Hello, and thanks for stopping by on this huge Friday Product Post! We are very happy to bring you Onion's whole Omega2 product line. This includes the Omega2 and Omega 2+ mainboards, four docks to plug your Omegas into, and six different expansion boards to broaden the capabilities of your Omega. It's a big week, so let's jump in and check out all of these new products!
12 new products fresh for the picking!
The Omega2 and Omega2+ IoT computers are Onion’s Linux-based WiFi development boards designed to enable makers of all skill levels to build connected hardware applications. Plug in your Omega, and it will boot the operating system right away, allowing you to develop in your favorite programming language, create web applications and interface with a variety of hardware with minimal time and effort spent getting started.
The major differences between the 2 and 2+ exist only in the memory, storage and an added microSD slot. The Omega2 features 64MB of memory and 16MB of storage, while the Omega2+ is equipped with 128MB of memory, 32MB of storage and an added microSD slot.
The Breadboard Dock brings breadboard compatibility to the Onion Omega, mapping all of its pins to a standard 0.1" spacing and allowing you to access all of the Omega’s IOs in your breadboard project. Due to the Omega's 2mm pin spacing, this dock is extremely handy to have. It’s about as close as you can get to plugging it directly into a breadboard.
The Mini Dock is designed to power your Omega for applications that do not require GPIO pins. Its small form factor makes it suitable to use for wireless applications such as WiFi range extension, wireless printing, wireless video streaming and more. The Mini Dock comes with a built-in USB-A port, allowing you to plug and play a variety of USB devices into your Omega. An onboard USB-to-Serial chip provides easy access to the Omega’s terminal directly from your computer.
The Arduino Dock R2 allows you to supercharge your projects by combining the familiar Arduino platform with the power and connectivity of the Omega2. Each Dock features the ATmega328P microcontroller as a coprocessor to act in tandem with the Omega, and exposes the GPIO pins of both the Omega and the microcontroller. If you are looking for a way to incorporate both Arduino and Onion Omega into your next project, there isn't a finer choice than the Arduino Dock R2!
The Expansion Dock provides an easy way to power your Omega with any microUSB cable while breaking out all of the Omega’s GPIO pins. Simply put, this dock allows you to control external circuits or connect Expansion Boards to extend the functionality of your Omega. Each Expansion Dock also comes with an onboard USB-to-serial chip that allows you to access the terminal directly from your computer. The Expansion Dock makes your Omega incredibly convenient and easy to use!
The Ethernet Expansion Board adds an Ethernet port to your Omega with a maximum connection speed of 100Mbps. While the Omega is all about wireless connectivity, a reliable wired network connection can be a great addition to a project, and the Ethernet Expansion is a great tool for quickly reflashing your Omega’s firmware.
The OLED Expansion Board adds a low-power 0.96″ monochrome display to your Omega. With a resolution of 128×64, you can use it to display text, images and even animations. This Expansion Board is very useful for displaying status information, web data and small logos. If you’re interested in writing text, 21 characters can fit on each horizontal row, with seven rows in total.
The Proto Expansion Board for the Onion Omega allows you to create your very own prototype that interfaces with your Omega. This little board provides a small soldering area and 30-pin header that plugs into the Expansion Dock. With it, you will have full control over what kind of project you design for your Omega!
The Relay Expansion Board enables your Omega to control two other independent electrical circuits. The circuits are isolated from the Omega and can operate at much higher or lower voltages, so you can control other circuits you’ve built or small household appliances rated up to 60W. The Relay Expansion Board is perfect for home automation projects because it gives you the ability to control other devices remotely using your Omega.
The Servo Expansion Board adds 16 PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) outputs to your Omega. With this expansion, you will be able to get started with your project quickly by connecting standard servos directly to the onboard 3-pin connectors. You can use this little board for anything with moving parts, such as robotics or driving DC motors. You can also make a light show with LEDs by controlling their brightness!
The GPS Expansion Board for the Onion Omega is a USB-based expansion that allows your Omega to pinpoint its location using both GPS and China’s BeiDou satellite positioning systems. The GPS Expansion also comes with an onboard GPS antenna, as well as a built-in U.FL connector to attach your own antenna.
And that's it! Thank you for sticking it out until the end; we know there are a lot of new and different products to check out this week. As always, we can't wait to see what you make with these parts! Shoot us a tweet @sparkfun, or let us know on Instagram or Facebook. We’d love to see what projects you’ve made!
Thanks for stopping by. We'll see you next week with even more new products!
