Universal Arduino Wireless Shield
Run a pair of wireless modules at the same time
This is one of those “they beat me to it” kind of projects.
Last year, Jan Gromes designed his LoRenz Shield that allowed you to control IoT, robotics, and other devices wirelessly over a distance of hundreds of meters. The only drawback with that board is that it can only support wireless modules from one manufacturer, in this case, the SX1278 LoRa wireless module.
Gromes improved upon that design with his KITE Shield: Universal Arduino Wireless Shield, which is capable of not only supporting different module manufacturers but also different communication options while still maintaining a footprint the size of a standard Arduino.
The secret sauce behind the KITE is its pair of dedicated slots that can accept most any communication module, regardless of their frequencies, protocols, and modulations. This is due to dedicated logic shifters and LDO regulators assigned to each slot independently. They can even support 3.3V to 5V logic modules, no matter the slot and can handle I2C, UART, SPI with a pair of extra GPIO pins.
The KITE Shield is currently compatible with the ESP8266 family, HC-05 Bluetooth module, RFM69 FSK/OOK RF module, LoRa SX127x lineup, and XBee modules with more on the way. As far as components are concerned, the shield features Arduino Shield headers, PCA9507, KF50BDT, and KF33BDT ICs, along with various pin headers for the wireless communications modules of your choice.
The idea of using whatever comms platform you prefer is a great boon for using a single platform that can be integrated into nearly any project, and the fact that the Shield is open-source is just icing on the cake.