Overview#
What is this?#
pyControl D-series breakout is a device that connects a pyboard D-series microcontroller with twelve RJ45 ports. It is intended for use with the pyControl behavioral experiment control framework.
How is it different?#
The core distinction between this breakout board and the official pyControl breakout board 1.2 is the upgrade to a newer generation pyboard (i.e. a more powerful microcontroller). Some benefits of the newer pyboard include being smaller, faster, having more memory, and having more input/output pins. Having more available pins is particularly useful, as it enables the breakout board to provide more behavior ports without requiring a port expander. Below is a comparison of the two breakout boards.
| Breakout Board 1.2 | D-series Breakout Board 1.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Microcontroller | ||
| Board | pyboard v1.1 | pyboard D-series SF6W |
| CPU | 168 MHz Cortex-M4F | 216 MHz Cortex-M7F |
| RAM | 192 KB | 512 KB |
| ROM | 512 KB | 4,048 KB |
| Connectors | ||
| RJ45 | 6 | 12 |
| BNC | 4 | 0 |
| USB | Full Speed (12 Mbit/s) | High Speed (480 Mbit/s) |
| Behavior Ports | ||
| Power Driver Pins | 14 | 24 |
| Digital I/O Pins | 14 | 30 |
| ADC Pins | 12 | 15 |
| DAC Pins | 2 | 2 |
| UART Buses | 3 | 4 |
| I2C Buses | 2 | 2 |
| Dimensions | ||
| PCB | 1.8 in x 7.6 in | 2.7 in x 3.6 in |
| Performance1 | ||
| Latency - No load | 561 ± 16 µs (100% < 1 ms) | 307 ± 9 µs (100% < 1 ms) |
| Latency - High load | 842 ± 293 µs (84.8% < 1 ms) | 372 ± 95 µs (100% < 1 ms) |
| Accuracy - No load | -210 ± 281 µs (100% < 1 ms) | -342 ± 285 µs (100% < 1 ms) |
| Accuracy - High load | -27 ± 351 µs (99.2% < 1 ms) | -361 ± 280 µs (100% < 1 ms) |
