Description

Featuring a 32-bit ARM processor running at 48MHz and boasting 16K of ram, the Tau is far more powerful than your standard Arduino!

And being open-source, you’re free to modify it as you wish and integrate it into your own designs – without ever needing to pay any royalties or licensing fees!

Technical Details

• Microcontroller: Atmel ATSAMD21E17A ARM Cortex M0+
• Clock speed: 48 MHz
•  Operating voltage: 3.3V
•  I/O pin limits: 3.3V, 7 mA
• Digital I/O pins: 12 w/ 10 PWM channels + 2 dedicated I2C pins w/ pullups
• Analog inputs: 3 12-bit ADC channels
• Analog outputs: 1 10-bit DAC
• Flash (program) memory: 128 KB
• RAM: 16 KB
• Voltage regulator: TLV702, 3.5V – 5.5V input / 3.3V, 300mA output
• Dimensions: 1.1 x 0.6″ (28mm x 15mm)

Installation

To make the Tau work with the Arduino IDE, open the File menu and select Preferences. Then, in the Additional Boards Manager URLs section, place a comma after the last entry, and add the following link:

http://rabidprototypes.com/arduino/package_rabidprototypes_index.json

Once done, open the boards manager, which can be found on the Tools->Boards menu, scroll down to Rabid Prototypes, select the entry, and hit Install.

You should also install the board files for the Arduino Zero if you have not already done so.  These board files contain a USB driver that is necessary for the Tau to function.

Finally go back to Tools->Boards, scroll down to the bottom of the list, and pick the Tau/Firecricket.

Once done, you should be ready to program the board!

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to program the board, first make sure you have the correct board selected on the Boards menu.  Then check that the correct port is selected on the Ports menu.

If that doesn’t work, try double clicking the Reset button on the board.  That forces the bootloader to stay on instead of entering your sketch, which may be stuck in a loop where it is unable to check the USB port for connection attempts from the IDE.

Documentation

Schematics

http://rabidprototypes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Tau-037-schematic.png

http://rabidprototypes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Tau-Eagle.zip

Datasheets

http://www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-42181-SAM-D21_Datasheet.pdf

http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tlv702p.pdf