The EB093 Arduino Shield is part of the E-blocks range of circuit boards. This board allows you to use an Arduino Uno, Leonardo, Mini, Micro, or Nano module as the heart of an E-blocks system. The D-type connectors provide a bus system that enables "clean" access to all I/O lines. This allows you to use downstream E-blocks with the Arduino upstream microcontroller architecture. All the standard signals from the Arduino board are brought across onto the Shield board including the reset switch, power LED, microcontroller VCC, analog reference, ICSP header and screw terminals to allow for easy connection with the voltage regulators on the Arduino board. E-Blocks Arduino Shield Usage Overview Headers are already installed for plugging in an Arduino Uno or Leonardo. Many clones will be compatible too. To use an Arduino Nano, Micro or Mini, you'll either have to solder it to the through-hole pads on the shield, or install sockets first. We have a pack of sockets available that you can break down to the sizes you'll need. Note: An Arduino Mini should be version 04 or higher. Once your Arduino is attached, the three downstream E-blocks DB9 ports (J1 through J3) will be connected to the following Arduino pins: - J1: Pins A0 through A5 (be sure the downstream E-block board you connect here doesn't require more than six analog pins)
- J2: Pins D0 through D7
- J3: Pins D8 through D13
Even when using an Arduino module like the Nano that has more analog pins than an Uno, this shield only will utilize A0 through A5 on E-blocks port J1. This will be changed in a future board revision. For now, you can use the extra analog pins only if you install your module on the EB092 instead. The Arduino's power pins (AREF, Vin, 5V, 3.3V, IOREF) are routed to accessible screw terminals. The Arduino's reset pin is routed to an accessible button, and its ICSP header is routed to a new header on the EB093, making it possible to reprogram the Arduino via ICSP without having to remove it from this shield. Note: For the routed ICSP header to be used with an Uno/Leonardo clone, that clone must have its ICSP header in the default location so that it can plug into the shield's socket. Some clones, e.g. those by Olimex which we carry, have the ICSP header in a different location, or don't have the ICSP pins installed by default. The AREF jumper allows the Arduino's analog positive reference voltage to be connected either to the microcontroller's VCC (marked +V) or to another input voltage which can be supplied via the pin pad marked EXT. Graphical Programming Software Available Using E-Blocks with Arduino is supported now by the Flowcode for AVR programming software and tutorial. E-Blocks Overview E-Blocks are small circuit boards each of which contains a block of electronics that you would typically find in an electronic system. Each E-Block performs a separate function as either an input sub-system, an output sub-system, an input/output sub-system or a processing sub-system. E-Blocks can be put together to form a variety of systems that can be used for teaching and learning electronics, and for the rapid prototyping of complex electronic systems. Each E-Block has one or more 9-way D-type connectors that provide up to eight input/output lines and a ground line. These D-type connectors allow connection between E-Blocks to be made in buses of multiples of 8 lines, just like a real electronic system. Power is routed separately to those E-Blocks that need it. Processing E-Blocks based on PIC, dsPIC, ARM or AVR microcontrollers, Altera FPGAs, Arduino or Raspberry Pi control the whole E-Blocks system. Processing E-Blocks provide up to five input/output ports with up to eight lines per port. Please see the E-Blocks Category for a list of available components. For more details on E-Blocks, see the E-Blocks User Guide (in English, French, German and Spanish) or watch the Introduction to E-Blocks video.
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