Your team will build and program smart devices using an IoT electronics kit featuring the Photon P1 microcontroller, which is produced by a company called Particle.
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit that contains a processor (CPU), memory (RAM and storage), and programmable inputs and outputs. The Photon microcontroller also has an integrated Wi-Fi chip, which makes it great for IoT products.
The Photon electronics kit that your team will use comes from another company called SparkFun. SparkFun has incorporated the Particle Photon P1 microcontroller into an electronics board (which SparkFun calls a "RedBoard") that makes it easy to build devices using various inputs and outputs, such as the ones included in the kit.
VIDEO: SparkFun Photon Kit
YOUR TASK
Briefly look over this overview of the Photon RedBoard to become familiar with its power supply, buttons, and LEDs. How can you power the Photon device? What does the reset button do? What does the RGB LED tell you about the status of your Photon device?
Turn on your Photon device by carefully inserting the USB cable into the Micro-USB port on the device (be absolutely sure the correct side of the Micro-USB plug is facing up) and plugging the other end of the cable into a USB port on a computer or charger. Your Photon will try to connect to Wi-Fi (we've already saved a Wi-Fi login on the device). Once you have verified that your Photon device is connected to Wi-Fi and the Particle Cloud, you're ready for the next step.
