Do you want to know how to build an IoT Development Board using the CELUS Design Platform? This guide is dedicated to help you navigate the process to select the ideal components and configure a versatile IoT board tailored for your needs. By the end of this tutorial, you will have built a fully functional IoT development board capable of connecting to various sensors and devices, facilitating projects that range from home automation to environmental monitoring.

Starting Out:
You're making a IoT Dev Board. This means you'll need a microcontroller, a wireless communication device, some basic controls, a power management system and environmental measurement and sensing. The CELUS Design Platform helps you pick these solutions based on what you need for your project.

Choosing Parts with the Platform:

Control: This is the brain of your project. Here you will receive and manage data from all the sensor and send it to the wireless communication device.
Communication: You need a way to communicate with other devices on your network so it is possible to send notifications to the user. For an IoT Dev Board, we need a Wireless Communication system.
Power: Add different ways to power your system.
Measurement and Sensing: You need some sensors for measuring what’s going on in the environment so it can be a proper IoT project.
Human-Machine Interface: Having a screen to see a menu with all the measurements from the sensors, or ways to enable some outputs. Also adding buttons to change selection and test every option.

Putting It All Together:

Describe Your Design: First, list out what your project needs to do on the CELUS Design Platform. This helps you keep track of your technical and design goals.
Plan Your System: The platform lets you arrange how everything connects and works together. This step is about making sure all your parts fit into your design plan.
Pick Your CUBOs: Use the platform to find and choose the wireless module, sound output parts, and controls that meet your project's needs.
Build and Test: After handing over your project to your EDA tool of choice, it's time to put all the parts together. Check that all connections are properly established, then begin the layout and routing phase. Finally, test everything to make sure your IoT Dev Board works as expected.

Wrap Up:
By completing this tutorial, you will gain the skills to leverage the CELUS Design Platform to create your own IoT Development Board from scratch to a fully operational prototype. This isn't just about assembling components; it's about crafting a functional and innovative device. We've streamlined the process in this guide to ensure you can concentrate on the creation of your IoT Dev Board, avoiding unnecessary complexity and technical overload. Get ready to bring your IoT ideas to life with clarity and confidence!

1. Create a Project

The creation of every project begins at CELUS Design Platform’s welcome screen:

In this section you will find:

A welcome message from CUBOt with your name on it.
Some articles, videos and tutorials to learn how to use the platform.
The last projects you have been working with.
Featured Projects: These are projects that we think can be interesting for you.
Create a New project button: This button enables you to create your own projects.

To start creating your own IoT Dev Board click on .

2. Describe your Project

Clear definition of hardware functionalities and requirements guides electronics developers in selecting appropriate solutions, designing efficient circuits, meeting regulatory standards, and avoiding costly redesigns due to overlooked specifications or incompatibilities.

The CELUS Design Platform supports users in their goal to create projects with the best quality. For this reason, we begin our projects in the Project Settings.

Project Description:

The CELUS Design Platform will redirect you to the page of Project Settings. The first page is the Project Description where you define the project summary.

Project Summary: The project Description page consists of Project Summary where you can describe what you intend to do in the project, project conditions, requirements and regulations.

For the IoT Dev Board you can enter the following text in the fields of your Project Summary:

This project aims to: create an IoT development board
It will: enable integration with sensors and modules for IoT applications
It should: be able to communicate with other devices and be easily programmable
This comprises of: flexible I/O options, robust data handling and efficient power management
It should operate under: battery or USB power sources
It must work within: diverse IoT project environments
and under: size, power efficiency and compatibility constraints
The cost is expected to be: around 50€
Parts are sourced from: Renesas, Wurth and other reputable electronics components suppliers
The expected outcome of this project is: a highly adaptable and user-friendly IoT development board that encourages innovation and practical IoT solutions

Save: If you have entered the scope of the project and wish to save and proceed to the next page, Project Information, you can click the button. The Save button will only be enabled if you have filled all the mandatory fields.

Click on to proceed with the next step of the Project Settings.

Project Information

The Project information is located on the second tab in Project Settings. There, you will find both mandatory fields that need to be filled in and optional ones.

Project Name: The project name is mandatory to fill in, and it is important to enter a relevant name for your project without non-ASCII characters.

Enter: My IoT Dev Board

Functionality: Functionalities associated with the project you want to design can be selected from the drop-down list. You can select multiple Functions in the Functionality field. The Functionality field is optional to fill.

Add the following functionalities: Power Supply and Management | Microcontroller | Wireless Communication | Measurement and Sensing

Application: Applications associated with the scope of your project, such as IoT, Consumer Electronics, or others can be added to the field. You have the option to enter applications as text of your choice or select them from the drop-down list. The application field is mandatory to fill. The application you select will influence the Project Template options CELUS Design Studio shows you after completing Project Settings.

Our IoT Dev Board fits: IoT

Target CAD Tool: Select your preferred CAD tool from the drop-down list. The CELUS Platform currently supports Altium Designer, Autodesk Eagle and KiCad. It's mandatory to select one of the CAD tools, and you can successfully generate the resolved project results in the respective CAD tool format.

In this tutorial the CAD Tool of choice is: Autodesk Eagle

BOM Type: The CELUS Design Platform supports two types of BOM format - Consolidated, and Flat. A Consolidated BoM groups components by MPN whereas a Flat BOM shows all the components without any grouping. Selecting BoM Type is mandatory to start the project.

Select Flat as the BOM Type

Project Specifications

This part of the Project Settings is where we can document constrains and requirements that our project should fit.

Preferred Parts/Excluded Parts: You can add the Preferred or Excluded MPNs that you would prefer to be part or not of your project here. In both cases, CUBOs containing the MPNs will be selected to the priority list or will be deprioritized respectively. You can add the Parts to the list either by typing or you can copy paste the part number in the search bar and select the part number. You can also remove the parts added to the list.

Preferred Manufacturers: Manufacturers listed here would be considered in the top priority list of CUBO™ Result. You can either type or copy-paste the Manufacturer name in the search bar and select the part number.

Manufacturers listed under Excluded Manufacturers would be omitted from the list of CUBOs shown in the CUBO™ Result.

Add the following manufacturers to the Preferred Manufacturers section:

Renesas Electronics Corp
Wuerth Elektronik GmbH & Co KG

Power Budget: Here you can define the total power requirement for the project if you know it. This information is intended to clarify the project’s scope and requirements for documentation purposes only. It does not have any implications on CUBO™ selection or PCB layout.

Enter 10.0 Watts

Compliance: You can select the Regulations and Standards required for the project here. Selected compliance won’t have any implications on Cubo selection and will be for documentation purposes only.

Select EU RoHS Compliant

Operating Temperature: You can select the temperature at which your project should operate. When entering values, please make sure to provide a negative sign if required and also select the unit.

Select from -40.0 to 125.0 Celsius

Once you have captured all your requirements click .

3. Select a Template

Templates are predefined frameworks, equipped with block diagrams and basic requirements, that enable users to efficiently outline their system architecture and essential project components.

Templates listed on the Templates page depend on which Applications you have selected on the Project Information section. Once you press the Select Template button you will be redirected to the Templates page as shown below.

The match rating is based on the percentage of application matches found on the application set or subset representing the template.

Here you can see:

A list of templates that are compatible with the application selection you did during the project settings.
Start from scratch if you want to start with a blank page.
It is also possible to go back and change application settings.
Click Use Template to jump-start your project with a template.

The best way to jump-start your IoT Dev Board is to pick the RA4M1 Minimum Viable Board Template.

4. Capture your System Architecture

The Design Canvas

The CELUS Design Canvas is the workspace within the CELUS Design Studio where you can capture your electronics projects. It provides all the necessary details to expedite the development of a functional electronic product, ranging from high-level block diagrams to interconnecting multiple functional circuits on a simple whiteboard.

All the tools you need to build a higher-level project design are listed on the left and right edges of the canvas.

In the CELUS Design Canvas you can see:

Your system architecture: The block diagram capturing the high-level functionalities that you have picked for your design.
Top left Toolbar: The toolbar displays the name of the project you have entered in the Project settings tab. The undo button helps you revert to the previous actions performed and the redo button to revert your redo action if pressed before. The Resolve button is inactive by default. However, if you have the project design ready to resolve, the Resolve button will be active . Once the Resolve button is pressed, you cannot undo the action or revert the changes made on Design Canvas.
Top right Toolbar: You can access CELUS Support Center and manage your profile by updating or changing options in your profile, or sign out.
Bottom right Toolbars: Error Notifications and Warnings will be listed here after you resolve the project. Following that is the the Pan Over screen button which helps you navigate the Design Canvas workspace. Next to that are the Zoom In and Out buttons, with the Fit to Screen button in the middle, aiding in fitting all elements on the Design Canvas to your viewing workspace.
Project Navigation tabs: Design Studio comprises four stages: Project Settings, Design Canvas, BOM Preview and Output Files. Once you have completed filling in the details in Project Settings, the CELUS Design Canvas tab will be activated, allowing you to commence the project creation process. Upon resolving the project in the Design Canvas, the BOM Preview and Output Files stages will be activated for review.
Design Library: The Design Library window, located on the left side of the canvas, displays a list of Functional blocks available for designing an electronics project.

Adding Functional Blocks

To add depth to your project, it is needed to add some additional Functional Blocks. With the selection of RA4M1 Minimum Viable Board we already have the Control unit, the Power, with a USB and a DC-DC, and some Human-Machine Interface, like an LED and a tactile push button.

So in order to have a basic IoT Dev Board you also need to add a Communication device and some Measurement and Sensing.

To add new Functional Blocks to your architecture you need to:

Search for the right Functional Block on the Design Library.
Select the right Functional Block.
Drag & Drop wherever you want on the Design Canvas.

Search and add Temperature and Atmospheric Pressure sensors to your project.

Connecting Functional Blocks

It is always recommended to specify the interfaces between Functional Blocks.

Add a connection between Temperature and Microcontroller blocks and specify it as: I2C. Click on Show label in link to see it on Design Canvas.

If you want to extend a connection to other Functional Blocks, click on the connection and it will be highlighted in blue color and a dark circle with a white arrow inside will appear . This is the connection point to add more branches to an existing bus or power rail.

Click on the icon and extend the I2C Interface to the Atmospheric Pressure Functional Block.

Add Specifications to Functional Blocks

When placing Functional Blocks, you will notice that a panel opens on the right hand side of the screen. This is the Block Settings Panel. If it doesn’t show you can always Right-Mouse-Click on the Functional Block and click Manage Settings. Here it is possible to manage different specifications related to the Functional Block.

Screenshot 2024-04-30 at 12.35.11.png

Right-Mouse-Click on Standard LED and click on Manage Settings.

Select the specification Lighting Color, select Blue and hit .

Completing the Architecture

In order to make a full IoT Development Board with a lot of different features, just like the one we’re doing on this tutorial, we need to add a lot of different Functional Blocks. The outcome of this board should be something like this:

So the Functional Blocks should look like this:

Make the right connections like in the architecture above and the right interfaces and specifications as in the table below.

Screenshot 2024-04-30 at 12.37.38.png

Make sure that all the Functional Blocks of your IoT Dev Board have been placed.

Time to let CELUS find solutions for you to evaluate. Click on .

Explore the Solutions

The CELUS Design Platform searches for suitable CUBOs that match your Functional Block, your Functional Specifications, your Interfaces and your Ports Specifications.

Shortly after hitting , you can observe that all Functional Blocks have a round blue dot on the top right corner. This means that the platform has found solutions that match your requirements.

Right-Mouse-Click on the Wireless Communication and click Select CUBO.

This action will take you to the CUBO™ Results. Here, a list of suitable CUBOs or at least one CUBO™ will be shown. You can verify each CUBO™ individually and choose the one that fits your project from the list of solutions found by CELUS Design Studio.

In the CUBO™ Results page it is possible to see:

A list of matching CUBOs for your project. A CUBO can have a tag that mentions information like a preferred part or preferred manufacturer.
The schematic of the selected CUBO.
To get more information about the CUBOs in the list, there is CUBOt, our AI assistant that can answer some questions.
You can also Select/Lock a CUBO for this Functional Block or View a CUBO to get more information about it.

All CUBOs listed in the Matched CUBO™ list have a CUBO™ View button. Once you click on the button, it will open a new tab in your browser showing the selected CUBO™ in detail.

Click on View CUBO to check more information about this specific CUBO.

The CUBO™ View contains:

The Name and Description of the CUBO™.
The Functionality it represents
A Schematic preview.
Specifications and much more. You have four tabs in a CUBO™ representing four technical attributes. Click on each tab will to see more details about the CUBO™:
1. Specifications: The tipical specifications of the part itself, usually present on its Datasheet.
2. CUBO™ BOM: A list of components that are used in the schematic.
3. Additional Documents: Some additional document or article related to the CUBO™.
4. Ports: The interfaces that this CUBO™ has to connect to other Functional Blocks.

After checking the CUBO™, close the CUBO™ View tab to go back to CUBO™ Results page.

The CUBO™ selected for this Functional Block is ESP32-WROOM-32F Wifi and Bluetooth LE Module V1. When clicking in the selection button, Lock it to make sure it is used in your project.

5. Build your schematics

Now that you know how to add the right solutions to your Functional Blocks, you finalize your System Architecture.

Lock the followings CUBOs so you can make the IoT Dev Board as it is:

6. Review the BOM of your project

A thorough BOM ensures hardware projects stay on budget, meet design specs, and streamline assembly, preventing costly errors and sourcing delays.

Click on BOM Preview, on the bottom left of the screen.

In CELUS Design Studio, BOM Preview is designed to review your Bill of Materials (BOM) after successfully resolving your project in Design Canvas. Unlike conventional BOM, BOM Preview has multiple viewing modes and filters which help you verify BOM more intuitively. You can view BOM here from the perspective of Functional blocks, CUBOs or Components. There are five columns for BOM Preview. You can sort out each column by left-click on the Sort button and to filter each column use the Filter button .

The default view mode of BOM Preview is Functional block. Only the Description column is active if the filter Type is the Functional block.

Description: The name of the Functional blocks used in your project are defined here.
Type: There are three types of Digital assets in the Platform - Functional block, CUBO™ and Components.
Manufacturer: This column refers to the manufacturers of components in the BOM. The filter is inactive in this mode.
Man. P/N: Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) of the components in BOM are listed here.

Click on the + on the left of Wireless Communication, then click again on the + next to the CUBO™ name.

Click on Output Files on the bottom left, next to the BOM Preview tab.

7. Review the project

Once you have finished your project on Design Canvas and you have validated all the components in BOM Preview, you are able to download your files.

Note that the files Output Format and the BOM type have been defined in the Project Settings and, if you plan to change them, you will need to update the field Target CAD Tool and/or BOM Type and Resolve the project again.

Download all 3 Files: PDF, BOM and Project Package

PDF: Project document that contains project details, schematic files and BOM.

BOM: CSV file containing all the project components. It can be exported in 2 formats:

8. Handover your Project to your EDA Tool

Project package: For Autodesk Eagle CELUS Design Studio the Project Package contains a schematic file.

Once in Autodesk Eagle you can explore the different schematic documents (sheets).

Review the schematics and make sure that the connections between schematics docs are established according to what you captured in the Design Canvas.