Makers and developers that enjoy creating projects using the Arduino platform may be interested in a new shield for Arduino that incorporates an LCD JEMshield++, keypad and enclosure all in one.
JEM Innovation the company behind the new shield and have even included a built in Arduino reference design allowing you to start writing code immediately.
The ELK Arduino Shield project is currently over on the Kickstarter crowd funding website looking to raise $33,333 in pledges to make the jump from concept to production. Its creators explain a little more :
We’ve designed a lot of projects over the years and most of them required an enclosure, a display and at least one user button. That’s when the real work begins.
• Enclosure: We’ve been there: cutting; drilling; filing. Spending hours trying to modify an off-the-shelf case to fit our board. Even with a milling machine, it’s not any fun. Worse yet, the end result usually looks like junk.
• LCD/display: Most projects require some way to tell the user what’s going on. Often, a simple 7 segment LCD is the perfect answer: low power (microamps); easy to read in sunlight but also readable in the dark (with backlight); inexpensive but rugged and reliable. The downside: they eat up a lot of pins on your processor and require a complicated, multi-voltage waveform.
• Keypad: We’ve found that most projects require at least two buttons: on/off, start, stop, reset, etc. (You often discover that you need just one more than you planned for!) While individual switches can be used, a membrane keypad offers a lot of advantages: it’s rugged, water-resistant, colorful, and inexpensive.
So if you think the ELK Arduino Shield is something your projects could benefit from, visit the Kickstarter website now to make a pledge from $60 and help the ELK Arduino Shield become a reality.
Source: Kickstarter