SDR starter kit developed for Raspberry Pi, Grove, and LimeSDR using Scratch

Lime Microsystems, in partnership with Seeed Studio has announced a Starter Kit for its LimeSDR platform based on the Grove Platform and for use with the Raspberry Pi. The kit is priced at $249 (c. £180 / €200).

It includes a LimeSDR Mini with antennas optimised for 433/868/915 MHz unlicensed bands, plus a GrovePi+ and a array of Grove sensors and outputs, many of which are supported by a Scratch extension, and other programming environments. The kit provides everything you need to get started learning SDR basics and developing IoT applications and is targeted at educational use and for beginners.

By combining the hardware components with Lime’s ScratchRadio software extension, users will be able to quickly and intuitively create simple and fun applications that integrate SDR capabilities and peripheral I/O.

The LimeSDR is an award-winning software defined radio platform for cellular, IoT, DVB, GNSS and other RF applications. Together with LimeNET it has a several-thousand-strong community of developers and backers, including EE and Vodafone. 

Seeed is a prototyping service and hardware innovation platform that lets people develop their ideas into products. It works closely with technology providers of all scale to provide expertise, in-house engineering facilities, supply chain management and an agile manufacture force. 
Eric Pan, CEO of Seeed, said: “We are excited to announce that we've partnered with Lime Microsystems to develop the Grove Starter Kit for LimeSDR Mini. It will provide a great platform for users to learn about SDR and help kick off IoT projects with the LimeSDR Mini. We cannot wait to see what what the community will do with this new kit!”

Ebrahim Bushehri, CEO of Lime, commented: “One of the key reasons we created the LimeSDR was to open access to this technology to as many people as possible. This kit plays a big part in enabling this.” Adding: “Of course, the kit is not limited to Scratch and educational environments, so we’ll also be putting together examples that demonstrate how the kit can be used to develop applications that integrate with existing off-the-shelf systems, such as wireless thermostats and remote controls.”

Kit Contents 

• 1 x LimeSDR Mini
• 2 x Antenna for 433/868/915MHz unlicensed bands
• 1 x GrovePi+
• 1 x Grove – Ultrasonic Ranger
• 1 x Grove – Temp & Humi Sensor
• 1 x Grove – Temperature Sensor
• 1 x Grove – Rotary Angle Sensor
• 1 x Grove – Button
• 1 x Grove – Light Sensor v1.2
• 1 x Grove – 3-Axis Digital Accelerometer (±1.5 g)
• 1 x Grove – Relay
• 1 x Grove – Sound Sensor
• 1 x Grove – LCD RGB Backlight
• 1 x Grove – Buzzer
• 1 x Grove – Red LED
• 1 x Grove – LED Bar 2.0
• 1 x Grove – Touch Sensor
• 1 x Grove – Piezo Vibration Sensor
• 1 x Acrylic base plate
• 1 x Short USB extension

Not included in the pack is: Raspberry Pi (2, 3 or Zero can be used), power supply, and Micro SD card.

How to order

Lime is now taking pre-orders for the Grove Starter Kit via its distribution partner Crowd Supply. 

The kit includes a LimeSDR Mini and if users that have already placed an order for this they can change it to the Grove Starter Kit. Notes on how to do this can be found on the Crowd Supply LimeSDR Mini Blog.

Source: Lime Microsystems