Excited to share that we added full support for seven more dual-MCU boards! It means that you can connect them to the platform in a flash and get immediate access to Blynk’s advanced IoT features without a need for coding, thanks to our new solution, Blynk.NCP!
For these boards, a comprehensive set of IoT tools comes pre-built, including features such as WiFi device provisioning, OTA firmware updates, multi-connectivity, device and user management tools, and more. This means you can have your MVP up and running without spending long months on software development.
Introducing the new boards that are fully compatible with Blynk:
- Arduino UNO R4 WiFi
- Arduino Portenta C33
- Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect
- Arduino Nano 33 IoT
- Arduino MKR WiFi 1010
- LILYGO T-PicoC3
- Raspberry Pi Pico + ESP8266
Connecting any of these boards is as simple as uploading the firmware from the given example.
We prepared a concise overview of these boards to help you pick the one that aligns with your project needs and start prototyping your IoT product right now!
Arduino UNO R4 WiFi
The Arduino UNO R4 WiFi merges the RA4M1 microprocessor from Renesas with the ESP32-S3, creating an all-in-one tool with enhanced processing power and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options. Whether you're creating a smart lighting system or diving into home automation, this board, combined with the Blynk platform will no doubt fulfill your IoT needs.
The UNO R4 WiFi maintains the same form factor, pinout, and 5V operating voltage as its predecessor, the UNO R3, ensuring a seamless transition for existing shields and projects - a perfect option to add connectivity to your existing project on UNO R3.
Arduino Portenta C33
The Portenta C33 is an industrial-grade IoT board that offers the high performance of the Portenta family at a lower price point. Powered by the advanced Arm® Cortex®-M33 sets itself apart with its robust design and extensive capabilities. With Blynk.NCP the board supports BLE-assisted device provisioning, which improves the reliability of the device activation process. For now, OTA firmware updates are available for the NCP microcontroller and will be added soon for the primary one. The robust performance and vast memory resources - up to 16MB of flash memory can be added - make it a good choice for industrial IoT (IIoT) applications, advanced data analysis, and edge processing tasks.
Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect
The Nano RP2040 Connect is an affordable IoT development board that supports Wi-Fi and BLE connectivity. The brain of the board is the Raspberry Pi RP2040 silicon, a dual-core Arm® Cortex®-M0+ running at 133MHz. It has 264KB of SRAM, and the 16MB of flash memory is off-chip to give you extra storage. The board also has a built-in mic that may be used for sound activation, audio control, or even AI voice recognition. The six-axis smart IMU with AI capabilities tells the board which way it is moving, and adds fall sensing and double-tap activation. Ideal for wearables and compact gadgets - with Blynk, you can quickly transform this tiny beast into a smart device.
Arduino Nano 33 IoT
The Arduino Nano 33 IoT is the easy and cost-effective point of entry to level up existing devices and create new ones. The board's main processor is a low-power Arm® Cortex®-M0+ 32-bit SAMD21. The WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity is performed with a NINA-W10 module, a low-power chipset operating in the 2.4GHz range. In addition, the security of communication is ensured through the Microchip ECC608 crypto chip. A 6-axis IMU makes this board perfect for simple vibration alarm systems, pedometers, relative positioning of robots, etc. Design smart wearables, optimize space with minimal designs, or just prototype your future product on Blynk!
MKR WiFi 1010
The MKR WiFi 1010 is your one-stop solution for many of the basic IoT application scenarios. The architecture of the board is similar to Nano 33 IoT. The main processor is a low-power Arm® Cortex®-M0+ 32-bit SAMD21 paired with the WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity microcontroller NINA-W10. Secure communication is provided with the ECC508 crypto chip by Microchip. Its adaptability in tandem with Blynk’s powerful features will work for applications like smart agriculture systems, real-time environmental monitoring, or HVACR applications.
Lilygo T-PicoC3
It’s a symbiosis of RP2040 Dual Arm® Cortex®-M0+ and ESP32-C3 module with support of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth V5.0, and BLE. The T-PicoC3 is an affordable IoT development board. This board comes with a nice enclosure, which puts it on par with M5 Stack for product development. It also has a full-color 1.14-inch LCD, that is useful for plotting sensor data. In addition to WiFi provisioning and other top features, the Blynk.NCP solution allows for performing OTA updates for both the primary and connectivity MCU.
RPi Pico + ESP8266
The combination of the Raspberry Pi Pico and ESP8266 offers budget-friendly Wi-Fi capabilities. It's often used for IoT experimentation and education. The Raspberry Pi Pico offers 264KB of SRAM while the ESP8266 comes with varying Flash memory options. The board is a great choice for prototyping IoT solutions for home automation, smart gardening, security systems, and other applications. Blynk.NCP allows performing OTA firmware updates on both the primary MCU and the ESP8266.
Wrap up
Time to market for your IoT product highly depends on your choice of hardware and software - it can either speed up the process or make it a nightmare full of unnecessary additional development taking you far away from the launch date. Using these boards allows for seamless and fast integration with the Blynk platform and immediate access to its built-in advanced IoT functionality so you can start prototyping and experimenting right away. Sounds exciting, right? Go ahead and connect your board to see it for yourself!
If you are using a different board or a different framefork, Blynk offers pre-integrated solutions for Zephyr and Arduino. You can also easily integrate our lightweight driver into an SDK of your choice. More information about our brand-new Blynk.NCP solution in our recent blog post.
