Exploring Arduino: Tools and Techniques for Engineering Wizardry

CHAPTER 10

Interfacing with Liquid Crystal Displays

Parts You'll Need for This Chapter

Arduino Uno

USB cable (A to B for Uno)

Speaker

Pushbuttons (×2)

Small DC fan

16×2 character LCD

4.7kΩ resistors (×2)

10kΩ resistors (×2)

150Ω resistor

10kΩ potentiometer

TC74A0-5.0VAT I2C temperature sensor

Jumper wires

Breadboard

CODE AND DIGITAL CONTENT FOR THIS CHAPTER

Code downloads, video, and other digital content for this chapter can be found at www.exploringarduino.com/content/ch10.

In addition, all code can be found at www.wiley.com/go/exploringarduino on the Download Code tab. The code is in the chapter 10 download and individually named according to the names throughout the chapter.

One of the best things about designing embedded systems is the fact that they can operate independently of a computer. Up until now, you've been tethered to the computer if you want to display any kind of information more complicated than an illuminated LED. By adding a liquid crystal display (LCD) to your Arduino, you can more easily display complex information (sensor values, timing information, settings, progress bars, etc.) directly on your Arduino project without having to interface with the serial monitor through the computer.

In this chapter, you learn how to connect an LCD to your Arduino, and you learn how to use the Arduino LiquidCrystal library to write text and arbitrary custom characters to your LCD. After you have the basics down, you add some components from previous chapters to make a ...