Empower Product Development through IoT Dev Kits

IoT development kits have become a critical part of Embedded-related applications for prototyping or product development. In the current scenario, everything is connected through advancements in the newest IoT-related technologies. By 2030, approximately twenty-nine billion data-generating devices will be connected to the internet, thanks to the increasing demand from automotive and industrial IoT that will fuel this growth.

One of the popular sitcom scenes from ‘’Big Bang Theory” featuring Sheldon Cooper, Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz, and Raj Koothrappali turned on the light and the stereo system successfully through the internet using the X-10 system. This scenario has turned into reality these days, thanks to the advancement in the IoT infrastructure.

(Image source: Pixabay)

Designing a sophisticated IoT landscape with advanced features requires high-performance connectivity solutions. Engineers can prototype their path-breaking ideas on IoT development kits using distinctive capabilities such as an onboard debugger to program and debug the microcontroller unit. Most IoT Dev kits can efficiently create codes using free software libraries offering flexibility to innovate.

Several development kits are enabled, with many features, but there are a few fundamental features any developer or hardware engineer must focus on.

• Sensors

  Sensors are forming a critical part of our day-to-day life. Sensor technology is rapidly advancing and giving scope for modern applications and innovations. All the real-time information significant for IoT-related applications is captured through sensors.

• Connectivity

  Wireless modules have enabled communication with other devices, and modules on development kits assist developers in easily integrating wireless connectivity into applications. The newest Devkits are accompanied by dual-band Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.2, Zigbee, and BLE.

• Security framework

Securing IoT devices from cyber threats is crucial in the present world. Some of the prominent vulnerabilities that happened in the past, such as the Jeep hack, DDoS botnets, and Hackable cardiac devices, raise the need for built-in security. Many development kits enable developers to secure their IoT-related application development through Security framework and Hardware-based security.

Product development landscape

With the recent trend towards an open-source ecosystem, developers have more options to experiment with user-friendly embedded development platforms. Current development kits also include different functionalities into a single development kit making things easier and enabling faster time to market. Many manufacturers offer custom IDEs that help engineers quickly debug their projects and reduce the development time cycle. Present-day IDEs provide various advantages, such as access to software libraries, quick start guides, reference designs, and a cloud ecosystem that facilitates engineers in prototyping their designs.

Figure 1: Nordic Semiconductor nRF9161 Development Kit. (Image source: Nordic Semiconductor)

The newest development kits, that are available in the market facilitate developers to quickly prototype their solution, platforms like the NRF9161-DK development kit (Figure 1) provide simplified design integration, efficiency, and reliability.

The development kit is powered by the fully integrated SiP with 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 secured by Arm TrustZone Arm CryptoCell 310 technology containing, 1 Mbytes of flash and 256K bytes of RAM ideal for IoT and embedded applications. The kit supports a wide range of bands to operate due to the dedicated LTE-M, NB-IoT, and DECT NR + antenna. The development kit also includes a patch antenna for GNSS, with SWF RF connectors to measure the performance of the RF signals.

The NRF9161-DK can easily interface with external device shields since it is Arduino Uno Rev3 compatible, while the nRF7002 evaluation kits provide an effortless way to evaluate Wi-Fi locationing since it is designed to complement NRF9161-DK.

The SEGGER J-Link on the NRF9161-DK enables programming and debugging and supports programming and debugging on external targets. The board also has a USB connection for debugging/programming and to power the device.

Developers can access full suite development tools and resources such as Nordic Developer Academy’s Cellular IoT fundamental course. For other firmware-related samples developers can utilize the quick start tool present in Nordic’s nRF connect for Desktop. The areas of application for these dev kits include smart metering, smart agriculture, predictive maintenance, portable medical devices, and Industry 4.0.

Engineers and Developers can leverage powerful IoT development kits, empowering makers to build path-breaking solutions that enhance our lives.