Also in the box are a CR2032 button cell to power the Smart Sensor and the usual USB cable and instruction leaflet. All packaging and the print is beyond reproach.

Being advised by the leaflet to go to www.avnetmemec-silica.com/visible-things for the full Monty I did not press on straightaway to load the Quick Start Guide and get it all to work, but instead took a minute or two to orient myself and gain confidence that what I wanted to do ultimately with the kit was (1) doable and (2) educational. After all, Av-Si call their kit a reference design. Admittedly my main interest is in the sensors, so what do we have exactly:
  • motion
  • temperature
  • humidity
  • light
  • proximity

I was envious to read in the docs that the SIGFOX and LoRaWAN dev kits have “additional motion and light sensors” like  3-, 6-or 9-axis Accelero/Gyro/Compass, and Gesture. And 3G instead of short-range Wi-Fi!
The Gateway board in all three dev kits runs the UbiquiOS™ gateway embedded software. Time for some list-o-mania on the crucial components of Visible Things:

Microchip LAN8742 Ethernet PHY,
Microchip RN2483 LoRa WAN module
NXP MKL26Z128 Low power MCU
NXP MK20DX128 Emulator (option)
NXP FXOS8700 Motion Sensor
NXP PCA9534 I/O Interface
Silicon Labs BGM111 Bluetooth Smart module with ARM Cortex M4
Silicon Labs Si7021 Temperature / Humidity Sensor
STMicroelectronics STMPS2142 USB device
STMicroelectronics STM32F7 MCU Series
 
As opposed to a few other suppliers of get-u-going IoT dev kits, Av-Si pack all sensors on one board and get them coordinated with a small BGM111 CPU from SiLabs, (= ARM M3 plus Bluetooth). If you — like me are — are slightly confused at this stage, here’s an overview of all the Visible Things product family (courtesy Avnet/Silica):



Having read enough of Av-Si’s sales pitch I found it was time to turn to installing.