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.

• Breadboard-friendly pinout
• Built-in CP21XX USB-to-serial
• Single cell LiPo charger
• *ESP WROOM32 FCC, CE, IC, MIC (Telec), KCC, and NCC certified module.*
  • Xtensa dual-core, 32-bit LX6 processor
  • Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g/n/e/i
  • Bluetooth: v4.2 BR/EDR and BLE
  • 12-bit SAR ADC up to 18 channels
  • 2 × 8-bit DACs
  • 10 × touch sensors
  • Temperature sensor
  • 4 × SPI
  • 2 × I²S
  • 2 × I²C
  • 3 × UART
  • 1 SD/SDIO/MMC host
  • 1 slave (SDIO/SPI)
  • Ethernet MAC interface with dedicated DMA and IEEE 1588 support
  • CAN bus 2.0
  • IR (TX/RX)
  • Motor PWM
  • Built in remote peripheral up to eight channels
  • Hall effect sensor
  • Ultra low power, analog pre-amplifier
  • Supports all IEEE 802.11 standard security features, including WFA, WPA/WPA2 and WAPI
  • Secure boot
  • Flash encryption
  • 1024-bit OTP, up to 768-bit for customers
  • Cryptographic hardware acceleration: AES, SHA-2, RSA, ECC, random number generator (RNG)

Hornbill ESP32 Proto

• Hornbill Dev can be soldered directly onto the Proto.
• On-board MicroSD card
• RGB LED
• SHT 31 humidity and temperature sensor
• 6 x IR transmitters (not mounted)
• 1 x IR Receiver (not mounted)
• Ample prototyping space with 0.1 inch spaced plated holes.

Hornbill ESP32 Minima

• *ESP WROOM32 FCC, CE, IC, MIC (Telec), KCC, and NCC certified Module.*
• LIPO battery connector for building wearables.
• Large pads for crocodile clip connectors.
• Beautiful round PCB
• Separate programming header

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:

• Custom PCB with IR transmitter and Receiver
• ESP32 WROOM module
• Hornbill case.

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:

• Custom PCB with power handling and LED driver circuitry.
• ESP32 WROOM module
• Hornbill Case.
• 5 meter RGB WS2812 LED light strip.
• 10 A DC power supply brick

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:

• Custom PCB with temperature and power measurement circuitry
• ESP32 WROOM module
• Hornbill Case.
• SCT-013-050 current sensor. Measures up to 50 A of current
• K Type thermocouple
• Free data logging service with Hornbill IO with up to 500K messages per year. This will be an AWS IOT-based, TLS1.2 encrypted data logging service.

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.

• Hornbill ESP32 Dev Board
• Male headers
• Mini breadboard
• LEDs x 4
• Piezoelectric buzzer
• Relay shield
• Temperature sensor (LM 35)
• Light sensor
• Resistors x 8
• Ultra-sonic distance sensor (HC-SR04)
• MicroSD breakout board
• OLED display
• Accelerometer and gyro sensor (MPU 6050)
• Temperature humidity sensor (DHT 11)
• PIR motion sensor
• Rotary encoder
• Micro USB cable
• Jumper wires (male-to-female, pack of 20)

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.