Adafruit 16-Channel 12-bit PWM/Servo Driver - I2C Interface - PCA9685
If you want to create a cool robot, perhaps a hexapod walker, or a piece of art with a lot of moving parts, you'll want to check out this PCA9685 PWM driver board. It's designed for controlling up to 16 channels of 12-bit PWM or Servo signals over an I2C interface. While it's perfect for controlling servos or LEDs, it may not be ideal for driving servos. If you need to control servos, we have a separate controller available.
With just two pins, you can control 16 free-running PWM outputs. You can even chain up to 62 breakouts to control up to 992 PWM outputs!
Features
- 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, it's completely free running!
- 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 drive 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 with a couple of 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
- 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 4 assembled 3x4 male header blocks (Servo plugs are a little wider than 0.1" so you can only stack 4 next to each other on 0.1" header
- A piece of 6-pin 0.1" header
- A stick of 0.1" male header for soldering in
CircuitPython & Arduino libraries/examples, schematics, Fritzing, and more can be found in our tutorial.
Technical Details
- Dimensions (without header or terminal block): 2.5" x 1" x 0.1" (62.5 mm x 25.4 mm x 3 mm)
- Weight (without header or terminal block): 5.5 grams
- Weight (with 3x4 header and terminal block): 9 grams
- This board/chip uses I2C 7-bit addresses between 0x40-0x7F, selectable with jumpers
For datasheets, EagleCAD PCB files, Fritzing objects, and more, check out the tutorial.
Get the competitive and affordable Adafruit 16-Channel 12-bit PWM/Servo Driver - I2C Interface - PCA9685 at SAMM Market from the Adafruit category for a reasonable price, same-day shipping, and fast delivery.
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