware vs software so getting started was a bit challenging. Out of the box I followed the four (4) steps as instructed. Including upgrading to (running Windows 10 Anniversary Update or later)
Step 3: Setting up an Azure Sphere account, claiming the device, and configuring the wifi took more than a day. Since I work full time, I could not spend the entire day. I got hung up with the Azure Sphere Developer Command prompts and needed to update the OS in order to receive updates from the internet. This was all new to me so it required binge learning. In doing so I now am familiar with tenants, azsphere commands, wifi configurations, parameters, global parameters and such.
Some helpful prompts that got me to this point include:
azsphere device claim
| OS Update | Claim your device | Wi-Fi Configuration |
|---|---|---|
| azsphere device show-ota-status | azsphere login | azsphere device wifi show-status |
| azsphere device recover | azsphere tenant select | azsphere device wifi add --ssid <yourSSID> --key <yourNetworkKey> |
| azsphere device wifi |
GitHub has useful files and sample code.