Discontinued6 Button Shield

6 tactile buttons arranged as 4 cursor keys and 2 action keys.

  • Uses D2 to D7
  • Leaves RX and TX free
  • Simple to use, no multiplexing
  • digitalRead() returns LOW when pressed
  • Elegant curved board
  • Great for games

Everyone needs buttons. This board gives them to you without mess or fuss.

It's not big, it's not clever. It's a shield with 6 buttons.

We find it easy to use the cursor buttons with one hand, and the action keys with the other. If you pick the Arduino up, then the keys are easily reached with your thumbs (whichever way round you hold your Arduino).

It's very simple to use:

When a button is pressed, a digitalRead() will return LOW.
When a button is not pressed, a digitalRead() will return HIGH.

Example Sketch

We'll make some more example sketches soon, but for the moment, here's a really simple one. It makes the Arduino's LED on D13 light whilst the button nearest the batsock logo is pressed (this button is connected to D4).

void setup()
{
	pinMode( 4, INPUT ) ;     // Set D4 to be an input
	digitalWrite( 4, HIGH ) ; // Turn on D4's internal pull-up resistor
	pinMode( 13, OUTPUT ) ;   // Make D13 an output (most Arduinos have a built-in LED on D13)
}
 
void loop()
{
	if ( digitalRead( 4 ) == LOW ) // LOW = button pressed
	{
		digitalWrite( 13, HIGH ) ; // button pressed, so turn the LED on
	}
	else
	{
		digitalWrite( 13, LOW ) ; // button not pressed, so turn the LED off
	}
}

There is a paint sketch available on the TellyMate Shield page which was designed for use with this 6 button shield.

Purchasing

Parts with a B6S001 prefix:

Part# Description price
B6S001WW 6 Button Shield £8.00
Discontinued

Files