Alberto Nunez's Misistemita Offers Solder-Free No-Code Development — and He'll Prove It
Using modular boards, a clever backplate, and screw terminals, Misistemita lets you build robust projects quickly.
Alberto Nunez has showcased just how easy it can be to get started with the Internet of Things (IoT) by combining a no-solder prototyping system of his own design with a no-code platform to build a connected sensor for the home.
"Software no-code/low-code platforms made it possible to create applications, writing only a few lines of code, and in some cases, no code at all! This reduces development effort and deployment time," Nunez explains. "This project combines two ideas: no-code/low-code software platform and a quick, robust prototyping system that requires no soldering. In this spirit, it is possible to move from an idea, to a materialized device working in a real environment in a few hours."
The heart of Nunez's project is the Misistemita, a permissively-licensed open hardware platform for rapid prototyping which allows modules to be assembled onto a backplate and pinned in place before being wired together using screw terminals. The whole assembly can then be inserted into a waterproof housing, offering a robust finished work without the need to break out the soldering iron.
To prove the concept, Nunez has written a tutorial for using the Misistemita platform to build a Wi-Fi connected environmental sensor using an Espressif ESP32 microcontroller, an Analog Devices DS18B20 temperature sensor, and an I2C display for local readouts. For software, Nunez showcases the use of Tasmota and ESPHome firmware — both of which come with built-in support for the hardware used, meaning no coding is required beyond editing configuration files.
"The assembly of the hardware, starting from pre-built modules, took approximately one hour," Nunez writes. "Sensor firmware setup, using Tasmota, took approximately 10 minutes. Making a change to configuration like an I/O [Input/Output] pin or visualization rule takes approximately 1 minute. The same task, using ESPHome, took approximately 2 hours the first time, because Home Assistant needs to be installed (On a Raspberry Pi or other computer). Once ESPHome is installed making a change in configuration takes around 5 to 10 minutes depending of the speed of the [Raspberry Pi] for code compilation."
Nunez's full write-up is available on the Galopago Projects website, with design files and details on the Misistemita platform available on GitHub under the permissive MIT license.