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SparkFun MicroView - USB Programmer The MicroView is the first chip-sized Arduino compatible module that lets you see what your Arduino is thinking using a built-in OLED display. This USB programmer connects directly to the MicroView and lets you not only program the module, but use it to interface with your computer, Rapsberry Pi, or other USB device. The programmer has both male and female headers which allow it to be plugged into a MicroView module and a breadboard at the same time, making prototyping quick and easy. If you want to learn more about the MicroView, check out the Kickstarter page. Note: A MicroView OLED Arduino Module is NOT included with this USB Programmer. Check the Recommended Products section below to find one! | 2/2 | |||
10K Precision Epoxy Thermistor - 3950 NTC Need to measure something damp? This epoxy-coated precision 1% 10K thermistor is an inexpensive way to measure temperature in weather or liquids. The resistance in 25 °C is 10K (+- 1%). The resistance goes down as it gets warmer and goes up as it gets cooler. For specific temperature-to-resistance, check the lookup table.These are often used for air conditioners, water lines, and other places where they can get damp. The PVC coating of the wires is good up to 105 °C so this isn't good for very hot stuff.We even toss in an additional 1% 10K resistor which you can use as calibration or for a resistor divider.We have a great detailed tutorial on how thermistors work and how to use this one with both Arduino & CircuitPython! | 1/1 | |||
ChronoDot - Ultra-precise Real Time Clock - v2.1 THIS IS THE LATEST VERSION 2.1The ChronoDot RTC is an extremely accurate real time clock module, based on the DS3231 temperature compensated RTC (TCXO). It includes a CR1632 battery, which should last at least 8 years if the I2C interface is only used while the device has 5V power available. No external crystal or tuning capacitors are required.The top side of the Chronodot now features a battery holder for 16mm 3V lithium coin cells. It pairs particularly well with CR1632 batteries.Click here for documentation and example code.The DS3231 has an internal crystal and a switched bank of tuning capacitors. The temperature of the crystal is continously monitored, and the capacitors are adjusted to maintain a stable frequency. Other RTC solutions may drift minutes per month, especially in extreme temperature ranges...the ChronoDot will drift less than a minute per year. This makes the ChronoDot very well suited for time critical applications that cannot be regularly synchronized to an external clock.The ChronoDot will plug into a standard solderless breadboard and also has mounting holes for chassis installation.The I2C interface is very straightforward and virtually identical to the register addresses of the popular DS1337 and DS1307 RTCs, which means that existing code for the Arduino, Basic Stamp, Cubloc, and other controllers should work with no modification. This new version has a battery holder, no soldering required! | 3/3 | |||
MCP4725 Breakout Board - 12-Bit DAC w/I2C Interface Your microcontroller probably has an ADC (analog -> digital converter) but does it have a DAC (digital -> analog converter)??? Now it can! This breakout board features the easy-to-use MCP4725 12-bit DAC. Control it via I2C and send it the value you want it to output, and the VOUT pin will have it. Great for audio / analog projects, such as when you can't use PWM but need a sine wave or adjustable bias point.We break out the ADDR/A0 pin so you can connect two of these DACs on one I2C bus, just tie that pin of one high to keep it from conflicting. Also included is a 6-pin header, for use in a breadboard. Works with both 3.3V or 5V logic.Some nice extras with this chip: for chips that have 3.4Mbps Fast Mode I2C (Arduino's don't) you can update the Vout at ~200 KHz. There's an EEPROM so if you write the output voltage, you can 'store it' so if the device is power cycled it will restore that voltage. The output voltage is rail-to-rail and proportional to the power pin so if you run it from 3.3V, the output range is 0-3.3V. If you run it from 5V the output range is 0-5V.We have an easy-to-use Arduino library and tutorial with a triangle-wave and sine-wave output example that can be used with any 'duino or ported to any microcontroller with I2C host. Wiring it up is easy - connect VDD to your microcontroller power pin (3-5V), GND to ground, SDA to I2C Data (on the Arduino Uno, this is A4 on the Mega it is 20 and on the Leonardo digital 2), SCL to I2C Clock(on the Arduino Uno, this is A5 on the Mega it is 21 and on the Leonardo digital 3) and listen on VOUT. | 1/1 | |||
Adafruit FT232H Breakout - General Purpose USB to GPIO+SPI+I2C Wouldn't it be cool to drive a tiny OLED display, read a color sensor, or even just flash some LEDs directly from your computer? Sure you can program an Arduino or Trinket to talk to these devices and your computer, but why can't your computer just talk to those devices and sensors itself? Well, now your computer can talk to devices using the Adafruit FT232H breakout board! What can the FT232H chip do? This chip from FTDI is similar to their USB to serial converter chips but adds a 'multi-protocol synchronous serial engine' which allows it to speak many common protocols like SPI, I2C, serial UART, JTAG, and more! There's even a handful of digital GPIO pins that you can read and write to do things like flash LEDs, read switches or buttons, and more. The FT232H breakout is like adding a little swiss army knife for serial protocols to your computer! This chip is powerful and useful to have when you want to use Python (for example) to quickly iterate and test a device that uses I2C, SPI or plain general purpose I/O. There's no firmware to deal with, so you don't have to deal with how to "send data to and from an Arduino which is then sent to and from" an electronic sensor or display or part. This breakout has an FT232H chip and an EEPROM for onboard configuration. You can read tons more about this chip from FTDI's page and check out our tutorial on how to get started and use our Python code to control the FT232H with Mac/Win/Linux. | 1/1 | |||
Magnetic contact switch (door sensor) This sensor is essentially a reed switch, encased in an ABS plastic shell. Normally the reed is 'open' (no connection between the two wires). The other half is a magnet. When the magnet is less than 13mm (0.5") away, the reed switch closes. They're often used to detect when a door or drawer is open, which is why they have mounting tabs and screws. You can also pick up some double-sided foam tape from a hardware store to mount these, that works well without needing screws. | 1/1 | |||
Small Push-Pull Solenoid - 12VDC Solenoids are basically electromagnets: they are made of a big coil of copper wire with an armature (a slug of metal) in the middle. When the coil is energized, the slug is pulled into the center of the coil. This makes the solenoid able to pull (from one end) or push (from the other)This solenoid in particular is fairly small, with a 30mm long body and a 'captive' armature with a return spring. This means that when activated with up to 12VDC, the solenoid moves and then the voltage is removed it springs back to the original position, which is quite handy. Many lower cost solenoids are only push type or only pull type and may not have a captive armature (it'll fall out!) or don't have a return spring. This one even has nice mounting tabs, its a great all-purpose solenoid.To drive a solenoid you will need a power transistor and a diode, check this diagram for how to wire it to an Arduino or other microcontroller. You will need a fairly good power supply to drive a solenoid, as a lot of current will rush into the solenoid to charge up the electro-magnet, about 250mA, so don't try to power it with a 9V battery! | 5/5 | |||
Mini Push-Pull Solenoid - 5V Solenoids are basically electromagnets: they are made of a coil of copper wire with an armature (a slug of metal) in the middle. When the coil is energized, the slug is pulled into the center of the coil. This makes the solenoid able to pull (from one end) or push (from the other). This solenoid in particular is very small, with a 20mm long body and a 'captive' armature with a return spring. This means that when activated with ~5VDC, the solenoid moves and then the voltage is removed it springs back to the original position, which is quite handy. Many lower cost solenoids are only push type or only pull type and may not have a captive armature (it'll fall out!) or don't have a return spring. This one even has nice mounting tabs, its a great all-purpose solenoid. We also have a slightly bigger small push-pull solenoid and a huge large push-pull solenoid in the store! To drive a solenoid you will need a power transistor and a protection diode, check this diagram for how to wire it to an Arduino or other microcontroller. You will need a fairly good power supply to drive a solenoid, as a lot of current will rush into the solenoid to charge up the electro-magnet, about 1 Amp, so be careful of trying to power/activate from a computer's USB. | 9/9 | |||
Peltier Thermo-Electric Cooler Module - 5V 1A Keep it cool with a Peltier module. These unique electronic components can generate a temperature differential when powered. That is to say, apply 5V to the red (positive) and black (negative) wires and one side will get cold while the other side gets hot. For best results, you'll need to wick away that heat (otherwise the cold side will slowly get warmer). A fan and/or heatsink is ideal.This module is a 5V module, and is rated for 5W max (5V/1A) but when we plugged them in they seemed to draw more like 1.5A so we suggest our 5V/2A power adapter for use. Peltier Thermo-Electric Cooler Module - 5V 1A (5:20) | 2/2 | |||
Peltier Thermo-Electric Cooler Module - 12V 5A Keep it cool with a Peltier module. These unique electronic components can generate a temperature differential when powered. That is to say, apply 12V to the red (positive) and black (negative) wires and one side will get cold while the other side gets hot. For best results, you'll need to wick away that heat (otherwise the cold side will slowly get warmer). A fan and/or heatsink is ideal. This module is a 12V module, and is rated for ~72W max (up to 14V/6A) but when used with a regulated 12V output they don't draw more than 5A so we suggest our 12V/5A power adapter for use. Peltier Thermo-Electric Cooler Module - 12V 5A (5:20) | 1/1 | |||
Soft Potentiometer Kit from Plug&Wear This soft potentiometer is an interesting way to add an adjustable resistor / slide potentiometer to your wearable. You can use it to adjust the brightness of an LED, or as a sensor input to your Flora or Gemma. When the ring slides up and down the ribbon, the resistance from the end of the ribbon to ring will vary from ~100 ohms to about 8Kohm. To use as a voltage-output potentiometer, connect one end to ground and the other end to 3.3V or so, then measure the voltage on the ring in reference to ground. For an adjustable resistor, connect to one end of the ribbon and the ring, let the other end hang disconnected. The kit includes 50cm of specially-woven conductive ribbon and a stainless steel metal ring. | 1/1 | |||
Eeonyx Stretchy Variable Resistance Sensor Fabric - LTT-SLPA-20K Soft and stretchy, this Eeonyx Stretchy Variable Resistance Sensor fabric is great for making soft sensors or wearables that need to adjust and move. This is a bidirectionally stretchy nylon+spandex fabric coated with a long-lasting conductive coating that changes resistance when you pull on it! It's perfect for making stretch or strain sensors, by measuring the resistance change from one end of the fabric to the other - you'll need a resistive divider and analog-reading microcontroller. Each order comes with one sheet of 12"x13" inch / 33 x 30cm fabric with a nominal 0.5mm thickness. The fabric as a soft hand, and is easy to stitch, sew, or serge. Each sheet has a resting 20K-ohm/square inch surface resistivity and decreases to maybe 1/2 that when stretched. It has been tested up to 30 washes with no appreciable change in resistivity. | 1/1 |