Which Arduino shield is best for Internet of Things projects?

[ISamson]

Hello,

It is quite a while now that I have had my Arduino UNO and am getting a bit tired of the only components that I have in my Starter Kit. I have conducted online searches and found numerous interesting Internet of Things projects on hackster.io. Most of them use the ESP266 or MKR1000 shields, but which is better? Which one would it be better for me to buy? Does anyone here have any of these? Do you have any other suggestions by any chance? I want one that will offer me a bigger variety of projects I can make.
Thank you, Arduino lovers of PF!

 

[Borek]

Not to dissuade you from the idea, but I feel like using Arduino for WiFi based projects is a bit of using left hand to scratch the right ear. Sure, it can be done, but you are effectively using a slow processor (ATmega) to control quite a fast one (residing in the WiFi module). I always felt like it is a misuse of the technology.

To make you understand better what I mean: one can relatively easily build a tracking module (combining three things: Arduino, GPS shield and GPRS shield) that will be capable or reporting the position on the device by sending SMS-es with the device coordinates to some phone number. But the net effect is that you have three computers, of which the slowest one is only for communication between the faster ones. A bit like having a Apple Mac Pro on one desk and i7 based PC on another, and manually typing things displayed by one computer as input for the another one. Doable? Sure. Makes sense? Not necessarily, there are better approaches.

In general I feel like for things requiring WiFi connectivity Raspbeery Pi is a better idea. That's also a different way of thinking, while Arduino is designed to be capable of supplying tens of mA currents, Pi is not, so it requires much more careful design.

 

[ISamson]

Sure, it can be done, but you are effectively using a slow processor (ATmega) to control quite a fast one (residing in the WiFi module).

Is it still possible? How?

I always felt like it is a misuse of the technology.

Why?

Makes sense?

Makes sense. Thank you.

In general I feel like for things requiring WiFi connectivity Raspbeery Pi is a better idea.

You are right, but I have seen many quite sophisticated projects (link in OP) that use Arduino UNO for wireless and Internet of Things projects. Why not?

Thank you, Borek.

Most of them use the ESP266 or MKR1000 shields

Do you have any of them, may I ask?

 

[Borek]

Is it still possible? How?

Despite being much slower than your computer you can still tell it what to do, just by sending simple commands. That's more or less what Arduino does in such cases. "Send string of characters to phone number" is a simple command, but execution requires a lot of work - actually much more than Arduino is capable of.

You are right, but I have seen many quite sophisticated projects (link in OP) that use Arduino UNO for wireless and Internet of Things projects. Why not?

I am not saying it is always a wrong approach to mix technologies, but it should be a conscious decision. Choosing a device because it will save a lot of time is OK, choosing a device because it was just a first google hit is not.

<rant>People use the available technology not even thing about whether it makes sense or not. To use another analogy - do you think anyone will use 24-wheeler to drive their kid to the kindergarten which is a mile away? No, everyone will prefer a smaller car for that (actually I would prefer to take a walk if possible ). Somehow in electronics and software people (especially amateurs, but not only) often don't care about these things, they just grab first thing that appears to be working. In the effect many of the things we use are unnecessarily bloated. Say, program that should be 100 kB in size is 1.5 GB (that typically means it contains never used default libraries, with tons of gimmicks and graphic widgets). Waste of resources, waste of power.</rant>

 

[ISamson]

<rant>

Sorry, what does this mean?
Thank you, but could you please help me with the OP question?
With which will I be able to make more and better projects?

@Borek
@jim hardy
@cnh1995
@Borg
@scottdave

 

[Borek]

<explaining a joke>In general <something></something> are tags used in markup languages to mark part of the text as being something particular (things like <date>2017.10.22</date>, <formula>E=mc^2</formula>, <name>ISamson</name>) and/or requiring special formatting. First tag is the opening tag, the second - with a slash - is the closing tag. Their meaning are typically described in the markup language definition, but they are sometimes used in a <idiom>tongue in a cheek</idiom> way.</explaining a joke>

I have never used neither of these shields. In my experience it is often hard to tell which of the available devices is "better", as a lot depends on the application (that is, one shield can be better for some cases, while the other can be better in other cases). I doubt differences will matter much for a beginner. However, quick googling suggests MKR1000 is much more popular, so it will be much easier to get support.

No idea what you got in your Starter Kit, but if you are already planning to buy some extensions, you can as well try to interface your Arduino with a LCD display, or RTC clock, or temperature/humidity meter - neither of these elements costs more than few bucks yet they give many new opportunities.

 

[ISamson]

<explaining a joke>In general <something></something> are tags used in markup languages to mark part of the text as being something particular (things like <date>2017.10.22</date>, <formula>E=mc^2</formula>, <name>ISamson</name>) and/or requiring special formatting. First tag is the opening tag, the second - with a slash - is the closing tag. Their meaning are typically described in the markup language definition, but they are sometimes used in a <idiom>tongue in a cheek</idiom> way.</explaining a joke>

Thanks.

However, quick googling suggests MKR1000 is much more popular, so it will be much easier to get support.

Wow, ok!

I have never used neither of these shields.

 

[ISamson]

However, quick googling suggests MKR1000 is much more popular, so it will be much easier to get support.

To say the truth, I was interested in ethical and basic hacking by wifi and communication between devices. Would MKR1000 be good at these?
I have conducted research on the same hackster.io website and it only showed 9 projects for MKR1000!

And also which one is the cheapest?

 

[lightandmatter]

I tried ESP... wifi on the arduino mega, I had heaps of network dropouts needing a hard reset, I couldn't workout why. Eventually I tried the raspberry pi, it works like a dream and far more versatile, I will never go back to arduino.

 

[ISamson]

I tried ESP... wifi on the arduino mega, I had heaps of network dropouts needing a hard reset, I couldn't workout why. Eventually I tried the raspberry pi, it works like a dream and far more versatile, I will never go back to arduino.

Wow. Interesting!
I am now learning Arduino...
Do you know much about the MKR1000?
Can you give us more information about your troubles?

 

[ISamson]

I was wondering what is the difference between Enthernet, Internet and IoT.
What is Enthernet?
Thanks!

 

[Borek]

I was wondering what is the difference between Enthernet, Internet and IoT.
What is Enthernet?
Thanks!

Come on, wikipedia is your friend in such cases.

 

[Borek]

I tried ESP... wifi on the arduino mega, I had heaps of network dropouts needing a hard reset, I couldn't workout why. Eventually I tried the raspberry pi, it works like a dream and far more versatile, I will never go back to arduino.

Which one is better depends on the type of the project. There are things for which Pi is much a much better selection, there are things for which Arduino is much better selection.

Just a few weeks ago I made a switching power supply. At some point I considered using Arduino to build a prototype. I never considered using Pi for that, that would be a complete overkill. In the end I made it using NE555, completely different and much simpler chip.

 

[ISamson]

Ah, so ethernet is not wireless after all!

 

[ISamson]

This is a bit tooo expensive for me! https://store.arduino.cc/usa/arduino-mkr1000
Any suggestions?

 

[ISamson]

 

[ISamson]

@William123
@hackhard

 

[Swake]

Cheap and works very well: I would suggest a board based on the ESP32 version 1. These exist in many flavours, some with small oled screens attached.

 

[ISamson]

Any reviews for any of the two?

 

[Swake]

Have a look at Andreas channel on Youtube.
His reviews and comparisons are very well made. You'll also find how to's and nice experiment ideas accessible to beginners