Wireling Overview

Wirelings are the tiniest board form factor that TinyCircuits has to offer, starting at 10mm x 10mm. These tiny boards will add new capabilities to your projects in a big way! From sensors and displays, to sound, and inputs like switches and joysticks, Wirelings plug into your projects easily with a 5-pin cable which means absolutely no soldering or bread-boarding necessary. Wirelings are tiny, low-cost, and to top it all off - they are compatible with TinyCircuits processors, standard Arduino processors, and Raspberry Pi boards.

Wirelings (Originally called Whiskers) were brought to life by Kickstarter in a campaign that raised over three times the funding goal! Check out the original Kickstarter Campaign.

How do they work?

Wirelings connect to your project using a Wireling Cable. Instead of soldering, or busting out a bread board, you can just plug them in! You can individually address every Wireling, even if they ALL have the same I2C address. Find example programs for Arduino development boards, and Raspberry Pi Python examples for all of the Wireling sensors and Input/Outputs.

Each Wireling cable has 5 wires to connect Power, Ground, I2C, and Analog Input/Output.

  • Power: Two wires are used for power (3V3) and ground (GND) in order to power the connected Wireling (of course!) 
  • Communication: Many Wirelings use I2C, a serial communication protocol that uses two other wires for SDA and SCL to collect complex data like temperature readings.
  • Auxiliary Pin: The fifth wire is connected to an Analog pin for Wirelings that just need an I/O pin to function, like Buttons, and RGB LEDs.

So you can skip all the soldering if you choose, but if you want to add in something that isn't a Wireling (yet!), you can use our 0.1" Breakout Wireling to add in any device you want. If you have a great Wireling idea, make sure to post the idea on our Forum and we will absolutely consider it!

Compatibility

TinyCircuits Processors

 TinyDuino TinyZero TinyScreen+ Wireling assembly animation

All of the original TinyCircuits Processors (TinyDuino, TinyZero, and TinyScreen+) are compatible with Wirelings by using the Wireling Adapter TinyShield which feature 4 separately addressable Wireling ports per Shield - you can use up to 8 Wireling Shields for a total of 32 different (or the same!) Wirelings. The best part? Any amount of Wirelings can have the same I2C address due to the multiplexer on the Wireling Adapter TinyShield.

In addition, we designed two new tiny processors that come with Wireling Connectors on the board. 

WirelingZero

 WirelingZero Wireling assembly animation

The WirelingZero is specifically designed for low-cost Wireling projects. This processor board is based on the Atmel SAMD21 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ processor (the same one used in the Arduino Zero) and provides a USB connectivity port, switch, power management, 4 separately addressable Wireling ports, and battery charger in a single 15 x 32mm board.

RobotZero

 RobotZero Wireling assembly animation

The RobotZero has everything you need to build a robot, including (4) Wireling connectors, (2) motor ports, (4) servo ports, and a built-in 9-Axis sensor. RobotZero is based on the Atmel SAMD21 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ processor (the same one used in the Arduino Zero) and provides a USB connectivity port, power management and battery charger in a single 30x30mm board. Some of the great hardware we were able to include on the board for all the robotic features:

  • Atmel 32-bit ATSAMD21G18A ARM Microcontroller
  • (2) TI DRV8837 H-bridge Motor Drivers
  • TI PCA9544A Low Voltage 4-Channel I2C Multiplexer
  • ST LSM9DS1 9-Axis 3D accelerometer, 3D gyroscope, 3D magnetometer with an embedded temperature sensor.

Classic Arduino Processors

 Arduino Shield Wireling assembly animation

Why not dust off your old Arduino Uno and give it some new life with some modular and small sensors? We designed a Standard Arduino Shield so you can do exactly that!

Leave the breadboards and jumper cables in the box, and give yourself a break from staring at connection diagrams - just plug in Wirelings and get your project working quickly with example code from our website!

Raspberry Pi

 Pi Hat Raspberry Pi Wireling assembly animation

Where's the fun in just using Arduino all the time? We thought so too. We made a Wireling Pi Hat so that you can use Wirelings with all the popular hobby microprocessors. Check out the Python examples and tutorials on our Learn Page.

Where do I start?

All of our Wirelings come with example code and tutorials to help you get started quickly (for Arduino and Raspberry Pi!). Head on over to our Learn Page for all of your programming needs.

There are lots of different ways to use Wirelings with multiple platforms, so we put together a table of the hardware combinations that work best using the development board of your choice:

 

Processor Adapter
* and
*
*
N/A
* N/A
Arduino
Raspberry Pi

* These processors have a 32-pin connector and can have multiple Wireling Adapter TinyShields stacked to increase the number of Wireling ports up to a maximum of 32 total Wireling ports per processor.

 

 

 

You will also need Wirelings and Wireling Cables of course!

If you have any questions about how to start using Wirelings, or ideas for new Wirelings - make a post on our forum section dedicated to Wirelings, or email us at info@tinycircuits.com!