Connecting Parallax color sensor to Propeller Professional Development Board

[RobertW]

I purchased my professional development board along with a few other components around last Christmas and have been working with some of the items on the board off and on since then.· I never opened the packaging around the TSC230-DB color sensor until this morning and realized I have problem.· The connector on the color sensor is for the MoBo style boards and not for jumper wires like I was expecting.· Looking at the web site I now see that there is an I/O connector daughterboard and connector wire/cable.· Is this what I will need to connect the the sensor to my breadboard?· I figure I better ask first this time...

Also, it looks like the color sensor operates on 5V while the Propeller chip operates on 3.3V.· Can I just run a wire from the 5V terminal in the lower right corner of the breadboard area to the sensor?· Or, do I require something else?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.
-Rob

[Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)]

Rob,

The one item you will need is the DB-Expander board (#28325), so you can plug the Color sensor daughterboard into the solerless breadboard. The DB Extension Cable (#800-28301) is handy, too, if you want to separate the sensor from the PPDB's breadboard area by a few inches. For interfacing to the Propeller, you will need to provide +5V to the +5V terminal and 3.3V to the Vdd terminal. The +5V is used to power the white LEDs, which have a rather high forward voltage, and for which 3.3V would not be enough. The 3.3V on Vdd is used to power the TCS230 chip itself, so that it's output voltage levels will be compatible with the Propeller.

BTW, for those who have the Propeller Demo Board, the DB-Expander board plugs right into the SIP header connector next to the breadboard area, with the signal, power, and ground pins aligning properly. No jumper wires are necessary.

-Phil

[RobertW]

Thanks for the reply Phil.· Looks like I will be heading back to the Parallax store...