Espruino Pico 'adaptor pack'?

I'm thinking of making a kit of common 'shim's - so that you could buy it relatively cheaply ($10?) and get a whole load of little PCBs that would allow you to connect your Pico to different hardware really quickly. I think it's something that might be pretty helpful?

But what kind of things would you generally want? There are already a load of adaptors designed for the Pico - but which selection would be good?

I'm thinking:

• ESP8266 WiFi
  
• HC-05 Bluetooth
  
• RFM69/RFM12B wireless
  
• A small prototype area + mounting holes
  
• Arduino adaptor
  
• WIZnet ethernet
  
• XBee footprint
  
• A solder-on 0.05 to 0.1 inch adaptor so you can get at the end pins easily
  
  

Also how would they connect? The ones like the ESP8266 shim are really tiny and make a very compact package, but you have to solder them straight to your Pico. Possibly something that just connected on 0.1" and that you could solder header pins onto would be better.

Sounds good.

Something like that would sure be useful to me. I cannot really use the 0.05" ports without some way to get them to 0.1". The shims seem good for a specific purpose, but something to make it a bit easier to try a variety of different sensors would be really useful to help decide exactly what you want to build.

Ok, this is what we have so far:

• ESP8266 WiFi
  
• HC-05 Bluetooth
  
• RFM69/RFM12B wireless
  
• Micro SD card
  
• Arduino adaptor
  
• 0.05 to 0.1 inch adaptor and proto area
  
  

Any thoughts for the remaining space up the top?

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... and new shim for ESP-01?

Good plan - probably just the current SMD one? Either that or I could go with 0.1 inch connections again.

What does everyone think about nRF24? They seemed a bit underwhelming as far as radio goes, but they were very cheap and would be pretty compact on a Pico.

SMD one, surelly... YES for nRF24L01+ ... handy and simple... has also 8 pins as ESP-01 (some modules 10 pins)... but SPI interface.... some PCB variation of shim for ESP-01? ... it would be very nice... a lot of fun for "little money".

Ok, NRF24 and ESP01 added, as well as a breakout for the 0.05 inch pins and another prototype board.

Any thoughts? I think I'll put an order in for some of these today.

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I was thinking a single adaptor with sockets and solder on pads for espruino with and without headers headers that breaks out the propper lines for some of the most usefule modules with headers or sockets in a way that the modules can be plugged in or connected with a pre-fabed flatt ribon cable. The break outs would already define what pins to use for what and allow combinations... and if stackable headers are used, such (different) adaptors could be stacked if there is not enouch space to 'attache' the modules...

@allObjects to be honest, what you suggest is basically the Seeed Grove system from another thread? That's got a bunch of ready-made modules that plug in via cables with a defined pinout.

Well, it's done now! I guess I'll see whether it worked in 2 weeks.

Picture is from DirtyPCBs' preview, which looks promising.

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That's correct when thinking it w/ cables. Without cables it is like a pre-wired breadboard. And in addition to that, some sw setups would go with each pre-wiring.

I find perfboard almost totally unusable. The holes aren't connected, so what good is that? A pin connected to only one thing isn't very interesting... Every time I've worked with it, it's been an awful experience. That's why the protoboard I make has the holes connected together in groups (of 2, 3, or 4).

What's the third up from the bottom on the left? is that for a micro SD card slot? If so, be sure to specify the SD card slot part number and make sure it's available. My uSD card sockets look very different! I think they may be supposed to have a decoupling cap, too.

Also, I don't like the look of those really narrow strips between the boards - why bother cutting out those little strips, instead of just making one of the boards a hair bigger?

I may date myself but perfboard is fine with a little wire wrap experience.

What's the third up from the bottom on the left?

Yep, MicroSD. It's the one the original Espruino uses, from Seeed's OPL - but yes, I'm going to have to link to suppliers of all those parts.

Good point about the decoupling cap. I've done a board previously and it works fine, but it wouldn't hurt having the pads there :)

Also, I don't like the look of those really narrow strips between the boards

It's just that each board is its own eagle design, so it's a pain to get the sizes exactly right. We'll see how it turns out!

perfboard is fine with a little wire wrap experience.

:) It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. On such a small area it also gives you a choice of which orientation you put the chips in - but yes, if you have a massive protoboard then having some proper connected pads is better.

Looking good!

@Gordon I would like to order 1x adaptor pack and 2x ESP-01 shim V2 ... I see shim on Tindie but not adaptor pack... How can I order all together in "one shot" to save money for shipping?

I literally only just got the adaptor packs delivered here about an hour ago! They do look good though :)

I haven't had time to test them yet though, so I can't be 100% sure everything works. Are you happy to wait until I've done that, or are you willing to take a chance?

@Gordon Thanks for prompt reply... YES, I can wait a few days... I am happy that they are at your place :) ... please, let me know when and how I can order it at once... after your tests.

The boards are now online: https://www.tindie.com/products/gfwilliams/espruino-pico-adaptor-pack/

I only have a few at the moment so you'll have to get in quick. There are some minor gotchas with the first set but nothing serious (should be documented on the shims page). When I see how quick they go I'll order some more with a slightly tweaked design (better silkscreen, and maybe adding more pads for JST connectors).

Any feedback you have would be great though.