Some things just go together, like peanut butter and jelly, or macaroni and cheese, or Shepard and Vakarian— wait— getting distracted from all the IoT! Here are two things that really go well together: Pycom’s FiPy and its connectivity add-on, the LTE-M Cellular Antenna!
First up, the FiPy!
Some of us just can’t make up our minds: just deciding what to have for dinner is a major decision process. We want it all! And now we can have it all, with this python-powered internet-of-things powerhouse. It’s like getting to have pizza AND sushi AND tacos AND casserole AND a burger for dinner, wow!
Imagine five networks in one perfectly-formed, same-small-foot-print-as-WiPy- LoPy-and SiPy, IoT development board. MicroPython enabled. FiPy includes WiFi, Bluetooth LE, LoRa, Sigfox and dual LTE-M (CAT M1 and NBIoT). That means you never have to pick-and-choose your IoT transport ever again – the FiPy gives access to all the world’s LPWAN networks on one bitty board.
This one-of-a-kind board gives you full flexibility during testing, install, deployment and even later when you want to switch real-time your airtime network provider. You can switch when the time is right for you or set some parameters that will do so automatically. The FiPy has a built-in operating system that supports MicroPython, the lightweight cousin of the Python web programming language. You can use this board as is, or develop your application, then minimize the design with one of the smaller and simpler Pycom boards (if, say, you realize you don’t need SigFox or Cellular)
Comes with just the dev board. You’ll need an antenna for each transport you want to use other than WiFi/BLE (which has a ceramic antenna built in). Using a transport without an antenna can damage the board!
For LTE you’ll also need a SIM card with data that can go on an LTE network.
And now, the antenna!
This antenna is a perfect addition to your cellular project with LTE connectivity. It’s specifically intended for use with the Pycom LTE-powered kits but it’s just a passive antenna so you can pair it with any dev board you like, as long as it has a uFL connector.
Comes with a flexible copper grounding sticker, you can use to provide a nice big ground plane!
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
