TFT Touch Shield in MENTA Mint Tin

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Polishfreak8
 
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TFT Touch Shield in MENTA Mint Tin

Post by Polishfreak8 »

Hi All

I am attempting to build an IR remote control to control my tv/BANNED player, using the 2.8" TFT Touch Shield for Arduino (https://www.adafruit.com/products/376) as the primary input inside a Adafruit MENTA - Mint Tin Arduino Compatible Kit with Mint Tin (https://www.adafruit.com/products/795). According to the friendly tutorial (http://www.ladyada.net/products/tfttouchshield/), all standard shields will fit. However, my concern is with the number of pins that the touch shield uses (they are all plugged in, though pins 2,3(Digital) and 4,5(Analog) are not used). In the tutorial it says to use a protoshield with stacking headers at access the unused pins. So, in the end I have two questions.
  • 1. How exactly does this work? This is my first big project, and I have never used a protoshield. Wouldn't the unused pins be plugged into the Arduino board through the protoshield? How does using a protoshield help?
    2. How much room does the 2nd shield take up? Will it still fit inside the tin?
Thank you for your help!
--Polishfreak8

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: TFT Touch Shield in MENTA Mint Tin

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

First, if you are planning to use a shield with the Menta, you will probably want to install the C5 capacitor a little differently. It is a little tall and can interfere with the shield. So before soldering the leads, bend the capacitor down so it lays on top of the 7805 regulator. That will leave enough room for a shield above. We should have the tutorial fixed to reflect that soon.

1) All shields have pins that plug into all pin locations of the Arduino headers. That does not mean that they use all of those pins. If you build the shield with stacking headers, the unused pins will be available to stacked shields as well.
2) The tin supplied with the Menta is deep enough to handle the Menta and one shield. A second shield would be too tall for that enclosure.

Polishfreak8
 
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Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:39 pm

Re: TFT Touch Shield in MENTA Mint Tin

Post by Polishfreak8 »

I was taking another look at the Menta, and saw that there are holes by the stacking headers along the prototyping surface of the board. Could I run wires from the unused ports there?

Thanks for your help!
--Polishfreak8

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: TFT Touch Shield in MENTA Mint Tin

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

there are holes by the stacking headers along the prototyping surface of the board. Could I run wires from the unused ports there?
Yes you can. :D

Cappinator
 
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Re: TFT Touch Shield in MENTA Mint Tin

Post by Cappinator »

After assembling my Menta today and having played around with the TFT Touch breakout board, I was actually thinking of doing the same thing as the OP. However, with the TFT shield covering the entire Menta board, it will be difficult if not impossible to switch the jumpers from USB to DC and back, right?

Any ideas of solving that without having to take out the shield every time?
(Or will we need to do that anyway if we want to connect the FTDI Friend?)

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: TFT Touch Shield in MENTA Mint Tin

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The good news is: The shield does not cover the jumper. You can change the jumper position with the shield installed.
The bad news is: The shield won't fit into the mint tin while mounted on the Menta unless you clip off the corners. The upper right corner can be trimmed with no consequences. On the lower right corner, you would lose the reset button. The Menta reset button (next to the jumper) is still reachable though, so that might not be a big problem.

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