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 this handy PWM and Servo driver breakout.When we saw this chip, we quickly realized what an excellent add-on this would be. Using only two pins, control 16 free-running PWM outputs! You can even chain up 62 breakouts to control up to 992 PWM outputs (which we would really like to see since it would be glorious)

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!

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)

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

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

Output enable pin to quickly disable all the outputs

We wrapped up this lovely chip into a breakout board 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. The terminal block included with your product may be blue or black.

Green power-good LED

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

"Chain-able" design

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

This product comes with a fully tested and assembled breakout as well as 4 pieces of 3x4 male straight header (for servo/LED plugs), a 2-pin terminal block (for power) and a piece of 6-pin 0.1" 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. If you want to use right-angle 3x4 headers, we also carry a 4 pack in the shop.Check out our tutorial with CircuitPython & Arduino libraries/examples, wiring diagrams, schematics, Fritzing and more!

The Big Easy Driver, designed by Brian Schmalz, is a stepper motor driver board for bi-polar stepper motors up to a max 2A/phase. It is based on the Allegro A4988 stepper driver chip. It’s the next version of the popular Easy Driver board.

Each Big Easy Driver can drive up to a max of 2A per phase of a bi-polar stepper motor. It is a chopper microstepping driver which defaults to 16 step microstepping mode. It can take a maximum motor drive voltage of around 30V, and includes on-board 5V/3.3V regulation, so only one supply is necessary. Although this board should be able to run most systems without active cooling while operating at 1.4-1.7A/phase, a heatsink is required for loads approaching 2A/phase. You can find the recommended heatsink in the related items below.

Note: This product is a collaboration with Brian Schmalz. A portion of each sales goes back to him for product support and continued development.

Features

Bi-polar Microstepping Driver

2A/Phase Max

1.4-1.7A/Phase w/o Heatsink

Max Motor Drive Voltage: 30V

On-board 5V/3.3V Regulation

The EasyDriver is a simple to use stepper motor driver, compatible with anything that can output a digital 0 to 5V pulse (or 0 to 3.3V pulse if you solder SJ2 closed on the EasyDriver). The EasyDriver requires a 6V to 30V supply to power the motor and can power any voltage of stepper motor. The EasyDriver has an on board voltage regulator for the digital interface that can be set to 5V or 3.3V. Connect a 4-wire stepper motor and a microcontroller and you’ve got precision motor control! EasyDriver drives bi-polar motors, and motors wired as bi-polar. I.e. 4,6, or 8 wire stepper motors.

This EasyDriver V4.5 has been co-designed with Brian Schmalz. It provides much more flexibility and control over your stepper motor, when compared to older versions. The microstep select (MS1 and MS2) pins of the A3967 are broken out allowing adjustments to the microstepping resolution. The sleep and enable pins are also broken out for further control.

Note: Do not connect or disconnect a motor while the driver is energized. This will cause permanent damage to the A3967 IC.

Note: This product is a collaboration with Brian Schmalz. A portion of each sales goes back to them for product support and continued development.

Features

A3967 Microstepping Driver

MS1 and MS2 pins broken out to change microstepping resolution to full, half, quarter and eighth steps (defaults to eighth)

Compatible with 4, 6, and 8 wire stepper motors of any voltage

Adjustable current control from 150mA/phase to 700mA/phase

Power supply range from 6V to 30V. The higher the voltage, the higher the torque at high speeds

The SparkFun Servo Trigger is a small robotics board that simplifies the control of hobby RC servo motors. When an external switch or logic signal changes state, the Servo Trigger is able to tell an attached servo motor to move from position A to position B. To use the Servo Trigger, you simply connect a hobby servo and a switch, then use the on-board potentiometers to adjust the start/stop positions and the transition time. You can use a hobby servos in your projects without having to do any programming!

The heart of the Servo Trigger is an Atmel ATTiny84 microcontroller, running a small program that implements the servo control features we are discussing here. On-board each Servo Trigger you will find three potentiometers, “A” sets the position the servo sits in while the switch is open, “B” sets the position the servo moves to when the switch is closed, and “T” sets the time it takes to get from A to B and back. Compared to a servo motor, the Servo Trigger board draws very little current, roughly 5 mA at 5V. Be sure to note that if you’re using the Servo Trigger to control your motor, the absolute maximum supply voltage that should be applied is 5.5 VDC. Additionally, the SparkFun Servo Trigger is designed to make it easy to daisy chain boards – you can simply connect the VCC and GND pads on adjacent boards to each other.

Note: Check out the Hookup Guide in the Documents section below for more advanced tips, configurations, and modes!

Note: This idea originally came from our friend in the Oakland area, CTP. If you see him, please give him a high-five for us.

Features

Recommended Voltage: 5VDC

Max Voltage: 5.5VDC

Current Draw: 5 mA

Three Control Settings

A - sets the position the servo sits in while the switch is open

B - sets the position the servo moves to when the switch is closed

C - sets the time it takes to get from A to B and back

A - sets the position the servo sits in while the switch is open

B - sets the position the servo moves to when the switch is closed

C - sets the time it takes to get from A to B and back

Easy Control with Potentiometers

Configurable Input Polarity

Configurable Response Mode

Compatible with Analog Servos

ISP Header pins Available for Reprogram

Have you ever wanted your project to just “hibernate” until someone picks it up or moves it? It’s a great strategy for dramatically extending the battery life of a widget that doesn’t need to be active all the time. The SparkFun Wake-on-Shake board is designed to make it really simple to do just that!

The Wake-on-Shake, based on a concept by Nitzan Gadish of Analog Devices, combines the ATTiny2313A with the ADXL362 low-power MEMS accelerometer to cut power to your project for long periods of time, all the while waiting for a shake or a bump and sipping < 2uA @ 3.7V! With power consumption that low, the limiting factor for lifespan in most devices will be aging-related self-discharge of the batteries.

The board is easy to use, you basically connect it as a power switch between your device and a power source (2.0-5.5V). By default, the board will activate the load when it experiences a mild bump or tilt; the load will be powered for 5 seconds after that. Using a serial data connection, the sensitivity can be increased or decreased, as can the delay time. Additionally, the “WAKE” pin allows the load to control when it goes back to sleep. By pulling the wake signal high (to at least 2.7V), the load will remain energized until it releases the pin.

Note: While it is possible to connect the load to the on-board serial port, allowing the load to access the ADXL362 and EEPROM storage of the ATTiny2313A, caution must be exercised when doing this to avoid sourcing current to the load through the serial port data lines on the ATTiny2313A, which could damage the ATTiny2313A as well as causing excessive off-state power dissipation.

Features

Supply Voltage: 2.0 - 5.5VDC

Power Consumption in Hibernation: < 2uA @ 3.7V

Wake Signal: 2.7 - 15V

Serial Header for Configuration is FTDI Basic Breakout Compatible

ISP Header for ATTiny2313A is Broken Out, No Bootloader is Available

2mm JST Connector for LiPo Battery Input

*BZZZZZZZZZZ* Feel that? That's your little buzzing motor, and for any haptic feedback project you'll want to pick up a few of them. These vibe motors are tiny discs, completely sealed up so they're easy to use and embed.Two wires are used to control/power the vibe. Simply provide power from a battery or microcontroller pin (red is positive, blue is negative) and it will buzz away. Works from 2V up to 5V, higher voltages result in more current draw but also a stronger vibration.If you want to reduce the current draw/strength (for example, to control it directly from an Arduino pin) try putting a resistor (100 to 1000 ohms) in series. For full power control, a small PN2222 transistor can control a motor easily, some experimentation may be required!

Vibrating Mini Motor Disc (6:47)