Thursday, September 12, 2019

MEET THE NEW WHISKERS PLATFORM! by Lindsey Sisler

Whiskers are the newest, tiniest family of boards to come from TinyCircuits. These tiny boards will add new capabilities to your projects in a big way! From sensors and displays, to sound, and inputs like switches and joysticks, Whiskers plug into your projects easily with a 5-pin cable which means absolutely no soldering or bread-boarding. Whiskers are tiny, low-cost, and to top it all off - they are compatible with TinyCircuits boards, standard Arduino boardsand Raspberry Pi boards.
Over 30 Whisker boards have been developed including a myriad of sensors (accelerometer, 9-axis IMU, color, VOC, etc.), Hall effect switch, Hall effect sensor, IR receiver, I/O expansion, LRA vibration motor, various-sized displays, and rotary switch. There is even a MEMS microphone board, audio amplifier, NFC reader, breakout board, pulse oximeter, and a host of others in the arsenal. 
The WhiskerZero Processor is one of TinyCircuits' second-generation processor boards, specifically designed for low-cost Whisker projects. WhiskerZero is based on the Atmel SAMD21 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ processor (the same one used in the Arduino Zero) and provides a USB connectivity port, power management and battery charger in a single 15x32mm board. 
Main Features: 
  • Atmel SAMD21 processor (same as is used on the Arduino Zero) 
  • More memory compared to TinyDuino (both Flash and RAM)
  • Power switch, regulator, lithium battery management on board 
  • Precision clock crystal and Real-Time Clock hardware built-in, low power standby 
  • 4 individually addressable I2C Whisker Ports 
  • Up to 10 ADC inputs, up to 10 PWM outputs, up to 16 external interrupts
RobotZero is one of TinyCircuits' second-generation processor boards, adding performance upgrades and additional features to the original TinyDuino including (4) Whisker connectors, (2) motor ports, (4) servo ports, and a built-in 9-Axis sensor. RobotZero is based on the Atmel SAMD21 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ processor (the same one used in the Arduino Zero) and provides a USB connectivity port, power management and battery charger in a single 30x30mm board. We've kept our standard TinyShield expansion port, allowing for use with our current shields. 
Main Features:
  • Atmel SAMD21 processor (same as is used on the Arduino Zero)
  • More memory compared to TinyDuino (both Flash and RAM)
  • TinyShield expansion connector, built-in micro USB connection
  • Power switch, regulator, lithium battery management on board
  • Precision clock crystal and Real-Time Clock hardware built-in, low power standby
  • Populated 9-Axis Sensor: 3D accelerometer, 3D gyroscope, and 3D magnetometer
  • Up to 10 ADC inputs, up to 10 PWM outputs, up to 16 external interrupts
The Whisker Adapter TinyShield is the heart of the Whisker platform. Featuring a 4-channel Multiplexer, on-board voltage regulation, and level shifting, this board allows you to add up to 4 Whiskers to your project with ease! 
Up to 8 Whisker Adapters may be stacked together by changing the address resistors on the board. I/O Pin 4 is used to control power to the Whisker Adapter. Driving it high will activate the Adapter board and its sensors while driving it low will power down the board and its sensors to save on power consumption! Using a multiplexer also allows you to use two or more I²C devices with the same address, without interference problems.
The Whisker Pi Hat allows users to add Whiskers to their Pi projects. Featuring a 4-channel Multiplexer, Real-Time Clock (RTC), on-board voltage regulation and level shifting, this board allows you to add up to 4 Whisker Boards to your project with ease! 

The Whisker Arduino Shield allows users to add Whiskers to their Standard Arduino projects. Featuring a 4-channel Multiplexer, Real-Time Clock (RTC), on-board voltage regulation and level shifting, this board allows you to add up to 4 Whisker Boards to your project with ease! 

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