Can BOE Shield work with Arduino Yun?

hungryTechie

Hi there, 
I will be working on a project that involves Arduino Yun and and I need to connect it to a shield that connects two motors, similar with the Boe Bot's. Can anyone help with info if there's a shield that works with Yun for using 2 servo motors? 
Otherwise I can't imagine the continuous servo motors work with Yun directly. I know Yun needs 5V so I need a voltage regulator. 
thanksjulian 

Duane Degn

I doubt the BOE Shield will work with the Yun.
Here's the shield with an UNO.

As you can see the UNO's USB connector comes close to the shield.
Here's the UNO without the shield.

It looks like there's about a quarter of an inch between the USB connector on the top row of headers.
Now look at the Yun.

The quarter inch gap is gone. My guess is the Yun's Ethernet connector would get in the way of using the BOE Shield.
What sort of batteries are you using? Most servos can take up to 6V and some can be powered with 7.2V. If you're using a 6V battery pack, you could power the servos directly from the battery pack.
Alternatively you could add your own regulator for the servos. I used an inexpensive regulator for my cheap bot. Here's a link to more information about it.
http://forums.parallax.com/discussion/comment/1161989/#Comment_1161989

hungryTechie

Hi,

I am using 5 AA batteries, usually 1.5 v but sometimes rechargeable 1.2 volts; I get your point and looking at the images I realize Yun might not fit on the shield but that doesn't mean I can't connect it. I can have them connected in a different way ( for example using jumper wires) and the Yun should still benefit from the voltage regulator as well.

I will get the Yun probably tomorrow and see how I can test that. If you have any other suggestions/ideas, please feel free to share.
thanks
julian

Duane Degn

Yes, the Yun will need regulated power but the BOE shield doesn't seem like a good choice if you can't use it as a shield.

Parallax sells a 5V regulator for $1.25.
https://www.parallax.com/product/601-00506

The regulator needs at least a 22uF capacitor on the output side and you may want to add a cap on the input side too. Caps are generally pretty inexpensive. If you don't have any you can either purchase Parallax's Capacitor Care Package or purchase caps from another source.

Edit: I see you already have the BOE Shield. Then yes, you could try using it with the Yun.

GordonMcComb

It might work to use a cheap prototyping shield (nothing connected to any pins) over the Arduino, then the BOE Shield over that. The protoshield should not get in the way of the Ethernet connector, and will provide an extra level to increase the distance between the Arduino and the BOE shield.

Even cheaper would be to just purchase the 6-and 8-pin headers that are soldered onto these boards. You can get them from Sparkfun, Pololu, Adafruit, and other online retailers that specialize in the Arduino.

I've never looked closely at the Yun, but do remember that non-Uno boards might use some of the pins in special ways. Check the documentation. You'll want to make sure that the integrated Ethernet circuits aren't connected to the pins that have been routed to the BOE Shield's servo headers. If that's the case, you won't be able to use those headers, and will need to connect your servos (or other three-wire device) to some other pin.