I will try to keep my question as abstract as possible. I am basically unable to figure out if I can connect multiple 4 wire(SDA,SCL,VCC,GND) I2c devices directly to this board or not. and if so, how many? I can see that it has enough 5V and GND's on it, but only one place that has the I2C breakout pins. Does that mean that I will HAVE to either use a multiplexer(link: TCA9548A I2C Multiplexer : ID 2717 : $6.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits) and/or create a bus from that port? Id REALLY REALLY like a way to be able to somehow eliminate the mess that gets created while joining more than one I2c devices(you know...the pull up resistors and the whole thing on the breadboard...yukkk).
But not sure if there is still a better way to go about this. I am almost certain I am not understanding something fundamental about this sensor board. This board also has a G,V, and a S(supposedly this is the signal line?) line for 3 pin sensors. That's throwing me off even more. Most of the sensors I have looked at have 4 pins(SDA,SCL,VCC,GND). Reading the pdf, it looks like those are meant for single directional communication. Ok...cool...but then if you take something like a light intensity sensor, through which I only want to read data, would I be able to connect it here? even if it is a 4 wired sensor? just forget about connecting the 4th SCL line? what?
I have been stuck on this for a few days now. Please free me from my abysmal ignorance and put me out of my misery.
So I know how to connect them in a raw way using pull-up resistors and all on a breadboard. My question is, is there a better way? Is that a way that I can directly connect multiple of them on the V5 shield, or if i cant do that, then some how use a extender IC that already has the pull-up resistors and everything, takes in the SDA and SCL connections from the arduino and allows multiple connections to it including providing 5v and gnd connections.
for prototyping a breadboard should be OK
all our projects use purpose designed PCBs with I2C devices on board and/or connectors to external devices
the PCB designers usually forget the pull up resistors!
Hi,
Unfortunately, since the first "Sensor Shield" was invented by Xiao in Beijing about 5+ years ago, there have been many clones and variations and numbers.
"V5" has at least 3 or 4 variations. So you need to show us a decent photo of the one you have.
I call the version that has separate power connections that can be used to drive servos etc. "5X", bu that's just me.. It's like this:
It looks very similar to the one you have posted. After further reading, it appears that I cannot connect more than 1 i2c device to any of the shields(at least the ones I found). So then I found this:
This looks really promising. It directly connects to the I2c port on the shield and then I can connect up to 7 devices to it. What do you think? Is there a better way still?
@horace....Thank you for your reply as well! I want to totally just get away from a breadboard or anything that requires me to build a circuit. I just want to stick to IC's. But nonetheless....your suggestion is compelling.
uberJoker754:
It looks very similar to the one you have posted. After further reading, it appears that I cannot connect more than 1 i2c device to any of the shields(at least the ones I found). So then I found this:
This looks really promising. It directly connects to the I2c port on the shield and then I can connect up to 7 devices to it. What do you think? Is there a better way still?
the I2C extender looks interesting ! saves all that soldering on breadboards
it appears you can stack them I2C extender
Wow, Yet Another "Sensor Shield V5".. This one looks good, but it does not have a jumper to feed "5V" from the Arduino; you would have to wire 5V to the blue terminal block.
It also assumes you have some variant of an UNO-like board that exposes A6 and A7..
There have been lots of variants of designs as people see a good idea and then expand upon it. I worked with a guy in China on this UNO variant which has "Sensor Shield" built in:
@terry....my only goal is to get rid of the breadboard. I actually have a stack of shields. It goes:
Sensor Sheild
Datalogger Sheild
Motor Controller Sheild
Arduino
As you can see, with a setup like this, I have effectively eliminated nearly all the wires by using shields. I have an lcd, a current sensor and a light sensor that needs to be connected still. apart from the LCD, the light sensor and the current sensor both use the I2c. This is when the bus needs to be created, because I am connecting more than 1 device right? so really, the question is...what is the cleanest way to attach multiple devices without a breadboard or a proto board? any at all?