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The Arduino is a very popular platform,
and it is only natural people start using it for ...strange...
applications. Circuits@Home decided Arduino needed USB host
functionality.
What's that mean? A standard Arduino is a slave
device. You plug it into a computer, and the computer manages it by
assigning it a COM port. This shield does the same
sort of thing. Instead of plugging your USB keyboard into a computer,
you can plug it into your Arduino!
This particular USB Host Shield is the
“Minimal” configuration, which means which contains
USB core components only. Unlike the "Simple"
version, it is only compatible with 3.3V Arduinos, such as Arduino
Pro (3.3V / 8MHz). Since no 5V is available, only
communication with self-powered devices is
possible. Additionally, not every self-powered device will
work in this configuration. For unknown reasons, some external hard
drives refused to answer until VBUS voltage was raised to 5V. On the
other hand, all printers and digital cameras worked fine, as
well as other types of external hard drives.
“Minimal” configuration is the
best one for battery-powered projects since 3.3V Arduinos consume less
electricity.
Want to see more about it?
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