There are literally hundreds of development boards to choose from, with a mind-blowing range of processors, memory, storage, pin count, and size. Why is it, then, that we always seem to be missing a feature when we get to our projects?
Sometimes it’s because we start with one design and keep adding bits until we run out of pins; other times, it’s because we use the dev board we have on hand rather than the most suitable one.
Fortunately, there’s a stock of components that can help us. Port expanders, I2C analogue-to-digital converters, and more can be tacked onto most microcontrollers to give us the extra features we need.
Enter the Adafruit ATtiny817 Breakout with seesaw. This is basically a configurable STEMMA QT/Qwiic to almost anything bridge. If you want to add digital I/Os, there are 14 you can use. Nine of them can also be analogue inputs, and five can be PWM outputs.
What we like about this board, though, isn’t the specs; it’s how easy it is to use. Just plug it in via the STEMMA QT/Qwiic cable and it’s all set up. There are libraries for CircuitPython and Arduino, so you can get it working on most maker-level hardware.
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Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: A New Arduino MicroPython Package Manager, How-Tos and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
