Using

What To Get

Qty	Description	Order Link	Required
1	D-series Breakout Board	Build your own	Yes
1	pyboard D-series Microcontroller	Micropython	Yes
1	12V DC Power Supply	Digi-Key	Yes
1	USB cable	Digi-Key	Yes
1	DIN Rail	Digi-Key
2	DIN Rail Adapter	Digi-Key
4	M3 screws	Digi-Key

First Time Setup

Important HS USB setup

The breakout board is designed to use the pyboard's high speed USB interface. To ensure the correct usb mode is being used, we make a change to the boot.py file.

1. Plug the bare pyboard D-series into your computer.
2. It should appear as a flash drive on your computer. Edit the boot.py file to have the following:

   import pyb
   pyb.usb_mode('VCP',port=1)
   

This change to boot.py is required, otherwise the pyboard won't be found by the pyControl software when it is connected through the breakout board!

You are now ready to connect to the D-series Breakout board.

1. Plug the pyboard onto the breakout board
2. Plug 12V DC power into the breakout board
3. Connect the breakout board to your computer with the USB

Connecting Peripheral Devices

Refer to the table below when considering where to plug in devices. Fill up the top row first with standard devices that just need inputs or outputs. Use the second row for devices that require special communication (UART or I²C).

Note on interrupts

The pyboard microcontroller is limited to 16 separate interrupt vectors. All of the DIO pins on the top row of the breakout board (Ports 1-6) are on separate interrupt vectors, so if you have a lot of input devices, plug them into the top row where there is a guarantee of no interrupt vector collisions.

Note on SPI

If you need to connect to a peripheral using SPI, take a look at Micropython's machine.SoftSPI

The hardware SPI pins are unfortunately not grouped together on a single RJ45 jack on this breakout board, but instead are split up among multiple ports. If you absolutely need to access the hardware SPI pins, you can plug in multiple port adapters to expose the pins.

The following table desribes hardware SPI pin mapping.

	SPI function	CPU name	Pin name	other pin name	D-series breakout port	port function
SPI(1)	SCK	A5	x6	W6	8	C
	MISO	A6	x7	W10	4	A
	MOSI	A7	x8	W14	9	B
SPI(2)	SCK	B13	y6	W49	2	C
	MISO	C2	y7	W53	1	A
	MOSI	C3	y8	W57	1	B

https://store.micropython.org/media/products/PYBD_SF2_W4F2_ds2.jpg https://store.micropython.org/media/products/WBUS_DIP68_ds1.jpg

Example Task

The following instructions will enable you to run the hardware_test.py task file that comes with pyControl. The task uses 3 nosepokes plugged into ports 1-3 and a houselight plugged into port 4.

1. Download the latest version of pyControl
2. Download breakout_dseries_1_6.py and place it in the devices\ directory
3. Download new_hardware_definition.py and place it in the config\ directory

   .
   └─ pyControl
      ├ config
      │  └─ new_hardware_definition.py
      └─ devices
         └─ breakout_dseries_1_6.py
   

4. Launch pyControl and press the "Connect" button to connect to the breakout board.
5. Press the "Config" button and the "Load framework" button.
6. Again, press the "Config" button. Press the "Load hardware definition" button and then select "new_hardware_definition.py" to upload.
7. If successful, you should get a couple OK's confirming that the framework and hardware definition have been transferred.
8. From the task dropdown, select "examples/hardware_test", then click "Upload".
9. Click "Start". The houselight should turn on and nosepokes will now respond to pokes.