What's on the board?

There are some things that are already soldered on the main board.

These parts are either really sensitive or just too small, so we’ve decided to take care of that for you in order to save you both time and effort.

Either way, you must know all of the components on the board in order to be a real maker!

Take a look at this picture so you can see where each part is located:

ESP8266

The most important part of the device is the microcontroller that runs everything. It’s the brain of the console. ESP8266 is one of the most popular chips in the world since it’s really powerful and reasonably priced. It features many cool things like Wi-Fi support and it’s really fast when receiving and sending data. Its older brother ESP32 is also one of the most used chips and even more powerful! Older brother ESP32 runs on our mobile phone Ringo.

Microchips

These two additional small chips that are on the board have their own specific mission and are not as powerful as the ESP8266 one. Whenever you see really small chips on devices like these, that means they probably only have one specific function, like controlling power consumption or expanding GPIO slots.

Reset button

This button is pretty self-explanatory - it allows you to reset the console anytime you want, making it easier to refresh it once it gets frozen (which is hopefully never).

USB port

The USB port is the main communication channel when talking to a computer. It is used to connect the micro USB cable to the computer and transfer new files and games to the console.

This port is, however, not used for charging the console.

Capacitors and resistors

These small components are the main parts of pretty much every electronic device in the world. They are used to control the flow of the current in a circle.

Wherever you see a number followed by “k”, it is a resistor, and it’s measured in Ohms (or kiloohms). If the number is followed by “F”, it is a capacitor measured in Farads (or nanofarads).

There are a few locations on the board where these components are located.

Buzzer

Whenever there is a sound in a game, it is coming from this little thing. The buzzer is capable of only producing quiet and short noises and is not as capable as a real speaker, but it’s still a useful tool when you need just that tiny audio output.

Fuse

Fuses are usually used as a security system in circuits and they keep other components from getting damaged if something goes wrong.

Their use and the process of replacement will be explained later in the build guide.