Although mainly used by the hobby or “maker” crowd, the Arduino microcontroller has made its way into all levels of education, including physics labs. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the Arduino in this regard is the ease with which it can be interfaced and acquire data from a sensor, using any one of its many analog inputs, SPI or I2C interfaces. In this paper we wish to introduce the reader to the Sparkfun “Thing,” which is shown in Fig. 1. The “Thing” is a board that is smaller and less expensive than an Arduino, while being very similar in its programming, analog input capabilities, and support for the SPI and I2C interfaces. But here’s the real uniqueness of this board: it creates its own Wi-Fi network, just like ones we’re all used to using (for example, by our home routers). In use, one simply connects to the Thing’s Wi-Fi network using a standard device (laptop, tablet, smartphone, Chromebook, etc.) and retrieves the sensor data using a web browser. Thus, no custom programming is required, and no special software is needed by the end user. Its small size and easy access allows for all kinds of embedded and/or portable sensor applications.

1.
See
Arduino
, http://www.arduino.cc.
2.
There are too many papers to list, but here are a few:
F.
Bouquet
and
J.
Bobroff
, “
Project-based physics labs using low-cost open-source hardware
,”
Am. J. Phys.
85
,
216
(
Feb.
2017
);
Jed
Brody
and
Max
Brown
, “
Transient heat conduction in a heat fin
,”
Am. J. Phys.
85
,
582
(
July
2017
);
Jen-Feng
Hsua
,
Shonali
Dhingra
, and
Brian
D’Ursob
, “
Design and construction of a cost-efficient Arduino-based mirror galvanometer system for scanning optical microscopy
,”
Am. J. Phys.
85
,
68
(
Dec.
2016
);
Mike
McCaughey
, “
An Arduino-based magnetometer
,”
Phys. Teach.
55
,
274
(
April
2017
);
Calin
Galeriu
, “
An Arduino-controlled photogate
,”
Phys. Teach.
51
,
156
(
Feb.
2013
);
Daniel
Nichols
, “
Arduino-based data acquisition into Excel, LabVIEW, and MATLAB
,”
Phys. Teach.
55
,
226
227
(
April
2017
).
3.
4.
5.
For Arduino Uno purchasing considerations, see https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11021.
7.
We note that version 1.8.1 and higher of the Arduino software has a “Serial plotter” built in as well.
11.
Force sensitive resistor
, https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9376.
12.
See
Patrick
McDougall
and
Eric
Ayars
, “
Two dimensional heat flow apparatus
,”
Am. J. Phys.
82
,
620
623
(
June
2014
) for a two-dimensional array of temperature probes all connected to a single Arduino.
13.
See the “Arduino Library” and “Hookup Guide” links here: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13314.
14.
See
SD Library, Arduino
, https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/SD.
15.
See
XBee Buying Guide, SparkFun
, https://www.sparkfun.com/pages/xbee_guide.
16.
Eric
Ayars
and
Estella
Lai
Using XBee transducers for wireless data collection
,”
Am. J. Phys.
78
,
778
781
(
July
2010
).
17.
Temperature Sensor - TMP 36, https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10988.
19.
Lithium Ion Battery - 400 mAh, https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13851.
20.
Sparkfun LiPo Charger Basic - Micro-USB, https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10217.
21.
Sparkfun 9DoF Sensor Stick, https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13944.
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.