Introduction
panStamps are autonomous low-power wireless modules programmable from the Arduino IDE and made for telemetry and control projects. These modules communicate over the free 868-900-915 MHz bands available worldwide and are designed to last for months and even years when powered from simple alkaline batteries, depending on the duty cycle and transmission interval programmed.
In addition, panStamps form complete wireless ecosystems with direct connectivity to the Internet. The company provides software applications for configuring wireless networks and turning any computer into an automation server. panStamp also provides customized Raspbian images for Raspberry PI giving this popular computer platform a key role in any automation project as a wireless-IP gateway with stand-alone capabilities.
panStamps include an on-board microcontroller so they can be run autonomously without any external processor. There are two different models of panStamp, each using a different microcontroller:
This model hosts an Atmega328p MCU made by Atmel. This is the same MCU available in all Arduino UNO's so they are fully compatible with every version of the Arduino IDE. panStamp (the company) provides an Arduino library for these modules, featuring a full communication stack and protocol that takes less than 8 Kbytes in Flash. Link to the panStamp AVR page
NRG modules share the same footprint and similar pinout as the AVR model but use a MSP430 core instead of an Atmega MCU. These modules were specially designed to be programmed from Arduino 1.6. Link to the panStamp NRG page
panStams AVR and NRG can communicate with each other since they use the same radio core -- the popular CC1101 radio made by Texas Instruments. This means that any node using this radio can join any existing network of panStamps. Since all panStamp's resources (libraries, protocol, software tools hardware designs and sample applications) are open source, the stack can be ported to any MCU platform or SOC.
Unlike other wireless modules, panStamps were born to interoperate with designs from other developers and also with nodes made by other manufacturers. Unlike other protocols, SWAP, the available protocol for panStamp, is really simple, compact and powerful. It can be implemented even in small microcontrollers with little Flash and RAM.
panStamp is in fact a complete low-power wireless IoT platform. The whole solution is being used in many different projects, including building automation, energy monitoring, waste management, mining, transport and art. The platform can be extended with new designs, compatibility with third-party applications and communication technologies. Custom Python scripts can be hosted by computers connected to the low-power wireless network and data can be pushed to remote servers and services via panStamp's software gateway.
panStamps can be used over distances of hundreds of meters in open spaces, or over kilometers when using panStamp's Long Distance carrier boards. This makes panStamp the perfect platform either for simple home automation projects and for big Smart City deployments.
The magic behind panStamp is that users can develop new devices and deploy wireless networks very quickly. Even though it is a low-cost solution, panStamp is not a simple hardware platform. The following chapters will try to explain why panStamp is unique in providing low-power consumptions, flexibility, interoperability, openness and ease of use at a fraction of the cost of other commercial alternatives.