New Product: Proffieboard v3.9

Phew! Now that the May 4 and 5 launch days are over, we may take a breath and officially announce in our blog that we are currently shipping the Proffieboard v3.9!!

This is the latest iteration of the well-known Proffieboard! It is the top open-source, open-hardware sound/motion/effect electronics board for lightsaber props. It contains all the electronics and software required to play audio files, show amazing LED effects and sense motion. All integrated in a tiny little board.

This new version comes with some improvements, like a newer microcontroller with more RAM and flash, USB battery charger and more! Please read our quick start-up guide for the full list of features and instructions for installation and configuration.

You can also purchase the Proffie with a 32GB Kingston micro SD.

The manufacturing process of this board was entirely curated by Artekit Labs in Italy, so you can expect a top-quality product, as always.

What’s new?

The new Proffieboard comes packed with hardware upgrades, including more space for storing code/presets, faster SD card access and more. This is the complete list:

New microcontroller

• The core microcontroller has been upgraded to the STM32L452REx (previously the STM32L433C), and this means:
• 512kB of flash space for storing code/presets/configurations (up from 256KB) and 160kB RAM (up from 64kB).
• Increased SD access thanks to the SDIO bus, that uses 4 parallel data lines (instead of 2) to read from the SD card ensuring top audio streaming capabilities.
• A bigger chip with more pins available enables future improvements like extra communication channels for interfacing with other peripherals.

New hardware

• On top of the microcontroller upgrade there are additional hardware improvements like:
• USB battery charger: This new version includes a standalone linear Li-Ion Battery charger with thermal regulation. You can safely charge your lightsaber by using an USB cable connected directly to the board.
• Dedicated USB pads: if you want to use your own external USB connector, you now can connect it to these pads.
• Better blade ID management.
• An on-board status indicator LED.
• 3 multi-purpose pads.
• Better deep sleep management, with AUX and Power buttons capable of waking-up the board from deep sleep.

I hope you enjoy this new product launch, and if you have questions please write to us through the contact form or in our forums.

Have fun!