Qwiic Boost increases the Qwiic bus from 3.3V to 5V while still providing the target device with 3.3V I2C signals. This is a handy board for connecting technologies that still require 5V for running higher voltage mechanisms (like a DC fan) but have an internal processor running at 3.3V. We've seen this a lot with air quality sensors that use a fan to push air into a test chamber.
The 5V boost circuit is rated up to 100mA with 90% efficiency. For applications where the 5V device needs 5V I2C signals, a conversion circuit is provided with the board. A jumper is available to select between 3.3V (default) and 5V I2C signals.
The SparkFun Qwiic Connect System is an ecosystem of I2C sensors, actuators, shields and cables that make prototyping faster and less prone to error. All Qwiic-enabled boards use a common 1mm pitch, 4-pin JST connector. This reduces the amount of required PCB space, and polarized connections mean you can’t hook it up wrong.
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I needed to migrate from an older Leonardo based design to something with more code space for a one-off project and the Sparkfun SAMD51 Thing Plus met the requirements, but the all of the i/o was on a pair of 5V I2C buses. The Sparkfun I2C Mux handled the multiple bus issue but I didn't have a neat 3.3 - 5.0 volt bidirectional level shifter solution. What I had involved commodity boards without mounting holes or Qwiic connectors and I needed an external 5V supply, which seemed like overkill as the total drain of the I2C buss was only 50mA. Qwiic Boost to the rescue! This provided the neat Qwiic connectors on the 3.3V side and standard 0.100 I2C with on an board charge pump that can easily supply the requirements of my I2C chain as well as low current test LEDs. Easy-peasy and mounting holes for #4 hardware.
Could you add a PTC self-resetting "fuse" matched to the boost converter's max amperage? Gotta keep that magic smoke inside.