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Adafruit CLUE - nRF52840 Express with Bluetooth LE

by Adafruit

Do you feel like you just don't have a CLUE? Well, we can help with that - get a CLUE by picking up this sensor-packed development board.

Adafruit wanted to build some projects that have a small screen and a lot of sensors. To make it compatible with existing projects, they made it the same shape and size as the micro:bit and with the same edge-connector on the bottom with 5 big pads so it will fit into your existing robot kit or 'bit add-on.

While the CLUE looks a bit like a 'bit it has totally redesigned-from-scratch technology:

  • Nordic nRF52840 Bluetooth LE processor - 1 MB of Flash, 256KB RAM, 64 MHz Cortex M4 processor
  • 1.3″ 240×240 Color IPS TFT display for high resolution text and graphics
  • Power it from any 3-6V battery source (internal regulator and protection diodes)
  • Two A / B user buttons and one reset button
  • Tons of sensors!
  • RGB NeoPixel indicator LED
  • 2 MB internal flash storage for datalogging, images, fonts or CircuitPython code
  • Buzzer/speaker for playing tones and beeps
  • Two bright white LEDs in front for illumination / color sensing.
  • Qwiic / STEMMA QT connector for adding more sensors, motor controllers, or displays over I2C. You can plug in GROVE I2C sensors by using an adapter cable.
  • Programmable with Arduino IDE or CircuitPython

Please note that at this time there is no MakeCode or Scratch support for the nRF52840 chipset (of course, we’d love to see MakeCode but there is no ETA when it may be added). While the CLUE is the same outline and they did their best to make the edge-connector pins match up, most cases for the 'bit wont fit the CLUE, and code may not be immediately compatible without adjustment, especially since only Arduino and CircuitPython are supported at this time.

The CLUE is designed for projects that use a ton of sensors - and they're all built in! So you can start exploring your world, measuring, logging and learning. You can transmit data over Bluetooth to a computer or mobile device for data plotting and logging, or save it to the built in storage. Why did they call it CLUE? Check out this post!

If you're looking for a jumping on point, check out kevinjwalters' instructable, which shows you how to run all the projects in the micro:bit Inventor's Kit on a CLUE! 

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Revision history:

  • As of March 13, 2020 Adafruit have made some changes from the previous ALPHA version to move the screen slightly so its a little more centered, and some components moved around to account for the screen connector move. The design is otherwise identical to ALPHA (hardware, shape, pinout, etc)

Product Dimensions: 51.7mm x 42.2mm x 12.3mm / 2.0" x 1.7" x 0.5"

Product Weight: 13.0g / 0.5oz