SparkFun: DEV-09873

Description: This is the newest revision of our FTDI Basic. We now use a SMD 6-pin header on the bottom, which makes it smaller and more compact. Functionality has remained the same.

This is a basic breakout board for the FTDI FT232RL USB to serial IC. The pinout of this board matches the FTDI cable to work with official Arduino and cloned 3.3V Arduino boards. It can also be used for general serial applications. The major difference with this board is that it brings out the DTR pin as opposed to the RTS pin of the FTDI cable. The DTR pin allows an Arduino target to auto-reset when a new Sketch is downloaded. This is a really nice feature to have and allows a sketch to be downloaded without having to hit the reset button. This board will auto reset any Arduino board that has the reset pin brought out to a 6-pin connector.

The pins labeled BLK and GRN correspond to the colored wires on the FTDI cable. The black wire on the FTDI cable is GND, green is DTR. Use these BLK and GRN pins to align the FTDI basic board with your Arduino target.

There are pros and cons to the FTDI Cable vs the FTDI Basic. This board has TX and RX LEDs that allow you to actually see serial traffic on the LEDs to verify if the board is working, but this board requires a Mini-B cable. The FTDI Cable is well protected against the elements, but is large and cannot be embedded into a project as easily. The FTDI Basic uses DTR to cause a hardware reset where the FTDI cable uses the RTS signal.

This board was designed to decrease the cost of Arduino development and increase ease of use (the auto-reset feature rocks!). Our Arduino Pro and LilyPad boards use this type of connector.

Don Luc

SparkFun: SEN-11486

Description: The SparkFun 9DOF MPU-9150 is the world’s first 9-axis MotionTracking MEMS device designed for the low power, low cost, and high performance requirements of consumer electronics equipment including smartphones, tablets and wearable sensors. And guess what? You get to play with it.

This breakout board makes it easy to prototype with the InvenSense MPU-9150 by breaking out all the pins you need to standard 0.1″ spaced headers. The board also provides I2C pullup resistors and a solder jumper to switch the I2C address of the device.

The MPU-9150 is a System in Package (SiP) that combines two chips: the MPU-6050, which contains a 3-axis gyroscope, and 3-axis accelerometer. The part is offered in a 4x4x1mm LGA package and is upgrade-compatible with the MPU-6050 integrated 6-axis MotionTracking device, providing a simple upgrade path and making it easy to fit on space constrained boards.

Features:

• Tri-Axis angular rate sensor (gyro) with a sensitivity up to 131 LSBs/dps and a full-scale range of ±250, ±500, ±1000, and ±2000dps
• Tri-Axis accelerometer with a programmable full scale range of ±2g, ±4g, ±8g and ±16g
• Tri-axis compass with a full scale range of ±1200µT
• Reduced settling effects and sensor drift by elimination of board-level cross-axis alignment errors between accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass
• VDD Supply voltage range of 2.4V-3.46V; VLOGIC of 1.8V±5% or VDD
• Gyro operating current: 3.6mA (full power, gyro at all rates)
• Gyro + Accel operating current: 3.8mA (full power, gyro at all rates, accel at 1kHz sample rate)
• Gyro + Accel + Compass + DMP operating current: 4.25mA (full power, gyro at all rates, accel at 1kHz sample rate, compass at 8Hz rate)
• Accel low power mode operating current: 10uA at 1Hz, 20uA at 5Hz, 70uA at 20Hz, 140uA at 40Hz
• Full Chip Idle Mode Supply Current: 8µA
• 400kHz Fast Mode I²C serial host interface
• On-chip timing generator with ±1% frequency variation over full temperature range
• 10,000g shock tolerant
• I2C Pullup Resistors populated on board.
• All Pins Broken Out to Standard 0.1″ Spaced Headers
• Solder Jumper for Switching LSB of I2C Address

Don Luc

SparkFun: PRT-10161

Description: If you need to charge LiPo batteries, this simple charger will do just that, and do it fast! The USB LiPo Charger is a basic charging circuit that allows you to charge 3.7V LiPo cells at a rate of 500mA or 100mA. It is designed to charge single-cell Li-Ion or Li-Polymer batteries. Check the datasheet below to see if it will work with your battery.

The board incorporates a charging circuit, status LED, selectable solder jumper for 500mA or 100mA charging current, external LED footprint, USB input, mounting holes, and various holes for your own connectors. We include a single JST-tpye connector which connects directly to our LiPo batteries. The connector comes unsoldered, so you can use it or not.

There is also a ‘SYS OUT’ which allows you to connect the charging circuit directly to your project so you don’t need to disconnect the charger each time you want to use it.

Don Luc