Top 10 IoT Boards for Development and Prototyping in 2021

This article provides you with the top 10 IoT boards for development and prototyping in 2021.

The Internet of Things, or IoT as it's more frequently known, is a network of objects ranging from automobiles to home appliances, as well as the connection that allows these items to interact and share data. It includes hardware and software applications. As a result, IoT entails extending Internet connectivity beyond typical devices like desktops, laptops, cellphones, and tablets to any item, including those that aren't connected to the internet. These gadgets, which are equipped with IoT technology, can not only connect and interact with one another but can also be remotely monitored and controlled. IoT boards, also known as development boards or prototyping boards, are hardware platforms that are frequently used to create prototypes of manufacturers' ideas. There are several options available, including microcontroller-based boards, single-board computers (SBC), and even cellular-enabled IoT boards.

Arduino Uno Rev3:

The Arduino Uno Rev3 is an open-source microcontroller board made by the tech firm Arduino and based on the Microchip ATmega328P microprocessor. The board has several digital and analog input/output (I/O) pins that may be used to connect to other expansion boards (shields) and other circuits. There are 14 digital input/output pins, 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB connection, a power connector, an ICSP header, and a reset button on this board. To get started, just connect it to a computer with a USB connection or power it with an AC-to-DC converter or battery, since it comes with everything needed to support the microcontroller. The Arduino Uno is simple to use, inexpensive, and comes with a variety of sensors and third-party libraries. This one of the popular IoT boards may be used with a huge variety of (online and free) resources.

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B:

This is one of the popular IoT Boards based on IoT Technology. The newest version of the low-cost Raspberry Pi computer is the all-new Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. This electronic board, which is the size of a credit card, has several enhancements. For starters, the power connector is USB-C, which may accommodate an additional 500mA of current, providing 1.2A for downstream USB devices. A pair of type-D (micro) HDMI connections have been installed instead of the type-A (full-size) HDMI connectors, allowing for dual display output within the existing board footprint. In Raspberry Pi 4, the Gigabit Ethernet magjack is now on the top right of the board, rather than the bottom right. It has a new operating system based on Debian 10 Buster, which will be released soon. The user interface has been modified, and new programs such as the Chromium 74 web browser have been included. Additionally, the Mesa "V3D" driver has replaced the legacy graphics driver stack used on previous models, allowing for the removal of nearly half of the platform's closed-source code, as well as the ability to run 3D applications in a window under X, OpenGL-accelerated web browsing, and desktop composition.

Rock Pi 4C:

The Rock Pi 4C, which retails for US$74.95, is a version of the similarly open-spec Rock Pi 4, a Rockchip RK3399-based SBC by the company Radxa. It's built on the Rock Pi 4B, a US$74.95 model which has 4GB of RAM and a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module. One of its most notable characteristics is the presence of a mini-DisplayPort, which provides dual display compatibility. The full-size HDMI 2.0 port has been replaced with a micro-HDMI port, and mini-DP is enabled through the RK3399 SoC's USB Type-C controller. This SBC also has a new 64-bit single-chip RAM module; in many respects, it is comparable to the Rock Pi 4B, which has a layout and feature set that is similar to the Raspberry Pi. Two USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports are included.

Adafruit FONA:

The Adafruit FONA MiniGSM is a one-of-a-kind cellular phone module that lets you add voice, text, SMS, and data to your projects. With a 2G SIM, this board may connect to any global GSM network. A 3-5V microcontroller is also required. With an Adafruit FONA, you may use a headset to make and receive phone conversations, send and receive SMS messages, transmit and receive GPRS data (TCP/IP, HTTP, etc.), and scan and receive FM radio broadcasts from anywhere. Other benefits include noiseless warnings from a buzzer vibrational motor control and an AT command interface with "auto baud" recognition. This is one of the best IoT boards based on IoT technology.

Giant Board:

The Adafruit Giant Board is the world's first single-board computer (SBC) in the Feather form factor. It comes with Debian Linux preinstalled with a 500MHz Microchip SAMA5D2 ARM Cortex-A5 Processor. It supports LiPo batteries and features MicroSD storage and memory up to 128 MB DDR2 RAM. It's pretty little, and it's designed to assist manufacturers in using Adafruit's Blinka libraries for CircuitPython. Giant Board also has good documentation. It's also reasonably priced at around US$100.

Discovery STMP32MP157C Crypto Board:

This is also one of the best IoT boards based on IoT technology. The Discovery STMP32MP157C Crypto Board, like the Giant Board, allows embedded Linux programming. It does, however, include a separate 3D graphics processing unit (GPU) that drives the HDMI connected to the touch-screen LCD. Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connections are all available. The STM32MP157 microprocessor is its greatest asset. There's also an audio codec, as well as an inbuilt M4 MPU that aids in low-power operation. Its qualities make it excellent for IoT devices that run user-facing apps in general.

Particle Electron:

Particle Electron is a full-stack IoT (Internet of Things) device platform that includes devices, connection hardware, the cloud, and even cellular SIMs. It comes with a 120MHz ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller, 1MB flash, 128KB RAM, RGB status LED, 30 mixed-signal GPIOs, and sophisticated peripherals, as well as an open-source design. This means that when you buy a particle electron, you get a cellular module with a Particle SIM card, a microcontroller, input and output pins, antenna and USB cable, battery, buttons, and LEDs, through which you would be able to connect with the internet over 120 countries.

NanoPi NEO Plus2:

The NanoPi NEO Plus2 is a FriendlyElec-developed all-winner-based ARM board that is less than half the size of the Raspberry Pi. But that doesn't make it any less capable in terms of storage and performance. Its operating system is Ubuntu Core 16.04, a strong Linux distro. It has a 64-bit quad-core Allwinner A53 SoC with Hexa-core Mali450 GPU, 1GB DDR3 RAM, 8GB eMMC storage, Wi-Fi, 4.0 dual-mode Bluetooth, and 1 MicroSD slot, 10/100/1000M Ethernet based on RTL8211E-VB-CG. In comparison to the Raspberry Pi, the NanoPi NEO Plus2 has gigabit Ethernet, 8 gigabytes of eMMC storage, and two USB ports. It is powered by a micro-USB port and, despite its little size, offers expandable memory owing to a microSD card. It also has additional benefits, such as low cost, fast speed, and high-performance computation.

ESP32:

The ESP32 is a low-cost, low-power system from Espressif Systems' chip (SoC) family, including Wi-Fi and dual-mode Bluetooth capabilities. The dual-core or single-core Tensilica Xtensa LX6 microprocessor with a clock rate of up to 240 MHz is one of the major characteristics. ESP32 has been designed for mobile devices, wearable electronics, and IoT applications. It has built-in antenna switches, RF baluns, power amplifiers, low-noise receive amplifiers, filters, power management modules, touch-sensitive pins, and a built-in hall effect sensor and temperature sensor. This is also one of the popular IoT boards based on IoT technology.

ESP8266:

Espressif Systems, located in Shanghai, produces the ESP8266, a low-cost Wi-Fi microprocessor with complete TCP/IP stack and microcontroller functionality. It has a 32-bit low-power CPU, ROM, and RAM built-in. It's a full and self-contained Wi-Fi network solution that can run software programs on its own or with the help of a microcontroller (MCU). The module has AT command firmware, which may be utilized with any MCU through the COM port. It has 16 GPIO ports and is equipped with an L106 32-bit RISC CPU core based on the Tensilica Xtensa diamond standard 106Micro operating at 80 MHz.