 | Enter Your Electronics & Design Project for a chance to win a Grand Prize for Originality, a Tool Set, and a $100 Shopping Cart! | Project14 Home |
| Monthly Themes | ||
| Monthly Theme Poll |
I had proposed using a Micro:bit to control a programmable current sink to implement an VI curve tracer for the November Project14 DIY Test Instrumentation competition. Unfortunately, I had some personal issues that prevented me from being able to enter the competition. To my surprise, I received one of the Micro:bit packages from Element14 while I was away. Since I received the Micro:bit package, I thought that I would implement my design and post it here even though the competition is closed. I also need to complete a roadtest, so it may take me a couple of weeks before I can complete this project.
Block diagram of the project:
Parts list:
| Quantity | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Micro:bit |
| 1 | Waveshare 160x128 LCD Display |
| 1 | MCP4725 I2C DAC Module |
| 1 | GL358 OpAmp |
| 1 | 2N2222A NPN Transistor |
| 1 | Battery Holder |
| 2 | AA Batteries |
| Various Resistors and Capacitors |
The Waveshare LCD module with the Micro:bit attached.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DNCYV2K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The challenges that I see with this project will be mainly in generating the code. I'm new to the Micro:bit ecosystem so I'm not sure how much effort it will take to interface the I2C DAC and the SPI LCD Display. If this were an Arduino (or equivalent - I use a lot of ESP8266s) it would be straightforward because of all the available libraries. Waveshare provides code for running the LCD with the Microsoft MakeCode IDE but then I might have to "bit bang" the I2C so I'll probably use a different development environment.