How to Build a Fully Functional GPS Asset Tracker in Ten Minutes
Are you new to wireless IoT? Are you curious about how low-cost cellular can improve your IoT deployments? Do you just want to learn more about Ray Ozzie and this "Blues Wireless" thing? Join us to learn the basics of Blues Wireless and the Notecard!
What you'll learn with us:
- Introduction to the Blues Wireless Ecosystem
- Notecard Quickstart Demonstration
- Python Demonstration on Raspberry Pi
- Example of Routing Cellular Data to Cloud
- Wrap Up and Q&A
Section 1 - Webinar Transcript for Getting Started with Blues Wireless and the Notecard
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam pellentesque viverra maximus. Pellentesque volutpat laoreet malesuada. Etiam sit amet tristique quam. Maecenas ultricies vitae velit quis pharetra. Ut at pretium nulla. Sed interdum nisl a congue rutrum. Proin tristique porta risus quis egestas. In vitae lorem sed tortor imperdiet tristique.
Vestibulum in egestas sem, nec iaculis lectus. Pellentesque faucibus massa non varius pharetra. Donec eget tempor ex, sit amet sodales tellus. Curabitur lobortis justo sit amet pharetra cursus. Aenean malesuada semper eros. Morbi placerat, nunc at suscipit varius, lorem lacus rutrum dolor, at blandit ex tortor vitae diam. Nam luctus pharetra ipsum ac scelerisque. Vivamus semper vestibulum mauris ut laoreet. Aenean sem elit, bibendum quis pulvinar ac, sodales nec ligula. Aenean a pretium felis. Sed ac nisi condimentum, interdum nisi quis, tristique est. Quisque non purus id turpis ornare facilisis. Proin in tellus luctus, porttitor risus et, ullamcorper tortor.
In et aliquet quam, quis elementum leo. Mauris blandit id dui eu posuere. Proin blandit felis volutpat augue consectetur, sed posuere mi condimentum. Curabitur luctus orci in tortor venenatis porttitor. Phasellus convallis malesuada orci at suscipit. Integer eleifend enim nec augue scelerisque, in tempor magna hendrerit. Phasellus id magna egestas, commodo lorem sed, placerat massa. Vivamus mattis sed sem in luctus. Donec ut quam ante. Proin sed elit auctor, viverra mauris ac, mattis leo. Etiam efficitur mattis libero, in rutrum metus sodales et. Proin tincidunt fermentum dui, a aliquam leo vulputate vel. Sed scelerisque, lacus non eleifend imperdiet, lectus tortor cursus sem, ut pulvinar dolor mi quis purus. Praesent id metus massa.
Fusce molestie rhoncus lectus. Cras congue lacus nec eros mollis dapibus. Praesent eu dignissim lectus. Maecenas non ullamcorper nisl. Pellentesque molestie venenatis diam, eget imperdiet magna luctus sit amet. Nunc sagittis nec erat eu vulputate. Pellentesque posuere semper efficitur. Nunc in leo eget justo congue pharetra. Nulla facilisi. Proin in arcu in nibh porta aliquet aliquam ut nibh. Cras non ligula suscipit, blandit odio eget, finibus mauris. Donec ullamcorper ultricies neque, sed placerat augue consectetur quis. Suspendisse in condimentum quam, sed fermentum erat. In ac lorem gravida, tristique purus sit amet, convallis nisl. Pellentesque eu congue est. Fusce ut metus ullamcorper, malesuada diam ac, condimentum odio.
Mauris metus erat, egestas et eros quis, suscipit mollis ligula. Nunc tincidunt maximus dignissim. Aenean aliquam ut arcu blandit sodales. Aliquam viverra, libero vitae mattis euismod, leo nibh molestie massa, in ultrices ligula ligula non urna. Vestibulum sit amet nisi augue. In dolor augue, ornare eu hendrerit at, ultricies ac diam. Duis id nibh ut ex mollis imperdiet non quis urna. Vivamus at porttitor dui. Cras tincidunt a tellus ac suscipit. Mauris accumsan placerat est a accumsan. Etiam massa erat, pulvinar eu dignissim quis, euismod non nisi. Vestibulum in nisl vitae nibh scelerisque sodales.
Section 2 - Webinar Transcript for Getting Started with Blues Wireless and the Notecard
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam pellentesque viverra maximus. Pellentesque volutpat laoreet malesuada. Etiam sit amet tristique quam. Maecenas ultricies vitae velit quis pharetra. Ut at pretium nulla. Sed interdum nisl a congue rutrum. Proin tristique porta risus quis egestas. In vitae lorem sed tortor imperdiet tristique.
Vestibulum in egestas sem, nec iaculis lectus. Pellentesque faucibus massa non varius pharetra. Donec eget tempor ex, sit amet sodales tellus. Curabitur lobortis justo sit amet pharetra cursus. Aenean malesuada semper eros. Morbi placerat, nunc at suscipit varius, lorem lacus rutrum dolor, at blandit ex tortor vitae diam. Nam luctus pharetra ipsum ac scelerisque. Vivamus semper vestibulum mauris ut laoreet. Aenean sem elit, bibendum quis pulvinar ac, sodales nec ligula. Aenean a pretium felis. Sed ac nisi condimentum, interdum nisi quis, tristique est. Quisque non purus id turpis ornare facilisis. Proin in tellus luctus, porttitor risus et, ullamcorper tortor.
In et aliquet quam, quis elementum leo. Mauris blandit id dui eu posuere. Proin blandit felis volutpat augue consectetur, sed posuere mi condimentum. Curabitur luctus orci in tortor venenatis porttitor. Phasellus convallis malesuada orci at suscipit. Integer eleifend enim nec augue scelerisque, in tempor magna hendrerit. Phasellus id magna egestas, commodo lorem sed, placerat massa. Vivamus mattis sed sem in luctus. Donec ut quam ante. Proin sed elit auctor, viverra mauris ac, mattis leo. Etiam efficitur mattis libero, in rutrum metus sodales et. Proin tincidunt fermentum dui, a aliquam leo vulputate vel. Sed scelerisque, lacus non eleifend imperdiet, lectus tortor cursus sem, ut pulvinar dolor mi quis purus. Praesent id metus massa.
Fusce molestie rhoncus lectus. Cras congue lacus nec eros mollis dapibus. Praesent eu dignissim lectus. Maecenas non ullamcorper nisl. Pellentesque molestie venenatis diam, eget imperdiet magna luctus sit amet. Nunc sagittis nec erat eu vulputate. Pellentesque posuere semper efficitur. Nunc in leo eget justo congue pharetra. Nulla facilisi. Proin in arcu in nibh porta aliquet aliquam ut nibh. Cras non ligula suscipit, blandit odio eget, finibus mauris. Donec ullamcorper ultricies neque, sed placerat augue consectetur quis. Suspendisse in condimentum quam, sed fermentum erat. In ac lorem gravida, tristique purus sit amet, convallis nisl. Pellentesque eu congue est. Fusce ut metus ullamcorper, malesuada diam ac, condimentum odio.
Mauris metus erat, egestas et eros quis, suscipit mollis ligula. Nunc tincidunt maximus dignissim. Aenean aliquam ut arcu blandit sodales. Aliquam viverra, libero vitae mattis euismod, leo nibh molestie massa, in ultrices ligula ligula non urna. Vestibulum sit amet nisi augue. In dolor augue, ornare eu hendrerit at, ultricies ac diam. Duis id nibh ut ex mollis imperdiet non quis urna. Vivamus at porttitor dui. Cras tincidunt a tellus ac suscipit. Mauris accumsan placerat est a accumsan. Etiam massa erat, pulvinar eu dignissim quis, euismod non nisi. Vestibulum in nisl vitae nibh scelerisque sodales.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Notecard is compatible with any microcontroller (MCU) from an 8-bit Arduino to 32-bit ESP32 or STM32 and every major Single Board Computer (SBC) platform. Some popular examples include the Adafruit Huzzah32, STM32 Nucleo, Arduino Nano, ESP32-WROOM, among many others. The Notecard communicates over either I2C or UART, so it acts as a peripheral that you can connect to a product’s existing I2C bus or UART connection.
It’s also possible to communicate with the Notecard from any embedded language, including compiled languages like C and C++, to interpreted languages like Python and JavaScript.
Different models of the Blues Wireless Notecard are available that connect to LTE-M, NB-IoT, and Cat-1 networks globally. When LTE-M, NB-IoT, or Cat-1 aren’t available, the Notecard is also supported by UMTS/HSPA+ and GSM/GPRS/EDGE wireless standards.
Global coverage is available in 135 countries, with direct support provided by leading providers and carriers. For a full list, please see our documentation article on Notecard’s supported countries.
A system on module (SoM) is a circuit board that integrates a system function on a single module/device. Unlike a single board computer like the Raspberry Pi or a microcontroller, a SoM generally serves a single special function.
The Blues Wireless Notecard is a cellular SoM. The Notecard is a secure device-to-cloud data-pump that comes with 500 MB of data and 10 years of cellular service. The Notecard itself is a tiny 30mm x 35mm SoM and ships ready to embed in a project via its m.2 connector. To make prototyping IoT solutions even easier, Blues Wireless also provides a series of expansion boards to host the Notecard called Notecarriers.
The Blues Wireless Notecard, combined with the Notecarrier-AF, is the easiest way to add cellular connectivity to your MCU-based IoT project. Blues Wireless provides a Feather Starter Kit that includes a Adafruit ESP32 HUZZAH to get you started as quickly as possible. Alternatively, if you are invested in the Raspberry Pi platform, you can get started with the Raspberry Pi Starter Kit.
A cellular IoT module is a system on module (SoM) that integrates a system function (e.g. cellular) on a single module or device. Unlike a single board computer or a microcontroller, a SoM generally serves a single unique function.
The Blues Wireless Notecard is a cellular IoT module. The Notecard is a secure device-to-cloud data-pump that comes with 500 MB of data and 10 years of cellular service. The Notecard itself is a tiny 30mm x 35mm SoM and ships ready to embed in a project via its m.2 connector. To make things even easier, Blues Wireless also provides a series of expansion boards to host the Notecard called Notecarriers.
No! The Blues Wireless Notecard is a small 30mm x 35mm system on module (SoM) that is able to be embedded in any IoT project on its own via its M.2 edge connector.
However, Blues Wireless provides a variety of Notecarrier host boards for easily adding cellular connectivity to a new or existing IoT solution for prototyping purposes. The Notecarrier also provides antennae for both the GPS and cellular capabilities of the Cellular Notecard (and the cellular antenna is also compatible with the Wi-Fi Notecard).
There’s two main reasons the Notecard may be having issues connecting to a computer via USB.
- The USB cable doesn’t support data (or it’s a faulty cable) - this happens more often than you might think.
- On Windows 7, a user needs to install a driver to support USB communication with the Notecard. See our forum article for more details on communicating with a Notecard on Windows 7.
For more information on Notecard LED blink patterns, see our forum article to decode what your Notecard’s LEDs mean.
If the Notecard’s having trouble establishing a connection, please see our forum’s troubleshooting article on connecting to a cellular network.
Trace information is a stream of messages that can be useful when looking to understand Notecard behavior, for instructions read our forum’s article on how to capture trace logs from a Notecard.
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