Adafruit CRICKIT for micro:bit (ID: 3928) Adafruit

DESCRIPTION

Sometimes we wonder if robotics engineers ever watch movies. If they did, they’d know that making robots into slaves always ends up in a robot rebellion. Why even go down that path?

So if you find yourself wanting a companion, consider the robot. They’re fun to program, and you can get creative with decorations.

With that in mind, Adafruit designed Crickit – That’s the Creative Robotics & Interactive Construction Kit. It’s an add-on to the BBC’s micro:bit that lets you #MakeRobotFriend using MakeCode or Arduino.

Plug your micro:bit into the 40 pin edge connector and start controlling motors, servos, and solenoids. You also get signal pins, capacitive touch sensors, a NeoPixel driver and amplified speaker output. It complements & extends micro:bit so you can still use all the goodies on the micro:bit, but now you have a robotics playground as well.

Please note at this time that MicroPython is not supported yet, just MakeCode & Arduino!

The Crickit is powered by seesaw, the I2C-to-whatever bridge firmware. So you only need to use two data pins to control the huge number of inputs and outputs on the Crickit. All those timers, PWMs, sensors are offloaded to the co-processor.

Please Note: 

• You’ll need BBC micro:bit and a power supply, these are not included.

FEATURES

 Includes:

• 4 x Analogue or Digital Servo control, with precision 16-bit timers
• 2 x Bi-directional brushed DC motor control, 1 Amp current limited each, with 8-bit PWM speed control (or one stepper)
• 4 x High current “Darlington” 500mA drive outputs with kick-back diode protection. For solenoids, relays, large LEDs, or one unipolar stepper
• 4 x Capacitive touch input sensors with alligator-pads
• 8 x Signal pins, can be used as digital in/out or analogue inputs
• 1 x NeoPixel driver with 5V level shifter – this is connected to micro:bit pin #16 so you can use MakeCode’s built-in NeoPixel control
• 1 x Class D, 4-8 ohm speaker, 3W-max audio amplifier – this is connected to micro:bit pin #1 which is the default audio output

All are powered via 5V DC, so you can use any 5V-powered servos, DC motors, steppers, solenoids, relays etc. To keep things simple and safe, the board doesn’t support mixing voltages, so only 5V, not for use with 9V or 12V robotic components.

RESOURCES

•  Adafruit Guide