Explore the board!
This will be a helpful guide where you’ll learn a bit more about the different components of your new DIY gaming console - Bit.
We'll start with bigger components and cover smaller components later in the guide.
1. Circuit board
The red board you've gotten in your kit is called a circuit board.
Professionals call this a printed circuit board or PCB.
A PCB is a laminated sandwich structure of conductive and insulating layers.
What does it do?
Your circuit board has two functions:
- It holds all the electronic components in place.
- It provides electrical connections between the electronic components.
Because of the circuit board, all electronic components can work together as a team.
What are those tiny lines on my circuit board?
They allow electrical charges to flow between components. This way, electronic components are powered, and they can do clever stuff using electricity.
What is my circuit board made of?
Circuit boards are usually made out of fiberglass-reinforced epoxy-laminated sheets.
These are also referred to as “FR4” sheets.
The FR4 sheets are used as the insulating non-conductive material, and copper is used as a conductive material.
If a material is conductive, it conducts electricity; electrical charge can flow through that material easily.
FR4 and copper are both sandwiched together in thin sheets, and that’s how you get a circuit board.
Where are PCBs used?
They’re used everywhere!
In your phone, in your laptop, in your refrigerator, air conditioner. Basically, every electronic device you use has a unique printed circuit board that makes it work.
Did you know?
A PCB is one of the most important inventions of the last 100 years.
Space travel wouldn’t be possible without them.
PCBs were invented by Paul Eisler.
He invented it in the 1930s, but the predecessors of modern-day PCBs have been around since the age of gramophones and vacuum tube radios, just in a somewhat different form.
2. ESP-32
That part is called a microcontroller, and it runs everything. If the PCB was a body, this part would be the brain.
One of the key features of the ESP-32 is its integrated WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, which make it an ideal platform for building IoT devices.
3. Display
Bit uses the TFT 1.44 display, which has a resolution of 128×128 px and 18-bit color.
Pixel is the smallest addressable element on the screen. Everything you can see on your display is made out of pixels.
Thanks to this display, you are able to play all these amazing games!
4. Edge Connector
If you have any of our Wacky robots, you can use this connector to pair them with Bit and gain access to cool new games on your device!
5. On-off switch
The switch helps you turn the device on and off. You can easily do so with one simple push.
A switch controls the flow of power to an electric device - in other words, it connects and disconnects an electrical circuit.
Switches are used in almost every electronic device. They can be found on your mobile phone, computer, air conditioner, etc.
An electrical switch was invented in 1884 by John Henry Holmes, who used it for turning lights on and off.
6. Pushbuttons
Just like the on-off switch, it completes a circuit and allows electricity to flow through, which can trigger an action.
However, unlike the on-off switch that can be turned on or off and remain in that position, the pushbuttons need to be pressed each time to activate a specific command on your device.
There are 7 pushbuttons on Bit and each one is used for different commands.
7. Reset button
The reset button can be used to restart your console at any time by simply clicking it.
8. USB-C connector
This connector at the bottom of the board is used to connect Bit to the computer.
Once you connect it to your PC, you’ll be able to program it in CircuitBlocks - a graphical programming interface that helps beginners get into embedded programming.
9. JST2.0 Connector
This connector is used to manually connect the battery to the PCB.
There are also some smaller components on Bit, like:
1. Resistors
Resistors are the most basic electronic components found in almost every electronic device.
They fall in the category of passive electronic components.
Passive electronic components do not generate electrical power and do not need electrical power to work.
They just modify the flow of electrical energy in their own unique way. 
Resistance
Resistors have a property of resistance - they lower the amount of electrical energy flowing through the circuit.
You could say that they “resist” the flow of electrical energy.The unit of resistance is called Ohm and it was named after a German physicist, Georg Simon Ohm.
Resistors are used for tasks such as adjusting the flow of electricity through an electronic circuit.
The exact value of a resistor is measured with a device called an ohmmeter.
Can we compare it to something we see in everyday life?
If we make an analogy to water flowing through pipes, the resistor is a thin pipe that reduces the water flow.
Scientists and engineers have come up with different symbols for each and every electronic component.
This is an electronic symbol for a resistor:
2. Capacitors
A capacitor is a component that has the ability to store energy, much like a small rechargeable battery.
It can absorb energy from a circuit and store it temporarily.
Later on, this stored energy can be released back to the electronic circuit.
Capacitance
We can measure the ability of a capacitor to store electrical energy.
We call this property - capacitance.
The unit of capacitance is called Farad (we use the letter F as short for Farads).
This unit was named after an English physicist, Michael Faraday.
Historical fun facts:
Capacitors were discovered by Pieter van Musschenbroek a looong time ago - in 1746.
The first capacitor was a glass jar wrapped inside and out by a thin metal foil.
This is an electronic symbol for a capacitor: