I2C LCD Controller (the Easy Way) : 5 Steps - Instructables

Introduction: I2C LCD Controller (the Easy Way)

By verdeljFollow More by the author: About: Master Diesel Tech, in California. I love electronics and everything science . More About verdelj » I am working on an alarm/weather station project and I wanted to use an LCD but dint want to have a lot of wires so I order a controller. This is just a very basic tutorial on how to hook it up, for the beginners like my self.

Step 1: Parts

Parts list:

1. LCD in this case a 16x02

1. I2C 1602 LCD Controller ($1.99 on ebay free shipping)

4. Jumper wires

1. Arduino ( I have a mega)

Step 2: Soldering

Now we solder the LCD and the controller. make sure you have the correct pin arrangement. Mine doesn't have a mark for pin one, but I just looked at the 5+ and GND inputs to figure it out.

Step 3: Connecting

it is very simple to connect only 4 wire 5+ and GND and SDA goes to Arduino pin 20 and SCL to pin 21 on my arduino mega. depending on what you have it might be different.

Step 4: The Code

Since the seller doesn't provide any info I neede to find the address for the module so I ran an I2C scanner //Written by Nick Gammon // Date: 20th April 2011 #include <Wire.h> void setup() { Serial.begin (115200); // Leonardo: wait for serial port to connect while (!Serial) { } Serial.println (); Serial.println ("I2C scanner. Scanning ..."); byte count = 0; Wire.begin(); for (byte i = 1; i < 120; i++) { Wire.beginTransmission (i); if (Wire.endTransmission () == 0) { Serial.print ("Found address: "); Serial.print (i, DEC); Serial.print (" (0x"); Serial.print (i, HEX); Serial.println (")"); count++; delay (1); // maybe unneeded? } // end of good response } // end of for loop Serial.println ("Done."); Serial.print ("Found "); Serial.print (count, DEC); Serial.println (" device(s)."); } // end of setup void loop() {}

Step 5: The Code Part II

the code is very simple..................................but you are going to need F Malpartida's LCD LIB https://bitbucket.org/fmalpartida/new-liquidcrystal/downloads Once again very basic very simple. #include <Wire.h> #include <LCD.h> #include <LiquidCrystal_I2C.h> // F Malpartida's NewLiquidCrystal library

#define I2C_ADDR 0x20 // Define I2C Address for controller #define BACKLIGHT_PIN 7 #define En_pin 4 #define Rw_pin 5 #define Rs_pin 6 #define D4_pin 0 #define D5_pin 1 #define D6_pin 2 #define D7_pin 3

#define LED_OFF 0 #define LED_ON 1 LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(I2C_ADDR,En_pin,Rw_pin,Rs_pin,D4_pin,D5_pin,D6_pin,D7_pin);

void setup() { lcd.begin (16,2); // initialize the lcd // Switch on the backlight lcd.setBacklightPin(BACKLIGHT_PIN,NEGATIVE); lcd.setBacklight(LED_ON); }

void loop() {

// Reset the display lcd.clear(); delay(1000); lcd.home(); // Print on the LCD lcd.backlight(); lcd.setCursor(0,0); lcd.print("Hello, world!"); delay(8000); }