The new MKR Vidor 4000 has three processors on-board. The main Microchip SAM D21 is accompanied by an Intel Cyclone 10 FPGA, alongside a u-blox NINA-W102— an ESP32-based wireless module—to provide both WiFi and BLE connectivity. The MKR Vidor 4000 also has a Microchip ATECC508A cryptographic co-processer

The Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 with WiFi and the MKR NB 1500 supporting the new low-power NB-IoT standard

Arduino’s support for Linux IoT devices and single-board computers (SBCs) announced at the Embedded Linux Conference+Open IoT Summit NA in March cemented Arduino’s focus on cloud-connected IoT development, extending its reach into edge computing. This move was likely driven by multiple factors — increased complexity of IoT solutions and, secondarily, by more interest in Arduino boards running Linux.

In a “blending” of development communities for the masses — Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and BeagleBone — Arduino’s support for Linux-based boards lowers the barrier of development for IoT devices by combining Arduino’s sensor and actuator nodes with higher processor-powered boards like Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone. Top this with a user-friendly web wizard to connect the Linux boards via the cloud and it simplifies the entire process.

Arduino has upgraded its cloud platform to enable the deployment of Arduino programs on Linux-based IoT devices, starting last November with devices based on the Intel x86 architectures. Now, developers can deploy Arduino sketches on Linux systems that support Arm processors such as the Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone.

“The macro trend we’re starting to see is that everyone wants some ability of cloud connectivity,” said Matthew Short, senior director of IoT at IHS Markit. “If you can run an IoT cloud, then potentially, you can start to have more interconnect between the cloud and some of the services cloud providers want to offer and the developer community. That might be a little more compelling to the maker base that Arduino brings.”

Today, Arduino has enabled thousands of users (in fact, Arduino has 500,000 registered users on the forum/platform) to transform their ideas into products. They are using Arduino to teach technology, fabricate prototypes, and even build products.

“Current IoT platforms are way too complex for most people,” he said. “You have to be an expert in all different disciplines in order to have one light turn on.”

How Arduino plans to fix this is by focusing on the user experience, making things simpler to use. It’s a way to redefine how you use certain technologies and make it simple for people to understand by moving some complexity to the software, said Banzi.

The second thing is open-source and community collaboration, he said.

The latest update to the Arduino Create platform allows its library of Arduino Sketches to be deployed on more powerful Arm-based Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone SBCs, in addition to Intel SBCs and AAEON UP Squared boards.

This makes it easy for users to develop IoT applications using the Arduino framework and libraries on higher development boards. Users can manage and program these Linux boards just like classic Arduino boards.

“We try to build small, open-source devices like sensor nodes that support all the different network protocols,” said Banzi.

“With Arduino Create, you can now manage remotely your SBC without knowing the public IP or via complex NAT configs.”

“But the main addition is you can now compile Arduino code and run it as a Linux application,” said Cipriani. “Let’s imagine writing computer-vision programs for Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone with the ease of Arduino language and tools. The Arduino Editor allows developers to deploy their code remotely to a device sitting somewhere in the world.”

“Multiple Arduino programs can run simultaneously on a Linux-based board and interact and communicate with each other, leveraging the capabilities provided by the new Arduino Connector.” said Cipriani. This enables devices and Arduino Create to communicate via the cloud.

Another new feature allows IoT devices to be managed and updated remotely.

We’re excited to announce two new wireless connectivity boards to help streamline Internet of Things development, the MKR WiFi 1010 and MKR NB 1500.

The first of the boards is the MKR WiFi 1010, which offers low power consumption and has been designed not only to speed up and simplify the prototyping of WiFi-based IoT applications, but also to be embedded in production IoT applications that require WiFi connectivity.
comes equipped with an ESP32-based module manufactured by U-blox.

A significant feature is the MKR1010’s two standalone programmable processors – the first based on ARM processor core technology, the second based on a dual-core Espressif IC

integration of a secure authentication module – Microchip’s ECC508

the MKR NB 1500, which employs the new low-power NB-IoT (narrowband IoT) standard, designed to work over cellular/LTE networks

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Arduino’s support for Linux IoT devices and single-board computers (SBCs) announced at the Embedded Linux Conference+Open IoT Summit NA in March cemented Arduino’s focus on cloud-connected IoT development, extending its reach into edge computing. This move was likely driven by multiple factors — increased complexity of IoT solutions and, secondarily, by more interest in Arduino boards running Linux.