LCDs are a fun and easy way to have your microcontroller project talk back to you. LCD backpacks reduce the number of pins needed to connect to an LCD.
In stock, ships same business day if ordered before 2PM
Delivered by Tue, 26th of Nov
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Character LCDs are a fun and easy way to have your microcontroller project talk back to you. They are also common, and easy to get, available in tons of colors and sizes. We've written tutorials on using character LCDs with an Arduino (or similar microcontroller) but find that the number of pins necessary to control the LCD can be restrictive, especially with ambitious projects. We wanted to make a 'backpack' (add-on circuit) that would reduce the number of pins without a lot of expense.
By using simple I2C and SPI input/output expanders, we have reduced the number of pins while still making it easy to interface with the LCD. Only 2 pins are needed for I2C, 3 for SPI. For Arduino and CircuitPython/Python users, we provide an easy-to-use library that is backwards compatible with projects using the '6 pin' wiring. This backpack comes with pre-soldered 2-pin and 3-pin terminal block to make a 5-pin terminal for easy wiring.
This backpack will work with any 'standard' character LCD, from 8x1 to 20x4 sizes! As long as they have a 16-pin single-line connection header at the top. We carry a few LCDs that work great. We suggest using our blue & white 20x4 or 16x2 LCDs. Note that it does not work with 16x2 OLED displays.
You can try to connect our RGB 16x2 or 20x4 LCDs, but this backpack will not control the RGB backlight so you'll have to use the backpack only for the 14 digital IO pins (pins #1-14) and connect the backlight pins (#15-#18) directly to your microcontroller with 4 extra wires for color/PWM control as if they were just an RGB LED.
This backpack now comes with a big re-spin that makes lots of improvements:
Advanced users can repurpose the backpack for general-purpose I/O expansion: the MCP23008 has 8 i/o pins (7 are connected) with optional pull-ups, and the SPI 74HC595 has 7 connected outputs.
Revision History:
EagleCAD PCB GitHub files and Fritzing object available in the product tutorial
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Unit 18, 132 Garden Grove Parade
Adamstown
NSW, 2289
Australia
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