If you’re looking to use the Qwiic / Stemma QT standard for your next project – but you’re using a sensor or device that requires 5V power or logic, this board is designed for you! It will let you use the 3V power and logic from your Raspberry Pi or ARM Cortex microcontroller, and boost/shift it up to 5V for use with older or high-power devices that aren’t happy with only 3V.
These days, almost every microcontroller / microcomputer board has 3V power and logic: ESP32 series, ATSAMD chips, RP2040 boards, micro:bits, etc! But we still see sensors and devices here and there that really want 5V power or logic. Like this Sensirion SEN54 which has a small motor with 5V power requirements.
On one side of this board is 3V power and logic level inputs. In the middle is a 5V charge-pump boosting regulator that can provide 100mA continuous (250mA peak) plus level shifting circuitry. On the opposite side is the same I2C traffic but now safely shifted up to 5V. If you happen to be using a board that wants 5V power, but 3V logic I2C, there’s a solder jumper on the back you can cut/solder to set the output logic level to unshifted 3V.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
