The Best of IoT Development Boards

The term "Internet of Things" (IoT) refers to a network of physical objects that can interact with one another using the Internet. The IoT network connects existing sensors and devices to the Internet in real-time, creating its ecosystem. IoT seamlessly integrates with cloud capabilities, creating a harmonious ecosystem where physical objects communicate and exchange data over the internet. Robots used in manufacturing, as well as watches, TVs, and sensors that include smart technology, are some examples of IoT products. The Internet of Things has matured as a technology, and many new products include IoT capabilities in their design.

Many options are available for choosing the best microcontroller or microprocessor board for IoT. We’ll look at some of the most important specifications, including the processor type, memory, multimedia and connectivity capabilities, power specifications, and inputs/outputs (I/O).

This article highlights some of the best development boards available for IoT applications and discusses the importance of development boards in the IoT environment. This content will offer insightful information about the most competent and feature-rich boards for various IoT use cases. Visit the Farnell IoT application page to learn more.

What is an IoT Development Board?

Development boards serve as the key building blocks prototyping, experimenting, and creating innovative solutions that transcend the traditional boundaries of technology. An IoT development board must have prototyping capabilities for different features or products. They also must support various types of connectivity, supporting a variety of communication protocols. These protocols are like different languages that allow IoT devices to communicate with each other within an IoT system.

The Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) protocol is a common communication protocol, capable of sending packets of data over short distances. Another communication protocol is the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) protocol, which is also for short-distance communication, but sends a continuous stream of data rather than sending packets. The choice of technology depends on factors such as range requirements, data rates, power consumption, cost, and specific application needs. Various wireless technologies are available for interconnecting IoT devices with the internet. Commonly used technologies include Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth, Infrared (IR), Zigbee, NFC (Near Field Communication), RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), and Satellite communication (GSM, GPRS / GSM, 3G, 4G / LTE, 5G).

Popular microcontroller and microprocessor boards for IoT projects include Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32, STM32, and BeagleBone. The best choice depends on your specific project requirements, so it's essential to thoroughly research and compare different options before a decision is made.

• The processor determines the computing power and capabilities of the board.
• The flash memory stores code and program data
• The board's multimedia capabilities, such as audio, video, or graphics processing, must be considered. Available communication interfaces like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, or cellular connectivity must also be verified to ensure compatibility with your IoT network.
• Power efficiency is important for IoT devices that run on batteries or have limited power sources.
• The board must support available input options, such as analog inputs, digital I/O pins, and communication protocols (UART, I2C, SPI, etc.).
• The availability of software development tools, community support, and documentation for the board can significantly impact the ease of development and troubleshooting.

The Best IOT Development Boards

In this section, we’ll discuss the most popular IoT development boards offered by Farnell / Newark.

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is an SBC (single-board computer) for hobbyists and programmers who want a fully working computer in a credit-card-sized, inexpensive form. It is available with 2 GB, 4 GB, or 8 GB of RAM. The Raspberry Pi operating system (Debian Linux) allows the board to be used as a proof-of-concept device for industrial IoT projects. Key features include:

• Broadcom BCM2711, a 64-bit quad-core Cortex-A72 CPU @ 1.5GHz, and options of 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB of RAM.
• Gigabit Ethernet port and two USB 3.0 “Super-Speed” interfaces.
• Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, Dual micro-HDMI ports, 4K UHD video decoding H.265 (4kp60 decode), H.264 (1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode)
• PoE-compliant 5V, 3A USB-C power source necessary for OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.0 graphics
• Supports Dual 4K monitor output at 60 frames per second

Figure 1: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (Source: Raspberry Pi)

The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is suitable for a variety of applications, including multimedia and IoT solutions. As shown in Figure 1, it is equipped with a quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz, and features increased USB capacity, including two USB 2 connections and two USB 3 ports, with data transfer speeds that are ten times faster than previous iterations. To learn more about Raspberry Pi, click here.

Arduino Nano 33 IoT

Due to its feature set, the Nano 33 IoT is a popular choice for engineers and makers working on IoT projects. Key features include:

• SAMD21G18A microcontroller, a 32-bit low-power ARM Cortex-M0+ processor that operates at a frequency of 48MHz and provides 256KB of flash memory for storing code and program data, and includes 32KB of SRAM for data processing and temporary storage.
• uBlox NINA W-102 module (based on an ESP32 chip), which provides built-in WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities
• ATECC608A crypto-chip, capable of securely storing certificates and pre-shared keys, ensuring secure communication and authentication in IoT applications.
• LSM6DSC IMU, a 6-axis inertial measurement unit, which combines a 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis gyroscope, allowing the board to measure and detect motion, acceleration, and orientation
• Built-in USB port, eliminating the need for external USB-to-Serial peripherals
• Compatible with the Arduino ecosystem, providing a wide range of libraries and community support for development

As illustrated in Figure 2, the Arduino Nano 33 IoT is a compact development board for IoT applications. It combines the Arduino Nano form factor with features ideal for essential IoT and pico-network projects. The Nano 33 IoT is also compatible also with the Arduino IoT Cloud, which allows the creation of IoT applications in your projects.

Figure 2: Arduino Nano 33 IoT development board (Source: Arduino)

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The Nano 33 IoT can be easily connected to a breadboard using the header pins for prototyping of new devices. It can be also mounted as a DIP component using pin headers or by soldering directly using castellated pads. The Nano 33 IoT is also compatible with the Arduino ecosystem.

Omron Sensor Evaluation Board - 2JCIE-EV

The 2JCIE-EV is a Sensor Evaluation Board from Omron that features low-power sensors that detect temperature/humidity, ambient light, MEMS digital barometric pressure, and MEMS digital motion sensors. The 2JCIE-EV also has a MEMS microphone for capturing sound. As shown in Figure 3, the board enables the development of new IoT applications and PoC systems that sense various environmental information. The key features of the board include:

• Six sensing functions: temperature, humidity, light, air pressure, noise, and acceleration.
• Seamless connectivity to OMRON sensors, including thermal, flow, proximity, and air quality sensors.
• Support for Raspberry Pi, Arduino, or Feather
• Supports Qwiic sensors that can be connected via wiring harnesses

Figure 3: 2JCIE-EV - Omron Sensor Evaluation Board (Source: Omron)

Connecting the 2JCIE-EV to Raspberry Pi and Arduino platforms

Figure 4 illustrates how the 2JCIE-EV can be connected to various development boards, such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and Adafruit. The Sensor Evaluation Board has pin headers (CN9, CN10, CN11) that can interface with these development boards. The temperature, humidity, light, and barometric pressure sensors are interfaced using the I2C protocol. The 3-axis MEMS digital motion sensor is interfaced using SPI, a serial communication protocol commonly used for high-speed data transfer. The MEMS microphone is interfaced using I2S (Inter-IC Sound), a serial bus protocol specifically designed for audio data transmission

The board 2JCIE-EV01-RP1 connects to the Raspberry Pi board using the Pi HAT interface and to the Arduino board via Shield for the MKR form factor. It can also connect to the Adafruit-Feather board via the FeatherWing interface.

Figure 4: Omron sensor board connecting to Raspberry Pi/Arduino/Feather(Adafruit) board

Wurth Sensor FeatherWing Kit

The open-source FeatherWing development boards are fully compatible with the Adafruit Feather form factor. The stackable FeatherWing boards expand the capabilities of Feather boards and provide additional functionality and room for prototyping within the Feather ecosystem. The key features of the Wurth Sensor FeatherWing Kit include:

• Four types of sensors: temperature, absolute pressure, humidity, and 3-axis acceleration. These sensors are connected over the shared I2C bus.
• Available in Adafruit Feather form-factor to interface with its ecosystem.
• Compatible with QWIIC-connect from Sparkfun.
• Arduino (C/C++) drivers and code examples available on Github

Figure 5:  Sensor FeatherWing and Block diagram (Source: Wurth)

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Figure 5 depicts the block diagram of FeatherWing sensor board, which includes an absolute pressure sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, temperature sensor, and humidity sensor.

The Feather M0 Basic board hosts the sensors and extends their capabilities by connecting to a Bluetooth LE radio via UART. This enables wireless communication and connectivity options for the Feather system. The Feather ecosystem offers a wide range of options with more than 50+ Wings, additional boards that can be stacked on top of a Feather board.

Nordic Thingy:53

The Nordic Thingy:53 is an easy-to-use multi-sensor prototyping platform for wireless IoT and embedded machine learning. With integrated sensors for motion, environmental factors, sound, and light, it is well-suited quickly building proofs-of-concepts and prototypes. The key features of the platform include:

• nRF5340 SoC, the world’s first wireless SoC that features two Arm® Cortex®-M33 processors
• Supports Bluetooth LE, Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Zigbee, Matter, proprietary 2.4 GHz, and NFC
• Environmental sensor for temperature, humidity, air quality, and air pressure
• Low-power accelerometer and 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) Buzzer, and PDM microphone
• USB-C rechargeable 1350 mAh Li-Po battery
• nRF Edge Impulse mobile app for embedded machine learning
• User-programmable buttons and RGB LED.

Figure 6: Nordic Thingy:53 (Source: Nordic)

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The Arm® Cortex®-M33 processor application core of the nRF5340 SoC of the board is capable of handling heavy computational tasks without affecting wireless connectivity. The application core is clocked at 128 MHz for the best possible performance, with ample room for your applications in its 1 MB of flash storage and 512 KB RAM. Wireless connectivity is handled separately by another two Arm® Cortex®-M33 core clocked at a lower 64 MHz for a power-efficient operation without taking up any computational resources from the application core.

Development is made easy with the availability of a range of software tools, including the nRF Programmer app, the nRF Connect SDK, and a wide range of samples, application protocols, protocol stacks, libraries, and hardware drivers.