Misha Hartmann's Otad Wants to Put Your STM32-Powered Projects on the Internet of Things

Engineer Misha Hartmann is looking to make it easier to get your hardware on the Internet of Things (IoT), launching a crowdfunding campaign for a quick-start wireless connectivity device dubbed Otad — the wireless Over-The-Air (OTA) module.

"Have you ever needed to remotely access your embedded system without having to build a proprietary and custom solution? Otad was born from a need to have wireless plug-and-play control over inaccessible systems," Hartmann explains. "Most notably, for me, the challenge arose while working on rocket motors where one could not approach during a test, or on robotic systems that were incredibly hard to access. Otad takes your wired embedded solution and makes it wireless."

The Otad itself is a compact system-on-module with an integrated OLED display for ease of local configuration. Designed primarily for use with projects based on STMicroelectronics STM32 microcontrollers — for which it enables Over-The-Air firmware updates — the Otad provides serial connectivity, general-purpose input/output (GPIO) control, and access to analog to digital converter (ADC) pins remotely over its own web interface.

"You do not need any special app (at least for now). You simpl[y] access your web browser, enter the desired Otad's IP address (shown on the OLED screen) and off you go," Hartmann writes of the device's operation. "Need to turn a switch or light on or off? Or would you like to know if your doors are closed or if a smoke alarm has gone off? Really anything that requires a signal you can control or read now. [You can also] control and read all the IOs via TCP. Data streamlining and automation can be done with scripts, Python, C/C++, or a variety of other coding languages."

The first Otad prototypes have already been produced and tested, though the firmware is still under development — "90% per cent complete," Hartmann claims of the current state of play, "all features are completed and tested with exception [of] TCP control over IOs/ADCs." Now, Hartmann's launched a crowdfunding campaign to complete development of an improved board design and send it for external testing before pulling the trigger on a full production run.

The Otad is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, priced at CA$100 (around $72) for a single board; hardware is expected to be delivered in May next year, Hartmann says.