Enabling Click boards to be added to ‘Swiss army penknife’ engineering platform

MikroElektronika has announced a Click Shield for the Red Pitaya engineering platform, often referred to as engineering’s ‘Swiss Army Penknife’. The size of a credit card, Red Pitaya combines the functionalities of multiple lab instruments – oscilloscope, signal generator, and spectrum analyser – with ample programming capabilities and open-source software to jumpstart any project. Click shields are adapters that connect Click board to popular development platforms such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, STM32 Nucleo, and now, Red Pitaya.

Comments Nebojsa Matic, CEO of MIKROE: “This Click Shield is the ideal companion for Red Pitaya, designed to unlock even more possibilities for engineering and programming projects. It facilitates the seamless integration of Click boards with your Red Pitaya host board, expanding its capabilities and versatility. Once the Red Pitaya host board is connected with our Red Pitaya Click Shield, designers can access over 1550 Click boards and a library containing functions and example codes for MIKROE compilers.”

Providing two mikroBUS sockets, the Shield can be powered through an external power supply, supporting a wide voltage range from 12V to 24V, or via a USB Type C connector, ensuring set-up flexibility. Also, the user can use any Click board with the help of existing bi-directional level-shifting voltage translators, regardless of whether the Click board operates at a selected 3.3V or 5V logic voltage level.

One distinctive feature of the Click Shield is its shuttle-like connector, which is purpose-built for Logic Analyzer connection. This connector is a gateway to easily monitor and analyse SPI, UART, or I2C signals, providing valuable insights into your projects. Another feature is the integration of the ZL40213, an LVDS clock fan-out buffer with two identical output clock drivers. Depending on needs, this component is created to distribute low-jitter reference clocks from external or internal sources. Whether for wired or optical communications applications, the Click Shield ensures minimal jitter, maintaining signal integrity. Moreover, it extends its utility beyond clock signals with a dedicated section for trigger signal distribution and synchronisation.