The great thing about Arduinos is that they are so easy to interface to the outside world – to monitor the state of sensors and to control actuators and make things happen. As part of this, you often need to add a few components or circuits of your own, and the best way to do this is by means of a prototyping (proto) shield. Unfortunately, most proto-shields don’t make it particularly easy to actually connect wires to and from the outside world. The Universal Screw-Block Proto-Shield System for Arduino – which works with Uno, Leonardo, Due, and Mega Arduinos (and also their chipKIT counterparts) – addresses this issue by means of its easy-to-use screw-block terminals.

The Universal Screw-Block Proto-Shield System for Arduino, Expansion is designed to fit the extended side of an Arduino Mega, or compatible form-factor. You may also want the Master board (not included in this product. You can purchase the Master alone, or the Combo, which comes with both).

You provide the Arduino or Arduino-compatible, and you solder.

Includes:

• 1 each, Expansion blank PCB
• 2 each, 8 pin long tail headers
• 1 each 2×18 pin long tail header
• 2 each, 8 pin 0.1″ screw terminal block
• 4 each, 9 pin 0.1″ screw terminal block
• Link to downloadable documentation

Of particular interest is the dual-pad system employed by our Universal Screw-Block Proto-Shields.

Existing screw-block proto-shields typically have each screw-block terminal directly connected to its associated header pin and a single pad in the prototyping area, as illustrated above. Sometimes you want a screw-block terminal to be connected to its header pin, but sometimes you don’t. For example, you might want to insert some components between the terminal and the header pin. In the case of our Universal Screw-Block Proto-Shields, each screw-block terminal and associated header pin are connected to two separate pads. If you want the terminal to be wired directly to the header pin, you can easily connect the two pads together; otherwise, you can easily connect the pads into the prototyping area.

Note that on version 1.0 boards, header signal pins 22 and 24, and the +5 volt and ground rails, on the expansion board are directly connected to the screw-terminals. On Version 1.1 boards the signal pins 22 and 24 have jumper spots outlined in silkscreen, just off to the right and offset a bit. The +5 and ground rails are still directly connected.