
The Calliope mini is a
single-board computer
A single-board computer (SBC) is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor(s), memory, input/output (I/O) and other features required of a functional computer. Single-board computers are commonly made as demonstrat ...
developed for educational usage at
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
s. The goal of the initiative is to provide all pupils as of grade three of primary schools in Germany with a Calliope mini free of charge.
Background
Calliope mini was inspired by the
BBC micro:bit, which was distributed to pupils of grade seven in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
. The
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
''Calliope
gGmbH'' is responsible for developing and maintaining the Calliope mini.
The name "Calliope mini" is a reference to
Kalliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; grc, Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, beautiful-voiced) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses ...
, a daughter of Zeus and the muse who presides over eloquence, science and epic poetry.
Hardware
* Nordic nRF51822 Multi-protocol Bluetooth® 4.0 low energy / 2.4 GHz RF SoC
** 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 processor (16 MHz)
** 16kB RAM
** 256kB Flash
** Bluetooth low energy
* 5x5 LED matrix display
* Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer (Bosch BMX055)
* MEMS Microphone
* DC Motor Driver (TI DRV8837)
* Piezo Speaker
* RGB LED (WS2812B)
* 2 programmable buttons
* Serial interface (USB + configurable ports)
* PWM output
* 4 banana plug / crocodile clip connections
* 4 analog inputs
* 8-11 Input / Output Connections (depending on software configuration)
* SPI + I2C
* USB Micro B connection (programming and power supply)
* JST battery connector (3.3V)
* Banana / crocodile clip connection for 3.3V (output)
* 2 Grove connectors (I2C + serial / analog)
* NXP KL26z (USB and power supply)
* Flash program memory (optional)
See also
*
BBC micro:bit
*
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi () is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned towards the promotion of teaching basic ...
*
Arduino
Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed und ...
*
Open Roberta
Open Roberta is a project within the German education initiative "Roberta—Learning with robots", initiated by Fraunhofer IAIS, which is an institute belonging to the Fraunhofer Society. With Open Roberta Fraunhofer IAIS is looking to encourag ...
References
External links
Official websiteCalliope mini on GitHub
{{Authority control
Single-board computers