Posted on by Pascal Bodin

IoT device development kits

Updated: 17-May-2021

Here is a list of various low cost programmable boards or kits, with some (wireless) connectivity. This list is maintained on a best effort basis only.

  • B-L462E-CELL1, from ST: LTE-M/NB-IoT modem, eSIM with prepaid connectivity, accelerometer, magnetometer, humidity, temperature, pressure, etc. – US$ 74 (May-2021)
  • mangOH, an open-source project from Sierra Wireless – three versions, the mangOH Yellow being the latest one: 2G to 4G & LTE-M/NB-IoT, GNSS, Wi-Fi, BT 5.0, built-in antennas, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure, humidity, acoustic mic, air Index quality, temperature, and light sensors, battery charger and battery gauge, LEDs, buzzer, touch button, expansion connector, SD card, etc. – from 96 € to 116 €, depending on the model (Jan-2021) – to be considered along with Legato, another open-source project from Sierra Wireless, for the software part
  • QuickFeather Development Kit, from QuickLogic – FPGA-enabled Arm Cortex®-M4F MCU, 16-Mbit of Flash memory, accelerometer, pressure sensor, PDM digital microphone, integrated battery charger – US$49 (Jan-2021)
  • M5Stack Core2 ESP32 IoT Development Kit for AWS IoT EduKit – US$42 (Dec-2020)
  • Thunderboard Sense 2 Sensor-to-Cloud Advanced IoT Development Kit, from Silicon Labs – ARM Cortex M4 core with 256 kB RAM and 1024 kB Flash, multi-protocol radio, sensors, source code of applications for Android, iOS and web – US$21 (Dec-2020)
  • Icarus IoT Board, from Actinius – based on the nRF9160 – LTE-M / NB-IoT, GPS – 99.50 € (Dec-2020)
  • Thingy:91, from Nordic – based on the nRF9160 – LTE-M / NB-IoT, GPS, 16 sensors, Bluetooth / Thread / Zigbee / ANT, plastic and rubber case – around 111 € (Dec-2020)
  • SensorTile.box, from ST – ARM Cortex-M4 microcontroller with DSP and FPU (STM32L4R9) – digital temperature sensor (STTS751), 6-axis inertial measurement unit (LSM6DSOX), 3-axis accelerometers (LIS2DW12 and LIS3DHH), 3-axis magnetometer (LIS2MDL), altimeter / pressure sensor (LPS22HH), microphone / audio sensor (MP23ABS1), humidity sensor (HTS221) – sample apps: pedometer optimized for belt positioning, baby crying detection with Cloud AI learning, barometer / environmental monitoring, vehicle / goods tracking, vibration monitoring, compass and inclinometer, sensor data logger – around US$50 (Dec-2020)
  • Dot One – plug-and-play modules, based on the ESP32
  • RSL10 Solar Cell Multi-Sensor Platform, from ON Semiconductor – BLE, solar cell, combined digital humidity, pressure and temperature sensor, 3-axes ultra-low power accelerometer
  • M5STACK – modular 5×5 cm stackable ESP32 development kit
  • PIC-IoT WG Development Board, from Microchip – PIC24FJ128GA705 MCU, ATECC608A CryptoAuthentication secure element IC, ATWINC1510 Wi-Fi network controller, MCU preloaded with firmware that connects to the Google Cloud Platform using the on-board temperature and light sensors – 25.54 € (Mar-2019)
  • BRKABZ01, from SNOC – based on CMWX1ZZABZ-091 from Murata – LoRaWAN, Sigfox, ADC, UART, I2C, SPI, USB – 49.90 € (Yadom – Mar-2019)
  • nRF9160 DK, from Nordic Semiconductor: LTE-M and NB-IoT, GPIO, SPI/I2C/UART, Arduino Uno compatible – 141 € (Mouser – Feb-2019)
  • BlueNRG-Tile, from ST: Arm Cortex-M0 core, BLE, inertial module, magnetic sensor, time-of-flight sensor, audio sensor, pressure sensor, relative humidity and temperature sensor – 50 € (Nov-2018)
  • AE-Cloud2, from Renesas: cellular Cat-M1 and Cat-NB1, S5D9 MCU Group (Cortex-M4), GPS, various sensors: lighting, microphone, temperature, humidity, pressure, air quality, geomagnetic, accelerometer, gyroscope – 188 € (Mouser – Sep-2018)
  • SensiEDGE modules: sensors with BLE, or with sub-1 GHz radio (including LoRaWAN) – compatible with ST STM32 Nucleo boards, with a smaller form factor – BLE development kit at around 90 € (Mouser – Sep-2018)
  • XinaBox: modular electronics for developing, making products and learning
  • Clicker 2 PSoC6 Dev Board, from MikroElektronika – two separate mikroBUS interface headers for MikroElektronika click boards – 59 € (Jul-2018)
  • PSoC® 6 BLE Pioneer Kit, from Cypress: a single- or dual-core MCU, with an Arm® Cortex®-M4 and Arm® Cortex®-M0+, 1MB of Flash, 288KB of SRAM, 78 GPIO, 7 programmable analog blocks, 56 programmable digital blocks, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), a serial memory interface, a PDM-PCM digital microphone interface, an ultra-low-power 2.7″ E-ink display, a thermistor, a 6-axis motion sensor, and a digital microphone – US$ 75 (Nov-2017)
  • SensorTag IoT Kit, from TI: 10 low-power MEMS sensors, BLE, CC2650 wireless MCU (ARM Cortex M3), iOS and Android apps, ZigBee and 6LoWPAN – US$ 29 (Sep-2017)
  • Thingy:52, from Nordic Semiconductor: built around the nRF52832 Bluetooth 5 SoC – Environment Sensors (temp, humidity, pressure, air quality color and light) – 9-axis motion sensing (accelerometer, gyroscope and compass) – Speaker for playing pre-stored samples, tones or sound streamed over Bluetooth low energy (8-bit 8kHz LoFi) – 39 € at Mouser (Jun-2017)
  • MAX32625MBED, from Maxim: Cortex-M4 microcontroller with FPU, Arduino-compatible connectors, mbed support – US$ 50.00 (May-2017)
  • ESP-WROVER-KIT from Espressif Systems: based on ESP32 – Micro SD card interface, VGA camera interface, 3.2” SPI LCD panel and I/O expansion capabilities – 44.00 € at Olimex (Jan-2017)
  • MAX32630-EVKIT, from Maxim: development kit for fitness monitors, portable medical devices, sensor hubs, sports watches, wearable medical patches – Cortex-M4F with FPU, hardware AES engine, BLE, prototyping matrix – US$ 150 (Dec-2016)
  • STEVAL-STLKT01V1, from ST: development kit for the SensorTile (STM32 microcontroller, BLE, inertial sensors, barometric pressure sensor) – US$ 80.85 (Dec-2016)
  • MAXREFDES100# health sensor platform (hSensor), from Maxim: ARM Cortex-M4F, biopotential analog front-end, human body temperature sensor, pulse oximeter and heart-rate sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, 3D accelerometer and 3D gyroscope, absolute barometric pressure sensor, BLE – US$ 150 (Nov-2016)
  • CHIP Pro, from Next Thing: ARMv7-A core, 256MB RAM, 512 MB Flash, I2S audio, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 4.2, open source – available in Dec-2016, for US$ 16
  • Simplicity Studio from Silicon Labs: a software tool set to develop connected device applications. Based on Eclipse 4.5, supports wireless Gecko SoCs, Bluetooth modules, etc. Among other starter kits, Blue Gecko Bluetooth Smart Module Wireless Starter Kit is at US$ 99 (Oct-2016)
  • ESP8285 Development Board, from Pesky Products, available on Tindie for 18 € (Sep-2016) – Based on the ESP8285, an ESP8266 with 1 Mbyte embedded SPI flash memory – Arduino compatible
  • B-L072Z-LRWAN1 from ST – based on a CMWX1ZZABZ-091 LoRa/Sigfox module from Murata – Cortex-M0+ core, with 192 Kbytes of Flash memory, 20 Kbytes of RAM, 20 Kbytes of EEPROM – 860 MHz – 930 MHz – 41.11 € (Mouser – Oct-2018)
  • ST’s STM32 Nucleo pack for LoRa technology – Cortex-M0+, 192 Kbytes of Flash memory, 20 Kbytes of RAM, 6 Kbytes of EEPROM, LCD, crystal-less USB, T-RNG, PCROP – class A LoRaWAN node – US$ 39.20 (Feb-2017) (not recommended for new design)
  • Snootlab’s Akeru beta 3.3 – Sigfox – Arduino compatible – 90 € (Sep-2016)
  • Particle’s Electron (cellular) and Photon (Wi-Fi), with associated cloud platform –  starting from US$ 49 (2G) and US$ 19 (Wi-Fi) (Aug-2016)
  • Onion’s Omega2, a Linux (micro)microcomputer, with Wi-Fi, 64 MB RAM, 16 MB Flash, USB, GPIO, UART, etc. Starting from US$ 5 – a Kickstarter project.
  • element14’s WaRP7, a development platform for (powerful) IoT and wearable devices – Cortex-A7 and Cortex-M4, 8 GB flash, 4 GB RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth, BLE, USB-OTG, NFC, MIPI Camera, MIPI Display, Audio, Accelerometer-Magnetometer, Barometer, Gyroscope, Linux 3.14 – 85 € (Aug-2016)
  • ST’s BlueCoin – low-power 9-axis inertial and environmental sensors and a cluster of 4 digital MEMS microphones, STM32F4 microprocessor (Cortex-M4)
  • Intelligent Building – IoT Starter Kit  (Enterprise Edition) – EnOcean energy harvesting wireless technology switches and sensors, gateway using Raspberry Pi, integration with the IBM Watson IoT Platform and TRIRIGA / Presence Insights – 499 € (Jul-2016)
  • XDK, a prototyping platform from Bosch – ARM Cortex M3 core, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, various sensors – execution environment based on FreeRTOS – 170 € (Jul-2016)
  • MATRIX Creator: to prototype and build hardware applications on a Raspberry Pi – ARM Cortex M3 core, FPGA (Spartan 6), many sensors, ZigBee, Z-Wave, NFC, IR, ADC, GPIO, SPI, I2C, UART, etc. – dedicated OS, computer vision libraries – US$ 99 (Jul-2016)
  • Mangoh Green starter kit, from Sierra Wireless – programmable cellular module with GNSS receiver (GPS, Glonass, Galileo) – Legato application framework – UART, GPIO, I2C, ADC, audio – US$ 239 (Jul-2016) – see above for more recent information
  • RuuviTag, from Ruuvi – based on nRF52832 (Cortex-M4F) – accelerometer, temperature + humidity + pressure sensor, etc.
  • LAUNCHXL-CC2650: TI development kit – Cortex-M3, Bluetooth Smart / IEEE 802.15.4 / 6LoWPAN, 128-bit AES hardware encryption, 31 GPIO, etc. – US$ 29 (Jul-2016)
  • Thunderboard Sense Inspiration Kit, from Silicon Labs – ARM Cortex M4 core with 32 kB RAM and 256 kB Flash, Multi-protocol radio, Relative Humidity and Temperature Sensor, UV and Ambient Light Sensor, Pressure Sensor, Indoor Air Quality and Gas Sensor, 6-axis Inertial Sensor, MEMS Microphone, High brightness LEDs – US$ 36 (Dec-2016)
  • Thunderboard React Kit, from Silicon Labs – Cortex-M4, UV index and ambient light, humidity and temperature, accelerometer, Bluetooth 4.2, etc.  – US$ 29 (Jul-2016)
  • Thunderboard Wear, from Silicon Labs – Cortex-M3, SPI, I2C, ADC, DAC, PWM, UART, light and proximity, heart-rate monitoring, accel/gyro/magnetometer, Bluetooth, microSD, etc. – based on ARM mbed Wearable reference design – 71 € (pre-order, Jul-2016)
  • the airboard – ATmega328P – Bee socket – US$30 (Jun-2016) – Bluetooth or Wi-Fi shield required, to program it – GPRSbee: US$35 (Jun-2016)
  • ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit – Ethernet Edition for IBM Internet of Things Foundation – 98.75 € (Jun-2016)
  • Hexiwear, a low-power IoT development kit with sensors and display – starting at $US 49.00 (May-2017)
  • Arrow SmartEverything IoT board – Cortex M0+ – Sigfox, Bluetooth, NFC – GPS, various sensors – £78 (Nov-2015)
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