@Jonathan Beri asked in the comments why I didn't use PCA9685, but instead went with an ATmega and my own code. To be honest, this is mostly because this project is the continuation of my #Servo Controller project, in which I used a Pro Mini board.
But that got me thinking, and I went and checked if I can get some of those chips cheaply, and I went ahead and designed a PCB for them:
I was actually so happy with it, that I went ahead and ordered them from OSHPark. Today the boards arrived, and I assembled one and tested it:
It works perfectly fine. You only get 16 channels (that's why I could fit it on the standard D1 Mini shield), but you can stack 64 of those boards (the address selection jumpers are on the bottom). Pretty neat.
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Other question is why not the MCP23017. Chips are breakout board are sold for 0.80USD on aliexpress.
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Because it doesn't do PWM, so I would have to drive it in software. Incidentally, I also made a port expander shield with the MCP2317 if you prefer that: #D1 Mini Expander Shield
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nice work!
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