James Caska's EDGEY Blends the Virtual and the Real, Connecting Virtual Breadboard with Real Sensors

James Caska, creator of the Virtual Breadboard application for Microsoft Windows, is trying to blend simulation with real-world electronics — through an interface for "digital twin sensors" he calls the EDGEY.

"It's hard and sometimes impossible to use a simulated sensor model in place of a real sensor, which can be serious limitation," Caska claims. "This is especially true since a unique sensor is the often the most important element of the physical computing application and all the other components including the microcontroller, communications, buttons and displays play only a supporting role. Enter digital twins: bring real world sensor data transparently into simulations which can then be supported by the many available virtual components to benefit from both worlds."

Caska's Virtual Breadboard app delivers exactly what you'd expect: a software-driven environment in which various virtual components, from passives and LEDs up to working microcontrollers, can be connected to try out a circuit design before committing to physical creation. The EDGEY, meanwhile, is a gadget that connects to a host machine over USB — and allows the simulation to communicate with real-world electronics.

The EDGEY is, of course, a microcontroller itself, but one which prioritizes ease of use: sensors are installed on a custom "digital twin sensor card," using a small prototyping area, which then mates with the EDGEY module through an edge connector. At launch, five sensors are supported: the DHT11 humidity and temperature sensor; the BH1750 ambient light sensor; the HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensor; the IRRX-NEC infrared receiver and protocol decoder; and an FTDI USB to serial bridge. An on-board EEPROM allows for plug-and-play sensors registration: once programmed, the assembled sensor card will automatically identify the sensor type to Virtual Breadboard.

Caska is crowdfunding production of the EDGEY on Kickstarter, with physical rewards starting at AU$80 (around $53) for early bird backers — for which you receive a single EDGEY interface and three empty digital twin sensor cards. All hardware is expected to be delivered in November this year, the maker says.