New Products 9/17/2020 featuring Adafruit BrainCraft HAT – Machine Learning for Raspberry Pi 4!
by Jessie Mae
Browse through all that’s new here!
NEW PRODUCTS THIS WEEK
Adafruit LTC4311 I2C Extender / Active Terminator – STEMMA QT / Qwiic
I2C stands for Inter-Integrated-Circuit communications, its meant for short distances on a PCB or subassembly. But, hey, we’re engineers and we like to push the limits of technology, right? So why not try to have I2C run over a meter long cable, or even longer? Well, if you try to do that you’ll quickly find that the length of the cable adds capacitance and resistance that slows down the open-drain pullups used in I2C, making it hard to use 100KHz+ clock speeds. You could try slowing down your I2C clock to 1 KHz…or you could use an Adafruit LTC4311 active terminator like this one!
Using this board is easy: connect it to your I2C bus at the beginning of the chain (if you don’t have a massively long cable, you can also try at the end of the chain). When the chip is powered and enabled, it will watch the SCL and SDA lines. When it sees them being pulled up through the I2C resistors, it will activate and dump in some current to give it a boost thru to the top power rail.
Adafruit BrainCraft HAT – Machine Learning for Raspberry Pi 4
The idea behind the BrainCraft HAT is that you’d be able to “craft brains” for Machine Learning on the EDGE, with Microcontrollers & Microcomputers. On ASK AN ENGINEER, our founder & engineer chatted with Pete Warden, the technical lead of the mobile, embedded TensorFlow Group on Google’s Brain team about what would be ideal for a board like this.
And here’s what we designed! The BrainCraft HAT has a 240×240 TFT IPS display for inference output, slots for camera connector cable for imaging projects, a 5 way joystick and button for UI input, left and right microphones, stereo headphone out, stereo 1 W speaker out, three RGB DotStar LEDs, two 3 pin STEMMA connectors on PWM pins so they can drive NeoPixels or servos, and Grove/STEMMA/Qwiic I2C port. This will let people build a wide range of audio/video AI projects while also allowing easy plug-in of sensors and robotics!
A controllable mini fan attaches to the bottom, and can be used to keep your Pi cool while doing intense AI inference calculations. Most importantly, there’s an On/Off switch that will completely disable the audio codec, so that when it’s off there’s no way it’s listening to you.
Adafruit Universal USB / DC / Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer charger – bq24074
This charger is the only one you need to keep all your Lithium Polymer (LiPoly) or Lithium Ion (LiIon) rechargeable batteries topped up. No matter the power source at your disposal! The Adafruit Universal USB / DC / Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer Charger can use USB, DC or Solar power, with a wide 5-10V input voltage range! The charger chip is super smart, and will reduce the current draw if the input voltage starts to dip under 4.5V, making it a perfect near-MPPT solar charger that you can use with a wide range of panels.
Even though we designed it with solar in mind, it’s also great as a plain USB or DC charger – we like that you can use 5V or 9V chargers without worry, and the high charge rate is great for quickly charging up those large battery packs!
Adafruit Matrix Portal – CircuitPython Powered Internet Display
Folks love our wide selection of RGB matrices and accessories, for making custom colorful LED displays… and our RGB Matrix Shields and FeatherWings can be quickly soldered together to make the wiring much easier. But what if we made it even easier than that? Like, no solder, no wiring, just instant plug-and-play? Dream no more – with the Adafruit Matrix Portal add-on for RGB Matricies, there’s never been an easier way to create powerful Internet-connected LED displays.
Plug directly into the back of any HUB-75 compatible display (all the ones we stock will work) from 16×32 up to 64×64! Use the included screws to attach the power cable to the power plugs with a common screwdriver, then power it with any USB C power supply. (For larger projects, power the matrices with a separate 5V power adapter)
Adafruit TSL2591 High Dynamic Range Digital Light Sensor – STEMMA QT
When the future is dazzlingly-bright, this ultra-high-range luminosity sensor will help you measure it. The TSL2591 luminosity sensor is an advanced digital light sensor, ideal for use in a wide range of light situations. Compared to low cost CdS cells, this sensor is more precise, allowing for exact lux calculations and can be configured for different gain/timing ranges to detect light ranges from 188 uLux up to 88,000 Lux on the fly.
The best part of this sensor is that it contains both infrared and full spectrum diodes! That means you can separately measure infrared, full-spectrum or human-visible light. Most sensors can only detect one or the other, which does not accurately represent what human eyes see (since we cannot perceive the IR light that is detected by most photo diodes) This sensor is much like the TSL2561 but with a wider range (and the interface code is different). This sensor has a massive 600,000,000:1 dynamic range! Unlike the TSL2561 you cannot change the I2C address, so keep that in mind.
ATTEN 65-Watt Soldering Iron With Digital Adjustable Temperature – ST-2065D
Treat yourself with this wonderful pen-type Atten 65-Watt Soldering Iron. We love the durability, strong grounded cord, nice handle, and fast heat up designed with PTC ceramic material!
When you don’t need a full soldering ‘station’ this pen type iron will fulfill your needs. At 65W it can really handle any task you throw at it, and the lovely adjustable knob on the side lets you set the temperature so you get just the right temperature for your lead or lead free solder. Once it is cooled off, you can easily coil it up and toss it into your workbox to keep your desk top clear.
USB Type C Cable with Data/Charge Switch – 1 meter long
Perhaps your smart phone, tablet, or even your Raspberry Pi 4, charges off of USB, but can you really trust that charging station at the airport? Now you can control when to allow data in or out of your device with this specially-designed USB cable.Voila! Your cable’s data lines can now be switched on or off.
USB C is the latest industry-standard connector for transmitting data and power. Like Lightning and MagSafe cables, USB C has no up or down orientation. And who among us has inserted USB correctly the first time? Works great with any device that has a USB C port.
Not only is it great for privacy and security concerns, it’s also good for use with devices that automatically sync when you plug them into a computer. With the data lines off, you can use it while it charges. This is the most useful thing you never knew you needed!
1.25mm Pitch 2-pin Cable Matching Pair – 40cm long – Molex PicoBlade Compatible
When 0.1″ is too big, and JST PH’s too chunky, these ultra-slim 1.25mm connectors are a reliable alternative. These are only 1.25mm pitch, but have a nice clicky connection.
These cables are nice and long, 40cm in fact. They’ve got both small form factor and are a matching set, with an inline socket and plug connector. The two friction lock to make easy-breezy connections whenever you need light and small connectivity.
The two cables match with each other and with any Molex PicoBlade compatible connectors.
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