BLE sensor shields extend the capabilities of IoT dev kit

The Bluetooth low energy shield features the recently launched RSL10 multi-protocol Bluetooth 5 certified radio System-on-Chip (SoC). With what the company claims to be the industry’s lowest deep sleep current and receive power, the RSL10 enables manufacturers to create IoT devices with extended battery life. The small form factor of the RSL10 delivers the ultra-compact, cost effective end designs demanded by low power IoT sensor networks. By integrating the Bluetooth low energy shield with the IDK, customers get a complementary choice of connectivity for extending reach, and sensing and actuator options, including lighting and motors.

The SPS shield extends the IDK to capture data from ON Semiconductor’s battery-free wireless sensors that measure temperature, moisture and pressure. The sensors are suitable for industrial and other applications with hard to access areas where zero maintenance is a necessity, and battery replacement is a challenge. Pairing the SPS shield with the IDK enables rapid prototyping of IoT applications that require battery-free sensing and wide area or local connectivity and actuation options.

Both new shields expand the configurable, modular options for sensing, actuation and wired/wireless connectivity of the IDK, thereby giving application designers complete flexibility agnostic of the communication protocol chosen. They offer rapid and easy start-up of projects right out of the box, allowing developers to deliver data directly into the cloud, thereby enabling value-added services, including analytics.

IDK shields are supplied with full documentation including complete design schematics, PCB layouts and Gerber files to facilitate rapid transition of designs from concept, through development and into production. The industry standard interfaces ensure that current and future modules from ON Semiconductor and other vendors can be seamlessly integrated into designs while the simple ‘cut-and-paste’ approach to end product design reduces R&D time, expense and risk.

“The new shields take the IDK to a whole new tier and enable a unique class of IoT applications,” said Wiren Perera, who heads IoT at ON Semiconductor. “Energy harvesting, battery-free sensing enables a new paradigm for IoT use cases in quality control and predictive maintenance through asset health monitoring to agriculture. The ubiquity of Bluetooth technology creates a new realm of possibilities for low power connectivity. Coupling these with an already extensive portfolio of complementary, energy efficient connectivity and actuation choices and the node to cloud capabilities of the IDK creates a powerful tool for rapidly delivering IoT solutions and services to the market.”