PWM Shield Documentation

The PWM Shield for the Arduino allows you to add in 32 PWM outputs to your Arduino. They are daisy-chainable (easy to do with a jumper wire) so you can add up to 640 outputs. These shield can also be externally powered (up to 17V) so if your Arduino runs out of juice you can power them externally. Being easily stackable means you can get your next PWM lighting project up and running quickly.

This documentation is for the PWM Shield (Assembled) and the PWM Shield PCB.

You can also find additional posts about this shield here: posts tagged with PWM Shield

Parts List

Part Digikey # Sparkfun # Quantity
TLC5940 296-17732-5-ND   2
10K Resistor RNF14FTD10K0CT-ND   2
90deg 8x2 header 609-3337-ND   4
0.1uf cap 478-3192-ND   2
Headers A26520-40-ND   1
Jumper S9000-ND   5
1K Resistor RNF14FTD1K00   2
Board     1
8 Pin Header   PRT-09279 2
6 Pin Header   PRT-09280 2

 

Pinout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Usage

This shield is very simple to use. First, plug it into your Arduino and get the library from here:

http://code.google.com/p/tlc5940arduino/

You can find a full reference as well as usage examples here:

http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Learning/TLC5940

Daisy Chaining Shields

Schematics

Can be downloaded here

License

Release under the TAPR Open Hardware License

Comments

Submitted by Thor Johnson (not verified) on
Board works well. Easy setup with an Arduino Uno. I bought a couple of IDE ribbon cables from Radio Shack, plugged them into the 5940 board's output pins, put LEDs in the sockets on the IDE cable and was up and running in minutes. Software library and examples worked fine out of the box. There are lots of broken links in the Arduino TLC5940 library doc, so use the sketch examples to understand the libraries. Hope someone fixes those doc links one day. Loaded with LEDs, this unit consumes power. The 9-12VDC power socket to the Arduino gets warm (hot?) with 32 LEDs firing, so I'm about to look into directly powering the 5940 board. All in all, nice work PracticalMaker. Good solid board that works out of the box. Worth the price.

Submitted by klondike (not verified) on

are these 5v outputs or 10v which is what meanwell drivers use?

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