Arduino is a mainstay in the electronics world, which means there are hundreds of Shields that you can add to your Arduino board (Uno or Mega) for a variety of applications! After reviewing lots of different shields, we’ve come up with a list of the ones we think will suit your next project or design best.
Accelerometer/Temperature Shield
To measure dynamic acceleration (motion or shock) and static acceleration (gravity), Analog Devices’ ADXL362 Shield is a great choice! It has a 3-axis MEMS accelerometer that consumes less than 2µA at a 100 Hz output data rate. Its 12-bit output resolution and three operating ranges (+/-2g, +/-4g, and +/-8g) give it a great accuracy output.
It has an added feature of a 12-bit temperature sensor that is accurate to the +/-0.5 degrees, a motion trigger make-up functionality, and several activity detection modes that make this Shield ideal for portable low-power instruments. The LCD screen is another bonus where you can easily see the information being output.
Be sure to check out our video to see how to use this Shield!
1Sheeld+ for iOS & Arduino
One of the most creative Shields on this list is Integreight’s 1Sheeld+ for iOS & Arduino. With this shield, its built-in Bluetooth low energy module allows you to access your smartphone or tablet sensors (up to 40 sensors!) into your Arduino sketch, giving you access to all your smartphones’ capabilities (LCD Screen, Gyroscope, Switches, LEDs, Accelerometer, Magnetometer, GSM, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.).
With its 1Sheeld app (available on the App Store and Google Play Store), you can easily connect to your smartphone/tablet where you can control your Arduino by sending data and controlling pins or do the opposite and give the Arduino full control of the smartphone/tablet. This means that your Arduino can easily send emails, get Facebook and twitter notifications, use voice recognition, or even control the camera for an array of applications.
With easy-to-setup steps and many resources online (especially Integreight’s own website), you’ll quickly get to testing out all the cool functions of this shield! Some applications that were already created include controlling an RC car using the phone’s gyroscope, sending out tweets when someone enters your room, controlling your home appliances, and using face recognition to open up a safe/door. The sky is the limit with this Shield.
Some of the Virtual Shields (Over 40) include:
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LED
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Toggle Button
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Slider
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LCD
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Buzzer
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Music Player
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Game Pad
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Keypad
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Gyroscope
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SMS
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Falshlight
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Mic
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TFT Touch Shield (2.8” with Capacitive Touch)
Add touchscreen to your Arduino project with Adafruit’s TFT Touch Shield. The touchscreen can not only add a display screen to show information on screen, but add a navigation menu for your project. This can include projects that involve GPS location, information display on a system, or even create a tic tac toe game.
This shield provides a large TFT (2.8” diagonal) touch display for your Arduino that includes a built-in microSD card connection to quickly see images from your microSD card. With its 4 white-LED backlight and 262,000 (18-bit) different shades, it brings out the brightness and color of the images. It has a resolution of 240x320 pixels with individual pixel control and high-speed SPI display with digital I2C touchscreen.
The display has a capacitive touchscreen, meaning that you won’t need to press down on the screen with a stylus and has a clear glass display (for more information on the different types of touch sensors and how they work, check this article out! There is also a resistive version of this touchscreen.
Blue & White LCD Shield
If you want a different type of display for your Arduino, then the 16x2 Character LCD can be a great alternative. This is a Blue & White LCD that allows you to control up 3 backlight pins and 5 keypad pins using only two I2C pins on the Arduino. You can build a stand-alone project with its own user interface with the 4 directional buttons and the select button, providing basic control.
Note that this is a kit that comes with all the necessary parts to build the shield. You will be needing a soldering tool to complete this, but even if you have never soldered before, it should only take you about 30 mins to complete it. This shield can fit into any Arduino “classic” (Uno, Duemilanove, Diecimilla, ect.) as well as Arduino Mega R3.
4-Relay Shield
This Shield from Arduino will provide you a solution when trying to drive high power loads that can’t be controlled by Arudino’s digital IOs (due to the current and voltage limits of the controller). This means you can add your Arduino to projects that needed current/voltage to have moving parts, such as opening a garage door.
The Shield features 4 relays and each relay provides 2 pole changeover contacts (naturally closed and naturally open). It also includes 4 LEDs to indicate the on/off state of each relay. Each of the relays can support up to 60 W (Single pole chargeover contact max current: @ 30V DC, 2A) loads. The best part is that this shield is compatible with all the Arduino boards, 5V and also 3.3V standards.
RFID/NFC Shield
The RFID/NFC Shield from Adafruit is perfect for any 13.56 MHz RFID or NFC application. The chip-set (PN532) can provide reading or writing tags with the current Arduino library meaning that you can provide security with RFID tags. The RFID/NFC Shield is designed to use I2C or SPI communication protocols and has a maximum range of 4 inches on using the 13.56 MHz technology.
Note that you will have to solder on the header pins, but it should only take you a few minutes to have it completed, even for a beginner.
Motor Shield v2
The Motor Shield v2 can drive up to 4 DC motors or 2 stepper motors to your Arduino project. It includes the TB6612 MOSFET with 1.2A per channel current capability that you can draw up to 3A peak for about 20ms at a time. You will get more torque out of your batteries with its much lower voltage drops across the motor. It also has a fully-dedicated PWM driver chip onboard where it handles all the motor and speed controls over I2C.
What is amazing is that it has a stackable design. It has 5 address-select pins, giving it up to 32 stackable shields; meaning 64 steppers or 128 DC motors! This gives you a huge range of motors to work with on your project. The header pins do require soldering.
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Motor Shield v2 | 1438
Adafruit Industries Placas y kits de desarrollo de administración de potencia VerXBee shield
The last (but not least!) Shield is the XBee Shield. If you need to build a wireless network for your project, Seeed’s XBee Shield can provide the solution with its standardized and stackable shield to your Arduino. You can stack any modules from the Bee Series (like the RF Module) onto it. Be sure to check out the module you plan to use to know how to configure it when it is on the Shield.
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Check out our other articles that can help you on your next Arduino projects:
See our favorite sensors that are compatible with Arduino boards.
The Arduino Uno vs Mega vs Micro: Which one is for you?
Check out how to use the accelerometer/temperature Shield.