MicroMod All The Pins (ATP) Carrier Board

Introduction

Access All The Pins (i.e. ATP) of the MicroMod Processor Board with the MicroMod ATP Carrier Board!

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SparkFun MicroMod ATP Carrier Board

Out of stock DEV-16885

If you need a "lot" of GPIO with a simple to program, ready to go to market module, the ATP is the fix you need.

$19.95

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Required Materials

To follow along with this tutorial, you will need the following materials. You may not need everything though depending on what you have. Add it to your cart, read through the guide, and adjust the cart as necessary.

MicroMod Processor Board

You'll need a Processor Board with the ATP Carrier Board.

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SparkFun MicroMod ESP32 Processor

33 available WRL-16781

This board combines Espressif's ESP32 with our M.2 connector interface to bring a power-packed processor board into our Micro…

$16.95

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SparkFun MicroMod Artemis Processor

Out of stock DEV-16401

Featuring the Artemis Module, this processor is capable of machine learning, Bluetooth, I2C, GPIO, PWM, SPI & packaged to fit…

$14.95

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SparkFun MicroMod SAMD51 Processor

Only 7 left! DEV-16791

With a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4F MCU, the SparkFun MicroMod SAMD51 Processor Board is one powerful microcontroller packaged on a …

$18.95

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Accessories

At a minimum, you will need a USB C cable to power and program the boards. Depending on your application, you may want to grab a Qwiic cable to connect a Qwiic-enabled device.

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SparkFun Qwiic Cable Kit

In stock KIT-15081

To make it even easier to get started, we've assembled this Qwiic Cable Kit with a variety of Qwiic cables from 50mm to 500mm…

$8.95

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USB 3.1 Cable A to C - 3 Foot

In stock CAB-14743

USB C is fantastic. But until we have converted all our hubs, chargers, and ports over to USB C this is the cable you're goin…

$5.50

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Tools

You will need a screw driver to tighten the screw between the processor board and carrier board.

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SparkFun Mini Screwdriver

In stock TOL-09146

This is just your basic reversible screwdriver - pocket sized! Both flat and phillips heads available. Comes with pin clip an…

$1.05

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Prototyping Accessories

Depending on your setup, you could use jumper wires and a breadboard. However, you will want to strip and solder wires should you decide to solder directly to the plated through holes for a secure connection.

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Breadboard - Self-Adhesive (White)

In stock PRT-12002

This is your tried and true white solderless breadboard. It has 2 power buses, 10 columns, and 30 rows - a total of 400 tie i…

$5.50

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Hook-Up Wire - Assortment (Solid Core, 22 AWG)

In stock PRT-11367

An assortment of colored wires: you know it's a beautiful thing. Six different colors of solid core wire in a cardboard dispe…

$21.50

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Jumper Wires Premium 6" M/M Pack of 10

In stock PRT-08431

This is a SparkFun exclusive! These are 155mm long, 26 AWG jumpers with male connectors on both ends. Use these to jumper fro…

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For those that want to take advantage of the Qwiic enabled devices, you'll want to grab a Qwiic cable.

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SparkFun Qwiic Cable Kit

In stock KIT-15081

To make it even easier to get started, we've assembled this Qwiic Cable Kit with a variety of Qwiic cables from 50mm to 500mm…

$8.95

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Qwiic Cable - 100mm

In stock PRT-14427

This is a 100mm long 4-conductor cable with 1mm JST termination. It’s designed to connect Qwiic enabled components together…

$1.50

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Qwiic Cable - Breadboard Jumper (4-pin)

In stock PRT-14425

This is a jumper adapter cable that comes pre-terminated with a female Qwiic JST connector on one end and a breadboard hookup…

$1.50

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Qwiic Cable - 500mm

Retired PRT-14429

This is a 500mm long 4-conductor cable with 1mm JST termination. It’s designed to connect Qwiic enabled components together…

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Suggested Reading

If you aren't familiar with the MicroMod ecosystem, we recommend reading here for an overview. We recommend reading here for an overview if you decide to take advantage of the Qwiic connector.

MicroMod Ecosystem	Qwiic Connect System

If you aren’t familiar with the following concepts, we also recommend checking out a few of these tutorials before continuing.

Hardware Overview

MicroMod Processor Board

The MicroMod ATP Carrier Board includes a location for a MicroMod Processor Board. Here is where your chosen Processor Board will reside.

Power

There are a variety of power-related nets broken out to female header pins and their corresponding through hole pads. The image below highlights those female headers and pads. The board can be powered from the VIN pin with a recommended voltage between 3.3V to 6.0V. It can also be powered with 5V from the USB C connector. The voltage is regulated down to 3.3V with the AP7361C voltage regulator to power your devices with up to 1A of current. If your voltage is clean, and regulated, you can also connect it directly to the 3.3V line.

Backup Battery

The board has a built-in backup battery for Processor Boards with an RTC. Depending on the processor, it may not be connected

USB Ports

You have the option of connecting the board to a computer using the USB connectors. The USB Type C connector is used to power, program the processor board, or pass serial data to a serial terminal. If your processor board has dedicated pins broken out for USB host, there is an option for USB host through the female USB Type A connector. There is a Schottky diode on the USB host's 5V pin to prevent conflicting voltages from the USB host device and USB-C connector. If necessary, you can bypass the diode to power the USB host device by adding a wire between the VHOST pin and VIN pin.

All the [GPIO] Pins

Remember our "All the Pins!" nickname? Well, we meant it. On the MicroMod ATP, we broke out all the major pins using the general MicroMod hardware pinout v1.0 from the M.2 connector to the female headers. We've also added a secondary rail of plated through-holes alongside them to give you the choice of either plug and play or soldering directly to the board. Your mileage may vary depending on the processor board that you are using.

Qwiic and I²C

There are two locations on the board for your favorite Qwiic-enabled device. In addition to the Qwiic connectors, we also have pins that are broken out on the should you need to use jumper wires or solder wire direction to both boards. If you look closely at the port labeled as I2C, there is a dedicated I²C interrupt pin available.

There are mounting holes to attach each standard 1.0"x1.0" Qwiic-enabled device.

Reset and Boot Buttons

The reset button will reset the processor. The boot button will put the processor into a special boot mode. Depending on the processor board, this boot pin may not be connected.

SWD Programming Pins

For advanced users, we broke out the SWD programming pins. Note that this is not populated so you will need a compatible header and compatible JTAG programmer to connect.

LEDs

There are two LEDs on the board.

• VIN - The VIN LED turns on whenever there is voltage applied on the VIN pin. This can be from the USB C connector or the VIN pin on the edge of the board.
• 3V3 - The 3V3 LED turns on whenever there is voltage on the 3.3V pin. This can be from the output of the 3.3V voltage regulator or any of the 3.3V nets located on the edge of the board.

Jumper Pads

There are a few jumpers populated on the board:

• Bypass (BYP) - By default, the BYP is left open. Adding a solder jumper bypasses the 2A resettable fuse on the back of the board should you decide to pull more than 2A from your USB source. Proceed with caution should you decide to bypass the jumper.
• Enable (EN) - By default, the EN jumper is left open. This jumper is connected to a processor board's GPIO pin. The processor board can control the ATP's voltage regulator. Depending on the processor, this may not be connected.
• Current Measurement (MEAS) - By default, the MEAs is closed. Cutting the jumper and soldering to the PTH pads will allows you to insert a current meter and precisely monitor the how much current your application is consuming.
• 3V3 LED - By default, the 3V3 LED is closed. Cutting this jumper will disable the LED when there is 3.3V.
• VIN LED - By default, the VIN LED is closed. Cutting this jumper will disable the LED whenever there is an input voltage.

Jumpers on the Top Side	Jumpers on the Back Side

General MicroMod Pinout

Wondering what the pins are that are broken out on the ATP MicroMod ATP Carrier Board? Check out the table from the Getting Started with MicroMod for more information. Remember to check out the pins against your Processor Board to determine what pins are available.

• MicroMod General Pinout Table
• MicroMod General Pin Descriptions

Board Dimensions

The board is 3.30"x2.20". There are 4x mounting holes on each corner of the board. There are 2x additional mounting holes by the SparkFun logo for Qwiic-enabled devices.

Hardware Hookup

If you have not already, make sure to check out the Getting Started with MicroMod: Hardware Hookup for information on inserting your Processor Board to your Carrier Board.

At a minimum, your setup should look like the image below. In this case, we had the MicroMod SAMD51 Processor Board secured in the M.2 connector. To program and power the microcontroller, we inserted the USB-C cable.

Depending on your setup you may need hardware (jumper wire, cables, header pins, breadboard, etc.) to connect to the board. In this case, we used jumper wire to connect to another board.

To Qwiic-ly connect I²C devices, simply insert a Qwiic cable between the MicroMod ATP's Qwiic port and your Qwiic device.

To secure the boards together, you could add standoffs and screws to mount a Qwiic-enabled device that have the standard 1.0"x1.0" sized board. Keep in mind that this will block a few of the header pins below so make sure to plan accordingly.

Depending on the location of the mounting holes, you may need to make an adapter to hold the Qwiic-enabled device securely. Below is an example with mounting holes on the same side instead of diagonal. A piece of cardboard was cut out as shown in the image below. Depending on your personal preference, you could also laser cut, CNC, or 3D printer to make a more sturdy panel for those that need a stronger material.

Arduino Example

There are quite a lot of peripherals broken out on the MicroMod ATP Carrier Board. Depending on the design of the Processor Board, not all of the pins may be broken out. For simplicity, we will upload a blink sketch to get started.

Blink

Now that you have a Processor Board secure in the Carrier Board, let's upload a simple blink sketch to the board. Copy and paste the following code in the Arduino IDE. Head to Tools > Board to select the correct board definition (in this case, SparkFun MicroMod SAMD51. Select the correct COM port that the board enumerated to. Hit upload.

language:c
/*
  Blink
  Turns on an LED on for one second, then off for one second, repeatedly.

  This example code is in the public domain.
*/

// Pin 13 has an LED connected on most Arduino boards.
// give it a name
// uncomment the following lines if the macro is not defined for your architecture
//#define LED_BUILTIN 13 //Artemis, SAMD51
//#define LED_BUILTIN 5 //ESP32

// the setup routine runs once when you press reset:
void setup() {
  // initialize the digital pin using the built-in macro as an output.
  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}

// the loop routine runs over and over again forever:
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);   // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
  delay(1000);               // wait for a second
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);    // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
  delay(1000);               // wait for a second
}

After uploading, you should see the Processor Board's LED blink. If not, make sure that to define the pin and check your connections.

What's next? Try building a circuit using the design files and associated tutorial for your Processor Board more information. Keep in mind that while each Processor Board uses the same MicroMod interface pinout, each board may have different specifications, software support, and peripherals available for the architecture.

Troubleshooting

Resources and Going Further

Now that you've successfully got your MicroMod ATP Carrier Board up and running with your Processor Board, it's time to incorporate it into your own project! For more information, check out the resources below:

• Schematic (PDF)
• Eagle Files (ZIP)
• Board Dimensions (PNG)
• GitHub Repo

Need some inspiration for your next project? Check out some of these related tutorials with MicroMod:

Or check out some of these related blog posts for more ideas!