Whether you're a Pycom Pro or just discovered this world this guide will have something for you.

Transcript

Hey gang! Tim here at Electronics and today we're checking out all the development and expansion boards available from Pycom. Pycom is a constantly groundbreaking company which produces a lot of really cool development boards and expansion shields. They have a large focus on multiple network connectivity, particularly in regards to low-power long distance information transfer.

So I've gone through and found all the differences between the boards that they have and set up some detailed tables that you can refer to at our online write-up for this guide. Whether you're a Pycom pro or just discovering this world, this guide will be valuable. Every maker scenario is different, so this tutorial will aid you to choose the best Pycom board for the situation.

Now worth noting, these development boards are all microcontrollers. In simpler terms, these all have computer systems that run on a chip that does a job. Each board contains an integrated processor, memory, and programmable input output peripherals which are used to interact with things connected to the chip. These devices can easily fit in the palm of your hand and spur both innovation and creativity in makers.

The Pycom Phi Pi is particularly groundbreaking with five network connectivity crammed into a chip of tiny proportions. So here I brought to the table a table (fancy that!) outlining the important features of every Pycom development board. This table can also be found online as a quick reference point and it will make it easier to decide what Pycom development board would be the best fit for your particular maker project.

So the main thing to realize with this table is that boards higher up have more connectivity methods than the ones lower down. This is the main difference between them.

The Pi range of development boards offer a variety of communication methods. The fivePi has five different communication methods: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Sigfox, LoRa and Cellular. The lowPi 4 has four different connectivities, with the only one the data doesn't have that the fivePi does have being Cellular LTE. The gPy has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Cellular LTE, and the scipy has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Sigfox. All of these boards are incredibly lightweight, weighing in at five grams or less. For example, the y-pipe weighs only 5 grams. They are also all incredibly energy efficient and can go to deep sleep, pulling around 25 microamps.

By knowing the advantages of certain methods of communication, you can deploy the best solution for your project. Not every project needs five connectivity methods like the astounding firePi offers. Upon realizing the huge distances you can transfer information using some of these boards, it opens up a world of creative and innovative maker projects that you might have thought impossible before.

For example, everyone knows about Wi-Fi connectivity, which is perfect for transmitting information around a household, and everyone knows about Bluetooth connectivity, perfect for close range distances. However, the LoRa and Sigfox methods of connectivity are significantly less known or even understood. Each method offers effective information transmission of over 40 kilometers, making remote monitoring and weather stations two projects that instantly spring to mind using this kind of technology. LoRa is a spread spectrum technology that uses standard radio transmissions to encode data inside radio waves. It can also be known as LoRaWAN.

Lora is a connectivity method similar to Sigfox. It uses a wider radio wave band than Sigfox, making it very reliable. The base stations are also much cheaper than Sigfox, resulting in commercial and community developments of LoRa worldwide. For example, Core Electronics has created a number of these space stations around our area freely usable by the community. This particular connectivity is available only to the Low Pi and the Phi Pi.

Sigfox is a narrow band technology that uses standard radio transmissions to encode data inside radio waves. It connects your device to the internet through a Sigfox operator network. This is a proprietary technology and requires a subscription to access the Sigfox network. It has an effective range of 30 to 50 kilometers and it has great scalability with billions of devices capable of being connected to the network. One of the best features is it allows for a very low-power consumption communication. This connectivity is available on the Scipy, the Low Pi and the Five Pi.

The other option available with this technology is cellular LTE (Long-Term Evolution), which is a 4G mobile communication standard. Mobile phone networks are both a stable and trusted method of information transfer that have been operating for decades. Pycon boards give the option of being connected 24/7 to the network or performing more energy efficient connectivity. In these energy efficient methods, the microcontroller can transfer this information more than 40 kilometers depending on the terrain. Outback areas with unobstructed skylines allow for the best range this technology is capable of sending. Very energy efficient communications means you can run a device for years on a small battery whilst connecting to the internet when necessary to send these small messages.

The Pycom Expansion Boards are a great way to extend the capabilities of any Pycom developer board. They come with a microcontroller installed directly onto them, and can be used as a shield in combination with any of the above Pycom developer boards. Shields are boards that can be plugged on top of the other PCB to extend the capabilities. Shield boards like this can also be referred to as add-on modules.

In regards to the similarities, all the expansion boards have microSD cards, USB serial ports, USB to serial converter, JSP LiPo battery connector, power mux, battery charging, LED indicating user input buttons, and can be powered using the micro USB or via the JST style battery connector.

The Expansion Board 3.1 differs from the others as it has a full set of headers fitted, a safe button, a user push button, and reverse voltage protection. It also has an LED indicator for user input and power, and weighs in at only 18 grams.

The Pi Sense and Pi Track expansion boards also have nano sim card sockets which are found underneath on the bottom of the PCB. A diagram of how to install one of these nano sim cards can be found on the Pycom website.

It is also worth noting that when using Lora, Sigfox, or Cellular LTE, it is recommended to use an external antenna. Without an external antenna connecting to these networks can damage the microcontroller.

All these boards already have an input antenna already installed, and spend most of their time in a deep sleep, awakening only briefly to send off a small burst of information.

Pycom offers a range of amazing pieces of technology, including a 12-bit precision three-axis accelerometer and a GNSS/GLONASS GPS, which means it can tell you exactly where it is on the surface of the globe. All of these products have a partial header with 10 pins and weigh in at 11 grams. The Pi Sense, which unfortunately isn't with us today, also has a 12-bit precision three-axis accelerometer, an ambient light temperature humidity and barometric pressure sensor, and partial headers with 10 pins.

We have heaps of online tutorials for all these products, all done by the invaluable Chris. These guides will take you from zero to hero with this technology really fast.

In conclusion, I really hope this has illuminated the world of Pycom to you. These are really amazing pieces of technology and until next time, stay cozy!

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