RoadTest: AVNET Azure Sphere MT3620 Starter Kit
Author: BrianFromCNY
Creation date:
Evaluation Type: Development Boards & Tools
Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True
What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?:
What were the biggest problems encountered?: The biggest problem was the short 14 day duration of the created AVNet Azure Test Account to test account. The Microsoft Azure development account was considered but the fee was more then I was willing to spend. There were no header pins soldered to the test board for the UART and OLED Display interfaces. The pins were ordered separately.
Detailed Review:
The AVNET Azure Sphere MT3620 Starter Kit was nicely packaged in a 4 x 5.5 inch rigid foam box.
The contents included the MT3620 Board, a micro USB power cord, and an informational packet that
contained step by step directions with links that will get you going with this starter kit.
2. Software Development
The software development for the MT3620 was the Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
The Visual Studio IDE is C++ based. Once this was installed on a Windows 10 computer, the Microsoft Azure Sphere SDK was
downloaded and installed.
3. Drivers
The necessary MT3620 drivers were installed and initial setup was followed per the instructions. After a reboot the driver would
load but after researching the information from other users, it was determined that the issue was in the driver service. The driver
service had to be set to the local user in order to start properly and communicate with the MT3620.
4. Accounts
You will need to get an account to use the MT3620. This is to allow you to monitor telemetry data from the device which includes
things like temperatures, ambient light readings, gyro settings, etc. You are also allowed to send information to the device from the web
site. There was an IoT site from AVNET that allowed me to run the Azure_Sphere_SK_ADC_RTApp as downloaded by GitHub. This was
only a 15 day trial license and I was not able to get screenshots of the data.
5. Additional Products
For my testing, I had purchased some Breakaway Header pins which needed to be soldered to the device. The link for this is
is here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QSJ3HN9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Also I had purchased an 1280x64 OLED Module so I can see the data as output by the device. The link for this is here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072Q2X2LL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
6, Additional Notes
I believe this to be a very viable IoT device that is extremely secure. Once a developer understands how the SSL and Device Keying
works and provides the respective data to the JSON files that allow access to the device once uploaded to it, there are all sorts of
devices that can be added to the Microsoft Sphere MT3620.
Here are some images of the test software running on the MT3620 from the OLED.
Image 1: The initialization status screen
Image 2: The Wireless Network status screen
Image 3: Accelerometer Telemetry Data
The best part of this little device is it is pretty secure. Once the device is claimed, that's it. I would assume this is to keep
it from being cloned as the ID is very unique. Other features are the ability to add any device sensor you are familiar with like
the mikroBUS modules https://www.mikroe.com/mikrobus as well as Gove modules https://www.seeedstudio.com/grove.html
to make this device endless in it's capabilities.
Due to the time constraints, I was not able to test any of the mikroBus or Grove modules but I look forward to doing so and
will report my findings in the future.
