Adafruit Circuit Playground: Difference between revisions
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[[image:circuit_playground_express-schema.png|thumb| | [[image:circuit_playground_express-schema.png|thumb|1000px|none|AdaFruit Circuit Playground Express'. Photo source: [https://www.flickr.com/photos/adafruit/34783186446/in/photolist-UZEVv9-R6q9G7-PqaKgs-29G3KST-Wo62wq-21AHzQA-25Ryu1v-VznVp6-V4dFNg-26ptmHj-Wo62c7-CoP9GY-2eJLBgz-LfXq1N-LqcDwU-2bQB2R8-R6q9cj-EGjWK8-MjcTX1-2dY828L-23ibYzA-Z2mKHw-2h4jmSc-2h4gJAz-2h4gJyL-2h4iAh9-2h4gJVc-2h4iAfv-2h4gJUA-2h4gJUv-2h4gJSS-2h4gJS1-2h4gJRV-2h4iA8r-2h4gJNJ-2h4jn5m-2h4iA3B-2h4jmZS-2h4jmZg-2gFZkCH-2gFYDhw-2gFYDfc-2gFYDcS-2gFZkrv-wq8pCo-2eZ9pwf-vKX5v6-RiFQxB-EGjWTV-23t2RDq/ Adafruit Flickr] ]] | ||
==== Components and layouts ==== | ==== Components and layouts ==== |
Revision as of 18:59, 26 August 2019
Introduction
![](/mediawiki/images/thumb/9/98/Adafruit-flora-circuit-playground-express.jpg/400px-Adafruit-flora-circuit-playground-express.jpg)
Circuit Playground Express is a board of the Adafruit FLORA line of of e-textile products. This board is beginner friendly since it can (also) be programmed with MakeCode and since it includes both sensor, LEDs and a loudspeaker.
The board is rather large and heavy compared to Adafruit's FLORA and GEMMA. However, this is compensated by it's feature rich design and ease of use.
- 50.6mm / ~2.0"
- Weight: 8.9g
The board can be bought in three packaging variants:
- Circuit Playground Express $25, includes just the board
- Circuit Playground Express - Base Kit, $30, includes a battery and USB cable.
- Circuit Playground Express Advanced Pack, $100, includes 2 Playground express, threads, needles, alligator clips, a servo motor, NeoPixels, etc.
For a class, it's probably best to buy Based Kits, and either a few Advanced Packs or other FLORA extension elements.
Extras
See also:
The board
![](/mediawiki/images/thumb/f/fa/Circuit_playground_express-schema.png/1000px-Circuit_playground_express-schema.png)
Components and layouts
According to the product page (retrieved Aug 26, 2019), this board includes the following elements which are explained in detail in the guided tour.
Processor and basics
- ATSAMD21 ARM Cortex M0 Processor, running at 3.3V and 48MHz
- 2 MB of SPI Flash storage (i.e. a tiny disk drive), used primarily with CircuitPython to store code and libraries.
- A JST battery connector (alternatively, the board also can take power from the USB connector).
- Green "ON" LED so you know its powered (top left)
- Red "#13" LED for basic blinking
- Reset button (in the middle)
- A total of input/output pads ("the holes")
Connectivity:
- MicroUSB port for programming and debugging. It can act like a serial port, keyboard, mouse, joystick or MIDI!
- Infrared receiver and transmitter - can receive and transmit any remote control codes, as well as send messages between Circuit Playground Expresses. Can also act as a proximity sensor.
- 14 "alligator clip pads: a wide range of power pins, I2C, UART, Analog In, Digital In/Out, PWM, and Analog Out.
Output:
- 10 x mini NeoPixels. These programmable LEDs can display any color. They are also used for some status information: when the bootloader is running they will turn green, or if it failed to initialize USB when connected to a computer, they will turn red).
- 1 Mini speaker with class D amplifier (7.5mm magnetic speaker/buzzer). It is connected to to the A0 analog output pin.
Input and sensors:
- 1 Temperature sensor
- 1 Light sensor. Can also act as a color sensor and pulse sensor.
- 1 Sound sensor (MEMS microphone)
- 1 Motion sensor, i.e. a LIS3DH triple-axis accelerometer with tap detection, free-fall detection.
- 2 x Push buttons, labeled A and B
- 1 x Slide switch
- 7 of the 8 GPIO pads have capacitive touch (A1.A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7)
General Purpose Input Ouput (GPIO) pads
- All the 8 GPIO pads (A0 to A7) can be used as digital inputs, digital outputs, for LEDs, buttons and switches. In addition, all can be used as analog inputs (12-bit ADC).
Power pads
- There are 6 power pads
Notice: I have to figure out what some of the various pins/pads really do (this is my first electronics experience....)
Programming the board
(to do)
Links
Official tutorials
Adafruit Circuit Playground Express documentation
- Adafruit Circuit Playground Express (several pages)
- Adafruit Circuit Playground Express (in one HTML page)
- Adafruit Circuit Playground Express (all-in-one PDF file]
Acknowledgement
Pictures, as well as some text was reproduced from https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-circuit-playground-express?view=all . So far (Aug 26, 2019), the copyright / license situation is not clear.