How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware

2022-04-25 | By Maker.io Staff

Adafruit IO is a fantastic place for uploading, visualizing, and analyzing data gathered by your IoT projects. And even though it offers similar features to the Arduino IoT Cloud, the two products differ in terms of how user-friendly they are and which development boards and platforms they support. This article introduces you to the basics of working with Adafruit IO and how you can get started with compatible Adafruit and Arduino boards.

What is Adafruit IO and WipperSnapper?

Adafruit IO is a cloud service that helps you build better and more reliable IoT projects. Your connected devices can upload data to the Adafruit IO service, and the cloud servers then store the data and associated metadata, such as the upload date and time. Similar to the Arduino IoT Cloud, you can build custom dashboards to visualize variable values in real-time using beautiful pre-made widgets. Additionally, you can define triggers that ensure that the cloud service performs certain actions either periodically or when a specific condition is met (e.g., a variable value that exceeds a predetermined threshold). The cloud service can then inform you via email or other external web services such as Twitter. However, you can also point actions towards custom APIs so that your connected projects can interact with other systems.

The new WipperSnapper firmware for Adafruit IO offers makers a more advanced way of managing their connected devices. It allows configuring physical components in your designs without writing a single line of code. The project is currently in the beta-test phase, so it only supports a few selected components and development boards at this time. However, the team actively works on making the product better and adding support for more development boards.

Creating an Adafruit Account and Finding Your Access Keys

You need to create a new Adafruit account or log in to an existing one before you can install WipperSnapper and access Adafruit IO. Then, navigate to the Adafruit IO website and click the “My Keys'' button:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Use the highlighted button to make the website display your Adafruit IO username and access key.

The website then displays your username and a unique key that grants your devices access to the Adafruit IO cloud. Keep this page open until you have successfully uploaded WipperSnapper to your development board:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Leave this pop-up window open, as you’ll need to input these values during the installation process.

Installing WipperSnapper on Supported Adafruit Development Boards

Loading the firmware onto a supported development board is a straightforward process, but it requires a few preparatory steps. First, you need to install and use Google Chrome for the entire installation process — unfortunately, the project doesn’t support other browsers at this time. Next, you need to run Chrome and navigate to the following address that opens the configuration page:

Copy Code

chrome://flags

Then, search for “Experimental Web Platform Features” and enable the option within Chrome:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Enable the highlighted option in Google Chrome.

Restart the browser to apply the changes. Then, install any additional drivers that your development board might need. I used the Adafruit Feather Huzzah 8266, which requires the CP2104 USB driver to communicate with my computer.

Connect the development board to your computer once you’ve made sure that you installed all necessary programs and drivers. Then, navigate to the WipperSnapper installation page using Google Chrome and click the “Connect” button in the top right corner of the website. Doing so opens a pop-up window that lets you select the port you connected the development board to:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Select the serial port of your development board.

Next, you need to enter your Adafruit IO username and key as well as your home network WiFi credentials. The website will push these values to your development board during the installation process so that it can establish a connection to the cloud:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Input your Wi-Fi credentials and the Adafruit IO username and key you obtained earlier.

Next, click the “Install WipperSnapper” button to start the process. Once the installation finishes, you can continue with setting up your device on the Adafruit IO website.

Installing WipperSnapper on Supported Arduino Boards

In contrast to the Adafruit boards, installing the WipperSnapper firmware is not as easy when using Arduino boards. However, keep in mind that this is a pre-release version of the software and the process might change with future updates. Don’t worry, though - we’ll update this page as needed so you have the most up-to-date information possible!

Only two Arduino development boards are supported at this point: the Arduino Nano 33 IoT and the Arduino MKR WiFi 1010. To install WipperSnapper on one of those boards, you first have to update the NiNa firmware of the Arduino. You can follow this guide if you don’t know how that works. Then, start the Arduino IDE and install the Adafruit WipperSnapper library:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Make sure to install the latest version of the WipperSnapper Beta. Check the Arduino IDE’s library manager for updates.

Make sure to select the latest release. Select “Install all” when the IDE asks whether you want to install the necessary dependencies:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Make sure to install all dependencies when asked.

Then, open the WipperSnapper_NoFS example sketch from the Arduino IDE’s main menu bar:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Load the example sketch and fill in your Wi-Fi credentials and Adafruit IO cloud details.

In that sketch, you’ll have to fill in your Adafruit IO username and key that you obtained earlier. Furthermore, make sure to replace the placeholder strings and insert your local Wi-Fi credentials instead. Next, use the Arduino IDE’s library manager to install the “Adafruit_MQTT” library:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Install the Adafruit MQTT library as well.

Then, upload the example sketch to your Arduino board. By doing so, you will flash the WipperSnapper firmware on the Arduino board. Unfortunately, while compiling and uploading the sketch worked just fine, my Arduino intermittently could not establish a connection to Adafruit IO. However, this problem will likely be addressed by the developers in future releases of WipperSnapper and Adafruit provides a forum for troubleshooting these types of problems. Additionally, DigiKey’s TechForum is always available to help with technical issues.

Configure a New Device in Adafruit IO

Regardless of the installation method, you’ll have to register each new device before you can use it in the Adafruit IO web application. When you navigate to the WipperSnapper page on Adafruit IO, you should see that the device you installed the firmware on appears after a short delay:

How to Install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper Firmware Once you finish flashing the firmware, the device should reboot and go online by itself.

You can name your devices before adding them to the cloud application. Once done, you can access each device from the Adafruit IO page and change its settings or add new components. You can learn more about the process of creating a project in Adafruit IO using WipperSnapper in an upcoming article.

Summary

WipperSnapper is a special firmware that makes it easier than ever before to access the Adafruit IO cloud in maker projects. The software is currently in its beta-test phase, and the installer only supports a handful of boards. However, the developers constantly work on adding more features and supported boards.

Depending on your development board, you’ll have to use one of two installation methods. Regardless of the method, you first have to create an Adafruit account and obtain your username and Adafruit IO key. You can then use the official installer if you own one of the supported Adafruit development boards, for example, the Feather HUZZAH 8266. However, the installer currently only works with Google Chrome, and you need to enable experimental features in the browser.

Uploading the WipperSnapper firmware to one of the two supported Arduino boards is a bit more tricky. First, you need to download all necessary libraries using the Arduino IDE’s built-in library manager. Then, you can use the example sketch to install WipperSnapper on your Arduino board. Should you run into issues, keep in mind that resources are available for technical assistance, and future versions of WipperSnapper will surely address any problems you may encounter.