If you want to make a robot with lots of moving parts or to control too many LEDs with PWM outputs, then the limited PWM outputs of your microcontroller would be a big problem for you. But worry not, we have a perfect solution for you. This PCA9685 16-Channel 12-bit I2C Servo Controller will be a great help!
You can control 16 free-running PWM outputs with this PCA9685 16-Channel 12-bit I2C Servo Controller using only 2 pins. You can even chain up 62 breakouts to control up to 992 PWM outputs. Isn't that interesting?
It’s an I2C-controlled PWM driver with a built-in clock. That means you do not need to continuously send signals to tie up your microcontroller, it is completely free running!
With the board being 5V compliant, you can control it from a 3.3V microcontroller and still safely drive up to 6V outputs. This is good 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.
Features
Adjustable frequency PWM up to about 1.6 KHz
12-bit resolution for each output – for servos, that means about 4us resolution at a 60Hz update rate
Configurable push-pull or an open-drain output
The output enable pin to quickly disable all the outputs
Terminal block for power input
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
Chainable design
A spot to place a big capacitor on the V+ line
220-ohm series resistors on all the output lines to protect them, and to make driving LEDs trivial.
This board/chip uses I2C 7-bit address between 0x60-0x80, selectable with jumpers.
Packing List
1 x I2C Servo 16-Channel 12-bit Controller - PCA9685
International
Singapore
Malaysia
Thailand
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