Explore Embedded
Microcontroller Boards
Bluetooth

Hornbill

An affordable, rugged, secure, and open hardware platform for battery powered connected things with ESP32

$7,509 raised

of $2,000 goal

375% Funded!
Not Available
May 23 2017
funded on

Recent Updates

You'll be notified about news and stock updates for this project.

Hornbill is a development platform for the Internet of Things. It’s a set of hardware tools, firmware, and templates for local and cloud-based apps for controlling your project. It’s for makers, engineers, and small companies who want to build secure and robust network-connected things at a fraction of the cost of other platforms.

Hornbill helps you build better prototypes with affordable, secure, and feature-rich hardware based on solid firmware and Open Source, platform-agnostic app and cloud-based software.

The core objective of the Hornbill project is to develop tools that are open, reliable, and consistently supported and expanded over time. We believe the real value in connected things lies in use cases that provide real insights, that help conserve resources, and that reduce costs.

The aim is not to build yet another IoT platform, but to use the best of open tools to help you build a solution, the way current web technologies work.

Features & Specifications

Hornbill ESP32 Hardware

Hornbill hardware empowers you to build better prototypes. It is a complete suite of hardware options from dev boards to an IP67 waterproof/dust-proof enclosure. Hornbill hardware was built to serve our prototyping needs, so we are confident it will serve you well. It’s time to get rid of loose wires, double-sided tape, and tin cans!

Hornbill ESP32 Dev

Hornbill ESP32 dev is breadboard-friendly dev board with tons of features. You can build your next connected thing with just this one board.

Hornbill ESP32 Proto

Hornbill ESP32 Minima

Hornbill Case

We want your prototypes and maker projects to look much better than tin cans and crudely 3D-printed cases. Hornbill brings you a rugged water proof, dust proof IP67 compliant case. The Hornbill dev and proto boards are designed to work well with this case. You can further machine and label the case depending on your needs.

Awesome Things We Have Built With Hornbill

Hornbill OUR (Open Universal Remote)

Hornbill OUR (Open Universal Remote) is a Bluetooth (BLE), Infrared (IR) bridge that can control all the IR devices in your home with a smartphone app. It is a single chip solution that uses Hornbill’s built-in Bluetooth and remote peripherals. It’s an excellent demonstration of what’s possible with Hornbill. Learn more about the project at its github repo

Hornbill OUR Kit

Build your own Hornbill OUR with this kit that includes:

To use the kit, just connect a 5 V standard USB charger and you’re ready to go!

Hornbill Lights

Hornbill lights helps you create great ambience with addressable RGB LED lights. Hornbill Lights can be controlled via Bluetooth using a smartphone app. It allows you to repeatedly play random light effects or set a solid color that matches your mood! Visit the project’s Github repo for details.

Hornbill Lights Kit

Build your own Hornbill Lights module with this kit:

Hornbill IDL (Industrial Data Logger)

Hornbill IDL measures equipment power and temperature and then logs that data securely to the cloud. Power and temperature measurements can provide insights like turn-on, turn-off, load variation etc. Combining power measurements with equipment temperature readings can also result in preventive maintenance analytics.

Hornbill IDL Kit

Construct your own Hornbill IDL with this kit:

Hornbill Maker Kit

The Hornbill Maker kit includes the essential components needed to make and hack with Hornbill ESP32. Over the campaign, we will be demonstrating several examples using the kit which will help you get started with Arduino and bare-metal.

What Will You Make?

Custom Solutions

Looking for consulting and custom PCB designs based on Hornbill? Get in touch!

Hornbill Cross Platform Apps

We will be publishing cross-platform apps for Android and iOS. These are being built with Ionic Cardova. They will be released as open source. So go ahead and fork them and build your own custom app!

Hornbill IO

Hornbill IO is built on AWS IoT. AWS IoT mandates use of Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.2) which enables end to end encryption of the data. Hornbill IO can be used to evaluate the cloud needs for your application. The work done for Hornbill IO will be released as open source, which will enable you to host applications with your custom domain. Hobby and maker projects can securely use Hornbill IO without the fear of connecting un-encrypted devices to cloud.

Each device purchased during the campaign will get 10K of free messages per year.

Stretch Goals

Stretch Goal #1 - App for Hornbill IO - $10,000

If the funding level reaches $10,000 during the crowdfunding campaign, we will build an app for Android and iOS. The hornbill IO app will include the ability to add widgets like buttons, slides, gauges, graphs etc., to make custom dashboards. Read more about the goal in this project update.

Manufacturing Plan

We have pre-ordered the major parts for the first batch of 100 boards. We also plan to order the next batch of parts during the campaign. So, we should be able to ship the pledges within schedule.

Risks & Challenges

The dev boards have gone through several iterations, we do not foresee any major challenges in manufacturing and shipping the hardware. However, a ton of effort is needed in the firmware, libraries and apps. We believe with your support our dedicated engineers will make this happen.

In the Press

CNX Software

"... if you plan to use it outdoor... you need to protect your hardware from rain and dust."

LinuxGizmos.com

"Hornbill boards will be able to run a Hornbill IO stack for cloud connectivity built on Amazon’s AWS IoT platform."

Hackster News

"Ready to go from idea to prototype to something presentable in no time? You may want to check out this ESP32-based kit on Crowd Supply!"

Hackaday

Hackaday

"A very easy and inexpensive way to get into the ESP32 ecosystem."

Ask a Question

Produced by Explore Embedded in Bangalore, India.

Sold and shipped by Crowd Supply.

Hornbill ESP32 Dev

Start your ESP32 development with the breadboard-friendly Dev board. Built-in USB serial and single cell LiPo charger at a price only available during the campaign.

$12 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

Hornbill Essentials Kit

One Hornbill ESP32 Dev, one Proto and one Case.

$39 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

Hornbill IDL - 5 Pack

Prototype an industrial Internet of Things thing with real data, predictive maintenence, and analytics.

$269 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

Hornbill Minima

A minimal dev board for all the wearable projects, connect with crocodile clips, plug in a LiPo and you're ready to go!

$12 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

Hornbill Industrial Data Logger (IDL) Kit

Build a high quality temperature and power data logger to monitor your critical equipment.

$59 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

Hornbill Proto

A prototyping base-board for the Horbill Dev board. Comes with a built-in temperature/humidity sensor, microSD and tons of prototyping pads. Time to ditch those breadboard wires!

$15 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

Hornbill Maker Kit

A feast of awesome components to hack together lots of cool projects.

$59 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

Hornbill OUR (Open Universal Remote) Kit

Build a Bluetooth (BLE) controlled universal remote!

$39 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

Hornbill Lights Kit

Build a Bluetooth ambience light controller with WS2812 LED strips. A great way to light up your evenings!

$79 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

Hornbill Case

Make your prototype look sleek and neat with the IP67 waterproof, dustproof case!

$15 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

About the Team

Explore Embedded

 · 

We strive to provide useful tutorials, development tools, and products.

Sandeep Patil
Co-founder, CEO
 ExploreEmbedded
Saheblal Bagwan
Co-founder, CTO
Sharana Gowda
Co-founder, Hardware Engineer
Gururaghavendra Hasigal
Senior Hardware Engineer
Mitchell Mawniuh
Software Engineer

See Also

Subscribe to the Crowd Supply newsletter, highlighting the latest creators and projects