Cloud-connectable kit offers fast IoT-device development

Designed to help promptly connect IoT devices to Cloud services power-efficiently and cost-effectively, ST’s new IoT development kit adds modules for Bluetooth low energy (BLE), sub-GHz RF, and Wi-Fi, with a dynamic NFC-tag IC with printed antenna to a high-performance, ultra-low power STM32L4 microcontroller all on the same board.

The comprehensive selection of sensors, leveraging ST’s large portfolio of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) and laser-ranging devices, support both user interaction and environmental awareness.

A MEMS accelerometer and gyroscope IC and MEMS magnetometer for 9-axis motion sensing, a barometric pressure sensor, temperature/humidity sensor, two omnidirectional digital microphones, as well as a FlightSense proximity and gesture sensor, are all ready to use with no extra integration effort needed.

The Discovery kit lets users take advantage of ST’s X-CUBE-AWS expansion software to quickly connect to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT platform, and access tools and services in the Cloud, such as device monitoring and control, data analysis, and machine learning.

Support for other Cloud providers will be added in future, as well as software function packs that provide all the components needed to prototype end-to-end IoT solutions, including pre-integrated full application examples.

The heart of ST’s new high-connectivity Discovery kit is an 80MHz STM32L475 32-bit microcontroller that combines the ARM Cortex-M4 core featuring DSP extensions, 1MB on-chip Flash, and the Company’s ultra-low-power technologies to help build smart IoT devices on a tight power budget.

The combination of MCU performance with rich sensor and wireless integration on the board maximises the Discovery kit’s utility, while additional custom functionality may be added using the industry-standard Arduino and Pmod expansion connectors. These two established ecosystems give access to a large selection of expansion boards, which can be quickly connected and easily integrated.

Equipped with the ST-Link debugger/programmer on-board, the STM32L4 Discovery kit IoT node does not need any external probe, and can be used with ARM Keil MDK-ARM, IAR EWARM, or GCC/LLVM-based Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) including free AC6 SW4STM32, or with mbed online tools.

The STM32L4 IoT Discovery kit is ready to order now from st.com or distributors, at a recommended price of $53.00 (part number B-L475E-IOT01A1 for 915MHz operating frequency, or B-L475E-IOT01A2 for 868MHz operating frequency).