Adafruit Proto Shield for Arduino
Created by lady ada
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-proto-shield-arduino
Last updated on 2022-03-28 01:45:21 PM EDT
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Table of Contents
Overview
3
Make it!
5
• Lets go!
5
Preparation
5
• Prep
• Tools
5
5
Parts list
9
• Parts List
• Optional parts
9
14
Solder it!
15
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
16
21
25
25
27
29
32
34
Soldering with Stacking Headers
Installing plain headers
Installing Extras
Installing Capacitors
Installing Buttons
Installing LEDs
SPI/ICSP Connector
5-Pin power rail connections
Download
• Files
• Schematic
• Fabrication Print
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35
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Overview
This prototyping shield is the best out there (well, we think so, at least), and now is
even better with Version R3 - updated for the most compatibility with just about all the
Arduinos!
It works with UNO, Mega, Leonardo, NG, Diecimila, Duemilanove, and compatible
Arduinos. Yun's and Arduino Ethernets have a chunky Ethernet jack that gets in the
way of stacking, you can use the stacking headers included and it will work, just
doesn't sit nice and flat.
Check out these awesome specifications:
• It has a nice standard 0.1"x0.1" prototying grid with big pads
• Comes with Stacking headers and plain header, choose whichever you want
when soldering together
• A IC pattern for adding DIP ICs up to 20 pins
• Power rails down the middle and sides
• A reset button and an extra general use button
• 2 3mm general use LEDs, red and green, as well as 2 matching resistors
• A pass-thru ICSP stacking header so you can stack any kind of shield on top,
and/or use an AVR programmer
• A surface-mount chip area for up to 14 SOIC size parts
• Compatible with tiny breadboards
• Every pin is brought out!
• Gold plated pads
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• 2 x 0.1uF capacitors on either side for extra power stability
Pair with a tiny breadboard for a cute stand-alone prototyping setup!
Larger breadboard for tons of working space!
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2 LEDs and one button are availble for general purpose use!
Make it!
Lets go!
This is a very easy kit to make, just go through each of these steps to build the kit.
1. Tools and preparation (https://adafru.it/cEL)
2. Check the parts list (https://adafru.it/cEM)
3. Solder it (https://adafru.it/cEN)
Preparation
Prep
Learn how to solder with tons of tutorials! (https://adafru.it/aTk)
Don't forget to learn how to use your multimeter too! (https://adafru.it/aZZ)
Tools
There are a few tools that are required for assembly. None of these tools are
included. If you don't have them, now would be a good time to borrow or purchase
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them. They are very very handy whenever assembling/fixing/modifying electronic
devices! I provide links to buy them, but of course, you should get them whereever is
most convenient/inexpensive. Many of these parts are available in a place like Radio
Shack or other (higher quality) DIY electronics stores.
Soldering iron
Any entry level 'all-in-one' soldering iron
that you might find at your local hardware
store should work. As with most things in
life, you get what you pay for.
Upgrading to a higher end soldering iron
setup, like the Hakko FX-888 that we stock
in our store (http://adafru.it/180), will make
soldering fun and easy.
Do not use a "ColdHeat" soldering iron!
They are not suitable for delicate
electronics work and can damage the kit
(see here (https://adafru.it/aOo)).
Click here to buy our entry level adjustable
30W 110V soldering iron (http://adafru.it/
180).
Click here to upgrade to a Genuine Hakko
FX-888 adjustable temperature soldering
iron. (http://adafru.it/303)
Solder
You will want rosin core, 60/40 solder.
Good solder is a good thing. Bad solder
leads to bridging and cold solder joints
which can be tough to find.
Click here to buy a spool of leaded solder
(recommended for beginners) (http://
adafru.it/145).
Click here to buy a spool of lead-free
solder (http://adafru.it/734).
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Multimeter
You will need a good quality basic
multimeter that can measure voltage and
continuity.
Click here to buy a basic
multimeter. (http://adafru.it/71)
Click here to buy a top of the line
multimeter. (http://adafru.it/308)
Click here to buy a pocket
multimeter. (http://adafru.it/850)
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Flush Diagonal Cutters
You will need flush diagonal cutters to trim
the wires and leads off of components
once you have soldered them in place.
Click here to buy our favorite
cutters (http://adafru.it/152).
Solder Sucker
Strangely enough, that's the technical term
for this desoldering vacuum tool. Useful in
cleaning up mistakes, every electrical
engineer has one of these on their desk.
Click here to buy a one (http://adafru.it/
148).
Helping Third Hand With Magnifier
Not absolutely necessary but will make
things go much much faster, and it will
make soldering much easier.
Pick one up here (http://adafru.it/291).
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Parts list
Parts List
Image
Name
LED1
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Information
Description &
Qty
Distributor
Printed
circuit
board
Adafruit
1
3mm Red
LED
Generic
1
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LED2
R1 R2
3mm
Green LED
470-1.0K
Resistors
for LED
Generic
1
Generic
2
Carbon 5%
1/4W
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RESET 6mm tact
S1
switch
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Generic
2
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C1 C2
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0.1uF 50V
ceramic
capacitor
Generic
2
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8 pin
female 0.1"
header
(1x8)
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Generic
2
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5 pin
female 0.1"
header
(1x6)
Generic
2
36 pin
male 0.1"
header
(1x36)
Generic
1
Optional parts
Image
©Adafruit Industries
Description
Distributor
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Small breadboard
(300 tie points).
This is a little more
practical than the
larger 'standard'
ones.
Adafruit
Tiny breadboard
(170 tie points).
You can use the 5
pin female headers
(1x5) a with 'tiny'
breadboard as 'end
rails.'
Adafruit
Solder it!
Time to solder the kit together! If you've never soldered before, check the Preparation
page for tutorials and more. (https://adafru.it/aZW)
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First, check that you have all the parts!
Look over the parts list here (https://
adafru.it/aZX) and shown on the left.
Since we released the R3 version we now
include stacking headers! The PCB is
slightly different to break out all of the
Arduino pins, and the 2x3 ICSP header is
now part of the stacking kit
Soldering with Stacking Headers
Stacking headers are included with the R3 Proto Shield. They let you stack another
shield on top but are not as strong as the non-stacking headers. Also they are taller. If
you aren't planning on stacking another Shield on top, we do recommend going with
the plain headers as they're smaller and more durable.
Start by placing the shield in a holder as
shown, you shouldn't see the large
Adafruit logo (its on the bottom)
Then slide the 6, 8 and 10 pin headers into
the outside rows of the shield as shown.
You will likely have an extra two stacking
parts, just put those aside for now.
Now carefully plug the unsoldered
headers into a spare Arduino. Make sure
all of the long pins plug into the sockets
on the side of the Arduino. There will be a
gap between the shield and Arduino and
the Printed Circuit Board will be loose
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Flip over the Arduino and place it flat on
the table so that the PCB sits flat against
the stacky headers and the stacky headers
are flat against the table
Now from above, solder the two end pins a
stacky header to the PCB. You don't have
to do a great job soldering, just make sure
it's tacked together.
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Continue with the other header
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Flip around and do the other two headers
Carefully remove the shield from the
Arduino and insert into your vise with the
ends of the stacking header pointing up
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Now that you have aligned the stacky
headers using an Arduino it's easy to finish
the job
Solder the remaining header pins,
including the two end pins just to make
sure they are super solidly soldered :)
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When done, check your work, make sure
each pin is soldered with a nice shiny
solder connection
Installing plain headers
If you want to install the plain header rather than stacking headers, follow this part:
Grab a plain Arduino
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Next its time to make the male headers
from the long strip. use diagonal cutters or
pliers to clip off 4 parts, one 6-pin, two 8pin, and one 10-pin
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Place the pieces of header into the
Arduino so the long pins are in the side
sockets and the short pins stick up
Place the PCB on top of the Arduino so the
short pins stick through the rows of pads
on either side
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Solder all of the pads!
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Check your work! Make sure every point is
nice and shiny
Installing Extras
The Proto Shield comes with some extras like 2 buttons, 2 capacitors and a red/green
LED set. These aren't essential but you may want to have them installed! Here's how
you go about doing it!
Installing Capacitors
There's two spots for 0.1uF ceramic
capacitors. These are nice little additions
that help keep your 5V power-supply
clean
Place the two ceramic capacitors in the
spots shown. They are symmetric so you
don't have to worry about putting them in
backwards.
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Bend the two little capacitor leads out so
that you can flip over the PCB without the
caps falling out
Solder each of the 4 leads
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Check your work!
Then clip the leads short using a pair of
diagonal cutters
Installing Buttons
There's two optional buttons you can solder into your Proto Shield. One is connected
to the Arduino reset pin so you can quickly reset your Arduino. One is not connected
to any pin, you can solder a wire from it to any other Arduino pin
Snap the two buttons into the top corner
of the PCB. They will snap into place and
sit flat against the PCB. They are
symmetric so you can insert them 'either
way'
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Flip over the board and solder the 4 pads
of each button
Check your work to make sure the solder
points are nice and shiny...you're done!
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Installing LEDs
Next it's time to place the two 3mm LEDs.
LEDs are directional, and if you put them in
backwards they wont work.
LEDs have a positive lead and a negative
lead. The positive lead is longer.
On the Proto Shield PCB, you'll see a circle
indicating where the LED goes, and a
small + sign. That's the indicator for which
pad gets the longer leg of the LED
Next to the red LED you can bend one of
the 1K ohm resistors over and insert it in
the O- shaped silkscreen pads to the left
Resistors do not have a direction, so they
can be installed either way.
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Next insert the small green LED between
the two buttons. Like the red LED, check
for the tiny + symbol on the PCB, aand
place the longer leg of the LED into this
pad.
Then insert the other 1K resistor into the 0marked spot right next to it
On the Proto Shield PCB, you'll see a circle indicating where the LED goes, and a
small + sign. That's the indicator for which pad gets the longer leg of the LED
Bend out the leads of the LEDs and
resistors so they sit flat againt the PCB
Flip over the PCB in your vise
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Solder in all the legs of the LEDs and
resistors.
When done, check your work!
Clip all the leads down so that the long
wires are no longer than the solder points
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If you want to use the red and green LEDs
or the general purpose button, simply
solder solid-gauge wire (~22awg is good)
into the large solder holes near the device.
Then you can plug the other end of the
wire like a jumper into any of the female
headers. The two LEDs are tied to ground
through 1K or 1.5K resistors. The button
simply connects the jumper to ground
when pressed (use an internal or external
pull-up). Check the schematic on the
download page for specific details.
SPI/ICSP Connector
If you need to stack with a board that uses hardware SPI, or maybe you want to
reprogram your Arduino with an AVR programmer, you'll want access to the 2x3 pin
SPI/ICSP connector.
Grab the 6-pin stacking ICSP header and
plug it into the header on your Arduino
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Plug the shield on top so that the 6 pins
go through the matching holes in the PCB
Solder all 6 pads
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You're done!
5-Pin power rail connections
If you're using the proto shield with a tiny breadboard you may want to solder in the
two 5-pin headers to the 5V and GND rails near the end of the Proto Shield, its pretty
easy!
Place the two non-stacking 5-pin headers
into the matching slots on the right hand
side of the PCB. Use tape to keep them in
place.
Or…if you have an extra length of regular
pin header…you can insert that into the 5pin socket headers (with 2 pins spanning
the gap) to help align and hold these in
place temporarily.
Flip over the board. Use more tape if you
need to keep the headers from sliding out
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Solder all the pads!
Check your work, make sure all the pins
are solidly attached
Download
Files
• EagleCAD PCB Files on GitHub (https://adafru.it/pBu)
• Fritzing object in Adafruit Fritzing library (https://adafru.it/c7M) (schematic view
not functional, use for diagramming only!)
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Schematic
Fabrication Print
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