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

• Terminal block for power input (or you can use the 0.1 inches breakouts on the side)
• Reverse polarity protection on the terminal block input
• Green and red power-good LEDs
• Stackable design
• RoHS compliance

The handy Adafruit PWM and Servo Driver Shield has 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. 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. 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). 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. 3 pin connectors in groups of 4 so you can plug in 16 servos at once (servo plugs are slightly wider than 0.1 inches so you can only stack 4 next to each other on 0.1 inches header. Stackable design. You'll need to pick up stacking headers and right angle 3 x 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). Solder jumpers for the 6 address select pins. You get a 5 x 20 proto area for any extra wiring you'd like to add. This product comes with a fully tested and assembled breakout as well as 4 pieces of 3 x 4 male straight header (for servo/LED plugs), a 2-pin terminal block (for power) and a piece of 6-pin 0.1 inches header (to plug into a breadboard). 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.