Arduino in Action

Chapter 12. Adding shields

This chapter covers

• What Arduino shields are
• Using libraries with shields
• Making your own shields

Up to this point, you’ve used shields in several examples, but this chapter will focus on what a shield is, how shields are made, what they’re supposed to do, and how you can make your own. Shields are boards that can be plugged into the Arduino board to extend its capabilities. Making a shield means collecting a discrete set of components for a specific task, like playing back MP3 files or communicating with a GPS device, and then fitting the components to the form factor of the Arduino device and adding pins so that they can be easily snapped into place or removed without soldering.

12.1. Shield basics

Almost ...