SparkFun gator:environment Hookup Guide

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Contributors: santaimpersonator, Englandsaurus
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Introduction

Do you have an experiment involving environmental changes?

SparkFun gator:environment - micro:bit Accessory Board

SEN-15269
Retired

The gator:environment is the solution for any environmental experimentation. It utilizes both the CCS811 and BME280 ICs for all of your climate and atmospheric quality readings. The CCS811 is an exceedingly popular sensor, providing readings for equivalent CO2 (or eCO2) in the parts per million (PPM) and equivalent total volatile organic compounds (or eTVOC) in the parts per billion (PPB). While, the BME280 provides a combined humidity, temperature, and barometric pressure readings. This tutorial will show you how to get started using this environmental sensor with the gator:bit (v2) in the micro:bit development environment.

Required Materials

To get started, you'll need a micro:bit to control everything. Each of the products below includes a micro:bit, but the kit and bundle also include some additional accessories that you may want as well.

micro:bit Board

DEV-14208
10 Retired

micro:bit Go Bundle

DEV-14336
18 Retired

SparkFun Inventor's Kit for micro:bit

KIT-15228
2 Retired

To easily use the gator board ecosystem, a gator:bit (v2) will help breakout the necessary pins and you will also need alligator and/or banana cables to connect the gator:bit to the gator:environment.

Alligator Test Leads - Multicolored (10 Pack)

Alligator Test Leads - Multicolored (10 Pack)

PRT-12978
$3.50
4
Banana to Banana Cable - Right Angle

Banana to Banana Cable - Right Angle

CAB-15368
$4.95 $4.46
1

SparkFun gator:bit v2.0 - micro:bit Carrier Board

DEV-15162
2 Retired

(*These banana cables have a special diameter on the attachment points designed specifically for use with the micro:bit ecosystem. They may or may not be compatible with the banana cables used on your test equipment.)

You may already have some of these materials, so feel free to modify your cart as necessary.

Suggested Reading

The gator:environment uses two separate sensors a BME280 and CCS811. The operation of the BME280 is fairly straight forward, but the CCS811 is a slightly more complicated metal oxide sensor. You may find the following concepts and tutorials useful with the gator:environment:

Logic Levels

Learn the difference between 3.3V and 5V devices and logic levels.

I2C

An introduction to I2C, one of the main embedded communications protocols in use today.

micro:climate Kit Experiment Guide

A weather station kit that is built on top of the inexpensive, easy-to-use micro:bit and Microsoft MakeCode.

CCS811/BME280 (Qwiic) Environmental Combo Breakout Hookup Guide

Sense various environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, eCO2 and tVOCs with the CCS811 and BME280 combo breakout board.

If you aren't familiar with the micro:bit, we recommend reading here for an overview.

We would also recommend taking a look at the following tutorials if you aren't familiar with them.

Getting Started with the micro:bit

The BBC micro:bit is a compact, powerful programming tool that requires no software installation. Read on to learn how to use it YOUR way!

How to Load MicroPython on a Microcontroller Board

This tutorial will show you how to load the MicroPython interpreter onto a variety of development boards.

SparkFun gator:bit v2 Hookup Guide

The gator:bit v2 is a breakout board for the BBC micro:bit. The gator:bit exposes almost every pin on the micro:bit to clippable pad with circuit protection. It also has as built-in addressable LEDs and a built-in buzzer.