BrainBoardz Neuron by BrainBoardz Inc.
-
BrainBoardz is a revolutionary modular Mini PCI Express (mPCIe) based system that greatly simplifies the design of circuit boards and custom microcontroller projects. Through the use of our inexpensive ESP32-S3 based Neuron-M modules and our ever expanding range of BrainBoardz prototyping boards anyone can easily develop custom projects to harness the impressive capabilities of the latest generation Espressif ESP32-S3 microcontroller. Simply plug in a Neuron module to a BrainBoardz mPCIe connector and you are ready to go. Neurons not only provide complete access to the extensive range of capabilities provided by the cutting edge ESP32-S3, they can also function as standalone modules if required. You are welcome to design/manufacture your own BrainBoardz compatible boards and Neuron compatible module(s). The entire BrainBoardz system is open source and 100% license free. For more traditional 2.54mm header scenarios, please welcome to our latest board, the feature-packed Neuron-P. It has all of the capabilities of our Neuron-M module, but this time we have loaded it with over 40 2.54mm pins. The Neuron-P is the ideal solution for using on your own breadboards and for standalone projects.
-
The components we have included on the Neuron-M and Neuron-P are those that are most likely to be needed in core operations for the vast majority of prototypes and production. These include an ultra-low noise 5V to 3.3V LDO, a USB-C connector, a status LED and a microSD card reader. This razor focused approach ensures that we can provide the most affordable and flexible solution for ESP32-S3 microcontroller based projects!
-
Neurons and BrainBoardz are provided with a complete set of mounting hardware. It only takes a few seconds to add/remove a Neuron module to/from a BrainBoardz. There are no fragile pins to contend with in the BrainBoardz system. If you have access to an 3D printer you can also print as many spare mPCIe mounting parts as you need using the STL/FreeCAD model files provided in our GitHub repository. This revolutionary mPCIe connector based approach supports ultra-low profile projects and guarantees microcontroller module re-usability. We even provide an mPCIe stencil to make designing your own low profile boards easy. We fully support CircuitPython, Arduino, MicroPython and PlatformIO. Are you ready for a prototyping revolution?
Features:
- ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N8/R8 Module
- 32-bit 240 MHz Dual-Core LX-7 Processor
- 512 KB SRAM
- 8 MB Flash
- 8 MB OCTAL PSRAM
- 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi - 802.11b/g/n
- On-Board PCB Antenna
- Bluetooth LE: Bluetooth 5, Bluetooth Mesh
- Native ESP32-S3 USB Port
- Reset Button
- Boot Button
- Support for 14 Touch Sensors
- Blink LED
- microSD Card Reader
- USB-C Connector
- Low Noise 5V to 3.3V LDO
- 2.54mm 4 Pin Header4 (Neuron-Z) Boards
- Access to All of the ESP32-S3’s GPIO Pins
- Compatible with all BrainBoardz boards
More Info:
Purchase:
Contribute
Have some info to add for this board? Edit the source for this page here.
CircuitPython 9.2.8
This is the latest stable release of CircuitPython that will work with the BrainBoardz Neuron. Use this release if you are new to CircuitPython.
Modules included in this download
_asyncio _bleio _eve _pixelmap adafruit_bus_device adafruit_pixelbuf aesio alarm analogbufio analogio array atexit audiobusio audiocore audiomixer audiomp3 binascii bitbangio bitmapfilter bitmaptools board builtins builtins.pow3 busdisplay busio busio.SPI busio.UART canio codeop collections countio digitalio displayio dualbank epaperdisplay errno espcamera espidf espnow espulp fontio fourwire framebufferio frequencyio getpass gifio hashlib i2cdisplaybus io ipaddress jpegio json keypad keypad.KeyMatrix keypad.Keys keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys keypad_demux keypad_demux.DemuxKeyMatrix locale math max3421e mdns memorymap microcontroller msgpack neopixel_write nvm onewireio os os.getenv paralleldisplaybus ps2io pulseio pwmio qrio rainbowio random re rgbmatrix rotaryio rtc sdcardio sdioio select sharpdisplay socketpool socketpool.socketpool.AF_INET6 ssl storage struct supervisor synthio sys terminalio tilepalettemapper time touchio traceback ulab usb usb_cdc usb_hid usb_midi vectorio warnings watchdog wifi zlibFeatures: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth/BTLE, Breadboard-Friendly
CircuitPython 10.0.0-beta.0
This is the latest development release of CircuitPython that will work with the BrainBoardz Neuron.
Alpha development releases are early releases. They are unfinished, are likely to have bugs, and the features they provide may change. Beta releases may have some bugs and unfinished features, but should be suitable for many uses. A Release Candidate (rc) release is considered done and will become the next stable release, assuming no further issues are found.
Please try alpha, beta, and rc releases if you are able. Your testing is invaluable: it helps us uncover and find issues quickly.
Release Notes for 10.0.0-beta.0
Modules included in this download
_asyncio _bleio _bleio (native) _eve _pixelmap adafruit_bus_device adafruit_pixelbuf aesio alarm analogbufio analogio array atexit audiobusio audiocore audiomixer audiomp3 binascii bitbangio bitmapfilter bitmaptools board builtins builtins.pow3 busdisplay busio busio.SPI busio.UART canio codeop collections countio digitalio displayio epaperdisplay errno espcamera espidf espnow espulp fontio fourwire framebufferio frequencyio getpass gifio hashlib i2cdisplaybus io ipaddress jpegio json keypad keypad.KeyMatrix keypad.Keys keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys keypad_demux keypad_demux.DemuxKeyMatrix locale lvfontio math max3421e mdns memorymap microcontroller msgpack neopixel_write nvm onewireio os os.getenv paralleldisplaybus ps2io pulseio pwmio qrio rainbowio random re rgbmatrix rotaryio rtc sdcardio sdioio select sharpdisplay socketpool socketpool.socketpool.AF_INET6 ssl storage struct supervisor synthio sys terminalio tilepalettemapper time touchio traceback ulab usb usb_cdc usb_hid usb_midi vectorio warnings watchdog wifi zlibFeatures: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth/BTLE, Breadboard-Friendly
Absolute Newest
Every time we commit new code to CircuitPython we automatically build binaries for each board and language. The binaries are stored on Amazon S3, organized by board, and then by language. These releases are even newer than the development release listed above. Try them if you want the absolute latest and are feeling daring or want to see if a problem has been fixed.
Previous Versions of CircuitPython
All previous releases of CircuitPython are available for download from Amazon S3 through the button below. For very old releases, look in the OLD/ folder for each board. Release notes for each release are available at GitHub button below.
Older releases are useful for testing if you something appears to be broken in a newer release but used to work, or if you have older code that depends on features only available in an older release. Otherwise we recommend using the latest stable release.
Install, Repair, or Update UF2 Bootloader
Latest version: 0.35.0
The UF2 bootloader allows you to load CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino programs. The bootloader itself is not CircuitPython. On Espressif boards, the UF2 bootloader is called TinyUF2. If the TinyUF2 bootloader is installed, you can check its version by looking in the INFO_UF2.TXT file when the BOOT drive is visible (FTHRS2BOOT, MAGTAGBOOT, HOUSEBOOT, etc.)
In general, it is not necessary to update TinyUF2 at every version change. You can read the release notes on GitHub to see what has been changed. Update if you've been told about a necessary change or a bug fix.
Note: CircuitPython 10 and later, on Espressif boards with 4MB flash, requires TinyUF2 0.33.0 or later. The flash partition layout has changed (details).
If TinyUF2 has never been installed on the board, or it was removed by erasing or overwriting the flash, it must be installed in order to flash .uf2 files onto the board. But you don't need the TinyUF2 bootloader to upload .bin files. They can be uploaded using the built-in ROM bootloader, with the Adafruit WebSerial ESPTool or esptool.py.
Warning: Installing the TinyUF2 bootloader will erase everything that was previously on the board. Save any files in CIRCUITPY for which you don't have backups.
There are several ways to install the TinyUF2 bootloader on your board. Check to see if your board's manufacturer provides specific instructions. For Adafruit boards, consult the Factory Reset page in the Learn Guide for your particular board (example).
The easiest way to install TinyUF2 is to use the OPEN INSTALLER button (see above, in the CiruitPython sections). You can also use the Adafruit WebSerial ESPTool, or esptool.py, as described in the Factory Reset page.
- Plug board into a USB port on your computer using a data/sync cable. Make sure it is the only board plugged in, and that a charge-only cable is not being used.
- Press and hold the BOOT button (sometimes marked "B0").
- Press and release the RESET button (sometimes marked "RST").
- Release the BOOT button. This starts the ROM bootloader.
After installing TinyUF2, enter the UF2 bootloader by double-clicking the RESET button. On boards with an RGB status LED, you usually tap reset once, wait for the LED to turn purple, and tap again before the purple goes away. On other boards, consult the board documentation.
If you are updating TinyUF2, look at INFO_UF2.TXT to verify the new version of TinyUF2, by checking the version number. Then you will need to copy the CircuitPython.uf2 file to the BOOT drive.