Embedded and hobbyist electronics specialist Seeed Studio has introduced a brand new add-on for its XIAO improvement board vary, additionally suitable with Adafruit’s QT Py household — delivering RS-485 connectivity for industrial communications at distances of as much as three-quarters of a mile.
“We’re excited to announce the Seeed Studio RS-485 Breakout Board, a flexible RS-485 growth designed particularly for all Seeed Studio XIAO improvement boards or Adafruit QT Py Boards,” Seeed’s Lily Li says of the corporate’s newest launch. “[The] RS-485 commonplace stands out for industrial functions. It defines {the electrical} traits of serial traces to be used in serial communications programs, enabling knowledge transmission over lengthy distances and in electrically noisy environments.”
Seeed Studio has launched a brand new add-on for its XIAO vary of microcontroller dev boards, including RS-485 connectivity. (📷: Seeed Studio)
The breakout board is designed to behave as a service for any XIAO or QT Py, microcontroller improvement boards constructed for as small a footprint as potential whereas nonetheless retaining breadboard-friendly general-purpose enter/output (GPIO) connectivity and a USB connector for energy and programming. Roughly doubling the size, the breakout provides two new screw connectors related to a 3PEAK TP8485E RS-422/485 balanced communications transceiver — delivering secure 250kb/s half-duplex connectivity over cable as much as 1,200m (round 4,000 toes) in size.
“This breakout board is engineered for effectivity, consuming energy from a single 5V or 12VDC energy supply,” Li explains. “Its RS-485 output interface is facilitated by way of two 3-pin terminals for each sign wires and energy connections.”
The service roughly doubles the size of a XIAO improvement board, and can also be suitable with Adafruit’s QT Py vary. (📷: Seeed Studio)
The add-on joins Seed’s current RS-485 gadgets: the Grove-RS485, which gives a better 10Mb/s throughput from an Analog Units MAX13478E with a Grove connector to the host microcontroller; and the SenseCAP S211 RS485 Sensor Builder, which makes use of the identical 3PEAK TP8485E as the brand new breakout however in an exterior-grade housing to be used with the SenseCAP S2100 LoRaWAN knowledge logger.
The brand new RS-485 breakout is now accessible on the Seeed Studio retailer at $4.50 earlier than quantity reductions, with rapid transport; consumers might want to choose up a Seeed XIAO or Adafruit QT Py improvement board to make use of it.