Arduino IoT Prime bundle with MKR WIFI 1010: a complete guide

Optimising prototyping processes is the aim of design engineers, students and makers across industries. When it comes to the IoT, another layer of complexity is added – connectivity, hardware and software need to be perfectly aligned to what you’re hoping to achieve with your project.

The MKR IoT Prime bundle with the MKR WIFI 1010 board is the perfect basis for using the Arduino MKR1010 for IoT applications – in conjunction with the MKR ENV shield, MKR Relay Proto shield and Arduino Cloud.

It’s based on Arduino’s unique ‘Panini Concept’ — where designers pick up an MKR board, then mix-and-match it with the desired shields and carrier boards to create custom hardware configurations for IoT projects as if they were making a sandwich. Using Arduino’s open-source hardware and software, it is possible to optimise your configuration for your application and become involved with a community of likeminded engineers who can provide valuable input on your projects.

Keith Jackson, Head of Marketing at Arduino, introduces the new bundle;

Supported by a wealth of tutorials, information and resources via both the Arduino and Distrelec online platforms, the Arduino IoT Prime bundle has been designed to inspire technological exploration and development across a multitude of applications and skill sets.

Bundle contents

MKR WIFI 1010 board

The MKR WIFI 1010 board is the next step up from the MKR 1000 WIFI board – providing a significant upgrade. It’s equipped with an ESP32 module made by U-BLOX. This board aims to speed up and simplify the prototyping of Wi-Fi based IoT applications thanks to the flexibility of the ESP32 module and its low power consumption.

The board is composed of three main blocks:

• SAMD21 Cortex-M0+ 32bit Low Power ARM MCU
• U-BLOX NINA-W10 Series Low Power 2.4GHz IEEE® 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• ECC508 Crypto Authentication

The MKR WIFI 1010 board includes 32-bit computational power, the usual rich set of I/O interfaces, and low power Wi-Fi with a Cryptochip for secure communication using SHA-256 encryption. It also offers ease of use Arduino Software (IDE) for code development and programming. All of these features make this board the preferred choice for the emerging IoT battery-powered projects in a compact form.

Its USB port can be used to supply power (5V) to the board. It has a Li-Po charging circuit that allows the Arduino MKR WIFI 1010 board to run on battery power or an external 5-volt source, charging the Li-Po battery while running on external power. Switching from one source to the other is automatic.

Warning: Unlike most Arduino boards, the MKR WIFI 1010 board runs at 3.3V. The maximum voltage that the I/O pins can tolerate is 3.3V. Applying voltages higher than 3.3V to any I/O pin could damage the board. While output to 5V digital devices is possible, bidirectional communication with 5V devices needs proper level shifting.

Product Specification

Microcontroller	SAMD21 Cortex-M0+ 32bit low power ARM MCU
Board power supply (USB/VIN)	5V
Supported battery	Li-Po single cell, 3.7V, 700mAh minimum
Circuit operating voltage	3.3V
Digital I/O pins	8
PWM pins	12 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, A3 – or 18 -, A4 – or 19)
UART	1
SPI	1
I2C	1
I2S	1
Connectivity	WiFi
Analog input pins	7 (ADC 8/10/12 bit)
Analog output pins	1 (DAC 10 bit)
External interrupts	8 (0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, A1 -or 16-, A2 – or 17)
DC current per I/O pin	7 mA
Flash memory	256 KB
SRAM	32 KB
EEPROM	No
Clock speed	32.768 kHz (RTC), 48 MHz
LED_BUILTIN	6
Full-speed USB device and embedded host	Included
LED_BUILTIN	6
Length	61.5 mm
Width	25 mm
Weight	32 gr.

MKR ENV shield

The MKR ENV shield allows an MKR board to acquire environmental data collected by an array of sensors.

These sensors are of the latest generation and measure:

• Atmospheric pressure
• Temperature and humidity
• Ultraviolet UVA intensity
• Ultraviolet UVB intensity
• UV Index (calculated)
• Light intensity (in LUX)

To help you build projects and store the data collected locally, this shield has a slot for a microSD card (not provided).

Arduino provides a ready to use library with examples and methods to read values from the different sensors that offers an easy and smooth integration path.

Sensors used:

• ST LPS22HB: atmospheric pressure
• ST HTS221: temperature and humidity
• VISHAY TEMT6000: Lux of the ambient
• VISHAY VEML6075: Ultraviolet wavelengths A / B

Product Specification

ICs	LPS22HB, TEMT6000, VEML6075
Input voltage	3.3V
Operating Voltage	3.3V
Ranges	Pressure: 260 to 1260 hPa rH sensitivity: 0.004% rH/LSB Humidity accuracy: ± 3.5% rH, 20 to +80% rH UVA, UVB and UVBI measurement
Communication	I2C/Analog
Length	61 mm
Width	25 mm
Weight	32 gr.

MKR Relay Proto shield

The MKR Relay Proto shield allows you to easily command relays with your MKR board. The shield provides two on board relays and a small prototyping area if you need to add another component to your project.

With the MKR Relay shield, you can easily add relays to your MKR board based project. The relays provided by the shield are called ‘RELAY1’ and ‘RELAY2’ and are commanded by ‘pin 1’ and ‘pin 2’ respectively. The shield also offers easy connection by means of screw terminal blocks to A1 to A4 analog inputs, I2C and supply voltages.

Product Specification

Microcontroller	SAMD21 Cortex-M0+ 32bit low power ARM MCU
Board power supply (USB/VIN)	5V
Supported batteries	2x AA or AAA
Circuit operating voltage	3.3V
Digital I/O pins	8
PWM Pins	12 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, A3 – or 18 -, A4 -or 19)
UART	1
SPI	1
I2C	1
Analog input pins	7 (ADC 8/10/12 bit)
Analog output pins	1 (DAC 10 bit)
External interrupts	8 (0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, A1 -or 16-, A2 – or 17)
DC Current per I/O pin	7 mA
Flash memory	256 KB
SRAM	32 KB
EEPROM	No
Clock speed	32.768kHz (RTC), 48MHz
LEDs	6
Antenna power	2dB
Carrier frequency	868MHz
Length	67.64mm
Width	25mm

Using the IoT Prime bundle: first steps

For anyone just starting out with Arduino for IoT applications and looking for inspiration on your first project, Arduino provides plenty of resources to accompany you during your first try. Fully encompassing the spirit of open source development, you can pick and choose a project that interests you from the Arduino Project Hub and learn how to best utilise your IoT Prime bundle at the same time.

For instance, have you ever wanted to check in on your plants’ well-being remotely? With the Arduino IoT bundle, you can. The “Plant Communicator with MKR WiFi 1010” project guides you through monitoring your plant’s moisture, temperature and light conditions as well as setting up automatic alert and daily graph emails.

And, if you’re looking for more information, you can benefit from handy guides on how to use the MKR WIFI 1010 board and the MKR ENV shield – as part of the growing Arduino community, you’ll be connected to thousands of engineers who will develop alongside you and answer any questions you may have.

Once you’re comfortable using Arduino for IoT applications, you can benefit from our webinar covering an end-to-end approach to IoT system design with Arduino. This includes the hardware, software, connectivity and cloud that enables users to focus on actually building their applications instead of spending time on the ‘how’. This webinar is ideally suited for professionals in specialist industries who see value in adding remote sensors or control capabilities to their products, logistics or infrastructure – but don’t want to invest in a costly ‘ground-up’ development project to achieve it.

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