NETWORKING AND COMMUNICATIONS

This week's focus was on establishing communication between multiple microcontrollers. Networking is a fundamental skill in embedded systems that allows for distributed processing, for example, using one specialized board for sensing and another for acting.

I2C Communication

For the individual assignment, I implemented I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) communication. I used a Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040 from the output week as the Main node and another RP2040 board from the Input Devices week as the Secondary node.

Then Saheen told me that I would need atleast two secondary modules coonectd to the main module so I could see the main board controlling each module seperately.

So I decided to design a simple board with an OLED display this week.

Connecting the boards

I noticed a problem only after I finished the plans to connect which to which. So the JST connector in my secondary board was meant to be for the servo motor. So obviously I couldn't use it.

It's the board on the left hand side. You can see the JST connector.

But luckily I had initially designed an I2C interface for the OLED display. But I made a mistake while assigning the connections. I swapped the ground and vcc and thus couldn't add the pins that week. So I decided to use it this week.

I used wires to connect the board to the chain.

Then I realized there was a mistake in the main board. I had swapped the SCL and SDA pins in the I2C.

So I had to rewire the connections.