The Drives block on Crickit makes it super easy to connect higher current devices.
At left shows the Circuit Playground Express and Crickit combination connected to several devices. |
|
The Crickit for micro:bit is just as versatile.
Note the micro:bit is not shown at left, it would have to be plugged into the Crickit. |
The Drive output of your Crickit is perfect for 5V-powered solenoids, relays, vibration motors or high powered LEDs. You can drive up to 500mA per output, and 4 outputs available.
Note that the 'positive' side of the electronic part you're driving has to connect to 5V not Ground. You can just double/triple/quadruple wires into the same 5V terminal block.
Each Drive output is a PWM output, that means you can change the amount of current or speed of whatever is connected.
Select which Drive pin you want to control with the pull down, Drive 1 through 4 are labeled on the Crickit
Then you can set the value from 0 (drive off) to 1023 (drive all the way on). If you want to dim an LED or run a vibration motor at half power, use 512. For quarter power, use 256!
Remember you get 4 drive pins, so you can control them independently
Changing the Drive Analog/PWM Frequency
You can set the analog frequency in an On Start block. We recommend 1000 Hz (1 KHz) its a good standard number. Advanced makers can tweak this!