16-Channel 12-bit PWM Servo shield Module I2C interface For Arduino
You want to make a cool robot, maybe a hexapod walker, or maybe just a piece of art with a lot of moving parts. Or maybe you want to drive a lot of LEDs with precise PWM output. Then you realize that your microcontroller has a limited number of PWM outputs!
What now? You could give up OR you could just get our handy PWM and Servo driver shield. It’s now Arduino-ready and works with any Arduino that uses shields: Uno, Mega, ADK, its all good.
Using only two pins, control 16 free-running PWM outputs! You can even chain up 62 breakouts to control up to 992 PWM outputs
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It’s an I2C-controlled PWM driver with a built in clock. That means that, unlike the TLC5940 family, you do not need to continuously send it signal tying up your microcontroller, its completely free running!
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It is 5V compliant, which means you can control it from a 3.3V microcontroller and still safely drive up to 6V outputs (this is good for when you want to control white or blue LEDs with 3.4+ forward voltages)
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6 address select pins so you can wire up to 62 of these on a single i2c bus, a total of 992 outputs – that’s a lot of servos or LEDs
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Adjustable frequency PWM up to about 1.6 KHz
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12-bit resolution for each output – for servos, that means about 4us resolution at 60Hz update rate
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Configurable push-pull or open-drain output
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Output enable pin to quickly disable all the outputs
We wrapped up this lovely chip into a breakout board with a couple nice extras
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Terminal block for power input (or you can use the 0.1″ breakouts on the side)
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Reverse polarity protection on the terminal block input
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Green power-good LED
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3 pin connectors in groups of 4 so you can plug in 16 servos at once (Servo plugs are slightly wider than 0.1″ so you can only stack 4 next to each other on 0.1″ header
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“Chain-able” design
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A spot to place a big capacitor on the V+ line (in case you need it)
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330 ohm series resistors on all the output lines to protect them, and to make driving LEDs trivial
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Solder jumpers for the 6 address select pins