Looking to provide lots of power to your Freeduino, Multipack, or other circuit with a 2.1mm barrel jack socket footprint? Want to save on PCB space or just don’t have room for a larger switch that can handle more power? The SWT15 is right up your alley, having a 2.1mm barrel jack socket plus a 2.5A-rated power switch built into one unit, it solves a lot of design problems. If you want a bit higher current rating, check out our SWT14, with similar functionality!
Note: The specifications show the pin inside barrel socket is actually 2.0mm but is fully compatible with the more common 2.1mm plug.
Specifications
- Electrical rating: 15VDC 2.5A
- Contact Resistance: 20mOhm (initial)
- Insulation Resistance: >1000 MOhm @ 500VDC
- Dielectric Strength: >1500V @ 1 min.
- Life: 6000 cycles
- Contact material: Copper alloy with Silver plating
- Switch Circuit: SPDT
- RoHS compliant: Yes
Note: If mounted on an Arduino form factor board, it will likely render your board non-shield compatible without modification.
This Line Following Robot is the main project outlined in David Cook’s Robot Building for Beginners book.
The kit comes complete with all electronic components necessary to build a fully functional Sandwich robot (Molex headers and batteries not included). It even includes the official PCB for easier assembly. Add any of our 3mm Sintra to your cart to use as a base (instead of a sandwich container). Basic Instructions included.
NOTES:
- You can find instructions online here, but we strongly recommend using the actual Robot Builder for Beginners book for the complete build process.
- Battery featured in image is not included.
- Molex headers mentioned in the Sandwich Robot PCB How To on Robot Room are not included in this kit.
The Sandwich PCB Kit Includes
- 1 x SandPCB – Sandwich PCB
- 2 x 1k Resistors
- 4 x 150ohm Resistors
- 2 x 20k Trimpots
- 3 x 1N5818 Diodes
- 1 x LM393 Op-Amp
- 2 x 2N2907 Transistors
- 8 x High-Intensity LEDs (Assortment of White, Green, and Yellow)
- 1 x Power Switch
- 1 x Selection Switch
- 1 x 330µF Electrolytic Capacitor
- 1 x 0.1µF Capacitor
- 4 x CDS Cells
- 1 x SWT7 Dark/Light sensor config switch
- 4 x #2-56 x 3/4″ Bolts and Nuts for mounting
- 1 x 8-Pin Dip IC Carrier
- 2 x GM2 Gear Motors
- 2 x Gear Motor Plastic Wheels
Having been involved with more than a handful of technology dresses and costumes on various occasions we’ve learned a lot in the process, and wanted to share this with you. So we decided make the most successful projects into the easy-to-use bundles.
The “Starry Night” Dress Bundle Includes:
- 1 x Arduino Pro Mini
- 2 x 2 position, 0.1″ Terminal blocks
- 1 x 6 position, 0.1″ Terminal block
- 1 x BattR15 LiPoly cells (original used 2 for longevity)
- 1 x HVJST2 LiPoly battery connector socket (original used 2)
- 2 bobbins of Superflex Wire
- 10 x WS2812B LEDs on white PCB (individuals)
- 3 x Superflex LED Strand – (original used only 1 white strand)
- 1 x SWT16 power switch
Other wearable and dress bundles:
The “Starry Night” Pendant Bundle
Addressable RGB Dress Bundle
You can find the process of making the dresses and technical details here on this blog post.
The 9V snap to 2.1mm barrel Plug cable is great for split supply operation when your running a motor driver, just power your microcontroller with this cable while and motor driver with another battery. This cable quickly clips onto our 3AA Battery holder, or 9V Alkalines, or 7.2V NiMH & NiCd rechargeables. It’s perfect for powering Arduinos & Freeduinos or using with a 2.1mm Jack with switch. The tip is positive on 2.1mm plug side and the wire portion is 13.5cm long.
We all know that electricity runs on holes punched out by Chuck Norris for electrons to fit into but now we finally have a switch that can handle it!
This is a great switch to team up with mega regulators such as the LM1084 as it also shares a 5Amp rating. This switch is designed to be mounted to a PCB but is a small enough form factor to fit a multitude of applications. With a great current rating and wide operating temperature range, this switch is hardcore… just like the pioneer himself (little known fact that it was Chuck Norris, not Black Flag who started it all)!
Specifications:
Electrical rating: 5 Amps @ 120VAC or 28VDC, 2 Amps @ 250VAC
Life: 30,000 cycles
Circuit: SPDT ON-NONE-ON (2 positions)
Contact Resistance: 10 mOhm max. initial @ 2-4VDC
Insulation Resistance: 1,000 MOhm min.
Dielectric Strength: 1,000 Vrms min. @sea level
Operating Temp: -30°C to 85°C
Contact Material: Brass, with silver plating
RoHS compliant: Yes
Dimensions:
12.8mm (L) X 6.8mm (W) X 7.0mm (H) [w/o actuator] / 12.1mm (H) [w/ actuator]
Lead spacing: 0.190″ (4.8mm)
Looking to provide lots of power to your Freeduino, Multipack, or other circuit with a 2.1mm barrel jack socket footprint? Want to save on PCB space or just don’t have room for a larger switch that can handle more power? The SWT15 is right up your alley, having a 2.1mm barrel jack socket plus a 3A power switch built into one unit, it solves a lot of design problems.
This combo is not as tall as the SWT15 but is a bit wider. It has nicely positioned ON/OFF labels for very easy, at-a-glance peace of mind for knowing if power is getting to your circuit or not. Be aware that the pin inside the socket is actually a 2.1mm-compatible 2.0mm in diameter
Specifications
- Electrical rating: 16VDC 3A
- Contact Resistance: 30mOhm max.
- Insulation Resistance: 100 MOhm min.
- Life: 30,000 cycles
- Contact material: Copper alloy with Silver plating
- Switch Circuit: SPDT
- RoHS compliant: Yes
Note: If mounted on an Arduino form factor board, it will likely render your board non-shield compatible without modification.
This switch is the bigger brother of the popular SWT1 featured on our Freeduino! Each side has a label of 1 or 2 for mode selection or just use is as a simple ON/OFF switch. Need to handle more current through your power switch? These fit the same hole pattern as the SWT1 but are rated for 3A!
Specifications
- Contact rating: 3A @ 125VAC or 28VDC, 1A @250VAC
- Contact resistance: 50mΩ max. initial
- Life: 20,000 cycles
- Insulation resistance: 1,000 MΩ min.
- Dielectric strength: 1,000 Vrms min. @sea level
- Operating Temp: -40°C to 80°C
- Circuit: SPDT ON-NONE-ON (2 positions)
- Actuator hight: 2.8mm
- Lead spacing: 0.1″ (2.54mm)
- Contact material: Copper alloy with silver plating
- RoHS Compliant: Yes
Dimensions
7.6mm (W) x 13.9mm (L) x 8.4mm (H) [w/o actuator] / 11.5mm (H) [w/ actuator]
Turn your Arduino-compatible Ardweeny into a portable powerhouse! This small form factor, open source hardware design allows for a fully-functional Arduino application board to fit into some tight spots. Capable of driving continuous rotation and regular servos as well as reading analog sensors, the Ardweeny plus MultiPack is an awesome combination for all kinds of robotic and mechatronic applications.
Features:
- 6 x #2-56 Mounting holes
- Dual-orientation 2.1mm barrel jack mount (inline or 90°)
- ON-OFF slide switch (not recommended for high current applications)
- BLINKM compatible I2C header
- Separate 2 position 0.1″ spacing input voltage port
- Built-in powerful low-dropout 5V, 5A regulator
- Blue power indicator LED
- Input voltage from 6.3-30VDC
- Full I/O breakout with solder points (or pluggable headers)
- Interface up to 12 servos and 6 analog sensors
- Ardweeny socket (or solder it straight in if you need a robust module)
- OSHW! (Open source Hardware)
Applications:
- Ideal for driving multiple servos
- Ground / Voltage / Signal (GVS) pinout for all Ardweeny pins
- Great for servo-based robots, like walkers, tail draggers, & 4 wheelers
- Read multiple sensors and automatically turn on or off a light switch
- Work great for the electronics section of the DragonTail Chassis, code ports over smoothly too!
Please Note: There are some limitations with the Multipack. The printed circuit board is designed for 5A, and the voltage regulator / heat sink can push 5A (for a while). The switch (0.2A @ 30VDC) and barrel jack (2.5A @ 16VDC) can’t handle this current, however. Although limits may be pushed on these parts, be aware that a hard-wire jumper will be safer than the switch/jack at higher currents. Our 12-servo exercise lasted 4min45s on 8V input, surging to 3A before the VReg went into thermal shutdown.
How often do you get a kit where the battery is included? This super small microcontroller is a ready to go ATtiny85 application board that is a smoothly routed, small form factor, through-hole soldering kit. Don’t know how to solder? No worries, this is a great place to start; we have a quick soldering guide in the manual to walk you through the soldering process as long as you have the tools to do it. The kit includes everything, even the battery, to make your own blinky LED project!
We are now on version 2 of SB-FireFly and it is now Digispark (the wildly successful kickstarter project) layout compatible, so you can add Digispark shields onto it. We walk you through building it into this configuration in our newly revised manual (under the Documentation tab). If you don’t have that much of a desire to hack the board feel free to just build the SB-FireFly as it was originally intended, all the instructions are still there. With version 2 we’ve also updated the code to include a new “Rainbow” mode, perfect for RGB LEDs (like in the Northern Lights Bundle) and it now also has the ability to remember the last mode you set if you ever power it down! If you have the previous version of the FireFly not to worry as the code is backward compatible, and located under the Documentation tab.
It has tons of potential, including wearables, – place the it on your clothes then from the other side, apply a magnet to the back of the battery area and you’ll have a SB-FireFly badge! It can also be placed onto a small key ring for a blinky keychain or lanyard, or thread a small string through it for a necklace.
The SB-FireFly features an Arduino-accommodating ATtiny85 microcontroller, so with a minor adjustment (thanks to those smart MIT people) to your Arduino programming IDE, you can reprogram it to suit your whim (check out the instructions in our manual). It also is a handy development/application board to make practical use of this small microcontroller. If you wanted to use AVR studio with a avr programmer by all means you can go that route as well.
The board also has a cleverly hidden 3-pin expansion port usable for project enhancement!
Here are the modes the SB-FireFly comes pre-programmed with (toggled via the button):
| Firefly Modes: | Press1 | Press2 | Press3 | Press4 |
| Blink All | Slow | Regular | Fast | Sleep |
| Metronome | Slow | Regular | Fast | Sleep |
| Disco | Slow | Regular | Fast | Sleep |
| Fading Eyes | Slow | Regular | Fast | Sleep |
| Firefly | Slow | Regular | Fast | Sleep |
| Rainbow | Slow | Regular | Fast | Sleep |
Applications:
- Place in translucent jars to float down the river
- Robot eyes
- Add blinky LEDs to a party or other large social gathering
- Introductory soldering project
- Wearable as a ring, badge, necklace, key chain or sew it onto clothes
- Put into a small lantern and use for special holidays
The Kit includes:
- 2 – Green LEDs
- 1 – Blue LED
- 1 – 10Kohm resistor
- 1 – 47ohm resistor
- 1 – Push button
- 1 – 2032 coincell battery
- 1 – Coincell battery holder
- 1 – ATtiny85
- 1 – SB-FireFly PCB
- 1 – 3×2 male ISP programming header
- 1 – 8-pin DIP carrier
- 1 – 3-pin Female Header
- 1 – 6-pin Female Header
- 1 – 0.1uF Capacitor
Specifications:
- Operating range: 2.0 – 5.5VDC
- Clock Frequency: 8MHz
- Sleep current: 0.0002mA
- Normal current draw (LEDs blinking): 8mA
- On-time with 2032 battery: at regular speed Firefly mode will last >12hrs straight before the blue LED can’t be seen anymore
- Max current draw: 40mA per pin up to 200mA for entire ATtiny85
- OSHW (Open Source Hardware)
This open-source project was originally developed as a local collaboration with an Awesome Calgary micro grant winner: Illuminated Landscapes. Here’s some history on how this project began:
Want to change what the SB-FireFly can do? No prob, besides an LED blinker the SB-FireFly is a fully functional ATtiny85 development/application board which has all of the ATtiny pins broken out for your hacking convenience! Not only is this an open-source hardware product but it also has sample code which is able to be modified to your liking. Use this tutorial to program it within the Arduino IDE! Check under our documentation tab where we give you sample Arduino code that features Software PWM (doesn’t use hardware timers), Sleep (0.0002mA draw), Randomize and Interrupt code which can be used on other avr chips such as the common ATmega328 on Arduino/Freeduino boards. Plus we’ll add more code for different projects as we make & write them. Check out the Documentation section for some recent code samples & hacks!
Hacklications:
- Pulse and fade RGB LEDs hooked up to the LED outputs + change modes with the button
- Use the GVS header + a potentiometer to do a servo tester (you’ll have to supply it 5V)
- Emit 38kHz thru an Infrared (IR) LED for a tiny TV remote control
- Use an IR LED + a TSOP4038 for a Remote code recorder + retransmitter
- Use a TSOP4038 as a remote control decoder, beam break detection, or reflective object detection
- Control LED strips by adding high power transistors or FETs
- Add a piezo buzzer for sounds and/or Chiptunes
- Add a PIR sensor for automatic lighting applications
- Use IR LEDs as a WiiMote Infrared source
Here’s a few tips that will help you hack the SB-FireFly:
- Not only is the top of the device great for mounting but it’s also a Ground-Voltage-Signal (GVS) breakout header that is pinout compatible with things such as analog sensors and servo motors.
- If you’d like to change the LED color be aware that you may have to increase the R2 resistor value to limit more current to make the battery last longer or lower the value to get the LEDs brighter.
- Place machine socket pins in the board in order to quickly swap in and out resistor values
- If you use IR LEDs be aware that you may need to increase the R2 resistor value as we have had issues being able to program the board with a 47ohm resistor plus IR LEDs, we used a 100ohm resistor just fine.
- The Reset line (top of R1) can be used as another input/output pin, we tied it high with a 10K pullup resistor in order to diminish the possibility of a false reset, but feel free to use it as you’d like.
Please Note: Due to the outdated avr-gcc compiler bundled with Arduino 1.0 the ATtiny85 throws up an “R_AVR_13_PCREL” error when trying to use the upper half of the 8kB of code space. If you need this code space when your program goes above 4kB apply a quick fix found here. Applying the fix will give you access to the full 8kB.
Check out this video of Stringxels controlled by SB-FireFly:
Please note: LEDs may not be as pictured, varies according to stock levels.
With this kit you can take an Arduino and place a Sumovore on top of it, this would allow the bot to spin it’s wheels aimlessly in the air like a turtle trapped on it’s back. Now, turn the world upside down by flipping the Arduino over and allowing the helpless Sumovore be back in the saddle again. Program your Arduino-form-factor-compatible board of choice to control the Sumovore wherever it may roam.
The SumoShield Kit adapts an Arduino, Freeduino, or PICAXE Shield Base to our venerable Sumovore Robot kit. Now you can leverage the power of open source to the world of Mini-sumo! We have provided Arduino Example code that allows the robot to do either mini-sumo or line-following behaviours (under the Resources tab).
Place the Arduino+SumoShield+Sumovore together onto a dark surface or keep in the air to activate Sumo mode after a 5 second delay or you can place it on a high reflective surface (silver or white) to have it enter line-following mode right away after power up or reset.
Just looking for an Arduino Robot kit for general purposes, well this kit is great for that too, you can use the sumovore to avoid obstacles with it’s front object detection sensors and it can avoid drops with it’s line detection sensors at the bottom of the robot.
Kit Includes:
- SumoShield PCB
- 2 x Mpin4L-400
- 2 x Mpin8L-400
- 2 x Mpin6
- 2 x Mpin8
- 5 x Tiny Green LED
- 8 x 10Kohm Resistor
- 5 x 1Kohm Resistor
- 1 x SWT10 (Reset switch)
- 2 x Mpin3
- 1 x Fpin4 (Serial Breakout Header for wireless connectivity)
- 1 x QRD1114 5th-position edge sensor upgrade (for Sumovore)
Note: For your convenience the SumoShield kit comes with the Male headers press-fit into the PCB, but please be aware that you will still have to solder these pins to make a good connection.
