Gertboard Kit - Add-on GPIO expansion board for the Raspberry Pi

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The Gertboard^TM is an add-on board that extends the use of Raspberry Pi to devices in the real world, including motor/lamp control, and the sensing of voltages and currents. It also contains a host micro that can be programmed with code written and compiled for it, on the Raspberry Pi. The Gertboard^TM Kit contains the bareboard PCB and electronic components that allow you to self assemble your own Gertboard^TM.

It comes with a large variety of components, including buttons, LEDs, A/D and D/A converters, a motor controller, and an Atmel AVR microcontroller. There is a suite of test/example programs for the Gertboard^TM, written in C. , which is freely available from below Design Elements. The Gertboard^TMKit is supported by a number of videos featuring Gert van Loo, creator of the Gertboard^TM and Paul Gibbon from Weller. These video materials demonstrate how to solder through hole and surface mount components onto the Gertboard^TM.

Key Applications: Add-on GPIO expansion board for the Raspberry Pi

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	Gertboard Kit - Add-on GPIO board for Raspberry Pi		element14 Knode

Technical Documents

Learning Center

Type	Description
User Manual	Gertboard: User Manual for Gertboard Kit
Assembly Manual	Gertboard: Assembly Manual for the Gertboard Kit

Design Elements

Type	Description
Schematic	Gertboard: Schematic for Gertboard Kit
Application Library	Gertboard: Application Library for Gertboard Kit (Linux)

Video

Videos on Gertboard Kit
You don't have permission to edit metadata of this video. Edit media Dimensions x Subject (required) Brief Description Tags (separated by comma) Video visibility in search results Parent content Poster Upload Preview Video 1: Exclusive interview with Gert van Loo, creator of the Gertboard for Raspberry Pi	You don't have permission to edit metadata of this video. Edit media Dimensions x Subject (required) Brief Description Tags (separated by comma) Video visibility in search results Parent content Poster Upload Preview Video 2: Advice on getting ready to assemble your own Gertboard Kit
You don't have permission to edit metadata of this video. Edit media Dimensions x Subject (required) Brief Description Tags (separated by comma) Video visibility in search results Parent content Poster Upload Preview Video 3: Through Hole Soldering Tips on the Gertboard Kit	You don't have permission to edit metadata of this video. Edit media Dimensions x Subject (required) Brief Description Tags (separated by comma) Video visibility in search results Parent content Poster Upload Preview Video 4: Surface Mount Soldering Tips on the Gertboard Kit

Videos on Gertboard Kit

Video 1: Exclusive interview with Gert van Loo, creator of the Gertboard for Raspberry Pi

Video 2: Advice on getting ready to assemble your own Gertboard Kit

Video 3: Through Hole Soldering Tips on the Gertboard Kit

Video 4: Surface Mount Soldering Tips on the Gertboard Kit

Kit Features

The major building blocks on Gertboard^TMare:

12x buffered I/O
3x push button
6x Open collector driver (50V, 0.5A)
48V, 4A motor controller
28-pin dual in line ATmega device
2-channel 8/10/12 bits Digital to Analogue converter
2-channel 10 bits Analogue to Digital converter

Kit Contents

Assembled Gertboard

Top Comments

Former Member over 13 years ago +1

I've just 'surfaced' from designing my version of a Gertboard. I wanted a different layout and don't need an Arduino - well not yet anyway. I'm here reading for a break. It's a shame there are so many…

fustini over 13 years ago in reply to Former Member

Soldering is easy, but a little confidence boost can never hurt! For a fun & quick exercise, I'd recommend Make's Learn to Solder badge. Tens of thousands of complete beginners make these in minutes at Maker Faire. In fact, I just taught my mom and sister to solder with this badge.

I've run soldering activities in the element14 booth at previous Maker Faires where hundreds of beginners successfully made the Adafruit MiniPOV and Adafruit Drawdio kits. I also ran a soldering table at my local mini Maker Faire last weekend where several beginners made the Trippy RGB Wave kit from Mitch Altman.

I would really recommend anyone interested in electronics never be afraid to solder. I used to severely avoid soldering until Mitch Altman showed me that it is in fact easy when visiting my hackerspace a couple years ago. The more you do it, the easier it gets! I also used to think surface mount was too hard. But I've done several surface mount kits now and realized that it's pretty easy too with a bit of experience (and I even prefer it now).
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Former Member over 13 years ago

First of all, nice work on the board and for providing so many videos, manuals, etc. for building and using it. However, while Gert's 10yr old daughter might be a soldering protege, it is a bit tricky to get right as some others have mentioned. It will require a steady hand and care not to lose tiny components. Also, the amount of time required to do this build is likely to be more significant that it first might appear. Why was there not an option to buy an already built board? Honestly, I put the board in my "basket" this morning and still haven't checked out. I'm still debating if I have the necessary time to dedicate to building it... I'm sure I won't be the only one. Hopefully at some point there will be a pre-built board. For me at least, cost is secondary to finding time for a project.
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Former Member over 13 years ago in reply to Former Member

Everybody, I asume, should be aware that asambling a circuit, is not a aesy thing to do.
For me, I worked for several years in a electronic factory...
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Former Member over 13 years ago

Looks a bit too complex for those new to computing and interfacing to computers. Anyone attempting to construct this board, and new to solding, should first try and make a few other circuits up first to get the hang of soldering.
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Former Member over 13 years ago

I just 'pre-orderd'. Waiting... Stll waiting ...
Not yet, Not Yet ....

(Is the flat cable included?)
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fustini over 13 years ago

Looking forward to tinkering with the Gertboard!
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