[Joe G.]

Originally Posted by Thad House

I'm actually confused. So if the PWM ports are used to control a motor, It has to come through an active approved device? Or can a passive device be used to control a motor if it doesnt interfere with the signal at all?

Because according to this

via a network of PASSIVE DEVICES and/or CIRCUITS used to extend the PWM pins, or

it looks like you can directly connect, but further down it says if it moves it has to be an active approved device.

As I understand it, as long as your connection device does not have any components that would qualify it as an ACTIVE DEVICE, you can custom make whatever you want with no approval. This would include anything that essentially serves as a "converter cable," routing pin outputs through conductors and presenting a more usable interface appropriate for your system. Only if you are using your board to do something that would qualify as an active device (for example, performing some kind of pre-processing of digital inputs on a board that also outputs PWM, swapping PWM outputs based on a co processor output, etc.) would you have to get your setup approved as an ACTIVE DEVICE.

I am curious as to what the limits of what could be considered a passive device would be. For example, would LED indicators to show PWM out status constitute an "active device?" Diodes are considered active electronic components due to their differing response to different polarity, although they would not be used as such in this application.