Diving into a more practical Internet of Things

Let’s skip the Gartner hype cycle discussion about the ever-evolving Internet of Things, shall we? It’s a given: IoT is huge, everyone’s hair is on fire — some will be disillusioned, some will win big, time will sort it out. But, if you’re waiting for the “one thing to rule them all,” you’ll surely be a bystander to a new wave of innovation and opportunities. You have to dive in before all the winners and losers are culled.

Because IoT is such a massive domain, this series is an attempt to boil it down into something practical, even desktop scope.

Roadmap

To start, we’ll introduce and discuss a relatively simple model and way to think about the IoT in order to help keep your technical bearings in a rapidly changing landscape.

In subsequent parts of this series, I’ll explore some of the leading IoT protocols, and in keeping with a “practical IoT” theme, we’ll do some desktop IoT with some easy-to-use development boards from Atmel along with a selection of open-source tools or libraries.

I’ll put heavy emphasis on IoT security as it is an often overlooked, yet critical, element of implementing a successful IoT stack. The goal is to create a basic IoT stack that works well together, but more importantly, provides a hands-on lab to try out various aspects of the connected world as it evolves.

Use Case

As a system architect, you need to get a sensor solution up and running which won’t fall on its face at the first inkling of success. You need to worry about such things as embedded size constraints, scaling strategies, third party integration, connectivity, economics, implementation skill sets, power, and even future-proofing.

You’ll want your system to grow and evolve while the IoT is trying to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up.

It sounds a lot like you are doing M2M, so how is IoT going to help?

What’s the difference between IoT and M2M?

“Always design a thing by considering it in the next larger context – a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.” – Eliel Saarinen

If you developed a sensor network before the IoT acronym came along, you’d be forgiven for thinking IoT is just lipstick on M2M. M2M is often associated with point solutions or a fleet of the same kind of thing — a system of Wi-Fi thermostats, a flow sensor network in an oil-refinery, a vehicle location system, home automation, all the heart monitoring telemetry in a hospital. For some in the industry, M2M means anything with a cellular modem on a particular carrier’s network.

Long story short, the key takeaway is that M2M is almost synonymous with isolated systems of sensors and islands of telemetry data. In contrast, the IoT is trying to marry disparate systems into an expansive system view to enable new applications — that’s not only the big idea, it’s the one key difference between M2M and IoT.

“If you consider M2M in the next larger context, you get the IoT.” – Landon Cox

I guess we can say that IoT really stands for “I want it all.” In order to achieve that, major new facets such as first class security, big data, cloud scale, ubiquitous presence, human interactions — all wrapped up in business objective parlance — come to bear.

IoT is a catch-all technology bucket and it’s probably always going to be that way, so let’s make the best of it and make headway amidst all the ambiguity and hype. Here’s how…

One practical way to think about it is: The Internet of Things is the arch connecting M2M vertical pillars (technology stacks). This view allows the IoT to leverage all of the good work that has gone into M2M, incorporate existing legacy M2M systems, yet leave it loosely coupled and abstract enough to describe various business problems (not one size fits all).

In the example above, IoT is marrying health sensor data from three very different sources and contexts, all of which are using different company’s products within siloed M2M ecosystems. Bringing this together provides a better overall picture of a client’s health than individual silos can. IoT technologies, such as cloud scale and security, gain tremendous importance in an application like this, beyond the significance within the silo’s scale.

This view also helps keep IoT from being tied to a specific M2M technology stack. The implication? For IoT to add value not already in M2M, it must provide a fabric that either bridges M2M systems, through analytics or data networking, or fulfill a business mission not addressed by an individual M2M stack.

IoT Caveats

IoT is dangerously close to the SOA vortex (Service Oriented Architecture) and is something we need to be mindful of avoiding. As SOA expert Anne Thomas Manes pointed out in SOA is Dead; Long Live Services, “Perhaps that’s the challenge: The acronym got in the way. People forgot what SOA stands for. They were too wrapped up in silly technology debates (e.g., “what’s the best ESB?” or “WS-* vs. REST”), and they missed the important stuff: architecture and services.”

My summary? Despite some good technology and ideas that came out of SOA, technology that the IoT builds upon, SOA died of its own weight.  We should keep the cause of death of SOA in mind when working on IoT so it doesn’t become a likewise casualty.

I would like to see IoT architecture evolve along the lines of the OSI network reference model and not SOA (except for the important stuff). That means that IoT should be a simple, common concept used by system architects to design, map, and compare different implementations.

Ethernet and Token Ring, for example, are two very different network technologies, but both map to the OSI reference model. OSI gives us a common way to talk about nearly any network technology. We need the same idea for IoT to make it practical.

From that perspective, we could talk about many different Internet of Things stacks in the same manner we talk about Ethernet, Wi-Fi, TCP/IP, or UDP. Various technologies fit into a common network model (OSI) and are combined in various ways to achieve something useful (i.e. the web).  Same with the IoT: Think of it as a model, like OSI. Specific IoT implementations map to various parts of an IoT reference model like specific networks technologies map to OSI.

So, this is the basic philosophy behind what I would call “practical IoT:”

1. Don’t let the acronym get in the way.

2. Use the right tool for the right job (IoT stack flexibility, not one-size-fits-all, no IoT wars).

3) Ensure IoT is more technology-oriented, like the OSI reference model; less marketing oriented and less like SOA.

4) It has to be more than, and distinctly different from, M2M.

Now where?

I realize this was a really high level view of Practical IoT. Stay tuned for upcoming Desktop IoT tutorials and hands-on demonstrations as we’ll delve deep and get practical with the Internet of Things. In the meantime, imagine, expand and evolve your connected ideas with Atmel’s latest (free) white paper.

 

Good electronics videos and articles

My buddy Rob Bowers over at Brocade told me about this video channel for home made (aka Maker) electronics projects. It’s produced by Alan “W2AEW” Wolke. You can see by his nickname and video channel name, he is a Ham radio enthusiast. I never got that bug, my projects were more like a wire wrapped around a nail to make an electromagnet.

The video above is what got my buddy Rob excited. He enthused, “Wow electronics for everybody! There may be hope for me. I watched the one on completing the noise source on the Ham It Up! convertor. He builds it, tests the basics, and the shows a simple use case. I feel .031% less stupid. I wanted to know if I should purchase the noise source parts. ‘Yes’ is the answer, after watching this.”

This is the cool thing about the Maker Movement. Rob is not an engineer. He did software QA in the past and now works at Brocade in the IT department. He is technical, but not formally trained. But the Maker movement is about the fun stuff, and the dreary classrooms and boring lectures are dispensed with in favor of learning with a specific objective in mind. It’s all the fun of engineering without the tedium. We invented computers. They can do the tedium, and the math, for that matter.

Electronics enthusiast Alan Wolke at his bench.

You can see from Alan’s bench the passion he has for radio and electronics in general. Any person with a Metcal soldering iron and a Simpson 260 analog voltmeter is OK by me. The extended CRT (cathode ray tube) housing on that scope makes me think it is the 400MHz Tek 2467B, the fast glitch capture version of the Tektronix 2465B. The CRT is longer to add the plates needed for persistence.

Another cool tip from Rob was about Brocade where he works. He told me the labs have vending machines with cables and mice and other day-to-day engineering essentials. The engineers can just swipe their badge into the vending machine, pick out the cable and be on their way, no requisition forms or hassle. What a class outfit.

The good electronics article tip comes from a fellow eFlea attendee. I saw him at the Roasted Bean in Cupertino and he showed me the latest issue of Nuts and Volts magazine.

Nuts and Volts magazine has a ton of good articles about electronics.

Knowing I worked at Atmel, my pal wanted to point out the above article about Arduino by Joe Pardue. Nuts and Volts is a subscription magazine, so you have pay 27 bucks a year for print and digital, or only 20 bucks a year if you don’t want the print magazine.

Even without subscribing, you can download the code samples for the Arduino 101 article, and if you upgrade to the mysterious un-priced “preferred subscriber network” you get access to all the old issues of Nuts and Volts. This is a great complement to Circuit Cellar magazine, which is also a subscription magazine, but for $250 they can also give you a memory stick with every single article they have ever done. I recommend both these magazines since they are aimed at system design. The trade press, where I have worked, is fine to learn about the latest chip or test method. But Circuit Cellar and Nuts and Volts both show you how to hook up the chips, and do the code and everything else to get a working product. They even touch on 3-D printing and the stuff to put your gizmo in an enclosure. No wonder they can charge for a subscription. All they lack is articles about FCC, CE, and UL approvals, and those might happen one day for all I know.

So keep watching those YouTube videos and reading articles, but more importantly, keep hacking on circuits and code. That is the fun stuff that gives real satisfaction and happiness.

Fun facts: 30 years, 1 company, unlimited possibilities

Boy, where has the time gone? Today, December 5, 2014, marks an extremely special day for us here at Atmel — it is the day we turn 30 as a semiconductor company. Founded in 1984, Atmel began as a company focusing on non-volatile memories. At this time, Atmel’s founder George Perlegos made a breakthrough with the invention of electrically erasable programable read-only memory, or EEPROM.

After 30 years of innovation, Atmel has emerged as a leading solutions-based company delivering secure, connected devices in the era of the Internet of Things. Guess you can say we’ve gotten ‘smarter’ with age! While the company’s influence can’t be underestimated when it comes to enabling Makers, designers and engineers alike, how much of its history do you actually know?

Here are a few interesting facts to get you up to speed on Atmel’s backstory!

Atmel = “Advanced Technology for Memory and Logic.”

Atmel changed headquarters and its logo in 2012. (Previous logo shown below.)

Atmel’s leadership in EEPROM and Flash was put to good use when it developed the first-ever Flash-based MCU in 1993, the AT89LP.

Atmel complemented the ARM7TDMI CPU with a unique set of system peripherals to create the world’s first ARM-based MCU.

Atmel’s SAM9 became the world’s first ARM9-based controllers.

The mXT768E was the industry’s first 32-bit single-chip controller for touchscreens up to 12-inches.

Atmel is also credited for creating the automotive industry’s first touchscreen controller supporting shieldless sensors and gloved operation.

The incredibly-popular AVR 8-bit architecture was introduced in 1997. By 2003, Atmel had already shipped over 500 million of the MCUs.

Atmel can be found at the heart of the the first Arduino prototype.

… And in the earliest MakerBot 3D printers.

… Oh, and some of the first DIY drones, too.

Atmel remains at the forefront of the Maker Movement, having been an avid participant in Maker Faires since their onset.

… Including an appearance at this year’s inaugural White House Maker Faire.

At the moment, there are over 160 Kickstarter projects built around Atmel AVR, not to mention its versatile Atmel | SMART ARM-based MCUs. Specifically, more than 60% have been successfully funded, garnering well over $7 million in pledges.

Atmel brought flexy back with the debut of its XSense touch sensors.

Atmel unveiled the first futuristic touch-centric curved automotive console back at CES 2014.

Oh. My. God. Becky, look… Atmel has even rap-battled with Sir Mix-A-Lot.

Atmel’s ATmega32U4 has transformed a number of ordinary objects into touch interfaces.

The ATtiny20 is so small that it can almost fit inside the ball of a ballpoint pen, or balance precariously on the tip of a matchstick.

Talk about driving the IoT! Earlier this year, Atmel packed its latest solutions onto a 40′ x 85′ mobile trailer and hit the open road. To date, the big rig has traveled over 55,000 miles with 10,000 visitors hopping onboard.

So, as we reminisce about our past, we can’t help but look ahead to the next 30 years! In celebration of this joyous occasion, we’re asking our fans, friends and loyal customers to share their favorite memories and show off their Atmel pride! Learn how to get started here!

8- or 32-bit, that is the question…

Writing for Electronic Design, Atmel’s Ingar Fredriksen and Paal Kastnes recently explored the latest market trends for both 8- and 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs). While the 32-bit MCU devices continue to rise in popularity throughout the embedded community, 8-bit MCUs are still experiencing a CAGR close to that of their bigger cousins.

These 32-bit, function-rich devices suit an array of different applications, which explains why many embedded developers select them for their next designs. Designers recognize that such complex devices offer everything they need in terms of raw compute power, a rich peripheral set, and easy access to a wide range of development tools and libraries.

Many of these 32-bit devices — which are members of the Atmel | SMART family — are based on the highly-successful ARM cores. Thus, developers feel confident in having access to second source devices and a comprehensive set of development, test and validation tools being available in the market.

However, taking a closer look at recent MCU market trends has revealed that 32-bit devices aren’t the only ones experiencing strong growth. The surging 8-bit MCU market boasts a CAGR (6.4%) close to that of 32-bit (6.9%). Meanwhile, a number of other industry analysts forecast identical growth rates for 8- and 32-bit microcontrollers.

The upswing in 8-bit devices, like the incredibly popular Atmel AVR lineup, clearly highlights that there must be some compelling reasons to use an 8-bit device in place of a 32-bit MCU. The recently-published Electronic Design article looks to shed some insight as to why 8-bit devices are retaining market share.

Essential Differences

The principle differences between 8- and 32-bit MCUs are cost and price structure, CPU performance, ease of use, efficiency in hardware near functions, and static power consumption. When embarking on a new design, developers need to carefully scope out the requirements for an MCU based on the amount of processing capability required, the degree of interfacing needed, and, for battery-powered designs, the all-important power consumption profiles. There’s no doubt that a 32-bit MCU delivers higher performance than an 8-bit device, but the engineer faces the traditional decision of choosing between the best available device in the market versus an application’s actual needs.

Of course, these decisions will greatly influence the likely bill of materials (BOM) cost. With a lower gate count, a less complex 8-bit device will certainly be cheaper than a 32-bit device. When comparing 8- and 32-bit MCUs from leading vendors, each with a similar amount of flash memory, pin-out etc., 8-bit devices typically cost about 20% less. But this is only the first of many considerations. Another aspect relates to the ease in setting up for a new development.

Ease of Development

MCU suppliers tend to add more features and functionality to their 32-bit devices as opposed to 8-bit products. Consequently, far more setup considerations emerge with a more complex device. While some 32-bit MCUs can run with a limited setup similar to that of an 8-bit device, you’re unable to take advantage of the more powerful device’s additional features.

For example, a typical 32-bit ARM device will have independent clock settings for the core itself, the AHB bus, the APBA bus, and the APBB bus. They all can be set to different frequencies. Typically, you will also have to switch to the clock you want to use because it’s set in software, not in hardware like most 8-bit parts. Furthermore, changing the clock means you must set up the wait states for flash, possibly predicated on measured V_CCvoltage.

Such a setup can be much simpler with an 8-bit MCU, though. For example, Atmel’stinyAVR and megaAVR products only require initialization of the stack pointer, which typically takes four lines of code, prior to coding the application. The choice of clock, brownout detector, reset pin function, etc., is all pre-programmed into the device.

The architecture is also much more straightforward than a 32-bit device with internal registers, peripherals, and SRAM all mapped on the same data bus. The peripherals and CPU would normally run at the same frequency, so no peripheral bus configuration is necessary. Moreover, designers can avoid being concerned about latency in synchronizing between different clock domains.

Performance

When it comes to desired CPU performance, the engineer should consider all use cases. The reality is that many embedded designs don’t have high compute requirements. Often, very little manipulation of data is required, so balancing those needs against power-consumption and peripheral-interfacing requirements becomes crucial.

For instance, a simple thermostat application will spend most of its life in a sleep mode. Every so often, it will wake up and measure the temperature and then make a decision to turn a relay on/off or send an instruction to a host controller. Then it will resume sleep. The compute and interface requirements of this application are small, but many other applications such as fire detectors, power tools, flow meters, and appliance controls have a similar use profile, too.

Efficiency of Hardware Near Functions

Many modern microcontrollers incorporate some hardware functions that serve to help the CPU operate as efficiently as possible. In Atmel’s case, both the 8-bit AVR and 32-bit ARM-based MCU families feature the Peripheral Event System. An event system is a set of hardware-based features that allows peripherals to interact without intervention from the CPU. It allows peripherals to send signals directly to other peripherals, ensuring a short and 100% predictable response time.

When fully using the capabilities of the event system, the chip can be configured to do complex operations with very little intervention from the CPU, saving both valuable program memory and execution time. In the case of detecting a hardware event, it’s important to first detect the event and then switch control to the desired interrupt service routine (ISR).

In these situations, CPU speed isn’t the single determining factor. It’s a question of how long, in terms of cycles, does it take to respond to the interrupt, run the ISR, and return. As the following example will show, 8-bit devices can be more efficient in handling hardware near actions.

Consider receiving one byte on the SPI, using an interrupt to detect it, and then running a simple ISR routine to read the byte from the SPI peripheral and store it in SRAM. Using this scenario, table above draws comparisons between an Atmel 8-bit AVR device and an Atmel ARM Cortex M0+based 32-bit MCU. Calculated with information available, the results are based on minimum implementations. However, engineers should check with their own applications since the interrupt detection and return from interrupt could take more cycles than shown in the table. Requiring 12 cycles versus 33 cycles equates to having a theoretical maximum SPI bandwidth of 1.67 MB/s for the 8-bit CPU and a 606 kB/s bandwidth for a 32-bit CPU when running at 20 MHz.

The degree of numeric processing can also have an impact on the stack and required memory. Applying the Fibonacci algorithm is one particularly good method for testing memory requirements. Since it only uses a local variable, everything needs to be pushed to the stack.

When making a comparison between an 8-bit AVR and an ARM 32-bit CM0+-based device, and using a recursive 15-stage Fibonacci algorithm, the AVR uses a total of 70 bytes of stack, including 30 for return stack (15 calls deep). The ARM-based device uses 192 bytes (60 should be return stack). This means the CSTACK is more than three times the size of the 8-bit solution. In typical C code, more of the variables on the stack often come in a packed format, so this is an extreme corner. However, saying 1.5 to 3 times more SRAM is needed for the same 8-bit-centric application on a 32-bit (versus a native 8-bit) device is a fair estimation.

Power Consumption

No MCU article would be complete without investigating static power consumption. This alone may be a key factor in choosing between an 8- or 32-bit device, especially for battery-powered applications. The table below illustrates power-consumption differences between 8- and 32-bit devices in both active and static modes.

Aggressive manufacturing technologies increase transistor leakage current, which roughly doubles with each process generation, and is proportional to the number of gates. Leakage current increases exponentially at higher temperatures, which can be easily overlooked when designing a consumer design. Mobile phones and personal media players are transported everywhere, and as we have all found out, temperatures experienced during the summer inside a car can easily climb above 40°C.

The amount of time the microcontroller will spend in active mode versus static mode contributes significantly to the overall application power budget.

Naturally, the ratio between active and static modes will vary depending on the application requirements. Taking the previous SPI interrupt example (second table from above) and assuming a SPI data bandwidth of 80 kb/s, the 8-bit CPU will spend 1.2% of its time in active mode compared to that of the 32-bit, which will spend 3.3% in active mode (table below).

Conclusion

Contemplating whether to use an 8- or 32-bit microcontroller for a future design may involve an Internet of things (IoT) application. How IoT actually takes shape provokes lots of debate, but it will certainly challenge engineers to make a detailed appraisal of the MCU requirement. Wireless connectivity, especially ZigBee, will also be an essential component, but that doesn’t automatically mean that it will need a higher power device.

A number of available 8-bit microcontroller products satisfy the need for low levels of processing and wireless connectivity. One such example is the Atmel ATmegaRFR2 series, which provides an IEEE 802.15.4-compliant, single-chip, 2.4-GHz wireless microcontroller solution that suits battery-powered, low-cost IoT designs.

Interested in reading more? Be sure to check out the original article from Electronic Design here.

Could the 8-bit MCU be experiencing a renaissance?

So, is the 8-bit MCU experiencing a renaissance? According to Electronics Weekly, it’s rather possible. A recent article notes that despite the rise of ARM architecture and widespread adoption of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), a number of suppliers like Atmel are “more committed to their 8-bit chips than ever before.”

In fact, the publication points out that companies are now adding higher performance peripherals and extending development tools for their highly-popular 8-bit lineups.

“Atmel is another supplier which continues to invest in its range of megaAVR MCUs. Now in their third generation, the MCUs are attracting growing interest in hobbyist/professional crossover applications as a result of being designed into the Arduino low cost embedded computing platform.”

Since its initial launch in 2002, the megaAVR family has become the go-to choice of Makers and engineers alike. The MCUs, which include the stalwart ATmega328 to ATmega32U4, can be found at the heart of millions of gadgets and gizmos, including an entire lineup of Arduino boards, 3D printers such as RepRap and MakerBot, as well as a number of innovative DIY platforms.

“This family of 8-bit megaAVR MCUs has been highly recognized by a variety of communities from the professional designers using our Atmel Studio ecosystem to the hobbyist and Maker in the AVR Freaks and Arduino communities,” explained Oyvind Strom, Senior Director of Marketing for Atmel’s MCU Business Unit.

These MCUs run single-cycle instructions with performance of 1MIPS per MHz, while on-chip flash memory spans from 4KB to 16KB. These new devices provide next-gen enhancements including analog functionality and features for the latest low-power hungry consumer, industrial and IoT applications.

As Electronics Weekly notes, the burgeoning Maker Movement combined with the low-cost embedded board phenomenon has created a new playground for 8-bit devices. This “new relevance” has never been more apparent than with Arduino’s adoption of AVR MCUs, which can be found in its wildly-popular Uno (ATmega328), Leonardo (ATmega32U4) and Mega (ATmega2560) to name just a few.

The primary attraction of 8-bit MCUs is not only affordable performance, but with 8, 14 and 20-pin packages, they also are affordable and easier to use than their 32-bit counterparts.

Development tools are also matching the increasing range of higher performance applications for these MCUs as well. Take Atmel’s Xplained Mini 8-bit development platform for instance, which not only costs less than $9 but are also designed with an optional Arduino header for expandability.

The article goes on to reference IAR Systems, who recently updated its high-performance development tools for 8-bit MCUs. Just a few weeks back, IAR Systems and Atmel announced an extension of their ongoing partnership would include over 1,400 example projects in IAR Systems’ development tools to support Atmel’s entire portfolio. This allows designers using microcontrollers, like the 8-bit AVR, to leverage the Embedded Workbench C/C++ compiler and debugger toolchain with new example projects to bring their products to market faster.

Interested in reading more? You can access the entire article here. Meanwhile, you can also browse through our extensive lineup of 8-bit microcontrollers here.

Using the power of two MCUs on an Arduino board

While the latest batch of Arduino and Arduino-compatible boards either have a chip capable of USB or rely on a V-USB implementation, did you know earlier Uno and Mega boards actually have two microcontrollers?

Writing for Hackaday, Brian Benchoff notes that “an ATmega16U2 takes care of the USB connection, while the standard ‘328 or ‘2560 takes care of all ‘duino tasks. Wouldn’t it be great is you could also use the ’16U2 on the Uno or Mega for some additional functionality to your Arduino sketch?”

That’s now a reality thanks to a Maker by the name of NicoHood. Both the [Atmel based] Uno and Mega boards possess a pair of MCUs, of which the ’16U2 is generally used for USB-Serial translation. Meanwhile, it can serve as standalone AVR MCU with (or without) USB functions as well.

Using what NicoHood calls “HoodLoader2,” Makers now have the option of reprogramming the ‘16U2 of an Arduino Uno/Mega R3 with custom sketches, and using its seven (sometimes overlooked) I/O pins.

“This means you can use the ’16U2 as a normal USB AVR like a Leonardo,” NicoHood adds.

With a fully-compatible USB-HID core and CDC serial, HootLoader2 is a real bootloader for the ’16U2 — not a firmware. It can replace the DFU bootloader with a CDC bootloader and USB serial function. This enables new USB functions like an HID keyboard, mouse, media keys and a gamepad, the addition of extra sensors or LEDs, or pretty much anything else you can do with a normal Arduino, Benchoff explains.

“The great thing about this is that you actually have two fully Arduino-compatible microcontrollers in one Arduino Uno/Mega board – the board most of you already own. Your main MCU (328/2560) is still reprogrammable if you enter bootloader mode. All you need for this is a normal Arduino Uno/Mega R3 and some cables to install the new HoodLoader2.”

You can read all about the HootLoader2 on NicoHood’s official page here.

Tinusaur dev board packs an ATtiny85 MCU

The Tinusaur — powered by an ATtiny85 MCU — is a simple, inexpensive and quick-start platform targeted at both Makers and developers alike.

“The Tinusaur is a minimal microcontroller hardware configuration based on Atmel’s AVR ATtiny family of products, and more specifically, those with DIP-8 case such as ATtiny25/ATtiny45/ATtiny85, ATtiny13 as well as their variations,” project creator Neven Boyanov explained in a recent Hackster.io post.

Aside from the ATtiny85, additional key platform specs include:

• DIP-8 socket
• H1 header
• H2 header
• 
ISP header
• 
Reset button
• Power header
• Battery header
• Battery jumper
• C1 capacitor
• C2 capacitor
• C2 capacitor
• R1 resistor
• 
Battery holder
• 3V battery

“All the components are easy to find, and of course, cheap. Only the minimum required components should be part of the circuit.”

In addition, the two-row headers H1 and H2 can be used as a breadboard, or to facilitate the placement of a shield. Tinusaur also includes an optional mount for a button cell battery on the bottom and a jumper to toggle the unit on or off.

On the software side, the board offers cross-platform support, as well as compatibility with the official Arduino IDE.

According to Boyanov, the goal of the Tinusaur project is to offer a simple, cheap and accessible quick-start platform for everyone interested in learning and making things. Sound like you? You can check out the project’s official page and its Hackster.io post here.

The Internet of Things is headed for the kitchen

According to recent report, nearly seven in 10 consumers (67%) will own an in-home Internet of Things (IoT) device within five years, while 13% of consumers are expected to have at least one IoT device in their house by next year. Although we’ve already seen everything from smart thermostats to security systems, it comes with little surprise that the next area around the house poised to be connected is the kitchen. In fact, a new report from NextMarket Insights has revealed that the industry will be worth $10.1 billion by 2020.

Aside from being the epicenter of most homes — between the cooking, the eating and unfortunately, the cleaning — a vast majority of time and effort is spent in the kitchen. From the utensils you eat with to the cups you drink from, every interaction around the dinner table will soon be connected. As we prepare for CES 2015, let’s take explore some of the latest once-ordinary kitchen items given new “powers.”

---

Pantelligent

Recently launched on Kickstarter, a team of MIT engineers has developed a smart frying pan. Aptly named Pantelligent, the device features a temperature sensor (in its base) that communicates over Bluetooth (in its handle) with its companion smartphone app, guiding you through the process of cooking just about anything. Think of it as a digital Cooking for Dummies, telling you what, when and how to do it. Without all the reading, of course!

---

Baidu Kuaisou

Baidu has unveiled a pair of ‘smart chopsticks’ fitted with sensors that can be connected to a smartphone app to offer users analyzed readings. The company says the prototype device is currently designed to detect temperature and whether food was produced using ‘gutter oil’ – reused cooking oil that’s potentially toxic. Future models could also flag contaminated water, and even measure salt levels.

---

Egg Minder

Developed by Quirky, Egg Minder is a wirelessly-connected egg tray that keeps track of how many eggs it is holding and how long each individual egg has been in it. When opened, the smart device blinks an LED light next to the egg that’s been in it the longest, so you know which to crack next.

---

MAID Oven

Powered by an Atmel ATmega32L, the MAID (Make All Incredible Dishes) Oven is an all-in-one device that can learn your eating habits, like daily caloric intake, and then suggest new recipes for you based on its pre-programmed optimization algorithms — which are driven by an ARM processor. The appliance functions as a microwave, convection oven and top-heater, meaning that it can whip up anything from a bag of popcorn or Eggo waffles to a birthday cake for a family celebration.

---

HAPIfork

The smart fork, which was introduced at this year’s CES, uses electronic sensors to monitor a user’s eating habits. Designed by HAPILABS, the ARM Cortex-M0 embedded utensil tracks the number of bites, intake speed as well as notifies you to step away from the dinner plate.

---

Nomiku

In an attempt to make sous vide cooking more accessible to the home chef, the team behind the Nomiku Immersion Circulator recently unveiled a new prototype that features Wi-Fi connectivity. Embedded with an ATtiny88 MCU, the Nomiku can receive inputs from the accompanying Tender smartphone application. Tender, available on the iOS and Android platforms, grants users the ability to share recipes throughout the sous vide cooking community. With a few clicks and the correct ingredients, a home chef could have a Top Chef winner’s recipe brewing on their stove in just a matter of minutes.

---

Thingk

Italian design company Thingk recently completed a successful Indiegogo campaign for its new GK Series of ATmega328P powered products, the GKILO and the CLOGK. The GKILO is a wooden slab that functions as both a kitchen scale when laid on one side, and a clock when flipped over. The block, which does not have any buttons or switches, is merely controlled via hand gestures. Meanwhile, the CLOGK serves as an ordinary analog clock or as a cooking timer, based on your preference, and features a unique touch interface. It can also stand as a paperweight or a contemporary decorative piece.

---

The Hug

Using motion data and algorithms, The Hug sensor tracks the amount of water you drink, giving user’s automatic reminders via the sensor band and mobile app to ensure optimal hydration.

---

B4RM4N

Designed by the Magnified Self crew, B4RM4N is a smart cocktail shaker powered by an Atmel MCU and connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth, allowing you to mix and pour the perfect drink every time. To start, a user connects B4RM4N to their mobile device by placing the shaker onto a nearby table or bar, immediately launching the accompanying mobile app. Then, simply select a recipe from the vast library loaded onto the app, as well as the desired number of drinks. Cheers!

---

Liftware

Liftware, a new type of technology created by Lift Labs, can help improve the lives of people suffering from Essential Tremor and Parkinson’s Disease. Sensors embedded in the smart utensil detect motion, and a microcontroller uses sensor data to determine the best response. The microcontroller continuously directs motors in the handle of the device to move the spoon and cancel tremor movements.

---

The Milkmaid

Developed over the course of a month for the Quirky and GE Project, Milkmaid addresses the issue of wasted milk due to spoilage. Never accidentally experience sour milk the hard way again! The smart milk jug will alert users when their milk is going bad and most importantly, when to discard and go buy some more. Now, the only thing missing is an Oreo-dunking machine.

---

Prep Pad

Prep Pad is a microcontroller-powered smart food scale that providers users with real-time insight into their food. Use it to create balanced meals through beautiful visualizations of protein, carbs and fats with its Countertop app. According to its Kickstarter campaign last year, the company turned to an Arduino Leonardo (ATmega32u4) for prototyping before finally sourcing a “smaller microcomputer (open source, probably Arduino family) for the final product.”

---

LG Smart Thinq

It was only a matter of time before the arrival of self-aware fridges, ones that are capable of knowing and alerting you when they’re low on milk. Or, cognizant of consuming energy while you’re away on business. LG’s latest smart refrigerator uses its HomeChat app to communicate with your mobile device.

---

SITU

SITU is a smart food nutrition scale capable of weighing food in calories and nutrients, as well as grams and ounces. What this means is that users can have a precise calorie and nutrient count of what they’re about to consume.

---

iDevices Thermometer

Those who recently cooked a turkey over the holidays know just how daunting of a task it can be. Luckily, iDevices offers a Bluetooth-enabled cooking thermometer that allows remote monitoring and alerts those whipping up dinner when food is ready, right from their mobile device. The smart gadget comes in two models: a larger version with two probes that can wirelessly monitor two temps at once, and a smaller one-probe version. The iDevices app not only receives real-time temperature data, but also includes recipes, presets, kitchen timers, and a social media component, which lets users share data with other tech-savvy chefs.

---

Vessyl

What’s in your cup? First introduced via Kickstarter and eventually raised $3 million in pledges, the smart cup can not only identify and track what a user is drinking, but can sense the type of liquid and even the amount of calories, sugar, caffeine, protein, sodium and vitamins that are in whatever liquid the Vessyl contains.

---

Drop

The Drop smart kitchen scale was designed to allow anyone to bake beautiful and delicious creations — regardless of experience. The scale connects to a custom iPad app via Bluetooth and walks aspiring bakers through a library of recipes.

---

Mr. Coffee 10-Cup Smart Optimal Brew

No stranger to home automation, Belkin has introduced a number of WeMo products that are looking to take home automation to the next level. From smart crock-pots to web cams, the latest addition to the family is the WiFi-enabled coffee maker, which is capable of brewing up to 10 cups ‘o joe all while being controlled by your smartphone. The Mr. Coffee machine makes it super simple to schedule, monitor, and modify your brew from anywhere.

---

Smarter

So, what happens when you want to brew just one hot cup’ o joe and not an entire pot? That’s where Smarter’s latest Wi-Fi coffee machine comes in handy. The device allows owners to remotely brew individual cups through its companion Android or iOS app, complete with scheduling, as well as to grind beans and send notifications when their daily dose of caffeine is ready.

---

Sifting through this list really makes us eager to see what’s in store for the year ahead as we kick things off at CES 2015, where a number of today’s largest brands will release their next-gen IoT products.

Remember Whirlpool’s touchscreen stove demo last year? The exhibit featured an interactive touchscreen cooktop that was able to display recipes, Twitter and Facebook updates, news and weather. The cooktop itself, which would use induction to heat pots and pans, could display recipes right next to your ingredients, pans, bowls, and cutting boards, instead of keeping a mobile device nearby while cooking. In addition to that, it was voice-controlled, meaning a user simply had to talk in order to change the music, access different social feeds and more.

It’s ideas like these that will usher in the kitchen of tomorrow. From smart appliances to quantified cooking, the Internet of Things is set to revolutionize everything from how we cook to what we consume. The advent of such web-enabled tools and accessories will surely make for much smarter, efficient and easier culinary experiences.

Atmel and IoT and Crypto, oh my!

One of the companies that is best positioned to supply components into the Internet of Things (IoT) market is Atmel. For the time being most designs will be done using standard components, not doing massive integration on an SoC targeted at a specific market. The biggest issue in the early stage of market development will be working out what the customer wants and so the big premium will be on getting to market early and iterating fast, not premature cost optimization for a market that might not be big enough to support the design/NRE of a custom design.

Here is Atmel’s latest product in the SmartConnect family, the SAM W25 module

Atmel has microcontrollers, literally over 500 different flavors and in two families, the AVR family and a broad selection of ARM microcontrollers ad processors. They have wireless connectivity. They have strong solutions in security.

Indeed last week at Electronica in Germany they announced the latest product in the SmartConnect family, the SAM W25 module. It is the industry’s first fully-integrated FCC-certified Wi-Fi module with a standalone MCU and hardware security from a single source. The module is tiny, not much larger than a penny. The module includes Atmel’s recently-announced 2.4GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi WINC1500, along with an Atmel | SMART SAM D21 ARM Cortex M0+-based MCU and Atmel’s ATECC108A optimized CryptoAuthentication engine with ultra-secure hardware-based key storage for secure connectivity.

Atmel at Electronica 2014

That last item is a key component for many IoT designs. Security is going to be a big thing and with so many well-publicized breaches of software security, the algorithms, and particularly the keys, are moving quickly into hardware. That component, the ATECC108A, provides state-of-the-art hardware security including a full turnkey Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) engine using key sizes of 256 or 283 bits – appropriate for modern security environments without the long computation delay typical of software solutions. Access to the device is through a standard I²C Interface at speeds up to 1Mb/sec. It is compatible with standard Serial EEPROM I²C Interface specifications. Compared to software, the device is:

• Higher performance (faster encryption)
• Lower power
• Much harder to compromise

Atmel has a new white paper out, Integrating the Internet of Things, Necessary Building Blocks for Broad Market Adoption. Depending on whose numbers you believe, there will be 50 billion IoT edge devices connected by 2020.

Edge nodes are becoming integrated into everyone’s life

As it says in the white paper:

On first inspection, the requirements of an IoT edge device appear to be much the same as any other microcontroller (MCU) based development project. You have one or more sensors that are read by an MCU, the data may then be processed locally prior to sending it off to another application or causing another event to occur such as turning on a motor. However, there are decisions to be made regarding how to communicate with these other applications. Wired, wireless, and power line communication (PLC) are the usual options. But, then you have to consider that many IoT devices are going to be battery powered, which means that their power consumption needs to be kept as low as possible to prolong battery life. The complexities deepen when you consider the security implications of a connected device as well. And that’s not just security of data being transferred, but also ensuring your device can’t be cloned and that it does not allow unauthorized applications to run on it.

IoT design requirements: Software / development tools ecosystem

For almost any application, the building blocks for an IoT edge node are the same:

• Embedded processing
• Sensors
• Connectivity
• Security
• And while not really a “building block,” ultra-low power for always-on applications

My view is that the biggest of these issues will be security. After all, even though Atmel has hundreds of different microcontrollers and microprocessors, there are plenty of other suppliers. Same goes for connectivity solutions. But strong cryptographhic solutions implemented in hardware are much less common.

The new IoT white paper is available for download here.

This post has been republished with permission from SemiWiki.com, where Paul McLellan is a featured blogger. It first appeared there on November 19, 2014.

SnapJet is a portable Polaroid printer for your smartphone

Have you ever browsed through your smartphone pics and wished you could print copies in a moment’s notice? A new device, aptly named SnapJet, is now making that a reality. The open-source, instant-film printer — which has made its Kickstarter debut — uses Polaroid technology to let users wirelessly print their photos directly from a smartphone.

Impressively, the SnapJet doesn’t require any mobile app, wires, or other connections, such as Wi-Fi, NFC or even Bluetooth. As its creators note, “All you need to do is put your phone on top, and push a single button to print beautiful photos.”

Aside from its simplicity, what really sets this device apart is its portability. Given it size, users can now work on scrapbooks in a coffee shop, or make a real-time birthday cards just captured during the party.

How does it work? Users simply place their phone face-down on top of the SnapJet. The SnapJet then scans the image on the screen and prints it out on either Polaroid 300 or Fujifilm Instax film, using the light from the phone’s display to develop the film at resolutions up to 1,200 dpi. According to the team, if you upgrade your phone, the print quality gets even better!

Powered by an Atmel AT90USB1286, the SnapJet also features an OLED display and other connectivity options — like USB and BLE — just in case you feel the need retouch a few pics, or for those Makers out there, the urge to reprogram or hack the open-source device.

The team says it will be releasing each of its designs and schematics to the DIY community, which will enable tinkerers to access their PCBs, CAD models and everything else required to create a fully-functional SnapJet.

“We want to empower our users to hack, re-program, and re-purpose SnapJet, even commercially,” the team writes. “We want open source hardware to be the new standard for physical devices. Consumers should know exactly what’s inside their devices. No toxic chemicals or parts that are designed to wear out and force upgrades. We think open-source is the only effective path to fighting planned obsolescence, and making innovation more democratic.”

Though instant Polaroid photos may seem like a relic of the past, the SnapJet proves otherwise. If you’d like to get your hands on one, head on over to its official Kickstarter page here. Currently, early bird SnapJets are going for just $129, with a projected delivery date of December 2015.