Infineon Shield Q/A

Currently my plan is to use basic 12V LED strips up to the rated current

So input voltage will be 12 and I expect the output to be the same, I will be interested to see if the shield allows for this kind of hook up, I don’t see why it should not

Unfortunately 12V strips do not want a constant current as their source because of the way there made, but a fixed voltage that can be in the form of PWM on them is OK

From the Quick start guide:

NOTE: DC input voltage to the RGB

LED shield should be higher than the

forward voltage of the light engine

Does this allow equal voltage?

Thanks @Peter Oakes and @alexev !

I finished reading the technical details as much as I could get hands on. Seems like the shield uses I2C commands to configure many parameters from Arduino Uno master or Infineon eval board. It uses a PWM design to sawtooth the Mosfets to turn on/off at a rate to match your inputs. The defaults are safe as long as the minimum 300 mA are maintained and the voltage is between 12V and 48V. Stay tuned for more to come. 

Clem

PS. Please bookmark/like this if you want to follow. But participating would be more fun

Please go check @BYOB Party #3, Infineon Library Available for a first hands on look of the Infineon Shield.  A great discussion with summary of the parameters that can be set by @Peter Oakes.

Thanks Peter,

Clem

When you get your package, you will need some male long headers(not provided) to connect shield to arduino(uno/yun).

yes indeed, you'll have to improvise somewhat.

That's an excellent point. I forgot to get some of those at the time of ordering my shield. These should do: 085 - ADAFRUIT INDUSTRIES - ARDUINO, SHIELD STACKING HEADERS | CPC

Also http://cpc.farnell.com/arduino/a000026/header-strip-arduino-40x1-through/dp/CN19502?crosssellid=CN19502&crosssell=true&in_merch=true& works IF you do not plan any shields above this one!

Clem

Make sure they have really long legs or they won’t fit on the Yun, it will hit the Ethernet port before you even push it down

No issues on the UNO though except you can’t stack a Ethernet shield and a RGB as there completely pin incompatible (Missing the required header pins) oh that also goes for the Yun too

Cant we stack two of these together? That would resolve needing long legs?

Yo can use a stacking header set to elevate the shield high enough

look here

http://www.element14.com/community/groups/arduino/blog/2014/12/16/byob-party-4-mr-uno-and-his-message-board

Peter,

     Was there a minimal drop on the voltage in and voltage going out? Missed the answer if you already gave this out

Thanks,

clem

Peter,

     Was there a minimal drop on the voltage in and voltage going out? Missed the answer if you already gave this out

Thanks,

clem

Hi Clem,

I'm guessing you want to connect (say) an LED string designed for 12V, and power it with 12V too for example?

If so, this will work, because the shield is designed for constant current operation, but the LED strings designed for a fixed voltage have a resistor in series to set the current level (such LED strings designed for a fixed voltage are usually controlled by just a MOSFET, and don't need a constant current circuit). In this case, the shield will adjust the voltage to the point of pushing around 300mA through the LED string, and it will reach extremely close to 12V (or whatever voltage you're using) if needed to get it to do so. If 300mA is passing through the LED string (regardless of the voltage the LED string is designed for) then it will be visibly lit (although maybe not optimally) because this is a large current, even if the voltage is lower than the 12V rating of the string.

So, an LED string designed for 12V will become illuminated with a 12V powered shield.

Good luck with the project!!