The NXP Semiconductors LPC54018 Internet of Things (IoT) Module enables designers to develop IoT products that can interface with cloud-based IoT platforms. In this blog, we will explore how you can use the NXP LPC54018 IoT Module with the Medium One IoT Prototyping Sandbox to develop and run your own applications that collect, process, and visualize IoT data.
The NXP Semiconductors LPC54018 IoT Module is a self-contained, high performance, IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi® enabled microcontroller module for developing IoT products that can interface with cloud-based IoT platforms. You can use the module as a standalone unit or plug it into a baseboard for rapid prototyping and product development. The LPC54018 microcontroller has a wide array of peripherals for interfacing to sensors, actuators, LCD displays, data buses, USB devices, SD cards, and Wi-Fi or Ethernet networks. Available baseboards provide additional sensors, displays, input/output (I/O) interfaces, and expansion connectors for adding other peripherals such as Arduino-compatible I/O boards.
The Medium One IoT Prototyping Sandbox is a cloud-based platform designed to help early-stage developers prototype their IoT project or connect their existing hardware to the cloud. It provides an IoT Data Intelligence platform that enables you to quickly build IoT applications with less effort.
Programmable workflows allow you to quickly build processing logic without having to create your own complex software stack. A graphical workflow builder and run-time engine let you process IoT data as it arrives and route or transform it as needed for your application. Workflow library modules are available for data analytics, charting, geolocation, weather data, Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT), Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging, and integration with Twitter, Salesforce, and Zendesk. Python code snippets create custom workflow modules. The web-based Workflow Studio, which provides a drag-and-drop visual programming environment, designs and builds end-to-end workflows. Workflow versioning and debugging tools support the development, test, and deployment lifecycle.
Communications between IoT devices and the Medium One cloud take place through Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interfaces (REST APIs) or the MQTT protocol. The Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) secure communications. Configurable dashboards let you visualize application data and view real-time data in a variety of formats. Dashboard widgets are included for tabular data, charts, geopoint maps, gauges, and user inputs. Medium One’s iOS and Android® apps allow you to build simple mobile app dashboards that can communicate with your devices through the IoT Prototyping Sandbox.
NXP’s MCUXpresso Integrated Development Environment (IDE) supports software development for the LPC54018. The tool suite includes the MCUXpresso Software Development Kit (SDK) Builder—a web-based tool for creating example applications and board-support packages tailored for the specific boards being used. The SDK Builder provides configurable software components and libraries for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networks, bare-metal or real-time operating system environments, file systems, USB communications, audio I/O, and a variety of other functions.
To use your own NXP LPC54018 IoT Module with the Medium One IoT Prototyping Sandbox, check out our step-by-step article that walks you through the entire process of:
There, we also show you how to observe the published data on a real-time dashboard created in the Medium One environment. A set of next steps gives you suggestions for how to extend and adapt the application for different IoT prototyping scenarios or to learn more.
Greg is an architect, engineer and consultant with more than 30 years experience in sensors, embedded systems, IoT, telecommunications, enterprise systems, cloud computing, data analytics, and hardware/software/firmware development. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Univ. of Notre Dame and a MS in Computer Engineering from the Univ. of Southern California.