Arduino to control another chip with additional outputs

Hey all,

I'd like to learn how to, efficiently, use Arduino outputs and i'd like to use one Arduino's output to do more things than just one.

I don't need anything complicated, just some voltage control.

How can I easily achieve it?

PS. What I want to do in this project is to be able to have 3.3V, 4V, 5V, 6V and 9V outputs to control 12V fans. I want to do this by using several different voltage regulators and I want to use just one Arduino output to switch between each voltage regulator. I might use MOSFETs too, not sure yet. Any suggestions very welcome.
I don't want PWM at this moment.

Thanks!

Is this something I could use? http://arduino.cc/en/tutorial/ShiftOut

zYxMa:
Is this something I could use? http://arduino.cc/en/tutorial/ShiftOut

It looks plausible, although that example illustrates that you need three pins to control the shift register, so in your particular example, you're only saving a couple of pins. For an exercise for learning about shift registers though, why not - the shifted pins can control a relay or mosfet to switch the appropriate voltage to the fan.

several different voltage regulators and I want to use just one Arduino output to switch between each voltage regulator

All that control with just 1 pin is a bit of an ask.

If you are happy to sequence through the regs it's not too hard, but if you want to skip from say reg 1 to reg3 without selecting reg 2 then some cleverness would be required.


Rob

Ok, maybe when I say one I wouldn't mind using more, say 3, but I'd like those 3 pins to do more than just 3 things, if you know what I mean :slight_smile:

I think my original plan has been changed to just two or three voltage regulators so in this case it won't be so bad. However if I wanted to use 3 pins to do say 5 things, would this be possible?

I need a number of pins for LCD screen to work.

Is there a possibility to link two or more arduino boards? :grin:

With 3 pins you can essentially have an infinite number of outputs. What you do with them is up to you.

Is there a possibility to link two or more arduino boards?

Yes, there are many ways to do this, most involve one of the serial ports, SPI, I2C or the UART.


Rob