Friday Product Post: nRF This!
The nRF52832 Breakout, SmartiPi Touch, Serial-Controlled Motor Driver and RedBearLab BLE Nano Kit round out today's brand new products! Happy Friday!
Hello, and welcome back to another exciting Friday Product Post! This week we begin gearing up for the holidays by releasing four brand new boards: the SparkFun nRF52832 Breakout, the SmartiPi Touch enclosure, the SparkFun Serial-Controlled Motor Driver board, and the RedBearLab BLE Nano Kit. Let's dive in and get a closer look!
IoT? What do I owe, and who is "Tee"?
The nRF52832 is Nordic Semiconductor’s latest multiprotocol radio SoC (System on Chip). It’s half microcontroller, with a list of features including 32 configurable I/O pins, SPI, I2C, UART, PWM, ADC’s, 512kB flash and 64kB RAM. And it’s half 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio, supporting Bluetooth low energy (BLE), ANT and Nordic’s proprietary 2.4GHz ultra low-power wireless communication. It even features on-chip NFC tag support.
SparkFun’s nRF52832 Breakout provides easy access to all of the chip’s features. It breaks out all of the nRF52’s I/O pins, provides a 32.768kHz RTC crystal, a user-programmable button and LED, and a trace antenna to send and receive those 2.4GHz transmissions. Plus, to make the chip as easy to flash as possible, the breakout comes pre-programmed with a serial bootloader.
The SmartiPi Touch is an enclosure and stand for the official Raspberry Pi 7" Touchscreen LCD. The display securely fits into the case with four screws, while a Raspberry Pi 2, B+ or A+ is enclosed in the compartment on the back with a simple door. A ribbon cable that comes with the display connects into the Raspberry Pi DSI port as normal. The stand has a pivot that allows you to adjust the angle of the screen for better viewing, as well as mounting points to affix it to a certain location.
The SparkFun Serial Controlled Motor Driver (SCMD) is a DC motor driver that’s been designed to drive small DC motors with ease. The SCMD is designed to emulate a typical register-based device in operation. It can be commanded by UART, I2C or SPI communication, and it can drive a constant 1.2A load per motor (peak 1.5A) at 11V. Need more than two motors? Chain multiple SCMDs together and command them through the same serial interface. Need more current? Each board’s output can be bridged to allow double current.
Albeit not new, the RedBearLab BLE Nano Kit has received an upgrade to its MK20 USB board and has transitioned to the new DAPLink for more efficient data transfer capabilities. Firmware updates can be found on the product page.
Alright, folks, that's it for this Friday Product Post. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and check back next Friday, as we'll be announcing Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and releasing limited-time kits through the weekend. Have a great holiday!
