Introduction: LinkIt One: Getting Started

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The LinkIt One is a development board, created as a joint work by Seeed Studio and MediaTek. The board is similar to Arduino but comes with added features. The board comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and GSM. In this instructable I will be giving you an overview of the features and a basic tutorial on how to get started.

Step 1: Components

The GSM, or Global Systems for Mobile Communications is common in phones. It allows phones to connect to mobile networks. This allows you to send MMS and SMS messages using cellular towers.

The GPS or Global Positioning System is used in phones as well. Additionally individual GPS sets are constructed for use. GPS is used for navigation. It beams your position to satellites that determine your geographical location.

Wi-Fi is common in most electronic devices. Wi-Fi allows you to connect to wireless networks and access the internet. Wi-Fi antennas can be found in tablets, computers, videogame consoles & some cameras.

The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Antenna are both one and the same. Bluetooth is found in phones, speakers and Bluetooth headsets. It allows you to exchange data over short distances.

Step 2: Hooking Things Up

The board comes with gps, gsm and Bluetooth/Wi-Fi modules included. These all have specific antennae ports on the underside of the board. With the board place in front of you, where you can read the "LinkIt ONE" text, flip the board over. Now turn the board upside down. There is a microSD card slot, sim card slot and various other components on the bottom of the board, for the time being ignore them. On the far left side are three golden circles, these are the connection ports. From top to bottom in order they are the GPS, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth and GSM. There is text saying which is which if you forget or are confused. The antennae are not labelled however. The largest square one is the GPS module, the thin rectangular one is the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and the final wider rectangular one is the GSM antennae. Simply take the knob on the module and press it down onto the port, GENTLY. Do this for all three and voila! You have successfully set up all the modules for use.

Step 3: Software

The LinkIt One runs using the Arduino IDE. The Arduino IDE is available here. There is a slight modification necessary. You need to download and install the LinkIt One SDK. That can be found here. Once you've downloaded it unzip the file and run mediatek_linkit_sdk_(for_arduino)-1.1.17.exe. Open the Arduino IDE. From there click Tools-> Boards->LinkIt ONE. Now when you upload code the board will be able to understand it. MediaTek, the board's manufacturing has a website. Register for the site, here, and download the Developer's Guide. A lot of the text is in Chinese, you can ignore that.

Step 4: Congratulations!

You're LinkIt ONE board is officially set up.