We've picked some great items from Adafruit, Proto-pic, and Pimoroni, that we're excited to have in stock:
Adafruit Circuit Playground Express
Based on the older Circuit Playground Classic, The Circuit Playground Express has a much more powerful ATSAMD21 ARM Cortex M0 Processor, running at 3.3V and 48MHz!
Being more powerful, the Express can now be programmed using:
- Microsoft MakeCode (a visual drag and drop interface also used for the BBC micro:bit);
- CircuitPython (based on MicroPython); or
- Arduino (a simplified version of C)
If you know the BBC micro:bit, the Circuit Playground Express can be programmed in a similar manner, but with more powerful hardware. Some features include, an amplified speaker, and microphone; light and colour sensors, infrared, temperature sensors, and multi-coloured lights. It's a great device to add to e-textiles projects on costumes and clothing, as it has plenty connectors to interact with other components.
Read more about all the features of the Circuit Playground Express here.
Proto-pic AMP:BIT class D amplifier for micro:bit with headphone jack
"How can I turn up the volume?", is a question often heard when kids realise that the BBC micro:bit can speak and play music/make noise. Well, here's a great way to let your BBC micro:bit be heard! It's an amplifier with both a 3.5mm headphone socket, volume control, and provision for a speaker terminal. It fits snuggly onto the edge of the BBC micro:bit so you don't have to worry about alligator clips slipping or shorting.
Pimoroni pHAT Stack
Although it's possible to stack your Raspberry Pi pHAT boards on top of one another using combinations of booster headers, this doesn't work for multiple visual displays or controls. The Pimoroni pHAT Stack is a solution that lets you lay out displays and controls so they're all visible at once. Since many displays use I2C communications, these can be used together.
For more information and links, look here.