Thunderboard React Kit Announced, Connecting Sensors to the Cloud
Sensing, processing, Bluetooth Low Energy connection

Silicon Labs (Country Manager Baek Woon-dal) announced a cost-effective prototype that enables easy connectivity of wireless sensor nodes in the cloud to support businesses through mobile devices and data-driven decisions.

Silicon Labs' new Thunderboard React Development Kit provides a battery-powered, sensor-equipped demo board featuring Bluetooth® Low Energy technology and a powerful ARM Cortex-M4 processor for IoT connectivity, along with support for open-source design files and mobile app software running on Android and iOS devices. All hardware schematics, firmware, mobile apps, and cloud software are provided to developers for free.

For detailed information on Silicon Labs’ Thunderboard React Kit, pricing, purchasing, and videos, please refer to the relevant website (www.silabs.com/daysofthunderboard), and mobile apps and cloud software can be downloaded from GitHub. You can learn how to easily design intelligent sensor node applications such as health and fitness wearables, home/industrial automation, motor-driven devices, and logistics tracking.

Thunderboard React supports the simplification of IoT design by providing the sensing, processing, and wireless communication elements necessary to connect battery-powered sensor nodes to a cloud database. Onboard sensors measure motion, light, and environmental conditions, and real-time sensor data is transmitted to the cloud via a Bluetooth connection. The intuitive mobile app, which runs on smartphones and tablets, displays relevant data and supports users in controlling the board.

When developing wireless sensing applications using Thunderboard React, specialized RF knowledge is not required. Developers can get things running within minutes using Silicon Labs' easy-to-use wireless development tools, and pre-certified Bluetooth Low Energy modules help minimize the time and effort required for worldwide wireless certification.

With energy-efficient components on the Thunderboard React board, developers can design IoT nodes powered by small coin cell batteries. Silicon Labs has optimized firmware and mobile apps to maximize the power-saving capabilities of the board components. The components can be easily utilized or modified to enable Bluetooth-to-cloud connectivity for developers' specific IoT applications.

Daniel Cooley, Senior Vice President and General Manager of IoT Products at Silicon Labs, said, “Thunderboard React, along with Silicon Labs’ free firmware and source code, provides developers and manufacturers with an easy and flexible way to evaluate and prototype wireless sensor nodes that connect to the cloud via Bluetooth Low Energy. Our customers can now develop more competitive, secure, and useful IoT products that provide cloud-based analytics and business intelligence for end users.”