The PCA9685 PWM driver IC has 16-channel output and I2C comminucation. You can use this shield to add more PWM outputs to your Arduino.
PWM can be used to drive servos, dim LEDs and motor speed control applications.
With only use of 2 pins (SDA and SCL), you will have 16 extra PWM outputs. Also, the I2C address of the PCA9685 can be modified using the solder jumpers on the board. With that, 62 different address combinations are possible. You can add 62 on top of each other to achieve total of 992 PWM outputs :)
Technical specifications:
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
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 3x4 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
You get a 5x20 proto area for any extra wiring you'd like to add
Dimensions (no headers or terminal block) 2.1" x 2.7" x 0.1" (54mm x 70mm x 3mm)
This board/chip uses I2C 7-bit addresses between 0x60-0x80, selectable with jumpers.
EN
