Hardware components | ||||||
 |
| × | 1 | |||
If you have used the Bolt IoT platform, you know how easy it is to get your IoT project up and running using the platform, and if you have gone through the documentation you already know that you can interface an LM35 and an LDR with the Bolt WiFi module. Digital sensors such as the push button, or the IR proximity sensor, can obviously be interfaced with the Bolt.
To understand whether your sensor can be interfaced with the Bolt, you need to first understand what type of sensor you are dealing with.
Types of sensorA sensor can be broadly classified into 2 types, based on how many different outputs it can give. They are:
Digital Sensor:
While the classic definition of digital is either 0 or 1, it is not always all-inclusive. Digital Sensors are sensors which can give 1 of a fixed number of outputs. Most digital sensors will give at most 2 possible outputs. A classic example of a digital sensor is a push button.
Analog Sensors:
Any sensor, which does not have a fixed number of possible outputs, is an analog sensor. An LDR is a classic example of an analog sensor. This is because the output of the LDR can vary all the way 0 to its excitation voltage. For example, if you use the LDR with a 300ohm resistor, and a 5v supply, the output of the LDR can take all 'Real' values between 0 and 5v. This includes 0,0.1,0.11,0.111,0.11111,0.111111111,..........,π,.........5.
While most digital sensors can be interfaced directly with the Bolt, a unique category of digital sensors cannot be directly interfaced. These sensors do not signal their output in a simple manner, and instead use complex communication interfaces (such as I2C, SPI, and 1 wire communication) to give their output.
As you go along in your journey as a maker, you will come across a variety of sensors, which will get you thinking, "Can I interface these with the Bolt, and if I can how?". Whenever you face such a thought, fear not just head back to this blog and put the name of the sensor in the comments. We will find out whether it can be interfaced and add it to the lists below.
To find out where you can buy the sensor, click on the country name next to the sensor name.
Sensors which CAN be interfaced directly with the BoltThis is a list of digital sensor you can directly interface with the Bolt WiFi module
This is a list of analog sensor you can directly interface with the Bolt WiFi module
Sensors which CAN be interfaced with the Bolt via an Arduino
Comments
Please log in or sign up to comment.