Networking & IoT
WiFi, Bluetooth, MQTT, LoRa and ESP-NOW. Getting a reading off the board and somewhere you can actually see it.
CAN Bus
An SN65HVD230 CAN transceiver on a TinkerBlock board, for 3.3 V microcontrollers with a CAN controller of their own, such as most ESP32 chips. CTX and CRX go straight across, the 120 Ω fitted on every board belongs only on the two end boards, GND runs with a twisted pair, and one board alone can never finish a message.
RS485 Transceiver Boards: MAX485 for 5 V and MAX3485 for 3.3 V
Two RS485 boards from one 12-pack: a MAX485 board for 5 V microcontrollers and a MAX3485 board for 3.3 V ones. The six pins, which board goes with your microcontroller, the 120 Ω fitted on every board that only the two end boards should keep, and RE joined to DE so one pin sets the direction.
26. IR Communication
Learn infrared communication (one board receives, one sends); outcome: sender sends IR codes on a timer, receiver prints received codes on serial; you can also point a normal remote at the receiver and see the key codes.
41. Project: IR Remote LED
Project: control LED with IR remote; outcome: one button turns the LED on, another turns it off; serial prints each button's command and the action.
Infrared Transmitter
A 5 mm, 940 nm infrared LED on a TinkerBlock board, switched by an S8050 transistor, with one 150 Ω resistor setting its current from VCC and a red LED that shows when it is on. SIGNAL HIGH turns it on. Your pin only feeds the transistor, so VCC may be 5 V on a 3.3 V board. Blink it, send remote-control codes to a TK15, or make a break-beam with a TK64.
IR Receiver
A Vishay TSOP18138 38 kHz infrared receiver on a TinkerBlock board: SIGNAL idles HIGH and goes LOW while a remote sends, and the IRremote library turns those lows into an address and a command.
IR Sender
An Everlight IR908-7C 940 nm infrared LED, switched by a transistor, on a TinkerBlock board. SIGNAL HIGH lights it; your microcontroller makes the 38 kHz carrier, and one 150 Ω resistor decides how far it reaches.
Connect to Wi-Fi
Join a network, survive a reboot, and stop hard-coding your password into a file you will later push to GitHub.