Development Boards
evelopment boards have revolutionized the landscape of electronics prototyping and innovation. These compact yet powerful platforms provide engineers, hobbyists, and students with a convenient and cost-effective way to experiment, design, and create electronic projects ranging from simple LED blinkers to sophisticated IoT devices. With a myriad of features such as microcontrollers, sensors, connectivity options, and expansion capabilities, development boards offer a versatile environment for rapid prototyping and development across various domains including robotics, home automation, wearable technology, and more. In the market there are many of them, each one with it's own characteristics:
And their respective pinout diagram:
Arduino:
Raspberry pico W:
Raspberry zero 2w:
BBC microbit:
Esp8266:
Esp32:
¿How to choose a development board?, based on our project we came with the next steps:
Step #1: Understand the application
For the project aimed at assisting the elderly in plant care, aside from the processor, we'll need to specify several components. These include sensors for humidity measurement, as well as additional sensors relevant to the specific needs of the plant (three buttons to cover different plant families). Additionally, we'll require a display to convey information such as watering alerts and other relevant tips.
Step #2: Analyze the externally connected components
Once the components are identified, it's essential to create a block diagram to visualize the connections. We should note down all the required I/O pins, including digital GPIO pins for sensor inputs, analog IO pins for analog sensors, and potentially serial interfaces like I2C, SPI, and UART for communication with peripherals.
Step #3: Decide the operating voltage/current
Determining the operating voltage and current for the entire circuitry is crucial. If sensors operate at different logic levels (e.g., 3.3V/5V), we'll need to incorporate bidirectional level shifters or voltage dividers to ensure compatibility.
Step #4: Figure out the connectivity stack
Considering the project's requirements, it's necessary to evaluate connectivity options. While we can incorporate external modules such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, it's advantageous to select a development board with built-in capabilities to streamline the design.
Step #5: Consider the size and dimensions
Given the intended application, we must assess size limitations to ensure the development board fits within the project's constraints, especially if space is a concern.
Step #6: Calculate the power drain
For projects reliant on battery power, estimating the power consumption of the entire setup is beneficial. This calculation provides insight into the battery life expectancy, allowing us to optimize power usage accordingly.
Step #7: Map the GPIOs
Finally, we'll need to determine the required number of GPIO pins, categorizing them into digital, analog, or PWM pins as per the project's needs. Selecting a development board with sufficient GPIO pins is critical to ensure seamless interfacing with the components.
