Broadcom has recently announced a new development board for IoT applications using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) called WICED Sense. The kit consists of a “sense tag” powered by the company’s BCM20737S Bluetooth SIP Module with five micro-electromechanical sensors (MEMS), and Bluetooth 4.1 compatible WICED SMART software stack.
The key features of WICED Sense devkit are as follows:
- Broadcom BCM20737 Bluetooth Smart system in package (SiP) module
- Five low-power MEMS sensors by ST Micro (part of the module):
- Gyroscope (L3GD20)
- Accelerometer (LIS3DSH)
- eCompass (LSM303D)
- Pressure sensor (LPS25H)
- Humidity Temperature sensor (HTS221)
- Bluetooth Smart connection covers distance of roughly 30 meters.
- USB – 1x micro USB connector to update applications
- Encryption, decryption, certificate signing, verification and various algorithms for increased privacy
- Secure Over-the-air (OTA) download capability to enable firmware updates from central device including smartphone, tablet and computers
- Misc – iBeacon, NFC, Wireless charging (Rezence A4WP) support.
- Power – Coin-cell battery
The tag can communicate with mobile devices running iOS and Android OS (App coming to Google Play in October), and supports up to 8 simultaneous master/slave connections. You can get started within 5 minutes, by install the demo app on your iPhone or iPad, and pressing the Wake button on the tag to get sensor data, But If you want to go further, you’ll want to download WICED Smart SDK (Registration required) that integrates with Eclipse IDE, and comes with sample applications. You can get a little more info about the SDK on WICED Smart community.
Possible applications includes text alerts based on sensor data, car keys finder, security device for pets, tennis coach by attaching WICED sense to a tennis racket and using accelerometer and e-compass data, indoor humidity and temperature monitor, and more.
Broadcom WICED Sense is a direct competitor to TI SensorTag, and sells in the same price range at $19.99 via Mouser, Avnet, or other distributors. You can find more information on Broadcom WICED Sense page, including a quick start guide and a product brief, and in case you wonder, WICED stands for Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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I bought this because it was relatively inexpensive. Broadcom should have done a better job with the demo for this device. It feels sluggish. I still need to read more about the comparison in spec between Broadcom and the others. Not sure I’ll go with broadcom. Nordic and TI are much easier to use according to this guide on BLE . It’s hard to find much info on the broadcom stuff online, so for a hobbyist like me it’s hard to build stuff.
Has anyone tried using this for actual development?
@JC
Broadcom is a giant pain to work with. Nordic nRF51822 is the easiest since it is a common ARM CPU and you can use open source tools to program it. Plus the Nordic solution is half the price and you can buy it lots of places.