FLORA components in detail

[karenespinoza10]

Hello! I really appreciated the feedback I received on a problem I was having with my FLORA.
Now, I would like to request more information on each little component on the FLORA platform, & the function it performs. I am conducting research on wearable electronics at TAMIU, and my professor ask me to explain each of the components. We recently bought the FLORA manual, but it has limited information on the components. I know FLORA platform has resistors, the microprocessor, ON-OFF switch, reset button...and all other obvious components. But what about the rest? I would greatly appreciate if you can provide me with more information in detail with the rest of FLORA's platform components.

Thanks in advance.

[caitlinsdad]

The question might be a tall order to fill depending on the point of view you need, from electrical engineering to a crafter who wants to start blending technology.

I'll kick it off though...
The Flora is based on open-source Arduino microcontroller boards so you can dig up all the background on that. Flora is one of the variants/derivations(Leonardo) designed specifically for a more sewable friendly form with bigger holes to accommodate conductive thread. It has a built in USB interface to easily hook up to a computer for programming. Other mini form factor Arduinos require a separate FTDI cable interface or wiring to the ICSP header pin pads to interface with a computer.
I guess you should request Ladyada do a teardown video Flora but it probably boils down to the microcontroller chip, power management section, USB communication section(UART built in chip), ICSP header, reset switch, attached battery on/off switch and the various pinouts. In the Arduino world, additional functions such as controlling motors or sensing required additional circuitry which plugged into the base board called "shields". Along the same line of being small and sewable, there are various accessory boards for the Flora such as GPS, accelerometer, light sensors, bluetooth or wireless, etc. They have to be wired up according to the protocols they are designed for I2C(pronounced eye squared see) or SPI and hence the various marked pins on the Flora. And depending on what you would like to know, the difference between digital and analog input on the pins, all need to be considered when driving LEDs or motors because of their power limits before you toast a chip. There are also many other microcontroller chips out there so you have the smaller Gemma and Trinket boards. Good luck.

[adafruit_support_bill]

If you can be a little more specific about what you are looking for, we can try to answer your questions. The Flora was designed to overcome some of the shortcomings of existing wearable processors. There were a lot of design decisions along the way. The 32U4 chip has built-in USB capability - eliminating the need for an extra USB/Serial converter or and FTDI header. The board itself is thin an low-profile, with no protruding pins to snag. The pins are designed to be sewable as well as solderable. And the board is designed around 3.3v logic levels so that it can be powered directly from a single LiPo cell or a 3xAAA battery pack.

[karenespinoza10]

Ok, I understand. I will be specific. I need information on What is it? and What's its function? of the following components:

Why are there three GNDs?
What is the SCL for? SDA? the RX & TX as well (pins) What are their functions?
Why are the pins named D10, D12, D6, D9? Does it matter where you stitch? What's their function? Why name them like that? Is there any difference between them?
What is the green component next to the resistors called? What's its function?
What about the other tiny components that you can notice, are they capacitors?
What is the function of the 3 pairs of holes in the FLORA? The ones between GND and D6

I would really appreciate if you could answer my questions, since I'll be presenting this project. Thanks in advance.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Why are there three GNDs?

The Flora is designed for wearable applications - many of which use un-insulated conductive thread. With more grounds to choose from, it is easier to design circuits with no crossing wires.

What is the SCL for? SDA? the RX & TX as well (pins) What are their functions?

SCL and SDA are the Clock and Data pins for the I2C bus. The I2C protocol allows multiple i2c devices (such as all of the Flora sensors) to share the same 2 pins for communication. This also simplifies circuit layout.
Tx and Rx are the Transmit and Receive pins for communication with devices supporting TTL serial communication such as GPS modules.

Why are the pins named D10, D12, D6, D9? Does it matter where you stitch? What's their function? Why name them like that? Is there any difference between them?

Those are the digital I/O pins. If you look at the pinout diagram, you will see that many of these pins have multiple functions. Some can do analog inputs as well as digital input and output. Some (like SDA, SCL, Rx and Tx) have special communication capabilities. In general, you can only use one of those functions at a time.

What is the green component next to the resistors called? What's its function?

That is a diode to protect against reverse current flow in the power circuits.

What about the other tiny components that you can notice, are they capacitors?

The black ones are resistors, the brown & gray ones are capacitors and the yellowish ones are LEDs.

What is the function of the 3 pairs of holes in the FLORA? The ones between GND and D6

That is the ICSP header. That can be used to re-program the bootloader on the Flora processor, or for access to SPI signals for communication with SPI devices such as SD cards for data logging.

[karenespinoza10]

Oh I see, I appreciate that; the information does help a lot. I know how you mention that the pins (D6, D9, D10, D12) have multiple functions according to the diagram you posted. Question is, what do they mean? By simply looking at the picture, I still don't understand those functions. Mind explaining?

[adafruit_support_bill]

In the diagram:
The large print label is the label on the board.

"Arduino" labels are the Arduino compatible pin names. Digital pin names are shown in black. Analog pin names are in red. If PWM output is supported, this is noted in parentheses.

"AVR" labels are the internal AVR microcontroller names for the pin and pin functions. The number in parenthesies is the physical pin number on the chip. The other labels provide information about the internal ports, control registers, interrupts and timers associated with the pin. Complete details on the meanings of those can be found in the AVR datasheet: http://www.atmel.com/images/atmel-7766- ... asheet.pdf

[karenespinoza10]

Hello! Now I'm havinf trouble with ACEELEROMETER, but I can't find the "Post a New Topic" here in the FORUMS

HELP!

[adafruit_support_bill]

Go to the "Wearables" forum and there will be a "Post A Topic" button on the top left:
viewforum.php?f=51