When Zach first released information on the Danger Shield, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a kit. But it didn't seem like he was going to produce one. Some time later, a kit became available, but for whatever reason I passed up on it when I was at the 2008 Austin Maker Faire. I regretted it the moment I left the Maker Shed. Some time later, I found a great deal on a kit produced by Seeed Studio, and this time I jumped and bought it.

The Danger Shield includes two indicator LEDs (each with a PWM), 3 pushbuttons, piezo buzzer, light sensor, temperature sensor, piezo knock sensor, 7 segment LED (with shift register), and 3 linear sliders w/ integrated LEDs (each independently hooked up to PWM). There are also pin headers for the shift register in case you want to chain additional shift registers to the shield. The shield is a bit larger than other shields, but considering all it crams in, it is fairly small.

Today, I finally got around to assembling the kit. There are easy to follow instructions on Zach's page for the Danger Shield, but if you are new to soldering, it may be a bit of a challenge. Everything is through-hole, very few components that have a specific polarity,and fairly ample pin spacing and solder pad landing area. Zach also provides a zip file with example code for every device and function of the shield. Hopefully soon I can add a few demo videos and maybe a shield build video.

Photo: Zach Hoeken