Maker Kevin Santo Cappuccio has launched a crowdfunding marketing campaign for the Jumperless V5, a next-generation tackle the jumper-free programmable breadboard — now powered by Raspberry Pi’s quad-core dual-architecture RP2350B microcontroller and that includes much more LEDs.
“Jumperless V5 enables you to prototype like a nerdy wizard who can see electrical energy and conjure jumpers with a magic wand,” Cappuccio explains of his creation. “It is an Built-in Growth Atmosphere (IDE) for {hardware}, with an analog-by-nature RP2350B-based dev board, a drawer filled with wires, and a workbench filled with take a look at tools (together with an influence provide, a multimeter, an oscilloscope, a operate generator, and a logic analyzer) all crammed inside a breadboard.”
We reviewed certainly one of Cappuccio’s earlier Jumperless fashions again in June, and located it to be little in need of magic: a solderless breadboard that can be wire-free, permitting factors to be linked utilizing programmable switches hidden beneath utilizing a connection to the browser-based Wokwi simulator. The Jumperless V5 takes the ideas launched on this model and expands them significantly — beginning with a transfer to Raspberry Pi’s newest RP2350B microcontroller. The probe, initially designed for shortly making connections with out having to attach the Jumperless to a number laptop, now has a devoted port and can be utilized to measure voltage, present and resistance at any level; the general-purpose pins on the upper-left of the board have been swapped out for a clickwheel — a part of a brand new consumer interface system.
That consumer interface requires, as most do, a show, and that is the place maybe the largest improve of all is discovered. The place the sooner Jumperless design may solely gentle up every break up row of the breadboard, the Jumperless V5 consists of individually-addressable RGB LEDs beneath every breadboard gap — permitting it to behave as a programmable 14×30 show with scrolling textual content. There’s 16MB of on-board flash for storing initiatives domestically, 4 impartial ±8V 300mA energy provides, daisy-chain assist for connecting a number of boards, a built-in Python interpreter able to working apps on-device, and an Arduino Nano header for placing a microcontroller into your initiatives — reconfigurable should you’re utilizing a similar-footprint microcontroller with a distinct pinout.
The board makes use of the additional LEDs as a matrix-style show, whereas a built-in Python interpreter may even play video games. (📷: Kevin Santo Cappuccio)
“Jumperless V5 can sniff or write any UART, I2C, SPI, or MIDI indicators on the board,” Cappuccio provides of its enhanced characteristic set over earlier designs. “It may be set to both print no matter it reads on the breadboard LEDs, turning the Jumperless right into a serial monitor, or present up as two USB units in your laptop and offer you bidirectional communication by means of that different port. There is no such thing as a ‘prescribed’ use case for this factor. Each design choice was geared towards making it as basic goal as potential whereas retaining it enjoyable and straightforward to make use of. Whether or not you’re a hobbyist, a musician, a pupil, a hacker, a scientist, a trainer, an engineer, an artist, or somebody who simply needs to play Doom on a breadboard, Jumperless was made to offer you a completely new software for turning your concepts into rad stuff.”
The Jumperless is at present funding on Crowd Provide, with the {hardware} priced at $349 together with supply; units are anticipated to start transport in mid-February subsequent 12 months.