Further to the discussing 10 DIY Development Boards for IoT in 2018, In developing IoT apps whether it is a small device or a home automation system, the hardware forms the core of the IoT system. The hardware components include: sensors, a remote dashboard, devices to control, servers and a routing or bridge device. These components help devices control and manage actions, control functions like activation, communication, alerts and detecting any issues while performing any specific action.
IoT enables the whole system to interact with each other and act accordingly. So, you should adapt the best and most suitable technology for your IoT project or any application. Here is the list of best 10 IoT hardware platform which will help you to choose the best one needed for your starting project.
List of 10 DIY Development Boards for IoT in 2018
10. C.H.I.P
CHIP is the new kid on the block of IoT boards. With the $9 price tag, it’s one of the most affordable full-blown computers available in the market. It comes with a powerful 1GHz processor powered by Allwinner R8. The best thing about CHIP is that it comes with embedded Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi radios, providing out-of-the-box connectivity. This board has 4GB of high speed storage to run a special Linux distribution based on Debian. We don’t need a separate SD Card to install and run the OS.
Price : $9
The only drawback of this board is that it doesn’t have HDMI out. To connect it to a display, you have to use a TRRS connector for the composite output. You may need an adapter to connect it to regular VGA or HDMI displays.
One of the key advantages of CHIP is the cost and the form-factor. Developers can SSH into the Linux OS and install required packages. GPIO pins can be accessed through the command prompt or language-specific libraries.
09. TESSEL 2
Tessel is a completely open source and community-driven IoT and robotics development platform. It encompasses development boards, hardware module add-ons, and the software that runs on them.
One common misconception is that we’re a company. We’re not! We’re just a collection of (unpaid) people who find it worthwhile to spend our time building towards the Tessel Project mission.
Price : $45
Tessel 2 is an ideal platform yet a cost-effective one providing robust IoT and robotics development platform. It’s hardware platform is powered by Atmel SMART SAMD21 Cortex M0+ processor and the board has built-in Wi-Fi Router SOC that handles with the connectivity. Also, it embeds all the libraries of Node.JS that makes the programming devices easy and in minutes.
08. Particle (Photon and Electron)
Particle (Photon and Electron) gives developers a single platform that provides various built-in features including Wi-Fi, cellular, Bluetooth, and mesh. It has built-in powerful STM32 ARM Cortex M3 and Broadcom Wi-Fi chip that makes the platform easy-to-use and ensure robust connectivity. And the most striking feature of Particle is that is provides cloud platform that enables the devices to be connected through cloud and send and receive data easily from anywhere.
Price : $19
Traditional IoT devices that use Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity depend on the cloud to relay messages between devices. This works great when you’re making a standalone product – but sometimes you need more than that.
Particle Mesh development kits aren’t just connected to the Internet, they’re gateways to the Internet and create a local wireless mesh that other devices can join. These devices work together to ensure that messages get where they’re going, and power products that aren’t possible or economically feasible with Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity.
07. Flutter Wireless
Flutter Wireless is a radio board that has a fast ARM processor with powerful long-range wireless communication that allows network connection among devices with less power consumption. The board is equipped with built-in battery charging and an onboard security chip that provides secure data transmission. These features make Flutter a perfect choice for robotics, wireless sensor networks, consumer electronics, and educational platforms.
Price : $36
Flutter is a programmable processor core for electronics projects, designed for hobbysits, students, and engineers.
Flutter features a fast ARM processor, powerful long-range wireless communication, built-in battery charging, and an onboard security chip, making Flutter an ideal choice for robotics, wireless sensor networks, consumer electronics, and educational platforms.
06. Intel Edison
The Intel® Edison module is a SoC (System on Chip) that includes an Intel® Atom™ 500MHz dual-core, dual-threaded CPU and an Intel® Quark™ 100MHz microcontroller.
Key features:
- Integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE;
- Support for Yocto Linux, Python, Node.js and Wolfram
Price : $100 – 200
Intel Edison is a small module that is embedded with IoT platform offering strong compute performance. The module has Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth connectivity, so you not need any external modules for network connectivity. This IoT development platform is featured with “Intel Atom CPU” and “32 bit Intel Quark” micro-controller along with other striking features including UART, SPI, I2C, I2S, GPIO and SD card support. So get a jump-start to your IoT project with Intel Edison.
05. BeagleBone Black
BeagleBoard is a cost-efficient platform for developers and learners of IoT projects. It works on Linux and has ARM Cortex A8 processor that boots in under 10 seconds. The board has built-in Ethernet for network connectivity along with features like USB and HDMI ports to display and other connectivity. Additionally, the BeagleBone Black has a vast community that provides various learning guides, videos and projects that will help to build and learn your IoT solutions.
Price : $25
PocketBeagle is an ultra-tiny-yet-complete open-source USB-key-fob computer. PocketBeagle features an incredible low cost, slick design and simple usage, making PocketBeagle the ideal development board for beginners and professionals alike.
04. ESP8266
ESP826 is an inexpensive Wi-Fi microchip that is featured with TCP/IP stack and micro-controller using UART. It has 1 MiB of built-in flash that allows the single-chip devices capable of connecting to Wi-Fi. Each module is pre-programmed with AT commands that makes it a plug-n-play model for developing IoT projects. ESP8266 also provides WEP(wired equivalent privacy) or WPA/WPA2 authentication for secure network connection. The module also has 16 GPIO(General-purpose input/output (GPIO) pins that can be used for defining specific purposes.
Price : $10
ESP8266EX also integrates an enhanced version of Tensilica’s L106 Diamond series 32-bit processor, with on-chip SRAM, besides the WiFi functionalities. ESP8266EX is often integrated with external sensors and other application specific devices through its GPIOs; sample codes for such applications are provided in the software development kit (SDK).
03. Netduino
Netduino is a prototyping platform that is based on the Cortex-M Micro Processor running the .NET Micro Framework (NETMF) v4.3. You can use both windows and MAC platforms to develop their IoT projects. The module has built-in Ethernet and WiFi connectivity for Ethernet and the Wi-Fi board respectively.
Price : $48
Netduino is packed with IO that includes 22 GPIO ports- 6 of which support hardware Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) generation, 4 UARTs (serial communication), I2C, and SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface Bus). It also has ports compatible to Arduino shields that allows developers for various other possibilities.
02. Raspberry Pi 3
Raspberry Pi is an affordable credit-card sized computing system that is featured with linux platform. The board has various ports that make learning and programming fun and easy. Like, a HDMI port for display, two USB ports for keyboard and mouse connectivity and an Ethernet port for wired internet connectivity (for wireless connectivity you can use wifi adapters).
Price : $25
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python.
01. Arduino Uno R3
The Arduino Uno R3 is a micro-controller board based on a removable, dual-inline-package (DIP) ATmega328 AVR micro-controller. It has 20 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs and 6 can be used as analog inputs). Programs can be loaded on to it from the easy-to-use Arduino computer program. The Arduino has an extensive support community, which makes it a very easy way to get started working with embedded electronics. The R3 is the third, and latest, revision of the Arduino Uno.
Price : $5
It has 20 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs and 6 can be used as analog inputs), a 16 MHz resonator, a USB connection, a power jack, an in-circuit system programming (ICSP) header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the micro-controller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-To-DC Adapter or battery to get started.
