Sean Gallagher
The Electron starter kit comes in a storage box, with everything you need to turn lights on and off over the Internet.
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A while back, Ars took our first step into building the Internet of Extra Creepy Things (IoECT) with BearDuino, a hardware-hacked Teddy Ruxpin combined with an Arduino Uno and some desktop software. We have not yet turned BearDuino into a cloud-connected, mobile journey down the uncanny valley. But since we've started testing Particle's Electron, a cellular-connected Arduino-like device that wirelessly tethers sensors, servos, lights, and other electronics to a cloud-based service, that goal is within our grasp.
When we first heard about the Electron in February, we were eager to get our hands on a kit to see what was possible. Now that we've tested it out a bit—turning lights on and off across the Internet, and diving into the code a bit—we're preparing to push it further. Like many "maker" kits, Electron starts off with a relatively mild learning curve that suddenly becomes more severe as you push toward doing anything practical beyond the tutorial samples. But unlike others we've laid hands on recently, it comes with a well-polished set of tools and services behind it that take some of the sting off the harder climbing.
The main concern most hardware developers will have, however, is whether the Web-based consoles and services and the one-stop supply of global cellular connectivity is worth it to get locked into Particle's ecosystem—which can also become expensive. That's not something we can effectively answer for everyone based on this test drive. But we can say that if you're looking for a reasonable way to remotely manipulate an animatronic teddy bear wherever it is in the world, Electron is perfectly capable of doing that.
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