Creating Your Own Shield - Arduino Sketches: Tools and Techniques for Programming Wizardry - page 391

CHAPTER
25
Creating Your Own Shield
As you have seen throughout this topic, Arduinos are powerful devices. With a
large amount of input and output pins, they can perform advanced functions,
but the real power comes with shields. Shields expand the functionality of an
Arduino by adding electronic components or connectors. Hundreds of designs
exist, adding Wi-Fi connectivity, Ethernet, LCD and TFT screens, more input
and output, robotics, or simply prototyping.
Even if hundreds of shields exist, sometimes it is worth creating your own.
Don't worry; this isn't magic. Some hobbyists are frightened of creating printed
circuit boards, but new tools exist that make this simple. There are no expen-
sive machines to buy and no messy chemicals to use. Even the software used
to create these boards is free. If you can create a circuit on a breadboard, you
can create a shield.
Creating a Shield
There are hundreds of boards available, either through Arduino, through
Arduino-compatible vendors, or through hobbyists and makers. If so many
shields are available, why would you want to create your own? Put simply, to
have your own hardware the way you want it. A data-logging shield might miss