8-Channel EL Shield Kit

The EL Shield Kit gives you whole solution to use the EL wires. It includes all the necessary modules: 5V Inverter,4 EL wires and EL control Shield to make it possible to control the EL via Arduino. With Arduino, You will be able to control 8 EL devices simultaneously and separately. The controlling method is as simple as controlling an LED. Driven by PWM, it can create a colorful and florid effect by controlling each EL wire according to your own programs.
This kit comes with a 5V voltage inverter that can drive EL wire up to 15m simultaneously, 4 pcs of 2m EL wires and 4 EL wire adaptors. You can immediately start up your EL projects after you receives this kit by insert it onto Arduino. You can also purchase more EL wires and adaptors to implement more EL wires into your project.

Partlist

• EL Shield X1;
• 5V inverter x1;
• EL wire x4;
• Wire Adaptor x4;

Specification for Inverter

• Input voltage : 5V DC
• Output voltage : 110V~210V AC
• Maximum driving ability: 15m EL wire
• Wire Length: 30cm (input) and 15cm (output)
• Interface: JST2.0

Features

• 8 Channels, with Eight opto-isolated, zero-crossing control channels;
• Control EL as easy as turning a LED on and off;
• Compatible with 5V or 3.3V Arduinos

Arduino Pin Allocation for the Shield

Application

1.Connect the EL wires to EL Shield via the Adaptor

We provide the Special wire adaptors to help user connect the EL modules to the EL Shield. 4 pcs of adaptors are packaged in the EL Shield or EL Shield Kit. Connect the EL wires to EL Shield as below:

2.Connect the inverter to EL Shield

The EL modules needs a driver voltage more than 110V, AC. The customized inverter can convert the 5V-DC input to AC,110~220V, can drive a max of 15m EL wires. connect the the inverter to EL Shield as below:

3.Programing on Arduino

Plug the EL Shield on to Arduino, then you can begin to programming the Arduino to control EL wires. Programming to control the EL wires is as easy as control a LED, you can use the digitalwrite() to control the EL wires on&off, or the analogwrite() to generate PWM to control the lightness.

void setup() {                
// initialize the digital pin as an output.D2~D9 to control channel A to H
 for (int i =2; i<10;i++)
  pinMode(i, OUTPUT);  
}

// the loop routine runs over and over again forever:
void loop() {
  for (int i =2;i<10;i++)
  {
  digitalWrite(i, HIGH);  
  } // turn the EL wires on 
  delay(1000);               // wait for a second
  
  
    for (int i =2;i<10;i++)
  {
  digitalWrite(i, LOW);  
  } // turn the EL wires off
  
  delay(1000);               // wait for a second
}

4.Power On to Start

After uploading the sketch to Arduino, power the Arduino with a 6.5~9 V DC supply via the DC jack, to enable the EL wires to light up.