This is a simple breakout board for the FTDI FT232RL USB to serial IC. The assignment of this board corresponds to the FTDI cable to work with official Arduino and cloned 3.3V Arduino boards. It can also be used for general serial applications.
The main difference to this board is that it brings out the DTR pin unlike the RTS pin of the FTDI cable. The DTR pin allows an Arduino target to automatically reset when downloading a new sketch. This is a really nice feature that makes it possible to download a sketch without pressing the reset button. This board automatically resets any Arduino board where the reset pin is pulled out to a 6-pin connector.
The pins marked with BLK and GRN correspond to the coloured wires on the FTDI cable. The black wire on the FTDI cable is GND, green is DTR. Use these BLK and GRN pins to align the FTDI baseboard to your Arduino target. There are advantages and disadvantages for the FTDI cable over the FTDI Basic. This board has TX and RX LEDs that allow you to see the serial traffic on the LEDs to check if the board works, but this board requires a MiniB cable. The FTDI cable is well protected against the weather, but large and difficult to integrate into a project. The FTDI Basic uses DTR to initiate a hardware reset where the FTDI cable uses the RTS signal. This board is designed to reduce the cost of Arduino development and increase ease of use (the automatically resetting function blocks!). Our Arduino Pro and LilyPad boards use this type of connector.
Specification:
- 3.3/5V output (switchable via jumper)
- Micro-USB
| Shipping weight: | 0,10 Kg |
