Boards

The SAM 15×15 is one of the smallest boards I’ve seen to date. And while it may be small, it’s quite powerful. The board is based off the Arduino Zero and the SAMD21G18. The SAMD21 chip is super fast, running off C++ with Arduino software, and offers more I/O pinouts than the Zero (34 instead […]

The ESP32 Thing is chip-maker Espressif’s follow up to their hit from a few years ago, the ESP8266, a microprocessor with built-in Wi-Fi for just a few bucks. For just a few bucks more, the ESP32 adds a lot more horsepower, pins, and built-in sensors. And as before, SparkFun has put it on a breakout […]

When you’re thinking about making your own fitness tracker, smartwatch, or wearable biosensing device, Maxim Integrated has recently launched the hSensor Platform, offered as the MAXREFDES100# reference design, which is a great place to start. Although it is primarily designed as a development kit, out of the box it already offers some exciting functionality, allowing […]

The Thunderboard Sense is one of the newest additions to the Silicon Labs Thunderboard family. The Sense does exactly what you might guess from the name: It senses the world wirelessly. This battery powered sensor node is another great tool to the ever growing world of IoT. Calling it a “sensor node” essentially means that […]

New, at least new to the hobby/hacker/maker side of things, is the RTL8710 Wi-Fi module from B&T (Boantong Technology) out of Shenzhen, China. Devices like this aren’t new but typically up until now, anything available, whether as part of a shield or as a stand-alone module, was built on one of the many flavors of […]

The VoCore2 is a teeny tiny single board computer with a kick. It’s a perfect low cost alternative to the Raspberry Pi, just with a bit less power. This open source Linux computer is functional as a portable wireless router that’s smaller than a coin. This board is great for private cloud storing, airplay music […]