An open-hardware electronics trainer brings a breadboard, LEDs, buttons, displays and support for several popular development boards onto a single compact platform.
Josh Kittle has developed an open-hardware Microcontroller Trainer that combines common electronics prototyping components with sockets for several popular development boards. The design takes inspiration from traditional electronics playground kits while adding features aimed at modern microcontroller projects.
The centre of the board features a breadboard surrounded by LEDs, push buttons and potentiometers for building circuits and testing their functionality. It also includes interfaces for connecting Raspberry Pi, ESP8266, ESP32 and Arduino boards, along with a 0.96-inch OLED display, 2.4-inch TFT touchscreen and BC05 Bluetooth module.
Initially, the project was intended to bring the components Kittle frequently used onto a single board. Interest from other users later led Kittle to manufacture the boards as kits, while development continued towards a newer version.
The next iteration incorporates an 18650 battery, making the trainer portable. By combining multiple microcontroller boards and peripheral devices with a common prototyping area, the platform provides a single workspace for exploring embedded hardware applications.
