• 1
    Hardware requirements

    For this tutorial, we have decided to use the M5Stack Ecosystem because it offers the possibility of building such a system without prototyping specific tools, such as a soldering iron or prototyping cables. The ”heart” of this project is the M5Core2, an IoT development kit based on the ESP32 microcontroller. This ecosystem allows you to connect the provided modules through a GROVE port to the M5Core2, allowing fast deployment of hardware.

    M5Core2

    M5Core2

    To showcase the use of IoT in Healthcare monitoring, we have picked the Mini Heat Rate Unit, based on the MAX30100 chip, with the possibility to measure the oxygen saturation in the blood and the heart rate of the patient. Another key parameter for an organism’s homeostasis is the temperature, which we have decided to record using a Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer Unit, based on the MLX90614 sensor. It allows the user to measure the surface temperature of the human body without having to touch them physically. If you want to read both sensors at the same time even if you trigger them separately you must use a 1 to 3 HUB Expansion Unit to connect both of them to the M5Core2.

    Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer Unit, 1 to 3 HUB Expansion Unit, and Mini Heart Rate Unit

    Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer Unit, 1 to 3 HUB Expansion Unit, and Mini Heart Rate Unit

    Wire connections

    • Connect the 1 to 3 HUB Expansion Unit to PORT A of the M5Core2 (the red port near the USB-C connector) using the Grove cable.
    • Connect the Mini Heat Rate Unit and the Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer Unit to the HUB Expansion Unit.
  • 2
    Prerequisites
    M5Burner
    • Install Thonny following the steps on the official website.
    Thonny Python IDE

  • 3
    Setting up the device
    • Connect the M5Stack kit to your PC using the provided USB Type-C cable. The port name should appear on the top-left corner of the app (near COM).

    On Linux, make sure your user is part of the dialout group by running:

    sudo adduser $USER dialout

    M5Burner

    M5Burner

    • Launch M5Burner and download the UIFlow(CORE2). Click the Erase button, wait for it to finish, and then press the Burn button to upload the UIFlow(CORE2) firmware on the device. We have used 1.8.1_core2. You will be prompted for the WiFi details that the device will use to connect to your local network. If the burn fails, change the baud rate to a lower one.

    M5Burner

    M5Burner

    • Now click on the Configuration box corresponding to UIFlow(Core2) and select App Mode from the dropdown in the provided screen and add the Wifi details if not present.
    • After it finished rebooting, you will be greeted by an initial screen with the UiFlow version in the top right.

    • Let's go ahead and set up the cloud solution!