Do you have too many sensors with the same I2C address? Put them on the SparkFun Qwiic Mux Breakout to get them all talking on the same bus! The Qwiic Mux Breakout enables communication with multiple I2C devices that have the same address that makes it simple to interface with. The Qwiic Mux also has eight configurable addresses of its own, allowing for up to 64 I2C buses on a connection. To make it even easier to use this multiplexer, all communication is enacted exclusively via I2C, utilizing our handy Qwiic system.
The Qwiic Mux also allows you to change the last three bits of the address byte, allowing for eight jumper selectable addresses if you happen to need to put more than one Qwiic Mux Breakout on the same I2C port. The address can be changed by adding solder to any of the three ADR jumpers. Each SparkFun Qwiic Mux Breakout operate between 1.65V and 5.5V making it ideal for all of the Qwiic boards we produce in house.
The SparkFun Qwiic connect system is an ecosystem of I2C sensors, actuators, shields and cables that make prototyping faster and less prone to error. All Qwiic-enabled boards use a common 1mm pitch, 4-pin JST connector. This reduces the amount of required PCB space, and polarized connections mean you can’t hook it up wrong.
If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
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Based on 2 ratings:
This device is extremely useful if you have a lot of sensors on the same I2C address. I'm working on a project with four identical sensors placed in different physical locations. Unfortunately, there is no way to change the address on my sensors. This mux solved the problem. The sample code provided by SparkFun was easy to incorporate into my sketch and now I can easily "talk" to all four of the sensors.
I needed to use 8 Adafruit Charlieplex Matrix displays in my Ras Pi project. Those boards only support selecting up to 3 addresses, so even if i could have enabled the 2nd I2C bus on the ras pi (which i had trouble with) i could only have addressed 6 of them. This board solved my problem.
Thanks Sparkfun! 👍👍
MANY years ago, we put together a 500 sensor array for monitoring temperatures, etc. in a turbine powered, electrical generator set, under test. It took multiple Hewlett Packard, HPIB bus multiplexers, at a cost of MANY thousands of dollars to get the results we needed. Using the Arduino ecosystem today, we could do the same thing for a fraction of the cost.
All I can say to the SparkFun team is - Keep Innovating!
When using TCA9548A, should I remove the pull-up resistors of the modules I have connected?