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DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231
Posted: 05:59pm 22 Nov 2011
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GPIO Connector Shield For Easy I/O Connections.
I found an easy solution to split apart all the GPIO I/O pins on the DuinoMite Mega.
This Grove Shield has 4 pin 2 mm connectors for most of the I/O/ I2C / SPI / UART connections. This shield would have to be modified by cutting the 5 VDC power pin off and jumpering the 3.3 VDC to the "old 5 VDC" bus. This modification provides
+ 3.3 VDC/ Gnd/ IO / IO on each 4 pin 2 mm connectors.
BTW ... you probably need to order the pre-made 4 pin 2 mm cables to fit this shield. Cutting these cables in half and providing wire extentions will save money.
Disclaimer - I do not work for or have any connections to Seeed Depot.
Edited by DuinoMiteMegaAn 2011-11-24
ArtBecker Regular Member Joined: 25/08/2011 Location: PhilippinesPosts: 47
Posted: 06:51pm 22 Nov 2011
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The Grove system is an excellent product, fun to work with, and there are plenty of Arduino software examples in the wiki. Seeedstudio is reliable and ships promptly. It is in Shenzhen, China, but ships via registered mail through Hong Kong Post (free shipping for orders over US$50).
I recommend getting the Grove system serial LCD module. Most LCDs are parallel, so the serial version saves a few pins, plus just plugs into the shield (the backlight is off in the wiki example, so your first challenge is to turn it on, in software, of course -- though some of the examples are for the older LCDs, and not the latest one, making the challenge that much more exciting). I have both the standard and the mega versions of the Grove shield, and bought a set of the long cables, so I could cut them in half and put whatever connector I wanted on the other end. I found I have to press the reset button on the shield, after powering my Arduino Uno, to make the shield work.
Other products from Seeedstudio that I can recommend are the DSO Nano o'scope (get an inexpensive extra set of probes, and immediately install the wonderful BenF 3rd party firmware) and the Bus Pirate (for which you order the cable separately). The Bus Pirate can also program many of the Atmel microcontrollers, and can function as a USB to serial adapter, among other options. You can also get the great male to male or female to female jumper cables for connectors and breadboards.
Just make sure to read the wiki for each item, as well as the user comments.
DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231
Posted: 07:04pm 22 Nov 2011
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Careful ... some of the Grove system components need +5 VDC. The DuinoMite Mega is really a 3.3 VDC based CPU. It can be used on some +5 VDC inputs and outputs but with my "Grove shield modification" I cut off the 5 VDC pin and only use 3.3 VDC on the 4 pin connectors! Hackers beware!
Edited by DuinoMiteMegaAn 2011-11-24
ArtBecker Regular Member Joined: 25/08/2011 Location: PhilippinesPosts: 47
Posted: 08:28pm 22 Nov 2011
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No good deed ever goes unpunished.
DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231
Posted: 01:29am 23 Nov 2011
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Of course, you could stack two Grove shields together and have one for 5 VDC and
the other for 3.3 VDC. Its only a matter of keeping track of which device works
at what voltage and if the GPIO pin can handle the voltage (5 VDC tolerant)
DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231
Posted: 02:05am 24 Nov 2011
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@ArtBecker
Also, keep in mind, that having +5 VDC devices will cease to funtion when
using the Lipo battery as the main power source!
Olimex Senior Member Joined: 02/10/2011 Location: BulgariaPosts: 226
Posted: 04:31am 24 Nov 2011
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note that DuinoMite-Mega have +5V on the arduino shield platform so you can use some 5V shields
if you check DuinoMite-Mega schematic the PIC32 ports which have been marked with DOTs are 5V tolerant and can take 5V as input, for instance port D is 5V tolerant and have dots on all lines while port B is not
Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me.
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