Adafruit’s Top Ten New Products of 2019 #AdafruitTopTen
by Angelica
Happy 2020! To celebrate another year in the books, here are our top 10 New Products from 2019!
1. Circuit Playground Bluefruit – Bluetooth Low Energy
Circuit Playground Bluefruit is our third board in the Circuit Playground series, another step towards a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. We’ve taken the popular Circuit Playground Express and made it even better! Now the main chip is an nRF52840 microcontroller which is not only more powerful, but also comes with Bluetooth Low Energy support for wireless connectivity.
2. Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB RAM
The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is the newest Raspberry Pi computer made, and the Pi Foundation knows you can always make a good thing better! And what could make the Pi 4 better than the 3? How about a faster processor, USB 3.0 ports, and updated Gigabit Ethernet chip with PoE capability? Good guess – that’s exactly what they did!
The Raspberry Pi 4 is the latest product in the Raspberry Pi range, boasting an updated 64-bit quad core processor running at 1.5GHz with built-in metal heatsink, USB 3 ports, dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless LAN, faster Gigabit Ethernet, and PoE capability via a separate PoE HAT.
3. Adafruit EdgeBadge – TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers
The EdgeBadge is a compact board – it’s credit card sized. It’s powered by our favorite chip, the ATSAMD51, with 512KB of flash and 192KB of RAM. We add 2 MB of QSPI flash for file storage, handy for TensorFlow Lite files, images, fonts, sounds, or other assets.
We’ve added a PDM microphone on the front as an input for micro speech recognition. Our Arduino library has some demos you can get started with to recognize various word pairs like “yes/no”, “up/down” and “cat/dog”. TensorFlow Lite for microcontrollers is very cutting-edge so expect to see a lot of development happening in this area, with lots of code and process changes.
4. Adafruit PyGamer for MakeCode Arcade, CircuitPython or Arduino
What fits in your pocket, is fully Open Source, and can run CircuitPython, MakeCode Arcade or Arduino games you write yourself? That’s right, it’s the Adafruit PyGamer! We wanted to make an entry-level gaming handheld for DIY gaming, and maybe a little retro-emulation. It’s not the fastest and best of everything but it is an all-in-one dev board with a lot of possibilities!
The PyGamer is powered by our favorite chip, the ATSAMD51, with 512KB of flash and 192KB of RAM. We add 8 MB of QSPI flash for file storage, handy for images, fonts, sounds, or game assets.
5. Adafruit PyRuler – Engineer Reference Ruler with CircuitPython
The first time you soldered up a surface mount component you may have been surprised “these are really small parts!” and there’s a dozen of different names too! QFN, TDFN, SOIC, SOP, J-Lead, what do they mean and how can you tell how big they are? Now you can have a reference board at your fingertips with this snazzy PCB reference ruler.
6. Adafruit MONSTER M4SK – DIY Electronic Eyes Mask
Peep dis! Have you always wanted to have another pair of eyes on the back of your head? Or outfit your costume with big beautiful orbs? The MONSTER M4SK is like the Hallowing but twice as good, with two gorgeous 240×240 pixel IPS TFT displays, driven by a 120MHZ Cortex M4 processor that can pump out those pixels super fast. You’ll get the same quality display as our Raspberry Pi Eyes kit but without needing to tote around a full Linux computer.
7. Circuit Playground TFT Gizmo – Bolt-on Display + Audio Amplifier
Extend and expand your Circuit Playground projects with a bolt on TFT Gizmo that lets you add a lovely color display in a sturdy and reliable fashion. This PCB looks just like a round TFT breakout but has permanently affixed M3 standoffs that act as mechanical and electrical connections.
Once attached you’ll get a 1.54″ 240×240 IPS display with backlight control, two 3-pin STEMMA connectors for attaching NeoPixel strips or servos, and a Class D audio amplifier with a Molex PicoBlade connector that can plug one of our lil speakers.
8. Adafruit AirLift – ESP32 WiFi Co-Processor Breakout Board
Give your plain ol’ microcontroller project a lift with the Adafruit AirLift – a breakout board that lets you use the powerful ESP32 as a WiFi co-processor. You probably have your favorite microcontroller (like the ATmega328 or ATSAMD51), awesome peripherals and lots of libraries. But it doesn’t have WiFi built in! So lets give that chip a best friend, the ESP32. This chip can handle all the heavy lifting of connecting to a WiFi network and transferring data from a site, even if its using the latest TLS/SSL encryption (it has root certificates pre-burned in).
9. Adafruit PyBadge for MakeCode Arcade, CircuitPython or Arduino
What’s the size of a credit card and can run CircuitPython, MakeCode Arcade or Arduino? That’s right, it’s the Adafruit PyBadge! We wanted to see how much we could cram into a 3 3⁄8 × 2 1⁄8 inch rounded rectangle, to make an all-in-one dev board with a lot of possibilities, and this is what we came up with.
The PyBadge is a compact board, like we said, it’s credit card sized. It’s powered by our favorite chip, the ATSAMD51, with 512KB of flash and 192KB of RAM. We add 2 MB of QSPI flash for file storage, handy for images, fonts, sounds, or game assets.
10. Adafruit Mini PiTFT – 135×240 Color TFT Add-on for Raspberry Pi
The Adafruit Mini PiTFT – 135×240 Color TFT Add-on for Raspberry Pi is your little TFT pal, ready to snap onto any and all Raspberry Pi computers, to give you a little display. The Mini PiTFT comes with a full color 240×135 pixel IPS display with great visibility at all angles. The TFT uses only the SPI port so its very fast, and we leave plenty of pins remaining available for buttons, LEDs, sensors, etc. It’s also nice and compact so it will fit into any case.
Honorable Mention:
Cartoon Network Sticker Set for Circuit Playground Express
We love mixing nostalgia with technology! We love accessorizing our Circuit Playgrounds! What better way to add a splash of color and character to one of your favorite Adafruit boards than with these Cartoon Network Character Stickers!
The whole gang from your childhood is here, plus some new faces! We’ve curated a great assortment of 22 stickers, from deliciously devious Mojo Jojo, strong and stoic Garnet, the Powerpuff Girls, indestructible Diamondhead, and more!
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