#gpio

We're testing out an I2C-to-solenoid driver today. It uses an MCP23017 expander. We like this particular chip for this usage because it has push-pull outputs, making it ideal for driving our N-channel FETs and flyback diodes. The A port connects to the 8 drivers, while the B port remains available for other GPIO purposes. For this demo, whenever we 'touch' a pin on port B to ground, the corresponding solenoid triggers provide an easy way to check speed and power usage.

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The trade-off is that it's much smaller and slimmer, especially when no terminal blocks are soldered in by default: only 1.2" long x 0.785" wide (~1 sq in) x 0.3" thick vs. the original's 2" x 1.3" (2.6 sq in) x 0.55". To get it that small, we went 4-layer to give us a nice big ground and 5V plane in the middle and double-sided assembly. Coming soon.

We're aiming to get this into the shop before the end of the year, wouldn't that be smashing?

these require even MORE timing freakiness: using 10 pins, and 'manual' PWM means we have to constantly blit out the color dithering. Historically this was done with mmap'd memory to the GPIO controller bitbanging, which required a full core and could jitter depending on load. But now we can use the PIO peripheral! We can drive massive display arrays at high speeds and color depths using just about any pins. The future is looking bright 😎

We designed and prototyped an RP2350 Metro a few months ago, and it worked OK, but we were really short on pins, which meant a lot of annoying compromises - so we ended up only fabbing the RP2350 Feather to start. With that design flying off the shelves, It's time to revisit the Metro. We wanted to jam-pack this design, and with the extra GPIO on the B we have plenty of peripherals: the 22-pin HSTX for DVI output, Stemma QT port, NeoPixel, JST 3-SH SWD debug port, 16MB flash, an extra spot for PSRAM, MicroSD card with SPI or SDIO connections, and 5V buck converter that can give us 2 Amp easily, which we'll need since we also have a USB Host port pinout for connecting USB peripherals. We even managed to get a couple of niceties like switchable power for the USB host power, a USB boot button as user input, and an SD card detect GPIO.

with designing something for us - we just said, "Make the best thing ya can," and he delivered! Check this board out that plugs onto the compute module and provides many great accessories: USB connection for bootloading/USB gadget, USB 3.0 host type A for CM5, micro HDMI, micro SD card for data storage on 'Lite modules, camera connection, and mount, two DSI connectors, fan connect, Stemma QT / Qwiic connection, and RTC battery. There's one shutdown button for CM5 and two GPIO buttons plus one LED. Timon's gonna try to add an EYESPI connector for our next rendering so we can get some I2C/SPI/PWM outputs easily. What do you think? We wanted to keep it compact and not too pricey (aiming for <$30 cost. We'll see if we can get it there) but were able to craft fairly complex projects in a small space.