🛠️ Assembling with Tachyon
In this section, you'll learn how to install a Particle Tachyon into the M1 enclosure—perfect for remote, headless deployments in rugged environments.
But before diving in, make sure you’ve got all the gear ready!
✅ What You’ll Need
- M1 Enclosure Kit
- Particle Tachyon
- Phillips head screwdriver
- Flat head screwdriver (optional)
Setup
Accessing the M1 carrier board
We’ll start by removing the top lid of the enclosure to reach the carrier board.
The lid isn’t fastened with screws—just lift it off.
Use a Phillips head screwdriver to remove the three screws holding the carrier board in place. Don’t worry about the other three—you’ll find them in your kit. We pre-installed just three to make your first removal easier.
Gently lift up the carrier board and remove it from the enclosure.
Want to explore the carrier board in detail? We’ve documented that here.
Preparing the Tachyon
Now let’s prep the Tachyon for mounting. You’ll need the Tachyon and the nylon screws and threaded spacers from the kit.
Install the four nylon spacers into the mounting holes on the Tachyon.
Once installed, it should look something like this.
Installing the Tachyon onto the Carrier Board
Line up the Tachyon with the carrier board.
Carefully align the 40-pin header with the socket on the carrier board. Also make sure the spacers fit into the holes.
Gently press down on both sides. You should see a small 1mm gap between the connectors—this is intentional. Don’t try to push it all the way in.
Use the provided screws to secure the Tachyon to the board.
This setup leaves room for HATs or other accessories to be installed later.
Installing the USB-C Adapter Cable
Your kit comes with a custom angled USB-C cable that routes neatly through the enclosure.
Even if you don’t plan to use USB-C right away, we recommend plugging it in now. You won’t be able to access the port once the board is mounted.
This USB-C adapter cable is only for power and data. It does not support display over USB-C.
Installing the Battery
One of the most interesting and useful feature of Tachyon is its native support for Li-Ion/Li-Po battery. If you purchased a 3-cell battery pack or your Tachyon came with a single-cell battery, now is the time to install it.
If you are installing the 1-cell battery, then you can use the double sided tape that came with your Tachyon kit.
We will be using the 3-cell pack in this guide. This pack comes with an adhesive tape. Simply peel it off and install the battery inside the enclosure as shown.
Route the battery cable along the side of the carrier board to the top. Make sure it does not interfere with any of the connectors or get accidentally pinched.
Place the carrier board assembly inside the enclosure and line up the six holes against the posts inside. The board should lay completely flat. Do not plug in the battery just yet!
Secure it with all six self-tapping screws—three from before and three new ones from the kit.
Now plug in the 3-pin battery connector into the socket on the Tachyon. The battery connector fits only in one direction.
The reason why we asked you to not plug in the battery before, is to ensure that the screws were installed first. One could accidentally drop a screw inside the enclosure, and if your battery was already plugged in, it could have potentially shorted components on the board and let out the magic smoke!! 💨
Once the battery is plugged in, you should see the main status LED on the Tachyon turn red. This means that the board is powered up and on standby.
Installing the Cable Glands
To bring in power or data cables, use the M20 cable glands. The enclosure has two sealed M20 holes and two for optional SMA connectors (antenna ports).
Planning to bring out only the USB cable? Just remove one M20 cap and install the gland from the kit.
To ensure an IP67 seal, tighten to about 7 kgf-cm.
Thread the USB cable through the gland.
Install the Silicone Gasket
Place the gasket around the edge of the lid groove. Make sure it sits flat.
Close the Lid
Secure the lid using the six M3 screws and washers. Use the smaller Allen key included in the kit. To maintain the IP67 rating, tighten screws to about 7.5 kgf-cm.
All done! Your Tachyon is now rugged and ready. 🌦️
⚡ Powering Your Device
There are several ways to supply power to your Tachyon inside the M1 enclosure. The most straightforward is via USB-C, as we covered earlier—but that’s not your only option.
1. 5V Terminal Block
The M1 carrier board breaks out the Tachyon’s 5V and GND lines to a convenient 2-pin terminal block.
Use it to bring power using plain wires. Make sure your power source provides 5V at 5 Amps, which is the minimum recommended spec for the Tachyon.
You can route the cable through a cable gland.
💡 Pro tip: If your wire is too thin for the gland, wrap it with butyl tape to make a tighter seal.
2. Dedicated Power HATs
There are many off-the-shelf power HATs that can step down 12V or 24V to 5V for the Tachyon. These are useful for automotive, solar, or industrial deployments.
✨ Enabling Additional Hardware Features
The M1 enclosure has a few extra tricks built-in to help you build a complete, professional-grade product.
1. Using the Onboard RGB LEDs
There are three user-programmable RGB LEDs:
- One on the top (main status LED)
- Two on the side (near the external button)
These are controlled by an onboard ADP8866 I²C LED driver, connected to pins 3 and 5 on the Tachyon's header (standard I²C).
Its default I²C address is 0x27.
Heads-up: This shares the same I²C bus as the Qwiic connector, so avoid address conflicts.
🔧 A control library for the ADP8866 will be available soon on our GitHub!
2. Connecting the External Button
The M1 enclosure includes a user-accessible push button on the exterior. You can hook it up in parallel with the Tachyon's main button header to enable ON/OFF or suspend actions.
Use two jumper wires included in your M1 kit (colors might differ) to connect the BTN header to the Tachyon's power button input.
The BTN header is clearly marked, has no polarity, and is easy to connect.
We recommend using 6" jumper wires with one end female and the other end bare or male.
Just make sure to solder or secure the connections properly.
Want to know more about how to use this with your Tachyon? Check out the details here.
3. Qwiic Interface (a.k.a. STEMMA QT)
We love SparkFun's Qwiic and Adafruit’s STEMMA QT ecosystems—they make adding I²C peripherals painless.
Just plug in compatible sensors, displays, or IMUs—no soldering required.
The Qwiic port is tied to pins 3 and 5 on the Tachyon's header and runs at 3.3V logic.
🧱 Mounting the Enclosure
You’ll find detailed mounting patterns and mechanical specs in the datasheet.
Perfect for wall plates, custom brackets, or even pole mounts.
🔗 View Mounting Instructions →
📄 M1 Enclosure Datasheet
Need technical drawings, environmental ratings, or compliance info?
Check out the full M1 datasheet →