Adafruit Holiday Gift Guide 2018: Adafruit IO | IoT #AdafruitIO #IoTuesday
Welcome to week 2 of Adafruit’s 2018 Holiday Gift Guides. Today we’re covering Adafruit IO and the Internet of Things with a special focus on CircuitPython and Arduino.
First things first, let’s talk boards.
You’ll need one of these to connect to Adafruit IO. We have them in two flavors but a similar, small, form factor:
You can run CircuitPython on the Raspberry Pi now! But what’s better is now we can send some of that data to Adafruit IO!
Raspberry Pi Zero W: If you didn’t think that the Raspberry Pi Zero could possibly get any better, then boy do we have a pleasant surprise for you! The new Raspberry Pi Zero W offers all the benefits of the Pi Zero v1.3, but with one big difference – built-in WiFi!
More specifically, this giant upgrade is the addition of a BCM43143 WiFi chip BUILT-IN to your Raspberry Pi Zero – just like the Pi 3! No more pesky WiFi adapters – this Pi is WiFi ready. There’s also Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) on board making the Pi an excellent IoT solution (BLE support is still in the works, software-wise).
We also have a basic pack, budget pack and starter pack with all the essentials to get your Zero W up and running! See more about Raspberry Pi Zero W
Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266: Feather is the new development board from Adafruit, and like its namesake it is thin, light, and lets you fly! We designed Feather to be a new standard for portable microcontroller cores.
This is the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266 – our take on an ‘all-in-one’ ESP8266 WiFi development board with built in USB and battery charging. Its an ESP8266 WiFi module with all the extras you need, ready to rock! We have other boards in the Feather family, check’em out here.
At the Feather HUZZAH’s heart is an ESP8266 WiFi microcontroller clocked at 80 MHz and at 3.3V logic. This microcontroller contains a Tensilica chip core as well as a full WiFi stack. You can program the microcontroller using the Arduino IDE for an easy-to-run Internet of Things core. We wired up a high-quality SiLabs CP2104 USB-Serial chip that can upload code at a blistering 921600 baud for fast development time. It also has auto-reset so no noodling with pins and reset button pressings. The CP2104 has better driver support than the CH340 and can do very high speeds without stability issues.
Read more and check out our loose header option which requires soldering or our two solder-free options with assembled headers and stacking headers!
Now that we’ve covered boards, let’s talk sensors.
Keeping track of the temperature and humidity is important when you’re away. Toss this Adafruit BME280 I2C and a Feather Huzzah together, hook them up to Adafruit IO, and monitor your home office while on vacation to make sure your cat isn’t freezing.
Adafruit BME280 I2C or SPI Temperature Humidity Pressure Sensor: Bosch has stepped up their game with their new BME280 sensor, an environmental sensor with temperature, barometric pressure and humidity! This sensor is great for all sorts of weather/environmental sensing and can even be used in both I2C and SPI!
This precision sensor from Bosch is the best low-cost sensing solution for measuring humidity with ±3% accuracy, barometric pressure with ±1 hPa absolute accuraccy, and temperature with ±1.0°C accuracy. Because pressure changes with altitude, and the pressure measurements are so good, you can also use it as an altimeter with ±1 meter or better accuracy!
The BME280 is the next-generation of sensors from Bosch, and is the upgrade to the BMP085/BMP180/BMP183 – with a low altitude noise of 0.25m and the same fast conversion time. It has the same specifications, but can use either I2C or SPI. For simple easy wiring, go with I2C. If you want to connect a bunch of sensors without worrying about I2C address collisions, go with SPI. Read more
You might also want to know if someone broke into your home..or if your cat opened a drawer they shouldn’t have. This magnetic sensor is a switch which can be used with Adafruit IO’s If-This-Then-That integration to tweet, text, or call you if the door has been left open.
Magnetic contact switch (door sensor): This sensor is essentially a reed switch, encased in an ABS plastic shell. Normally the reed is ‘open’ (no connection between the two wires). The other half is a magnet. When the magnet is less than 13mm (0.5″) away, the reed switch closes. They’re often used to detect when a door or drawer is open, which is why they have mounting tabs and screws. You can also pick up some double-sided foam tape from a hardware store to mount these, that works well without needing screws. Read more
For those of you interested in makin’ a thing let’s drop in to the Adafruit Learning System!
Adafruit IO Home: Interested in making your house a bit smarter? Why not start small by building a Cardboard Smart Home!
Adafruit IO Home is a series of learning guides covering all aspects of a smart house: from temperature monitoring to an intelligent home security system.
Want to scale up from the cardboard home to a real home? We’ve selected real-world components, sensors, and hardware which can also be installed in your home, office or laboratory!
This is the first guide in the series, and there’s more to come!
Mystery Box: Remote Chess Board Puzzle Lock: What’s more satisfying that an obscure puzzle lock? How about one that involves chess pieces and a remotely actuated cash drawer that opens as if by magic? That’s awesome, let’s build it!!
This project uses an RFM69HCW Packet Radio Feather M0 paired with the PN532 NFC/RFID breakout board secreted under a chess board to read RFID tags hidden in the bases of the pieces. (These micro NFC/RFID NTAG tags are seriously tiny!)
When the correct pair of pieces are placed on the designated board spaces, the Feather board hidden inside the chess board sends an unlock message to the receiving Feather inside the cash drawer case that is paired with a Motor FeatherWing to drive a linear actuator, thus opening the drawer to reveal more clues. Amazing! Read more
CheerLights: Have some fun with the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH and the CheerLight project. Originally created by Hans Scharler, CheerLights allows people’s lights all over the world to synchronize to one color set by a specific Twitter feed. In this interpretation, Marc de Vinck creates a WiFi enable CheerLight using the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH, Neopixels, and some clever code. Read more
If you really want to DIY it check out Brent’s tip:
Adafruit IO connects seamlessly with IF-This-Then-That..you can make NeoPixels light up as a hashtag is trending on twitter #holidaycheer
NeoPixels (strips, sticks): Throw some on a wreath and control them over the internet!
We’re excited for the Holiday Season here at Adafruit and we can’t wait to share that excitement with you! Tune into the Adafruit Blog for 12 hand picked Adafruit Holiday Gift Guides featuring Adafruit products, projects and more starting Monday November 12.
Still not sure if you’re on the right gift giving track? Gift Certificates are the perfect cyber-present for the electronics geek in your life and are available at any time. When in doubt contact us!
Also be sure to check out the awesome freebies you get when you shop!
Adafruit Holiday Shipping Deadlines 2018
Here are your 2018 shipping deadlines for ordering from Adafruit. Please review our shipping section if you have specific questions on how and where we ship worldwide for this holiday season.
The Adafruit Shipping Department works hard to get your orders out as quickly as we can, but once they’re in the hands of our carriers they’re out of our control. Carriers have been struggling to keep up with the sharp rise in online orders. UPS, FedEX, and USPS all experienced delivery delays over the last few years.
So all the Adafruit Shippers say: Please be sure you get your gifts early! Order as soon as you can! Once you place your order we’ll ship like the wind!
Please note: We do not offer Saturday or Sunday service for DHL, UPS or USPS.
Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2018, Christmas, no DHL, UPS or USPS pickup or delivery service.
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019, no DHL, UPS or USPS pickup or delivery service.
Domestic Orders
UPS Ground: Place orders by Friday 11 am ET – December 7, 2018 – Should arrive by Friday December 21 *There is no guarantee that UPS Ground packages will arrive by December 21, 2018.
UPS 3 Day: Place orders by Thursday 11 am ET – December 13, 2018 – Arrive by 12/21/2018.
UPS 2 Day: Place orders by Friday 11 am ET – December 14, 2018 – Arrive by 12/21/2018
UPS Next Day: Place orders by Monday 11 am ET – December 17, 2018 – Arrive by 12/21/2018.
USPS First Class and USPS Priority: Place orders by Friday– December 8, 2018 – Arrive by 12/21/2018 or sooner.
International Orders
USPS First Class Mail International: Place orders by Friday – November 16, 2018. Can take up to 30 days or more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/21/2018 or sooner, but not a trackable service and cannot be guaranteed to arrive by 12/21/2018.
USPS Express Mail International: Place orders by Friday – November 30, 2018. Can take up to 15 days or more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/21/2018 or sooner.
UPS WORLDWIDE EXPRESS, UPS WORLDWIDE EXPEDITED and UPS EXPRESS SAVER (UPS International orders): Place orders by Friday 11 am ET – December 7, 2018 – There is no guarantee that international packages will arrive by December 21, 2018.
DHL EXPRESS WORLDWIDE: Place orders by Friday 11 am ET – December 7, 2018 – There is no guarantee that international packages will arrive by December 21, 2018.
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