AllWize Launches the K2 IoT Development Board on Kickstarter

Barcelona-based startup AllWize has recently unveiled their K2 IoT development board, aimed at engineers and makers that would like to implement the Wize (LPWAN) protocol in their projects. The board is the successor to the K1 — an Arduino shield that packs a Radiocrafts’ Wize RF module based on the Wireless M-Bus, a UART port, a couple of GPIOs to drive status LEDs, RESET/CONFIG pins, and uses 3.3V of power.

The K2, on the other hand, is a standalone IoT development board that you can run on its own, featuring the same Arduino architecture as the MKR family. It uses the same SAM D21 microcontroller found on the MKR1000, but also offers a Wize radio interface for sending data over long distances.

While there are no concrete hardware specs for the K2 beyond the Cortex-M0+ microcontroller, the board looks to be nearly the same as the MKR1000 and considering that it can be programmed using the Arduino IDE, it’s a safe bet the K2’s layout is similar. This means it would pack an 8X digital I/O header, 12X PWM pins, 7X analog inputs, and 1X analog output.

As for the software, the K2 uses the Wize protocol — an IoT standard created by the Wize Alliance late last year. In essence, the protocol is a low-power wide-area network that employs the EU-only 169MHz frequency — the same frequency pagers used but has since been taken over by metered utilities, and has a range of just over 12 miles (depending on the terrain), along with low-power consumption (up to 20 years of battery life depending on the project).

According to AllWize, you can use the K2 for remote IoT applications, such as monitoring air quality, soil moisture, or even as a way to keep track of open parking spaces. The company is currently crowdfunding the K2 on Kickstarter and bundles them in ‘packs’ rather than single boards — including a Connect Pack to Try (bundles two or more boards) for $61, Gardening Pack to Try (bundles two or more boards) for $135, Parking Pack to Try (bundles two or more boards) for $118, and so forth.