My Favorite Sensors and Modules for Arduino

TIP120 - Transistor

This beefy transistor is perfect for controlling a DC motor with a PWM signal from your Arduino. I like these transistors because they are overkill for most projects – meaning there is less of a chance I will burn it out while testing out a circuit. 

The official Arduino page has a good write up for this transistor and example code. 

SSD1306 - OLED Module

This display is cool. I like the ones that have yellow on top and blue on the bottom because it differentiates the top like like a header. 

These require the Adafruit_GFX library and documentation can be found here at Adafruit. 

The board has 4 pins:

  • GND – The Ground connection.
  • VCC – The power supply, 5 VDC.
  • SCL – The I2C Clock.
  • SDA – The I2C Data line.

L298N - Dule H Bridge Stepper Motor Driver

Making stuff move is one of the coolest things you can do with an arduino. This classic chip is perfect for driving a stepper motor. 

As usual The DroneBot Workshop has a good write up and example code for this chip.

KY-040 Rotary Encoder Module

As usual The DroneBot Workshop has a fantastic write up about how to use a Rotary Encoder.

DS3231 AT24C32

Real Time Clock 

DHT22 / AM2302

DHT22

A more precise temperature and humidity sensor than the DHT11. A good write up about the differences is at Seed Studio.

LCM1602 iiC

LCM1602 II2 - LCD for arduino

Info about how to wire it up and example code here at Tkkrlab

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