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Willkommen, Calliope Mini! Developed in Germany for students in primary school and up, this heavenly star-shaped development board is a souped-up derivative of the micro: bit.

The main chip on the Calliope is the same nRF51822 as the micro: bit so for many purposes, it can be programmed the same way. There are some big upgrades though!

Calliope Mini Development Board

Things that are the same as the micro: bit

  • Nordic nRF51822 Multi-protocol Bluetooth® 4.0 low energy / 2.4GHz RF SoC
  • 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 processor (16MHz)
  • 16kB RAM
  • 256kB Flash
  • Bluetooth low energy
  • 5x5 LED matrix display
  • USB Micro B connection (programming and power supply)
  • JST battery connector (3.3V)
  • 2 programmable buttons
  • PWM outputs
  • NXP KL26z (USB UART and programming interface chip)
  • Serial interface (USB + configurable ports)
  • 4 analog inputs
  • 8-11 Input / Output Connections (depending on software configuration)
  • SPI + I2C

Things that are new or different:

  • Instead of edge-connect pads on the bottom of the board, like the micro: bit, Calliope Mini's has a circular star design, with alligator pads on 6 corners for easy connection.
  • Full 9 degrees of freedom IMU with Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer (Bosch BMX055) - the micro: bit has only accelerometer and magenetometer, and they are different/separate chips.
  • MEMS Microphone for audio input
  • DC Motor Driver (TI DRV8837) to drive a single DC motor or solenoid
  • Piezo Speaker
  • RGB LED (WS2812B NeoPixel)
  • 2 x Grove connectors (I2C + serial / analog)

SPECIFICATION

  • Nordic nRF51822 Multi-protocol Bluetooth® 4.0 low energy / 2.4GHz RF SoC
  • 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 processor (16MHz)
  • 16kB RAM
  • 256kB Flash
  • Bluetooth low energy
  • Operating/Supply Voltage: 3.3V

The Calliope Mini Development Board appears in the following collections:

SKU DF-DFR0840