DeDe DEbug & DEvelopment Shield for Arduino UNOs & Compatibles

Useful for developing and debugging any board that is compatible with an Arduino UNO-type shield! Assembly required only for the through-hole components…just populate what you want or need. All SMDs are pre-soldered. MAKES DEBUGGING QUICKER & EASIER! Quickly see the logic state of any GPIO pin – even pulses as short as 1mS can be seen Easily dig deeper by connecting test equipment to any GPIO pin: Connect a DMM to measure voltages Connect an oscilloscope or logic analyzer to view waveforms Connect a protocol analyzer to decode SPI/I2C/UART communications BOARD FEATURES: Compatible with ANY board having Arduino compatible headers – 5V or 3.3V Individual pairs of red and green LEDs with on-board drivers for displaying high/low status for each of the port pins, all located on one edge and extended out beyond the standard Arduino shield for easy viewing of all pins – even when placed in the middle of a shield sandwich! Virtually no loading on the GPIO pins, only 100Kohm pull-up resistors to keep the LED driver inputs from floating – the LEDs are NOT driven directly by the GPIOs 3 user signal inputs with LEDs available to the user for probing other signals One channel dedicated to the RESET signal A 6-position DIP switch for connecting/disconnecting the board’s circuitry from the analog inputs (A0-A5) for sensitive applications that might be affected by the 100Kohm pull-up resistors Probe pins on 0.1″ male headers adjacent to the shield sockets are for external probing with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers and DMMs Two GND posts for grounding test equipment to A prototyping area with all shield signals and power brought out for creating your own circuits and is also compatible with 170 tie-point breadboards (not included), just drop it in place! An optional disable jumper (marked “DIS”) for disabling the LED circuits lets you conserve power when they’re not needed, or wire it to a GPIO pin and control it from a sketch to build some creative LED patterns! A reset push button located for easy access STATUS LEDs The status LEDs show the current state of all 20 GPIO pins at a glance…you don’t have to turn the board around or try to peer around other shields to see what’s happening on the other side of the board like some other designs. The standard Arduino naming convention for the GPIOs are clearly shown adjacent to the LEDs along the edge of the board, plus their Microchip (formerly Atmel) PORT pin designations (PORT B, PORT C & PORT D) just above the row of green LEDs. Three USER inputs (U1-U3) are provided to enable you to probe other parts of your circuits (the signals can be either 3.3V or 5V) that aren’t connected to a GPIO pin. The RESET signal has its own pair of LEDs to enable you to see if the reset line is being asserted. DEBUG HEADERS The debug headers make it easy to probe the GPIOs and power supply circuits with a DMM, oscilloscope, or logic analyzer. Easily connect an I2C or SPI protocol analyzer and start decoding those pesky communications! If you’re unable to decode the I2C or SPI interfaces, connect an oscilloscope probe to them and verify that the waveforms look right or possibly swapped! The debug headers can also be used to connect other boards like sensor evaluation boards that aren’t shield-compatible…just use a jumper wire! Two GND posts make it easy to ground test equipment such as DMMs and oscilloscope probes. A0-A5 DISCONNECT SWITCHES When using A0-A5 as analog inputs, you might not want a 100Kohm pull-up resistor affecting your circuit…turn off the corresponding DIP switch to electrically isolate it! PROTOTYPING AREA The 252-hole prototyping area is surrounded by all of the GPIO signals and power supply pins, making it easy to wire in your own custom electronics. The pads are laid out in 18 columns of a 3-3-2-3-3 layout for maximum flexibility. For maximum flexibility, place a 170 tie-point breadboard (not included) on top of the prototyping area, solder male or female headers into the GPIO and power supply holes (whichever suits you, a 40-pin stick is all it takes) and now you have a reusable rapid prototyping area! RESET PUSHBUTTON AND LED DISABLE JUMPER A reset pushbutton that protrudes beyond the standard shield size makes it easy to reset your system! The board consumes as much as 125mA from the Vcc rail. If your design needs that extra power, place a jumper across the pair of male header pins marked “DIS” to disable the power supply feeding the LEDs and their drivers, dropping the current consumption to below 1mA. STANDARD ARDUINO UNO HEADER FOOTPRINT The standard Arduino UNO compatible shield headers are right where they should be, allowing the board to sit in the middle of a “shield sandwich” nicely while the status LEDs extend out for easy at-a-glance viewing. USERS OF THE BOARD Individuals getting started with Arduinos & compatibles Makers building electronics for a project Engineers designing a proof-of-concept for a product STEM & STEAM camps Robotics clubs High school, tech school and university labs Perfect for educators to teach electronics and programming! Better than blinking a single LED, the quintessential “Hello World” for electronics. Take control of 20 pairs of LEDs and build creative light shows! Recreate the Ceylon eyes from Battlestar Galactica, or KITT from Knight Rider Demonstrate what a shift register does Build a VU meter by reading an analog input driven by an audio source USES FOR THE BOARD Use the debug features to narrow down where the problem lies – is it a hardware or a software problem? Prototype circuits easily in the prototyping area: 252-hole general-purpose prototyping area All GPIO and power supply pins brought out for making easy connections Make the board more flexible and reusable by adding a 170 tie-point breadboard (included) and solder standard header pins on 0.1″ centers to the GPIO and power supply pins! For more information including some background on DeDe’s development, check it out on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ellutions/dede-debug-and-development-shield-for-arduinos-and