What is easyC

What is easyC-Uncategorized

One of the things that were slowing us down when creating new products was the need for soldering. Don’t get us wrong, we love soldering, but when coming up with new products, it can take a lot of time. Not to mention the soldering process is prone to mistakes. To speed up the process of putting together an I2C circuit, we came up with a simple-to-use system.

 

The easyC system was made with one thing in mind – ease of use! It enables you to connect the microcontroller boards, sensors, and actuators for fast prototyping with no possibility of error. Connecting the modules is done with simple and pre-prepared cables. The easyC modules have connectors to match those cables.

 

The I2C (inter-integrated circuit) protocol  is designed so that multiple “peripheral” devices can communicate with one or more “controller” devices. Best of all, it uses only two communication lines. The protocol allows you to use over a hundred devices strung together using only those two communication lines.

No soldering

As mentioned, we love soldering, but it takes quite some time. Every easyC compatible product comes with two soldered connectors that can be connected with pre-prepared cables. Connecting them is done in a matter of seconds. The cables come in different lengths so there won’t be any issue of them being too short or too long.

No mistakes

The polarized connector can be connected in only one direction. With that, the possibility of an incorrect connection is eliminated. No more replacing the SDA and SCL wires again!

What is easyC

On this picture you can see an old version of Wifi:bit

Daisy chain (parallel) connection

Leveraging the power of I2C communication you can connect a large number of devices! Want to connect your Dasduino board with temperature, humidity, pressure, light, and air quality sensors to make your weather station? With easyC it’s as easy as one, two, three!

One thing to watch out for is the I2C addresses of your boards. If you want to connect the addresses in a daisy chain, they all need to have different addresses. If two or more addresses match, your connection won’t work. You’ll need to change the addresses so none of them are the same. You can find the I2C address directly on the board.

What is easyC

On this picture you can see various e-radionica products. New Soldered products would be: Dasduino CONNECT (ESP8266), Real time clock RTC PCF85063A breakout, easyC adapter.

No easyC connector on an I2C board? No problem!

What if you had a board with no easyC connectors, but still wanted to use it with the easyC system? The easyC is supported by all the boards using the I2C communication. Meaning, if the board has the GND/VCC/SDA/SCL pinout, you can add an easyC adapter to it. The adapter adds two easyC connectors to any standard I2C header. Thus making your old board easyC compatible.

What is easyC

On this picture you can see old version of easyC adapter together with previous version of INA219. New versions are: Voltage & current sensor INA219 breakout, easyC adapter.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much power does the easyC system use?

The easyC system works on 3.3V and should not be used on other voltages to prevent damaging other devices. The maximum current for it is 226 mA.

 

What’s the pinout of the easyC connectors and cables?

Every easyC cable uses the same colors to indicate different signals. All signals are always arranged as follows:

  • Black = GND
  • Red = 3V
  • Blue = SDA
  • Yellow = SCL

 

Which connectors are used for easyC?

The connectors used by easyC are often known as JST 4-pin connectors. In reality, they are JST-SH compatible connectors with a pin spacing of 1.00mm. Find a drawing for the female PCB connector here and the male on the cable here.

 

What is the maximum cable length I can use to connect easyC modules?

There are many easyC cables to choose from, and the maximum length will depend on I2C communication. Without going into too much detail, we can confirm the system works reliably at cable lengths greater than 2 meters.

Project ideas using easyC

Looking for a fun project where you’ll be using the easyC connectivity? We’ve selected a few that might interest you. We’re adding new projects regularly, so keep an eye out for them on the blog page.

Leave a Reply