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After some delays our long-awaited production panel with 16 new Bricklets finally arrived! Below you can see how an unsperated panel looks like when we get it from our SMT assembly manufacturer.

All new Brickelts have a co-processor and the new 7 pole connector. First a list of the new Bricklets:

• Air Quality Bricklet
• Analog Out Bricklet 3.0
• Barometer Bricklet 2.0
• Distance IR Bricklet 2.0
• Dual Button Bricklet 2.0
• Isolator Bricklet
• Industrial Dual 0-20mA Bricklet 2.0
• Industrial Dual Analog In Bricklet 2.0
• Industrial Analog Out Bricklet 2.0
• Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet 2.0
• IO-16 Bricklet 2.0
• LCD 128x64 Bricklet
• OLED 128x64 Bricklet 2.0
• One Wire Bricklet
• Temperature Bricklet 2.0
• UV Light Bricklet 2.0

There are now only a few Bricklets witht he old 10 pole connector left in our assortment. These Bricklets will be updated with the next panel, whereby the conversion to the new connector and co-processor will be finished.

In the following we will introduce new Bricklets and new features of the updated Bricklets:

Air Quality Bricklet: The Air Quality Bricklet measures VOC values (Volatile Organic Components). To do that it detects parts of ethane, isoprene, ethanol, acetone and carbon monoxide in the air by adsoprtion. Additionally the Bricklet measures termperature, humidity and air pressure. With this data it is possible to determine the IAQ (Indor Air Quality) Index. All of the measurements can be read from the Bricklet individually. The Bricklet is well suited to be used for air quality monitoring as well as home automation.

Barometer Bricklet 2.0: The new Barometer Bricklet got an update to the LPS22HB sensor. With the new IC it can offer a resolution of 0.0075mbar/6.25cm (before 0.012mbar/0.1m). The measurement range of the new Bricklet is increased to up to 1260mbar.

Isolator Bricklet: Due to the Isolator Bricklet it is now possible to galvanically isolate the power as well as data lines between any Brick and Bricklet. The isolation can be used by any Bricklet with an analog or digital in-/output. For example you will now be able to use a Voltage/Current Bricklet to to measure the voltage and current consumption of a stack without accidentially creating a ground loop. Additionally it is possible to make measurements that have a different reference potential.

Industrial Bricklets: The specifications of the Industrial Bricklets are essentially the same. As an additional feature the Industrial Bricklets now have a status LED per channel. The Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet 2.0 can now show the state of each of the 4 outputs. Industrial Bricklets with analog measurements can even dimm the LED to show the current analog value with the intensity of the LED.

LCD 128x64 Bricklet: The new LCD 128x64 Bricklet is the highlight of the new panel. It has a 2.8" display with a resolution of 128x64 pixel. The display has about the same size as the old LCD 20x4 Bricklet. Since any pixel can be set separately it is possible draw graphics or different font types. To increase the usability we integrated a default font that can be used for easy text drawing.

The integrated touch screen will create a callback with x/y-coordinates when touching as well as the intensity of the contact pressure. For an easy realization of intuitive controls the Bricklet also detects simple swipe gestures that can be used for menus or similar. Since the touch screen is resistive, it can also be used with gloves or a pen.

One Wire Bricklet: With the One Wire Bricklet you can now use 1-Wire compatible devices. It is possible to connect up to 64 1-Wire devices to the bus at the same time. The Bricklet supports 3.3V, 5V as well as an externally connected supply voltage. Examples for the usage of the popular MAX31820 1-Wire sensors can be found in the documentation.

Temperature Bricklet 2.0: The replacement of the Temperature Bricklet uses the new STS3 temperature IC from Sensirion. It has an improved resolution of 0.01°C (before 0.1°C) and accuracy of 0.2°C (before 0.5°C).

UV Light Bricklet 2.0: The UV Light Bricklet 2.0 also got and IC upgrade. While the old Bricklet could only measure UVA, the new Bricklet can measure light intensity in UVA as well as UVB and it can calculate the UV Index internally.

The american magazine EETimes has publisched a Ranking of the 10 best SBCs (Single Board Computer) of 2018. The ranking consides price, performance, form factors, user communities, applications and so forth.

The first place is of course occupied (as every year) by the newest Raspberry Pi model. This years second place was given to the Kickstarter funded and very powerful UDOO Bolt (229$).

Our RED Brick got the third place. We were very happy about the good result, especially since the RED Brick is already nearly 5 years old while all of the competing boards in the ranking are brand new.
You can read the complete ranking and article at EETimes.com.

TL;DR:

We have new enclosures and mounting plates:

• Rail Mounting Case,

• Big Tinkerforge Workbench (34x20cm),

• Mounting Plate 22x22 (12x12cm),
• Mounting Plate 22x22 (12x12cm) with cable lead-through,
• Mounting Plate 46x22 (24x12cm) and
• Mounting Plate 46x22 (24x12cm) with cable lead-through.

Rail Mounting Case

To use Tinkerforge on a DIN rail you can use the Rail Mounting Kit. This has been available for a while, but it can only mount one stack of Bricks.

Our new Rail Mounting Case has enough space for lots of different Bricks and Bricklets. Fully equipped it has enough space for 8 Industrial Bricklets and additionally up to 4 4x4cm modules (Bricks / Master Extension / Step-Down Power Suply). Additionally the new enclosure has a top lid that can be opened. If closed it protects the Bricks and Bricklets against dust and accidental contact of the electronics.

The enclosure is highly customizable. The side walls are compatible to each other and they can be put into different places. Because of this you can mount Bricks and Bricklets freely and the enclosure can easily be customized for your individuel project.

The second floor of the enclosure has a mounting plate that can mount any Bricklet. It is for example possible to mount an OLED display including a push button. As an example you could show status information about your control cabinet on the display and use the button to switch between different measured values.

Tinkerforge Workbench with 34x20cm

The Tinkerforge Workbench is perfect for everybody that wants to experiment with Tinkerforge components and wants to present the project in a tidy way. The Tinkerforge Workbench is also the best-selling product that we produce with our laser cutter. Since we often got inquiries about a bigger version, we want to offer one now.

Alongside the old Workbench with a size of 20x14cm we will now have an additional Workbench with a size of 34x20cm. It can be used to mount a huge assortment of different Bricks and Bricklets.

Four new Mounting Plates: 12x12cm and 24x12cm each with and without cable lead-through

For many years have been selling a Mounting Plate with a size of 12x6cm. The plate has a 5mm pitch pattern of 3mm holes. We would like to add four additional new Mounting Plates with different sizes.

The new Mounting Plates are:

• Mounting Plate 22x22 (12x12cm),
• Mounting Plate 22x22 (12x12cm) with cable lead-through,
• Mounting Plate 46x22 (24x12cm) and
• Mounting Plate 46x22 (24x12cm) with cable lead-through.

A cable lead-through in the Mounting Plate was often wished for. With the new bigger sized Mounting Plates there is now enough space to add it. The cable lead-through is big enough to fit one of our 8-pole connectors of the Industrial Bricklets (which means that it is also big enough for a USB cable or Bricklet cable).

Update: You don't have to worry about delivery delays anymore. Our laser cutter will be fully functional again starting from 25th of July.

Unfortunately we had a small accident. Our laser cutter caught fire. Don't worry: Nobody got hurt and the company building is still standing!

It is not yet clear if it is a total write-off or if it is economically justifiable to send the laser cutter back to the manufacturer for repair. Nevertheless both option (new laser cutter or repair) will take several weeks.

We use the laser cutter for the kits (brackets for the Weather Station, Server Room Monitoring kit, Blinkenlights etc), for all of our enclosures and the mounting plates. We don't have a big stock of these parts. They are mostly made just in time when they are ordered.

If you order a kit that includes laster-cut parts we will still ship the parts of the kits that are available and ship the unavailable plastic parts in a second delivery when they are available again.

We don't know the exact time it will take to get everything running again, but even in the best case there will be a significant delay.

We apologize for any inconvenience!

The S3Racing team of the University of Siegen is a member of the Formula Student. They are developing an electric racing car that, among other things, uses a Tinkerforge IMU Brick 2.0 in the control system. The student team is using the IMU to measure the roll, pitch any yaw angle that occur during the drive around the track in curves and during acceleration/deceleration. The gathered data is used to control the parameters of the four wheel drive for an optimal force distribution. The IMU Brick is used integrated in the car with a Step-Down Power Supply and an Ethernet Master Extension.

The 25 students of the Speeding Scientist Siegen e.V. build up and optimize a car every year for challanges all over the world. They are able to directly apply the theory learned in the lectures and gain valuable real-world experience. Besides the engineers, the team also has financing and marketing students to help with there respective expertise.

The new racing car is a pure electric racer made with carbon with the name "Marlene McFly". Marlene has a top speed of 135 km/h and passes the 100 km/h mark after less than 3 seconds. It is not a toy, it is a real racing car! Because to the really light chassis, which weights only 16,3 kg, the car has a total weight of only 195 kg. The two electric motors have a total power of 80 KW (109 PS). This equates to a ratio of 1,7 kg/hp (by comparision: The Formula-E racing cars have a power-weight ratio of 2,9 kg/hp).

The Formula Student was founded in 1981 by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in the USA. By now the Formula Student is an international competition with teams Europe and Asia. The "Formula Student Germany" exists since 2006 and they race each year at the Hockenheimring. The cars are developed with rigorous technical and financial restrictions. The goal of the competition is to give the students all over the world the possibility to apply the theory learned in lectures and to compare their approach to the different solutions of the other teams.