Friday Product Post: RFIdes of March
On this fine Friday we add RFID capabilities to our Qwiic Connect System with a new board and kit, the newest pi-top is available, and a few other knick-knacks to help you out with your next project!
Et tu, Brute? Hello, everyone and welcome our Ides of March Friday Product Post (aka the RFIdes of March). To celebrate this punny day, we are bringing RFID capabilities to our Qwiic Connect System with a new breakout board and starter kit! That's not all though, because we also have the newest pi-top with Inventor's Kit now available, a planetary gearmotor, as well as a 2.5Ah battery pack!
As a reminder, the SparkFun Edge Development Board is still available for pre-order – it's perfect if you are looking for an economical and easy way to get into the world of edge and machine learning. The entire board is powered by TensorFlow, so you know the type of capabilities the Edge is capable of! Also as part of the Arduino Day celebration this week we're taking 20% off most SparkFun Original Boards.
Now let's get to the new products!
No need to beware these RFIdes of March!
The SparkFun RFID Qwiic Reader is a simple I2C based RFID breakout board for the ID-3LA, ID-12LA and ID-20LA readers. Simply plug a reader into the headers and use a Qwiic cable, then scan your 125kHz ID tag, and the unique 32-bit ID will be shown on the screen. The unit comes with a red LED and buzzer, but don't worry, there is a jumper you can cut to disable the buzzer if you want. Utilizing our handy Qwiic system, no soldering is required to connect it to the rest of your system. However, we still have broken out 0.1"-spaced pins in case you prefer to use a breadboard.
Of course if you want an all-in-one way to get started, you're in luck! The SparkFun RFID Qwiic Kit comes with everything you need to get started. The SparkFun RFID Qwiic Reader, an ID-12LA reader, a couple of RFID cards and a cable to get you hooked up.
Be top dog with this new pi-top!
The pi-top (officially called the pi-top [3]) is a DIY laptop that helps you start learning how to code, create awesome devices and take your knowledge to the next level. This Raspberry Pi-powered laptop is an excellent resource to any budding hobbyist, student or intrigued user wanting to learn more about Raspberry Pi. The only thing this kit doesn't include is a speaker; you'll need to supply that on your own.
This new version has a few additional features as well. We now include both the Raspberry Pi 3B+ as well as the pi-top Inventor's Kit. The Inventor's Kit provides a breadboard to snap into the built-in Modular Rail, as well as buttons, LEDs, potentiometers and more. The kit also provides instructions and various templates to get you started building your Music Maker, Smart Robot or Space Race game.
This is a simple ~140RPM (no load), DC planetary gearmotor. This motor is great for various applications such as robotics, electric locks, household automation and small actuators.
These portable, rechargeable lithium ion battery packs are simple, compact and make for a great way to power your widgets in the field. Best of all, they're dead simple to operate: just connect your device to the USB-A port on the battery pack and press the power button. To recharge the battery pack, just plug it into your computer or phone charger using a USB micro-B cable (not included).
That's it for this week! As always, we can't wait to see what you make! Shoot us a tweet @sparkfun, or let us know on Instagram or Facebook. We’d love to see what projects you’ve made!
We'll be back next week with even more fantastic new products!
Pi top laptop at great prices, i wish speakers were offered, i am designing a couple of website. But times after coding, i like a bit of music to clear my mind
FWIW, the Qwiic Reader hookup guide has some photo links that are rewarded with a 404 message. (Got lost in the Great Server Debacle? ;-)