Best hardware set to start prototyping

Hardware
1

I only have a very decent MacBook Pro, so I would very much appreciate the advice on what “IoT” hardware to acquire in order to facilitate the planned development of the healthcare targeting applications

2

Nowadays i think anything is fine, i’ve had no issues using my Mac Mini for everything, just need an assortment of USB hubs/adapters and cables.

For coding i’ve been happy with Arduino IDE (my hardware programs are pretty simple - just reading sensors and sending data to Notecard), but for web development i think everyone uses VSCode + Github nowadays.

The only other stuff i’ve bought specific to IoT is a bunch of LTE/GPS/WiFi antennas that can connect to the Notecards.

Then you’ll need a MCU/host… I tried the Swan’s but prefer the ESP32’s. The Arduino Nano’s/Uno’s only have 1 hardware serial so you can’t debug and talk to Notecard at the same time.

3

Thank you @abari for the explanations - and allow me to ask some follow-up questions (in return I will create a blog on setting up Blues Wireless novice with all software and hardware). I promised this to @RobLauer already a few days back

  1. What version of Arduino would you recommend? Would Arduino UNO rev3 be sufficient?

  2. I am starting with Arduino IDE 2 tutorials, because like you, I also plan to read sensors and pass the acquired data to the Notecard - my initial prototyping phase, I plan to have all of the hardware on my desk, where is my MacBook Pro already present.

  3. Since the chosen Arduino-UNO-R3 has an AC socket, I plan to purchase the power adapter, as described here. The alternative is to use the USB cable connected to my Macbook PRO.

  4. The USB cable to connect Arduino with Macbook Pro seems to be USB-C on the Arduino end and USB-A on the Macbook Pro end (as I have a couple of USB-A sockets free on the dongle that extends Macbook Pro 4 built-in ports. Is this correct?

  5. How relevant are Note Arduino Tests for my initial (prototyping) plans with just a couple of sensors? Most likely that is not relevant to Blues-Wireless application developers.

  6. Taking this Arduino-based path, am I sacrificing any features offered by Raspberry PI 4?

  7. You wrote you’ll need an MCU/host while you stated that you are using Arduino IDE. Am I to understand that this IDE can be used with Swan and or ESP32 in addition to Arduino?

  8. What is the criteria to select from these different MCUs?

1 Like
4

I’m far from an expert so ill try my best to answer.

I think the Uno Rev3 only has 1 hardware serial, so it was kind of annoying to work with (ie you’re either connected to the computer for debugging or you’re connected to the Notecard for transmitting - not both). There are things such as Software Serial to do both but I couldn’t get it working. I ended switching to an ESP32 dev kit board in the end, and I also bought a couple Swan’s to test out but I haven’t used them enough to judge.

  1. Yeah anything works, I found I learned best with Youtube tutorials and lots of googling.

  2. They don’t use much power so really anything works. Keep in mind the notecard needs power too lol. I had to buy a little usb hub for my Mac so I had enough ports.

  3. Depends on the specific Arduino, they’re all different depending on how new they are. I have a bin full of assorted USB cables so I didn’t pay close attention.

  4. I never used those tests. Most of my errors were wrong connections or just buggy code. The Notecard connects to Notehub pretty quickly so when I was testing I set it to “continuous” mode and I knew pretty quickly whether it was working or not. What I did is just get the sensor working on the Arduino first and then once that was flawless I added the Notecard into the mix. The Blues tutorials were pretty good too: GitHub - blues/note-tutorials: Repo for tutorial development and GitHub - blues/app-accelerators: Repository for Blues Application Accelerators

  5. I don’t have any experience with the Pi’s so can’t really answer that.

  6. Yep. Arduino IDE = the software you use to code. Arduino Uno/Nano, ESP32, Swan, etc the physical hardware/MCU/host/etc. Arduino IDE seems to be more beginner focused so it was better for me.

  7. What physical connections you need, cost, connectivity (ie wifi/bluetooth/etc), power requirements (3.3v or 5v usually), battery plugs, etc. Depends what you’re going to do with it. I found the Arduino boards have more help articles and resources online so that’s why I started with them.

I also bought lots of sensors on Aliexpress trying to decide what would work best (Aliexpress is very hit or miss I get lots of DOA stuff but its also cheap so a bit of a gamble).

1 Like
5

It’s already late today, so I will first say a big THANK YOU and then make just a few questions/comments.

Even after such detailed conversations, I am still confused about the relationship between Arduino, ESP32, Swan, and Raspberry PI. I believe that they are all single-board computers, all competing for use in Blues Wireless configuration. Is this true?

You mentioned that The Uno Rev3 only has 1 hardware serial, so it was kind of annoying to work with and that ESP32 does not have this limit. This is a serious downside in my opinion.

Looking at Blues Starter Kit for North America, what do need to have in addition to have all hardware I need:

  1. ESP32 MCU ?
  2. Swan MCU ?
  3. Notecard ?
  4. NoteCarrier ?
  5. Several sensors

With this list I also have a few questions:

  • Are ESP32 SWAN and Arduino candidates for the same role?
  • Does the MCU live in close proximity to Notecard?
  • What is the relationship between the Notecard and
    Notecarrier? This article mentions both but does not say anything about the latter.

If you are already tired of my questions, please do say so. My intent is the create a “glossary” of sticking points for an IoT newbie while being a very experienced web/desktop apps developer and share it with Blues as possible improvements of the existing online docs (hi @RobLauer and @bsatrom). It would be nice if you would like to participate in that mini-project.

Note: I wrote these comments expecting that you may not have the time/drive to address them. Having my issues written down, I can re-read BW documentation and answer them myself in the form of a better-structured document, with pictures.

6

Even after such detailed conversations, I am still confused about the relationship between Arduino, ESP32, Swan, and Raspberry PI. I believe that they are all single-board computers, all competing for use in Blues Wireless configuration. Is this true?

Yep they’re all what Blue’s calls the MCU. Think of them as the brains; you program them to read sensor data and send that to the Notecard (which talks to Notehub). It gets a little confusing because the Notecard can do SOME sensor reading on its own (ie temp/location/movement/etc) but it’s very limited.

  1. ESP32 MCU ?
  2. Swan MCU ?
  3. Notecard ?
  4. NoteCarrier ?
  5. Several sensors

The ESP32 and Swan are the same thing, so either or. I’d recommend looking at their tutorials and picking one of the MCU’s they do the tutorial on that way its easier to follow along (ie from here Sensor Tutorial with C/C++ (Arduino/Wiring), Blues Swan, and Notecarrier-F - Blues Developers)

The Notecard requires a Notecarrier to slot into (the carrier has all the plugs/connections), so you need an MCU of some kind, a Notecard, and a Notecarrier, (plus any sensors). Here’s a pic of my current messy prototype. The wires are a bit of a mess since I was testing stuff.

IMG_4187-2
IMG_4187-21920×1440 245 KB

  • Are ESP32 SWAN and Arduino candidates for the same role?

Exactly.

  • Does the MCU live in close proximity to Notecard?

Yep since they have to be connected to each other (via the Notecarrier)

  • What is the relationship between the Notecard and Notecarrier? This article mentions both but does not say anything about the latter.

To use a crappy car analogy the notecard is the engine and the notecarrier is the frame (I guess the MCU would be the driver?). Pretty bad analogy but basically they’re both necessary as the notecard talks to Notehub, and the Notecarrier provides all the physical connections. It’s a little confusing because they all start with “Note”: Notecard, Notecarrier, Notehub, haha.

Once you see it in person you’ll get it. Good luck and no problem.

7

Thank you @abari once again you helped me get over problems caused by the IoT/Blue Wireless terminology, similar terms for the same objects some undefined (assumed to be obvious to everyone) items – all reasons I wanted to get a clear enough picture of the whole set of parts, to be able to acquire it without duplicates or missing parts.

It is this to get a clear enough picture of the whole set of parts intent that lead me to start this discussion - and luckily you were (and still are) kind to help.

So, I will purchase ESP32 MCU, Notecard, NoteCarrier, and several sensors to create the equivalent of your setup - and describe with sufficient details the whole setup, including the Web application that will act as the cockpit for this Web app/IoT entity.

8

This article, including the subsequent follow-ups, define the answers to my own post Best hardware set to start prototyping.

Blues Wireless is

The article What is ESP32 and Why Is It Best for IoT Projects? may be a sufficient source of information on how to choose the MCU for prototyping IoT applications using the BW platform.

image
image670×524 280 KB

Image 1 - ESP32 MCU board

While as an Arduino user, you should be able to do all projects in ESP32, the reverse is not true (Arduino board capabilities are much more broad-based).

… to be continued