WiFire IOT

[G Mason]

We currently use a BASYS MX3/freeRTOS in labs but would like to add IOT capabilities.  Does anyone have experience using the WiFire board for IOT applications - simple data collection and pushing the data to a server.  We'd prefer to use freeRTOS/MPLAB X but could go the ArduinoIDE route.  Or maybe there is a better platform for this?

[G Mason]

Here's some more information.  

This is for a lab class of approximately 40 students a year.  We need the board to

1) programmable with MPLAB X.   Harmony is OK but not required.   I know we need a programmer for the WiFire board.

2) support freeRTOS

3) include WiFi and  support a TCP/IP client - we can get away with simple  http GET calls to a server  (under freeRTOS)

4) provide access to IO pins.  The basysMX3 was challenging because it had a limited number of IO pins.  Previously we used the MX3cerebot and that had more pins than we really needed. 

5) cost under $100.

We've used digilent boards for years and am I'm hoping digilent has something we can use for this new lab.

 

[Cristian.Fatu]

Here are some thoughts about this matter.

WiFire is a powerful board due to its Pic32MZ microcontroller which qualify it for a complex application like this. 

Without having answers for all you concerns, I address some points:

1. The board has no onboard Microchip programming / debugging solution (unlike Basys MX3 or Digilent Pro MX7).

This means that if you want to use the board with MPLAB X you will have to use an external programmer like Digilent PGM or Microchip Pickit3 connected to ICSP connector labeled JP2. Still, the board can be used with Arduino using the USB connector labeled UART (read more on WiFire datasheet).

2. You should be able to put FreeRTOS, as explained here.

3. This section of the reference manual provides some information about the networking. Digilent provides these networking libraries for Arduino. Read more about these libraries on this forum topic.

4. Access to IO pins is simple. The pins are specified in this section of reference manual, they can be accessed as any Microchip IO pin in MPIDE or arduino applications.

[JColvin]

Hi @G Mason,

I apologize for the delay.

The WiFIRE will work with IoT applications, though we do not have demos that use MPLAB X or Harmony. The application we have is an HTTP Server that is done through the Arduino IDE (with the Digilent Core). In addition to what @Cristian.Fatu here is a small video series on Digilent's YouTube Channel that does talk a little bit about using FreeRTOS on the WiFIRE material.

Let us know if you have any questions about this.

Thanks,
JColvin