Meet the brains
Every smart device needs a brain. In IoT, the brain is a small board with a chip called a microcontroller. It runs one program, over and over, all day long.
| Board | Think of it as | Superpower | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arduino Uno / Nano | The friendly teacher | Easiest to learn; very hard to break | Your very first projects |
| ESP32 | The talkative one | Built-in WiFi and Bluetooth | Projects that talk to your phone or the internet |
| Raspberry Pi | The mini computer | Runs a full computer system; handles cameras and AI | Big projects like face recognition |
| Raspberry Pi Pico | The small, smart helper | Cheap and easy with the Python language | Learning to code with Python |
Parts of a board
- Pins: the little metal legs along the edges. You connect sensors and lights to them.
- USB port: connects to your computer to send it a program and give it power.
- Reset button: restarts the program from the beginning.
- Built-in LED: a tiny light you can blink with your first program.