With our new CP Sapling, there is a world of possibilities that you can explore with the SAMD21 microcontroller. And thanks to the hard work of Adafruit, there is a ton of great examples that can be used to explore microcontroller functionality and make a few cool projects to impress your family this holiday season!

As always before we get started, if you have never used a CircuitPython board like the QT PY, be sure to check out Adafruit's learning site to quickly get started with your new board. --> Adafruit Learning Site: Getting Started With CircuitPython

It's that time again where we bring you new product announcements for Oak Development Technologies! We have a couple new products coming to the store by the end of the year!

In our last tutorial, we walked you through how to expand the output pins of the Adafruit Qt Py by using a 74HC595 Shift Register. In this tutorial, we'll help you take it a step further by adding a momentary button and a few extra lines of code to implemented a push button counter.

If you haven't seen the first tutorial, you can find it here: ​https://www.oakdev.tech/tutorials-new-products/tutorial-expanding-qt-py-outputs-with-74hc595  

The Adafruit Qt Py is an adorable development board with a lot of potential given the current price ($6 as of writing this). You might wonder with the small size, what if I need more outputs? In this tutorial we'll show you how you can expand the Qt Py's outputs using the 74HC595 serial shift register to drive a 7 segment display including the CircuitPython code to make it all work. 

As always before we get started, if you have never used a CircuitPython board like the QT PY, be sure to check out Adafruit's learning site to quickly get started with your new board. --> Adafruit Learning Site: Getting Started With CircuitPython

We want to make a point of highlighting the makers developing projects with ODT products, so we're starting these little posts called Project Spotlights. This week we are looking at the BLU Auto Shutoff USB Charger by foamyguy on Hackaday.io!

In our previous tutorial with the TPS22917 Acorn, we showed you how to get started with the module using Arduino and the Arduino Nano. In this tutorial, we'll show you how easy it is to get the TPS22917 integrated into your project, all while showing off the new SAMD21 development board the QT PY by Adafruit.

If you're just getting started with designing your own printed circuit boards, or PCBs you might be inspired by the simple to use Arduino Nano, its small form factor, and overall aesthetic to new makers and hobbyists. There's a lot to consider when designing a new board, or even using the DIP package of the ATMega328p. In this tutorial, we will show you the easy way to get your ATMega328p boot loaded and ready to use for your project.

Coming over the next few weeks and months to Oak Development Technologies are a few exciting and versatile products to help you get started on your project. Here are a few that are coming by in the next 2 weeks.

Trying to figure out how to reduce the power consumption of your project with multiple peripherals can be tricky, especially if these peripherals are operating off different power supplies than your main controller. This is where the easy to use TPS22917 Power Switch/Load Driver from Texas Instruments comes in.