Overview
We've taken the original Circuit Playground Classic and made it even better! Not only did we pack even more sensors in, we also made it even easier to program.
Adafruit Circuit Playground Express is an all-in-one design board featuring a processor, sensors, LEDs, USB, and more, making it an ideal introduction to electronics and programming. Circuit Playground Express currently supports programming via Microsoft MakeCode, a web-based code editor for physical computing.
Using MakeCode's visual block-based editor, or its JavaScript editor, users can build programs to create custom animations, sounds, and use sensor events like "On Shake" to react to external stimulus.
The Circuit Playground Express is based on an ultralow-power SMART SAM L21 Microcontroller, using a 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M0+ core.
The SAM L21 features sophisticated power management technologies, allowing for very low current consumption.
It can be powered from USB, "AAA" battery pack, or with a Lipoly battery. The round, sensor-packed Circuit Playground Express Board features alligator-clip pads around the edge, making it easy to connect to projects without having to solder.
Built-in USB allows quick connectivity for programming, with no special cables or adapters required.
Get Inspired
This project demonstrates how to automatically censor (ban) faces in a live video stream to ensure privacy using the Portenta H7 and the Portenta Vision Shield.
We’re excited to announce the launch of the Arduino Portenta Vision Shield, a production-ready expansion for the powerful Arduino Portenta H7 that adds a low-power camera, two microphones, and connectivity — everything you need for the rapid creation of edge ML applications. Always-on machine vision The Portenta Vision Shield comes with an ultra-low-power Himax camera. The camera module autonomously detects motion while the Portenta H7 is in stand-by — only waking up the microcontroller when needed. Voice and audio event recognition The Portenta Vision Shield features two ultra-compact and omnidirectional MP34DT06JTR microphones, bringing voice recognition and audio event detection. Both the video and audio data can be stored on an SD card, and transmitted through Ethernet or LoRa® modules (plus option of the WiFi or BLE on the Portenta H7 module). Additional LoRa® or Ethernet connectivity The powerful Arduino Portenta H7 makes machine possible learning on-device — greatly reducing the communication bandwidth requirement in an IoT application. The LoRa® module option is specifically designed for edge ML applications, enabling low-power, long distance communication over LoRa® wireless protocol and LoRaWAN networks. The Ethernet version is perfect for all those wired applications that need high bandwidth data transfer speed. (N.B. The LoRa® and Ethernet connectivity options on the Portenta Vision Shield are in addition to the existing WiFi and BLE connectivity provided by the Portenta H7 module.) Embedded computer vision made easy In tandem with the launch of the Portenta Vision Shield, Arduino has teamed up with OpenMV to make their IDE fully compatible with the Portenta. The OpenMV IDE provides an easy way into computer vision using MicroPython as a programming paradigm. There are an abundance of AI/ML algorithms available straight ‘out of the box’ providing a user experience we are sure you will