Iot edu shield

IoT-Edu-Shield

A KiCad-designed shield for the LilyGO T3-S3 (LoRa32 / ESP32-S3) that bundles a handful of classic sensors, actuators and I/O onto one board for teaching IoT, wireless communication and embedded C++ concepts. This repository contains the hardware design files and starter firmware for testing the shield.

Assembled IoT-Edu-Shield V1.0 with LilyGO T3-S3, GPS module + GNSS antenna, MPU6050 IMU, BMP/BME temperature-pressure sensor, RGB LEDs, buttons, potentiometer and LDR.

Repository structure

iot-edu-shield/
├── kicad-files/     KiCad 9 project (schematic, PCB, backups)
├── demo-software/   Starter / example firmware (PlatformIO, C++)
├── img/             Photos and renders
└── README.md

Core module: LilyGO T3-S3

The shield is built around the LilyGO T3-S3, an ESP32-S3 module that combines three radios on one board:

• LoRa (SX1262/SX1276 transceiver, sub-GHz, long range/low power — ideal for LoRaWAN)
• Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz, 802.11 b/g/n)
• Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE 5)

It also carries a 0.96" SSD1306 OLED display, a microSD card slot, USB-C (incl. LiPo battery charging), and BOOT/reset buttons — all visible on the module plugged into the shield.

Onboard modules & sensors

What you can build with it

Combining LoRaWAN + Wi-Fi + BLE with GPS, an IMU and an environmental sensor on one educational board opens up a lot of classic IoT project patterns:

• LoRaWAN environmental sensor node — read temperature/pressure from the I²C sensor and send periodic uplinks to a LoRaWAN network (The Things Network, ChirpStack, etc.), demonstrating long-range, low-power telemetry.
• GPS asset/pet tracker over LoRaWAN — periodically transmit NEO-6M GPS fixes over LoRa instead of cellular/Wi-Fi, ideal for teaching duty-cycled, battery-powered tracking.
• Fall/impact or tilt detector — use the MPU6050 to detect motion or orientation events and alert via BLE (to a phone) or a LoRaWAN uplink, useful for a basic wearable/safety-device exercise.
• Multi-protocol gateway demo — same sensor data pushed simultaneously over Wi-Fi (MQTT/HTTP to the cloud), BLE (to a nearby phone) and LoRaWAN (to a gateway), a good hands-on comparison of range, latency and power tradeoffs.
• Light-triggered alarm/logger — use the onboard LDR to detect a door/box opening or day/night transitions and log or alert over any of the three radios.
• Interactive status/feedback node — use the buttons and RGB LED/NeoPixel as local input/output while the board reports state remotely (e.g. a physical "buzzer" that lights up on a LoRaWAN downlink).
• Sensor fusion weather + motion station — combine the environmental sensor and IMU for a small weather/vibration station logged to SD card and periodically synced over Wi-Fi or LoRaWAN.
• LoRaWAN provisioning / OTAA-vs-Wi-Fi teaching board — since the T3-S3 has both radios, it's a convenient platform for comparing join procedures, payload sizes and duty-cycle limits between LoRaWAN and Wi-Fi/MQTT in a classroom setting.

Getting started

• Hardware: open kicad-files/IoT-Edu-Shield.kicad_pro in KiCad 9.
• Firmware: example/starter code for the T3-S3 lives in demo-software/ (PlatformIO project, C++/Arduino framework).