Digital-to-Analog-to-AI-to-LiDAR
This week, we've revised our popular MCP4725 Digital-to-Analog Converter Breakout and released a new AI "Cat" from Espressif as well as a new LiDAR from Benewake!
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another Friday Product Post here at SparkFun Electronics! It's been a few weeks, but it's mainly because we've been working on a number of things behind the scenes that we'll show off in the coming weeks. This week, however, we have a number of new products to talk about including a revised Digital-to-Analog Converter Breakout, an interactive AI development tool from Espressif, a new LiDAR from Benewake, and a number of FPGA ICs. Let's take a closer look, shall we?
This Week's New Products:
$4.75
While most microcontrollers only simulate an analog voltage using Pulse Width Modulation, this breakout board allows you to generate a true analog signal. The SparkFun MCP4725 Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) Breakout provides accurate, 12-bit analog voltage output via I2C and features onboard EEPROM to store settings even after power loss. This makes it a great choice for a wide variety of electronics projects where standard digital signals can't quite give you what you need.
The ESP-VoCat is an AI voice interaction development kit built around the ESP32-S3, combining wireless connectivity, a circular touchscreen, microphone array, speaker, and battery support into a compact platform for developing voice-enabled and AI-powered devices. The ESP-VoCat is designed for applications such as AI assistants, smart speakers, interactive toys, desktop robots, and smart home controllers, and supports offline voice wake-up, sound source localization, and cloud-based AI services.
The Benewake TF-NOVA LiDAR Distance Sensor is a compact, solid-state LiDAR sensor designed for obstacle detection, presence detection, and area ranging applications. Unlike conventional point-ranging LiDAR sensors, the TF-NOVA projects a 14° × 1° laser line, allowing it to detect objects across a wider horizontal area without mechanical scanning or multiple sensors. It provides a 0.1 to 14m measurement range with up to 900Hz measurement rates, making it well suited for robotics, autonomous platforms, industrial automation, and other applications where compact area detection is required.
These are AMD Xilinx Artix-7 field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that we offer with either 7925 LABs/CLBs and 101440 Logic Elements/Cells or 2600 LABs/CLBs and 33280 Logic Elements/Cells. Optimized for low power applications requiring serial transceivers and high DSP and logic throughput. Provides the lowest total bill of materials cost for high-throughput, cost-sensitive applications.
The iCE40™ HX is an ultra-low power, non-volatile FPGA. In addition to LUT-based, low-cost programmable logic, these devices feature Embedded Block RAM (EBR), Non-volatile Configuration Memory (NVCM) and Phase Locked Loops (PLLs). These features allow the device to be used in low-cost, high-volume consumer and system applications.
This Week's Price Drop:
The SparkFun Paper Circuits Kit teaches the basics and fundamentals of creating an electric circuit without the need to solder or code a single thing! Using the provided templates, strips of copper tape, and LEDs, the SparkFun Paper Circuits Kit provides you with 10 fun and informative light up robot cards that should only take between five to 10min to assemble! No previous electronics experience is required.
Was: $17.95 | Now: $12.95
That's it for this week! If you aren't already a subscriber to our New Product Newsletter, you really should be. As always, we can't wait to see what you make! Shoot us a tweet @sparkfun, or let us know on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn. Please be safe out there and be kind to one another! Happy hacking!
