Note: This is the first prototype BEAPER Nano circuit. See the newest BEAPER Nano 1.0 circuit.

BEAPER Nano is designed to be a simple and flexible introductory circuit board for teaching or learning microcontroller programming. Its built-in I/O devices enable students to focus on developing their programming skills without the hassle of having to construct and debug breadboard circuits for each new programming task. The wide variety of on-board I/O devices, coupled with the powerful Arduino Nano ESP32 microcontroller board, allows learners to progress from simple starter programs to advanced IoT applications, including being able to construct a variety of robotic projects.

A fully-assembled BEAPER Nano without the optional LCD display.

Flexible, through-hole design

BEAPER Nano is primarily constructed using through-hole components, allowing beginners to learn about electronic components and practice their soldering skills as they assemble their own circuits. The circuit board is also designed to be assembled in stages, starting with a minimal component Education Starter configuration that enables learners to begin working on introductory programming activities quickly. As students progress, it's easy for them to add additional components to the BEAPER Nano circuit board itself – a more cost effective and reliable option than the typical add-on modules used with Arduinos and breadboards. The optional components also allow instructors to tailor BEAPER Nano to their curriculum needs while reducing costs by only populating the required parts, instead of supplying BEAPER as a pre-assembled unit with all components installed.

Powerful new Arduino Nano ESP32 microcontroller

The Arduino Nano ESP32 microcontroller board at the heart of BEAPER Nano enables programming in C/C++ using the familiar Arduino IDE or the Arduino Create web app for Chromebooks, as well as using the Arduino Cloud platform. This ESP32-based board can be programmed using the traditional Arduino APIs, or native ESP32 APIs. In addition, Arduino Nano ESP32 also enables programming using MicroPython through the new Arduino Lab software and a variety of other Python IDEs. This capability gives instructors three different programming options ranging from the simpler Python syntax to the industry-standard C/C++ syntax with its rich Arduino and ESP32 function libraries.

The Arduino Nano ESP32 microcontroller also supports WiFi, Bluetooth, and the device-to-device ESP-NOW wireless protocols enabling a variety of exciting communication and control options as users advance in their programming skills.

BEAPER Nano Hardware Features

Education Starter configuration

The BEAPER Nano Education Starter configuration is powered using just a USB cable, and can be assembled using a bare minimum number of components. Using just these parts, beginning learners can progress through four introductory learning activities covering I/O, constants and variables, loops, and functions:

• an Arduino Nano ESP32 mounted in header socket strips
• 4 user LEDs
• 4 user pushbuttons
• a piezo beeper
• a reset button

The minimal-components Education Starter configuration is all new users need to get started. It has just four user pushbuttons, four user LEDs, a piezo buzzer, and can have one or more analog components installed (an ambient light sensor and an analog temperature sensor have been added in this example).

Optional Education Starter configuration components

The optional 3.3V analog and digital I/O devices for the Education Starter Configuration allow users to learn to use analog inputs and external I/O. The is accomplished by including one or more of the following components:

• an ambient light sensor
• an analog temperature sensor
• 2 rotary potentiometers
• 4 3-pin headers (signal, 3.3V, and GND), or
• a 4-pin header socket (that bridges the headers) for a 3.3V ultrasonic SONAR distance sensor module
• a 4-pin I2C/QWIIC JST-SH connector

Optional TFT LCD display for the Education Starter Configuration

An optional 240 X 240 pixel, 1.54" square TFT LCD display can be added to enable users to create programs using a graphical UI and interactive capabilities. These are commonly available from multiple vendors on AliExpress (one example shown) and can be plugged into a simple header socket:

• 8-pin SPI/LCD header socket

Robot Starter configuration

The BEAPER Nano Robot configuration is powered using an external 6-12V battery pack (or power supply for testing) and adds:

• a screw terminal strip for battery and motor connections
• a 5V LDO voltage regulator
• a 3.3V to 5V level shifter IC
• 4 3-pin servo output headers (servo pulse, 5V, GND)
• a quad half-bridge driver for 2 DC motors (fwd/rev), 4 DC motors (single direction only), or 1 stepper motor
• voltage divider resistors for battery/power supply voltage level sensing
• dual break-away left and right optical floor sensor/line sensor modules making it easy to build line-following and floor sensing robots
• a 4-pin header socket for a 3.3V ultrasonic SONAR distance sensor module

This BEAPER Nano is built in the Robot configuration with gear motors, 5V hobby servo motors, and a 3.3V SONAR distance sensor module. Resistors have been installed in the break-away floor sensor modules, and the downward-facing LEDs and phototransistors will be added after it is mounted in a robot platform.

Assembling BEAPER Nano

A step-by-step BEAPER Nano assembly guide has been created to help guide beginners through the process of assembling their circuits. While more advanced users would have no difficulty choosing the components to install to meet their particular requirements, the assembly guide has been organized into the two starter configurations to make it easier for new users less familiar with all of the circuits and their capabilities.

BEAPER Nano Introductory Learning Activities

BEAPER Nano shares the same learning activities with the ARPS beginner Arduino UNO shield. This commonality enables instructors to utilize identical curriculum while mixing and matching Arduino UNO-based circuits and BEAPER Nano's Arduino Nano ESP32-based circuit. All of the learning activities are currently shared in GitHub, and I plan on creating more detailed programming activity descriptions on the website, along with video explanations of important or more difficult concepts.

The first five Introductory Learning Activities lead students from basic digital I/O through the use of variables, loops, functions, analog I/O, and debugging tasks using the traditional Arduino syntax and APIs. A similar set of introductory activities is being planned for MicroPython. Advanced activities will introduce more challenging and higher-level topics such as servo output, LCD output, and WiFi communication.

Arduino C/C++ Introductory Activities

Introductory Activity 1 - Input and Output

Introductory Activity 2 - Variables

Introductory Activity 3 - Loops

Introductory Activity 4 - Functions

Introductory Activity 5 - Analog Input

Arduino LCD Test Programs

Analog Bar Graph Test

MicroPython Test Programs

BEAPER I/O Test

BEAPER PWM Servo Test

Still to be completed:

• complete functional testing of the BEAPER Nano prototype hardware
• Create additional activities using the TFT LCD display
• Create additional activities using WiFi and IoT Cloud
• create new activities using MicroPython