Adafruit 6-Channel 12-bit PWM/Servo Shield - I2C Control Module

Adafruit 6-Channel 12-bit PWM/Servo Shield - I2C Control Module

Product Description:
- Driving servo motors with the Arduino Servo library is pretty easy, but each one consumes a precious pin - not to mention some Arduino processing power. The Adafruit 16-Channel 12-bit PWM/Servo Driver Shield will drive up to 16 servos over I2C with only 2 pins. The on-board PWM controller will drive all 16 channels simultaneously with no additional Arduino processing overhead. What's more, you can stack up to 62 of them to control even more servos - all with the same 2 pins!
- The Adafruit PWM/Servo Driver is the perfect solution for any project that requires a lot of servos!

Adafruit 16-Channel 12-bit PWM/Servo Shield – I2C interface

When we saw this chip, we quickly realized what an excellent add-on this would be. Using only two I2C pins, control 16 free-running PWM outputs! You can even stack up 62 shields to control up to 992 PWM outputs (which we would really like to see since it would be glorious and like 4 feet tall) Because I2C is a shared bus you can also connect other I2C devices and sensors to the SCL/SDA pins as long as their addresses don’t conflict (this shield has address 0x40)

There’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!
It is 5V compliant, which means you can control it from a 3.3V Arduino 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)
6 address select pins so you can stack up to 62 of these on a single i2c bus, a total of 992 outputs – that’s a lot of servos or LEDs
Adjustable frequency PWM up to about 1.6 KHz
12-bit resolution for each output – for servos, that means about 4us resolution at 60Hz update rate
Configurable push-pull or open-drain output

We wrapped up this lovely chip into a shield with a couple nice extras:
- Terminal block for power input (or you can use the 0.1″ breakouts on the side)
- Reverse polarity protection on the terminal block input
- Green and red power-good LEDs
- 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
- Stackable design. You’ll need to pick up stacking headers and right angle 3×4 headers in order to stack on top of this shield without the servo connections getting in the way.
- A spot to place a big capacitor on the V+ line (in case you need it)
- 220 ohm series resistors on all the output lines to protect them, and to make driving LEDs trivial
- Solder jumpers for the 6 address select pins
- A lot of extra space remaining? Let’s turn it into a prototyping area. You get a 5×20 proto area for any extra wiring you’d like to add

This product comes with a fully tested and assembled shield as well as 4 pieces of 3×4 male straight header (for servo/LED plugs), a 2-pin terminal block (for power) and a stick of 0.1″ header so you can plug into an Arduino. A little light soldering will be required to assemble and customize the board by attaching the desired headers but it is a 15 minute task that even a beginner can do. If you want to use right-angle 3×4 headers, we also carry a 4 pack in the shop. Servos and Arduino not included – but we do sell tons of different servos in the shop so pick up a few while you’re here!

Check out our tutorial with Arduino and you can get our documented Arduino library which has both PWM and Servo examples!
Size:54mm x 70mm x 3mm
I2C chip 7bit address:0x60—— 0x80 -jumper cable,optional
Power input:logic voltage:3.3V-5V
Servo battery power supply:5V 2A power adapter;5V 10A power adapter,4xAA6V alkaline battery

Package List:
- 1 x 16-channel servo control board
- 1 x Arduino source code
- 1 x Schematic diagram
- 1 x Chip datasheet     
- 1 x User manual