Beetle (1Pc)

News: Undergraduate students at the Utah State University (USU) have successfully launched the first Pi-powered satellite into orbit. The GASPACS CubeSat, which was sponsored by NASA,features a Raspberry Pi Zero computer, a second-gen Pi Camera Module, and a DFRobot Beetle microcontroller to facilitate basic tasks at a low price. Read more.

Beetle is fully compatible with the Arduino Leonardo board. It derives its core notionfrom minimalism without compromising functionality.

It comes with Atmel ATmega32U4 (datasheet)@16MHz clock time and has expanded amounts of interfaces: 10 digital pins, 5 analog pins, and 4 pwn pins. To further make it user-friendly, it is compatible with MicroUSB so that direct programming and testing is no longer a headache. Select "Arduino Leonardo (tools - board - Arduino Leonardo in Arduino IDE), the ATmega32U4 comes pre burned with a bootloader that allows you to upload any new code that is applicable to Arduino Leonardo.

As the DFRobot smallest board compatible with Arduino Leonardo, it enjoys similar powerful functionalities. Beetle aims to solve problems of the low-cost controller, ease-of-using properly, and to provide a low-cost solution for disposable projects, such as DIY projects, workshops, gift projects, E-Textiles, and educational. For students and makers who can not afford too much on hardware purchasing, Beetle can be a great solution for them.

left to right: DFRduino Leonardo, Nano, Nova and Beetle

DFRobot released it's a new product called Beetle BLE - The Smallest Board with Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE), which is a board based on Arduino Uno.  It is probably the smallest Arduino-Compatible board in the market.

Features

• 20mm X 22mm compact size
• Direct downloading and testing via Micro USB
• V-shaped large-size gold-plated IO ports make it convenient for the user to twist wires upon, and can also be directly sewn on clothes with conductive thread.
• Two honeycomb shape gold-plated power interface
• Magic light blue soft BLINK indicator

Specification

• Microcontroller: ATmega32u4
• Clock Speed: 16 MHz
• Operating Voltage: 5V DC
• Digital I/O Pins: 10 
• PWM Channels: 4 
• Analog Input Channels: 5 
• UART: 1 
• I2C: 1 
• Micro USB: 1 
• Power Ports: 2 
• Flash Memory:  32 KB of which 4KB used by bootloader
• SRAM:  2.5 KB
• EEPROM:  1 KB
• Size: 20mm*22mm*3.8mm

Projects

Project 1: How to Make Music IQ Led Lights with Beetle?

Project Introduction This Music IQ Led Lights with Beetle is an application based on an individually addressable LED strip.

The things you need to do this project:

• Audio Analyzer*1
• Analog sound sensor*2
• RGB individually addressable LED strip *1
• Beetle *1

Project 2: How to make a Programmable Fiber Optic Fairy Wings?

Project Introduction Technology and a few button clicks on the internet gives you the tools to create your own glowing fairy wings, learn how to make it.

The hardware you need to do this project:

• Digital RGB LED Weatherproof Strip 60 LED
• Beetle

Project 3: DIY Deer Clock

Project Introduction We are going to make a table clock showing time in a lovely way. This product has quite cute look and the LED screen make it cool.

The hardware you need to do this project:

• Gravity: I2C SD2405 RTC Module
• Beetle
• FireBeetle Covers-24×8 LED Matrix (White)
• Micro USB cable

Project 4: How to Make a Running Heart Alarm T-shirt

A DIY heart-rate wearable in a running t-shirt that vibrates when your heart-rate is high, using DFROBOT components.

The hardware you need to do this project:

• Arduino Nano
• Beetle
• vibration motor module for Arduino
• heart rate monitor sensor for Arduino

Project 5: Make a shiny dice for monitoring battery capacity

The materials you may need:

• Gravity: I2C 3.7V Li Battery Fuel Gauge
• Beetle
• Single-Sided ProtoBoard ( flexible PCB )
• LED Lamp Beads  ×21
• Crystal Epoxy Resin and metal complex dyes.

Project 6. A Wristband Pedometer Based on BMI160 Motion Sensor
Recently I bought a 6-Axis Inertial Motion Sensor from DFRobot. So it occurs to me that why not make a wristband pedometer to calculate my physical strength.
The material you may need:

• Gravity: I2C BMI160 6-Axis Inertial Motion Sensor  ×1
• Beetle ×1
• Gravity I2C OLED-2864 Display  ×1
• 3.7V Mini-Lithium Battery  ×1
• Button  ×2
• Toggle Switch  ×1
• Watchband  ×1

Project 7. Light of Earth - A BMI160 gyroscope accelerometer-based 3D Printing Lamp
A light can be turned on by knocking on the table. 
Material Lists:

• Gravity: I2C BMI160 6-Axis Inertial Motion Sensor
• Beetle
• 3.7v lithium battery charger
• 3.7v lithium battery
• 10 piranha lamp beads
• A small amount of acrylic pigment (green, yellow, blue and brown; if the gray and white pigment is provided, the oil paint does not need to be prepared)
• Light gray and white oil paint
• A good-looking 2-foot button (I bought it on Taobao)
• Lead wire (2 mm) (If no, replace it with soft iron wire)
• 40 cm PVC hollow rod (I use the one with outer diameter 9 mm and inner diameter 5 mm)
• A screw and nut with the length of 20mm
• Lightsabers by Makefun Workshop

Project 8 A Christmas present for cute kid & girl - A Clever Rabbit Hat - an EMG sensor-based
Things you may need in this project:

• Gravity: Analog EMG Sensor by OYMotion   ×1
• Beetle ×1
• Lithium Battery Charger         ×1
• 3.7 V Lithium Battery        ×1
• 9g 180° Micro Servo   ×2
• Rabbit Hat   ×1
• Needles and Thread
• Two-step Toggle Switch  ×1
• Elastic (Width: 1.5cm Length: 40cm) ×1
• Stick ×2
• Hot Melt Adhesive

Documents

• Wiki
• Schematic
• Review by One Mans Anthology
• Adafruit's Trinket vs DFRobot's Beetle - Review and Comparision (Video)
• Beetle: Minimize Your Arduino Projects (Instructables)

Parts List

• Beetle x1