The brand new SparkFun Factor Plus NORA-W306 is a good part to your IoT initiatives, so long as you’re taking the few further minutes on the entrance finish to verify it is correctly arrange.
Not too long ago, we launched a brand new Factor Plus board that includes the NORA-W306 module from ublox. This module presents twin Wi-fi LAN (WLAN), Bluetooth® Low Vitality (BLE 5.3), and a Realtek RTL8720DF Twin Processor Core, with separate cores for Primary and Low Energy. This permits for very power-efficient initiatives that may run for greater than a yr on a LiPo battery. Harnessing the facility of this module is pretty easy, and there are many Arduino examples particularly for this module and this board. Setup is pretty easy, however takes somewhat extra effort than simply plug-and-play. A lot of you’ll be accustomed to these steps, as you’ve in all probability gone by them for just a few different modules. Both approach, let’s take a fast take a look at the easy steps essential to get your SparkFun Factor Plus NORA-W306 up and operating very quickly.
I’m assuming that you have already got the Arduino IDE put in in your system, however in the event you don’t, you’ll be able to obtain that from Arduino’s website. Whenever you’re prepared, go forward and open your Arduino IDE. In most cases, you’ll be able to merely add a board from the Boards Supervisor by scrolling till you discover it, or its mother or father, and hitting Set up. Nonetheless, there are some boards that require an additional step. Go to the higher left nook of your IDE, and click on on File/Preferences.
From right here, you’ll go right down to Extra Boards Supervisor URLs, and add the next textual content:
https://github.com/ambiot/ambd_arduino/uncooked/dev/Arduino_package/package_realtek_amebad_early_index.json
You possibly can add this into the Extra Boards subject by putting a comma after the final entry within the window, then pasting this one, or you’ll be able to click on on the window button subsequent to the sphere to open a brand new window and add it as its personal separate line. When you’ve added that, hit okay, and shut the preferences window.
When you’ve performed that, go to the Board Supervisor, and within the search bar kind “realtek”, and it is best to see Realtek Ameba Boards. Click on the Set up button, and shortly, beneath the board package deal title you’ll see the model plus the construct quantity, and ‘put in”. (As I write this, the present set up is 3.1.8-build20240719.)
Now go as much as the board window and click on to drop it down, after which click on on “Choose different board and port.” This can convey up the boards and ports window. Within the Boards search subject, kind in NORA (you would additionally kind in realtek), and also you’ll get just a few choices. Choose SparkFun Factor Plus NORA-W306, and, if the board is linked to your laptop, choose the right COM port.
You’re now prepared to begin importing sketches to your Factor Plus NORE-W306. You possibly can run the previous tried and true Blink Sketch, simply to ensure that every little thing is working as anticipated, however then you can begin flexing the muscle mass of this little powerhouse.
There are a few on-board parts – the MAX1704x LiPo gas gauge, and the microSD slot – that you just may need to make the most of, and to take action, you’ll must obtain a few Arduino libraries.
If you wish to begin working with extra of the board’s options, you’ll find a dozen or so examples in our Getting Began Information. (You’ll additionally discover a plethora of recent instance recordsdata all beginning with Ameba, however the checklist in our Getting Began Information are those we’ve examined.)
There are a whole lot of nice options on this board, from the twin band WiFi to the ultra-low energy consumption when in deep sleep, and this could get you effectively in your strategy to working with all of them.
The SparkFun Factor Plus NORA-W306 displaying the Gasoline Gauge output on a SparkFun Micro OLED
