SparkFun
SparkFun Qwiic Navigation Switch
· MPN: PRT-27576
Product Overview Meet the SparkFun Navigation Switch, a nifty little addition to your I²C bus that features a 5-way tactile switch akin to a joystick! This ...
Product Overview
Meet the SparkFun Navigation Switch, a nifty little addition to your I²C bus that features a 5-way tactile switch akin to a joystick! This compact component allows you to interact with your microcontroller by pushing the switch in any of five directions—up, down, left, right, or centre—adding a new dimension to your project’s input options. Plus, the integrated RGB status LED provides immediate visual feedback for each action.
Onboard, you'll find a 5-way tactile switch where each direction is connected to a momentary switch. These are read by the PCA9554 8-bit I²C I/O expander, which alerts the microcontroller when a switch is pressed. Subsequently, your microcontroller can control the RGB LED for visual indicators. Each LED channel can be individually disconnected from the PCA9554’s GPIO and rerouted to an alternative input if needed. An interrupt pin is also included, enabling your microcontroller to quickly detect state changes. Thanks to our handy Qwiic system, you can connect it to your setup without any soldering. For those who prefer a more traditional approach, we've also provided 0.1"-spaced pins for breadboarding.
If your project requires multiple Qwiic Navigation Switches, worry not—each board comes with a configurable I²C address, allowing you to daisy-chain multiple switches via Qwiic and address each one uniquely.
We’ve crafted a basic example for the Qwiic Navigation Switch available in our GitHub Hardware repository. To interact with the PCA9554’s eight separate I/O pins, you'll need the SparkFun I²C Expander Arduino Library, which can be easily downloaded through the Arduino library manager or directly from GitHub.
Perfect for projects that need extra input control, the Qwiic Navigation Switch can enhance your menu navigation or even serve as a nifty controller for a small robot!
Features & Specs
- Input voltage: 3.3V
- 5-way tactile switch
- PCA9554 8-bit I²C I/O expander
- 2x Horizontal Qwiic connectors
- 2.2kΩ I²C pull-up resistors
-
Breakout PTHs
- GND: Ground
- 3V3: 3.3V
- SDA: I²C Data
- SCL: I²C Clock
- INT: Interrupt, active low
- 5: GPIO5
- 6: GPIO6
- 7: GPIO7
-
LEDs
- RGB non-addressable status
- Red power
-
Jumpers
- Power LED: PWR
- GPIO7/Red LED: 7
- GPIO6/Green LED: 6
- GPIO5/Blue LED: 5
- I²C pull-up resistors: I²C
- I²C selectable address (ADR2, ADR1, ADR0)
- 0x20 (Default): 000
- 0x21: 001
- 0x22: 010
- 0x23: 011
- 0x24: 100
- 0x25: 101
- 0x26: 110
- 0x27: 111
Board Dimensions: 25.4mm x 25.4mm
Weight: 2.6g
Documentation
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- active LOW
- Active LOW means an input is considered switched on when it is connected to a low voltage or ground. This matters when wiring buttons, switches, or other trigger signals so the board responds in the expected way.
- breakout
- A breakout is a small circuit board that makes a tiny or hard-to-solder component easier to connect to with standard pins. It matters because this OLED module can be wired into a microcontroller project without needing to solder directly to the display’s fine contacts.
- GPIO
- General-purpose input/output pins are microcontroller pins you can set in software to read signals, switch devices on and off, or connect to peripherals. The number of GPIO pins matters because it limits how many buttons, LEDs, sensors, and other parts you can wire directly to the board.
- I/O expander
- An I/O expander is a chip that provides extra input and output pins controlled through a bus such as I2C. It matters when a board has many display signals, because it helps manage buttons, resets, or control lines without using up scarce microcontroller pins.
- LED
- A light-emitting diode is a small electronic component that lights up when current flows through it in the correct direction. In this kit, LEDs create the flashing effect, so polarity and correct soldering matter for the project to work.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a chip that runs your program and controls connected inputs and outputs. For this product, it is the part that reads buttons and sensors, drives the display and speaker, and communicates over Bluetooth.
- PCA9554
- The PCA9554 is an I/O expander chip that adds extra digital input and output pins over an I2C bus. On a display driver board, it can handle support signals such as reset, buttons, or backlight control while leaving the main microcontroller pins free.
- Qwiic
- Qwiic is a plug-in connector system for I2C devices that uses small 4-pin cables, so you can connect compatible sensors without soldering. It matters because your controller or adapter also needs Qwiic, or you will need a cable or breakout to wire it up.
- RGB
- Short for red, green and blue, usually referring to an LED that can mix those three colours. It matters because controlling an RGB LED teaches how separate outputs combine to create different colours.
Find this product in
Components
Qwiic Navigation Switch Schematic
Schematic · 64.8 KB · Click any page to view full size
SF303GJ26 5-Way Tactile Switch Datasheet
Datasheet · 144.6 KB · Click any page to view full size
PCA9554 Datasheet
Datasheet · 1.7 MB · Click any page to view full size
Supplier page — sparkfun.com
Supplier Description · 741.8 KB · Click any page to view full size
Resources & Downloads
Guides, code examples, and more
Related Tutorials
Free guides on learn.littlebird.com.au
