Getting Started with Intel® Edison and Arduino Breakout Board

By Surendhar Reddy / @imsurendhar
for Hackster Hardware Meetup Hyderabad

What is Intel Edison?


The Intel Edison is a tiny computer-on-module offered by Intel as a development system for wearable devices and Internet of Things devices.

It was launched at CES in January 2014.

Features

The Edison packs a host of features, including the two most widely-used connectivity options

  • WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n)
  • Bluetooth (4.0 and 2.1 EDR)
  • 40 pins dedicated to general-purpose I/O (GPIO).

↓

Programming

The module is equipped with a Linux OS based on Yocto ♡. So you can compile the C, C++, Python, or JavaScript (Node.js) programming language.


To interact with sensors and actuators on Edison devices (or any supported device), Intel® provides the Libmraa. Libmraa allows you to read data from sensors and actuators in a standard way

↓

Requirements?

Ofcourse, an Intel Edison kit and a computer (which runs either of Windows 64-bit, Windows 32-bit, OSX, Linux) ready for Edison development.

A plethora of links to get your computer ready for Edison development are here

→

Open the box!

What's in the BOX?


Intel® Edison compute module to the Arduino expansion board

Edison

So this is the tiny computer we were talking about

↓

Block Diagram


→

Let's get our hands dirty.

First Thing!

Press down on the Intel® Edison compute module just below the words “What will you make?” until you feel a snap.

To many slots?

Understanding Edison

  1. USB device mode set
  2. Device mode cable connected
  3. UART/serial cable connected
  4. External power supply connected

LED Indicator

Confirms the Edison is switched on/off

Setup Edison for your Host operating system

Instructions are provided in the following links

First Program

Open up the Edison-specific Arduino software. This software is nearly indistinguishable from other Arduino builds.

↓

Blink LED

Go up to the File > Examples > Basics > menu and select blink

↓

Select Board

Go up to the Tools > Board menu and select Intel® Edison

↓

Uploading blink

A ton of options before you deploy code onto board.

↓

→

Get access to Edison shell

Get into shell. It's brilliant in there.
---------

Watch the following videos to get access to Edison shell.

Configure Edison

Configure your Edison with the help of following links.

↓

Configure and setup WiFi

Do

		     configure_edison --setup
							

To configure your edison


Do

		     configure_edison --wifi
							

To configure your wifi

↓
First give your Edison a unique name:
↓
Then, if you so desire, assign a password to your root user:
Finally we get to the reason we’re here. Type ‘Y’ to jump into the WiFi setup utility.
↓

The Edison will scan for nearby wireless networks, after a few seconds it will list the results. Type a number to pick an SSID.


↓

Enter your passkey and wait for it to (try to) connect.

↓

The last line of the configure utility will prompt you to open your browser and point to the Edison’s local IP.

↓

YAY!

→

What will you make?

Find a ton of examples here

Buy

Questions?

Post them here.

THE END

Please give the feedback here.