As most of you know, I've been working on this little 16 channel output board designed to drive LEDs or whatever for your cockpit projects.

That project got a stake through the heart yesterday.

I was researching a chip I wanted to use for an input project (the Microchip MPC23017) and discovered the Centipede Shield.

You're eyes are not going bad. You are indeed seeing a 64 channel I/O board for $18. For another $20-$30, you can buy an Arduino Duemilanove board and for right around $75 you can have 128 channels of I/O for your cockpit project.

If you're not after a turn-key solution, this will give you the most bang for the buck, period.

I've asked the developer if it will be possible to use more than two Centipede Shields in the future. A four board stack on an Arduino would be fantastic.

Using a Centipede for input will allow you to skip the diode isolation needed for standard input matrices on things like the BU036(?) and EPIC.

The board will drive LEDs (by using an external 5V power supply) on all 64 channels. To drive lamps or higher loads, you'll need to use a MOSFET to handle the power output. Here is a nice example of how to do this. The part used (BS270) is a logic-level MOSFET (is triggered by a 5V signal) and will handle 400mA of current which is perfect for driving incandescent bulbs.

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Nice catch, Gene. Now I've definitely got to spend some time on Arduino.

I just wish I'd discovered it before spending north of $250 on R&D for that silly 16 channel board.

FYI, the 2 board limit on the Centipede is due to the I2C addressing. 8 chips per bus.


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What's money to a true believer?

Er... better well spent on other things?

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