Top IoT Starter Kits for the Beginners to Learn Programming

A starter kit is a pack of components. It provides everything needed to learn a particular activity. A starter kit is for helping beginners. It makes the initial steps simple. It provides the necessary tools, materials, or information for students. There are various types of starter kits. Kits are available for teaching electronics, hobbies, crafts, sports, and technology. They often include essential instructions. Sometimes starter kits come with educational resources. Their purpose is to make learning quick and easy. For DIY projects, a starter kit serves as a convenient entry point. They offer the necessary foundation and guidance to explore and engage in a new interest.

Why we need starter kits:

Starter kits make learning easy. Beginners cannot make a good parts list for learning. They can’t decide what to buy and what not. They often waste money on unnecessary goods. But they forget to buy the important parts. A complete starter kit makes this task easy. Lots of components come together in a starter kit. So, we need not roam here and there to buy them.

Starter kits come with user manuals. Some may include video tutorial DVDs. This helps learners a lot. They can learn a new topic with or  without any trainer.

Starter kits not only help beginners. Experts too can use these kits to complete their projects.

What is IoT?

IoT stands for Internet of Things. It's a network of devices, objects and systems. The 'things' of IoT can exchange data using the internet. In IoT, a 'thing' can even be a human being. Yes, you read it right. Let me tell you how:

Imagine, you're wearing a heart-rate sensor at home. IoT makes it possible for your doctor to monitor your heart rate from their chamber. Are you using a GPS tracker watch to track your kids? Yes, that's an example of IoT too.

IoT has brought a new revolution in technology. It's making life easier. Life has become more secure with IoT. You can live a tension-free life to some extent.

Suppose, you're on holiday. You have a garden. You need to water your plants. Who's gonna do that when you're not home? With IoT, you need not worry. You can make an IoT plant watering system. You need a controller. For example, an ESP8266. You need to connect it to the internet. You will also need a soil moisture sensor. The ESP8266 will read the sensor. Thus it will detect if the soil is dry or wet. The ESP8266 will control a water pump according to the sensor data. You'll need an IoT mobile app. You can receive the soil sensor data in your mobile app. You can also turn on the motor from your mobile phone.

Thus, you can control an IoT system from anywhere in the world. You can go to the US, still, you can switch off a motor, light or fan at your home in Berlin!

What are IoT kits?

An IoT kit is an electronics kit. It is a package of electronic components used for IoT projects. The heart of such a kit is a microcontroller board. Sensors, motors, LEDs etc. are also there. With these kits, you can do lots of IoT projects.

Where to buy?

You can buy IoT kits online. These are available at online electronics stores. SunFounder IoT kits has extended components as compared to other embedded starter kits. They have a large variety of easy to use IoT kits and their prices are also reasonable.

About SunFounder:

SunFounder is your one-stop solution for electronic projects. They sell Arduino and Raspberry pi boards and accessories.

Some Raspberry Pi products at Sunfounder

The company also offers Arduino and Raspberry Pi courses. The course instructors are very high-profile. You can find the details about the syllabus and instructors from their website as shown in the following image:

So, you can buy kits from them and also learn how to use them.

TOP IoT starter kits:

Here is a list of top IoT kits from Sunfounder:

1) SunFounder 3 in-1 IoT Starter Kit

SunFounder 3-in-1 IoT Starter Kit is a Versatile kit. This kit has 192 components. It includes an Arduino and an ESP8266. You can do lots of projects using the powers of these boards. It has all components to build a robotic car. Here are some significant projects that you can do with this kit:

• Door detection

• Window Detection

• Plant irrigation system.

You can build a smart car with this kit. The features of the car can be:

• Line tracking

• Obstacle avoidance

• Hand following

• Speed control and many more.

This kit provides 87 online tutorials for IoT and smart car related projects. Beginners and experts both can use this kit.

Features of SunFounder 3 in-1 IoT Starter Kit:

2) SunFounder Raspberry Pi Ultimate

SunFounder Raspberry Pi Ultimate kit comes with many Raspberry Pi accessories. The kit is versatile. It is suitable for both students and professionals. It has all the necessary software and hardware for a beginner. This kit gives access to 60+ video tutorials.

Features of SunFounder Raspberry Pi Ultimate :

3) SunFounder Raspberry Pi Pico W Starter Kit

This kit features a Raspberry Pi Pico W. The whole package is full of useful sensors. It is suitable for developing IoT devices.

Features of SunFounder Raspberry Pi Pico W Starter Kit :

4) Robotistan NodeMCU ESP8266 Kit

This is a NodeMCU-based kit. This is an ideal kit for understanding the fundamentals of IoT. It has 16 components. Those are LEDS, motors and various detection sensors. The kit gives a quick start to your IoT project. The NodeMCU is open-source. So, there is no need to use any extra board to use this kit. There is a manual with this kit. It discusses about all components in detail. You'll get a visual guide for circuit-building steps. Coding guideline is also there. An e-book is also available  for this kit users. That can help you further to made the project more advanced.

Features of  Robotistan NodeMCU ESP8266 Kit

5) OSOYOO ESP8266 NodeMCU IoT Starter Kit

This kit will teach you IoT in a fun and interactive way. It is suitable for making IoT-based school projects. Do you want to make a project for a science fair? You can depend on this kit. This kit is wifi supported. It uses the MQTT protocol. MQTT is a user-friendly protocol. The kit comes with a variety of open-source coding resources and mobile apps. It comes with a tutorial DVD. There are 17 video tutorials on that DVD. The tutorials consist of step-by-step guidelines. The codes are also tested. Detailed circuit diagrams help you do your project in the right way.

Features of  OSOYOO ESP8266 NodeMCU IoT Starter Kit:

6) ThingPulse #1 NodeMCU ESP8266 Starter Kit

ThingPulse #1 NodeMCU ESP8266 Starter Kit gives users a solid start to their IoT projects. It's a 4-in-1 wireless IoT development kit. It is a small kit. It is based on ESP8266. The kit has an OLED display. A DHT22 temperature and humidity sensor is there too. It also comes with a Data cable and some jumper wires. You can do the following projects with this kit:

• World clock

• Weather station

• Plane spotter

• Climate node

The kit comes with a 60-page guide. You will get premier customer support from the company for this kit.

Features of ThingPulse #1 NodeMCU ESP8266 Starter Kit:

7) KEYESTUDIO Smart Home Starter Kit

This is a very special kit. We often make IoT projects but we don't know how to apply them in our daily life. KEYESTUDIO Smart Home Starter Kit gives us the chance to apply our knowledge. With this kit, you can build a model smart home. The kit has laser-cut wood board for this task. The smart home consists of a control board, some sensors and actuators. The home is portable. You can power it up with 6 AA batteries. You can control your home with a mobile app.

Here are some of the projects possible with this kit:

• Door open-close

• Window open-close.

• Play music.

• Steam sensor on-off.

• Gas sensor on-off.

• Control switch and brightness of a light.

• Control switch and speed of the fan.

• Light on-off.

• Relay on-off.

Features of KEYESTUDIO Smart Home Starter Kit:

8) GAR Micro Starter Kit

This kit has Arduino UNO,an ESP8266 and an ESP32. ESP32 is a Wifi module. It also supports Bluetooth. So, it is a very powerful kit. This is suitable if you are looking for a micro starter kit. You can not only create wireless projects with this. ESP32, HC-05 allows you to experiment with various IoT concepts. This kit gives complimentary access to PDF guides and tutorial links. Those resources are available at the GAR Dropbox Cloud. The components come in a sturdy toolbox. It adds extra protection.

This kit needs no soldering. Total 18 sensors are there. Some of those are:

• Sound Sensor 

• PIR Motion Sensor 

• Impact Switch Sensor 

• IR Flame Sensor 

• Hall Effect Sensor 

• DHT11 Temperature & Humidity Sensor 

• MQ3 Alcohol Sensor 

• Soil Moisture Sensor 

• Rain Level Sensor

Features of GAR Micro Starter Kit:

9) Arduino MKR IoT Bundle:

Do you have this kit? You're only 5 steps away from building your smart home. Arduino MKR IoT Bundle is an exceptional IoT kit. It features an Arduino MKR board. You can control this board over the Internet. The kit has some sensors, ICs motors and LEDs. It helps users to make automation models. With this, you can learn the basics of IoT. This kit can connect online to the Arduino IoT cloud. Users gain access to the following services-

• Device programming.

• Data analytics.

• Control management.

• Automation triggering.

You can log, graph and analyze sensor data.

It comes with all the helpful parts. Such as data cable, LCD, battery connector etc.

Features of Arduino MKR IoT Bundle:

10) Arduino OPLA IoT Kit:

Are you a beginner or a professional? Well, it does not matter if you use Arduino OPLA IoT Kit. This kit is for all. It offers a user-friendly platform for IoT projects. You can make fully customized smart devices. Thanks to the open system. The following are the main components of this package:

• Arduino MKR Wi-Fi board.

• Arduino MKR IoT Carrier with an OLED display.

• 24 V relays.

• moisture sensors

• capacitive touch buttons

• SD card holder

• onboard sensors for light, temperature, and humidity.

This kit will also bring you 12 months of free access to the Arduino Cloud maker plan.

Features of Arduino OPLA IoT Kit:

Conclusion:

Sunfounder IoT kits are easy to use. These multipurpose kits give you the facility to learn IoT from scratch. You may have zero knowledge about IoT. Still, you are welcome to use these kits. We have discussed only 10 IoT kits in this article. The company manufactures many more exciting starter kits and robot kits.

Sunfounder has a forum too. In SunFounder Forum, you can share knowledge with others like you and can get help from their engineers.

So, why the delay? Check out these top-notch kits and start your journey to IoT. Wish you all the best.