NORVI GSM industrial controller with WiFi and cellular connectivity supports Arduino or ESP-IDF programming

We’ve already seen ESP32 WiFI & Bluetooth SoC combined with a cellular modem several times already, and a couple of days ago, I wrote about LILYGO T-A7068X ESP23 board with a 4G LTE modem. Iconic Devices team has made another cellular ESP32 product with the NORVI GSM industrial controller.

The DIN-Rail mountable USB programmable controller is offered with a choice of SIMCOM SIM800L 2G-only modem or QUECTEL EC21-G modem adding 3G UMTS/HSPDA+ and 4G LTE cellular connectivity. It also offers Ethernet connectivity, digital and analog inputs, relay outputs, and a small 0.96-inch OLED information display with options varying depending on the exact model.

NORVI GSM specifications:

Main module – ESP32-WROOM-32 with ESP32-D0WDQ6 dual-core microcontroller @ up to 160 MHz with 520 KB SRAM, 4 MB flash, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity
Cellular module (one or the other)
- SIMCom SIM800L quad-band GSM/GPRS module
- Quectel E21-G worldwide 4G LTE, 3G UMTS/HSPA(+), and 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE modem
Storage – MicroSD card socket (GSM-AE04 and GSM-AE08 only)
Display – 0.96-inch OLED Display
Wired networking – Ethernet via W5500 chip (GSM-AE08 only)
Serial – RS485 interface via terminal block
I/Os
- GSM-AE07
  - 8x digital inputs (24V)
  - 6x 5A relay inputs (GSM-AE07-R) or open collector transistors (GSM-AE07-T)
- GSM-AE02
  - 8x digital inputs (24V)
  - 4x analog inputs either 0-10V (GSM-AE02-V) or 4-20mA (GSM-AE02-I)
  - 2x open collector transistors
- GSM-AE04
  - 6x digital inputs (24V)
  - 6x analog inputs either 0-10V (GSM-AE04-V) or 4-20mA (GSM-AE04-I)
  - 2x open collector transistors
- GSM-AE08
  - 6x digital inputs (24V)
  - 4x analog inputs either 0-10V (GSM-AE08-V) or 4-20mA (GSM-AE08-I) or 5A relay outputs (GSM-AE08-R)
  - 2x open collector transistors
- GSM-AE03
  - 8x digital inputs (24V)
  - 1x analog input (0-10V)
Expansion – 10-pin port with I2C, UART, and GPIO for up to 6x expansion modules
Misc – Button on front panel; GSM-AE04 and GSM-AE08 only: DS3231 RTC with battery
Power Supply – 24V DC via terminal block
Dimensions – 90.50 x 60.60 x 56.60 mm (DIN-Rail mountable)
Weight – About 430 grams

Iconic Devices says the cellular industrial controller can be programmed with the Arduino IDE and the ESP-IDF framework, but the company only provides Arduino samples and libraries to control the display, I/Os, the RTC, and the SD card. You’d just have to select “ESP32 Dev Module” in the Arduino IDE to get started. The NORVI GSM controllers can be used as wireless IoT Gateways, for data transmission over cellular networks, as WiFi to GSM bridges, or as MQTT gateways among other use cases.

The price ranges between $81.99 and $187.32 for the 2G-only models, and upgrading to the Quectel EC21-G module adds $22. The devices will probably ship from Sri Lanka since it is where the company is based…

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

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.