Hello All
The documentation for the Arduino Shield mentions the front expansion area of the shield for attaching extra sensors etc. I have seen picures of people using the side of the shield. Can I get some explanation as to if this area can be used and what are the issues if any if you do?
Cheers
Robert
Hello, Robert.
Which Arduino shield are you talking about?
-Rocky
Sorry the Zumo shield for Arduino. V1.2 I think it is. The Zumo Robot.
Cheers
Robert
Yes, the side pins can be used as well. They are connected to the Arduino pins through the shield. The pin assignment table in the Zumo shield’s user’s guide shows which pins are used by the Zumo shield. Note that some of the side pins are also available in the front expansion area. If you are using the Zumo reflectance sensor array, the Adding a Zumo reflectance sensor array section of the same user’s guide specifies which of the pins are used for that. Just make sure the pin you want to use is not already being used by another function.
-Rocky
Thanks Rocky, appreciate the response and infromation. I just want to clarify the “Pin Assignment Table” from the users guide.
In the “Zumo Shield Function” column, does the text “digital I/O (front expansion)” mean that the pin is free for use? I realise that if your using the relectance sensor array (which I am) then you may need to remove the pins from use on the array first.
Also what actual pins are free if you have the array in place. It seems to me that maybe one or two pins are free.
Cheers
Robert
The “digital I/O (front expansion)” text means those pins are also available at the front of the board. It does not necessarily mean that they are free to use. If you use the front sensor array, there are only a few pins left completely free. For an Arduino Uno, pins 0, 1, 2, and 6 are unused (though pins 0 and 1 are programming pins, so be careful using those). For an Arduino Leonardo or one of our A-Star 32U4 boards, pins 0, 1, A4, and A5 are unused. If you need more pins than that, some features on the Zumo shield such as the battery level monitor, buzzer, and compass/gyro can be disabled. You can find more information about this in the Jumper settings section of the Zumo shield user’s guide.
-Rocky
Thanks Rocky, appreciate your help.
I have gone ahead and soldered female headers down the side of the shield. The side that has the analog pins. All worked well expect for one of the 5V pins. I may have not soldered it corrctly.
I did notice that I did not have to do anything physical to the reflective sensors to use the pins that it uses. In code I simplly set only the two outer most sensors to be used and I had no issues in repurposing those pins for other sensors.
Cheers
Robert
