Hello World on LCD

In this project, we print and blink text on the LCD screen.

Circuit

Components

• 1 Smowboard Think Mini
• 1 LCD Display
• 4 female-to-female jumper wires
• 1 small screw driver

In this circuit, we have grounded the LCD by connecting it to the ground pin of Smowboard. The LCD is given a power supply by connecting its Vcc pin to the Vin pin of Smowboard. The SDA(Serial Data) pin of LCD is connected the pin number 18 of Smowboard for transfer of data between the two. The SCL(Serial Clock) pin of LCD which carries the clock signal is connected to the pin number 19 of Smowboard. Once the LCD is powered ON, we use a small screw driver for rotating the screw behind the LCD, to obtain distinct blocks on the screen.

The text which we want to display using the LCD is recieved by the SDA(Serial Data) pin. Once the text is recieved by the SDA pin, it will be displayed on the LCD screen.

Project1: Blink a text !

Flow

[{"id":"9fd8f881.c03c18","type":"tab","label":"Flow 1","disabled":false,"info":""},{"id":"7a08bb9f.8fc5b4","type":"common/on interval","z":"9fd8f881.c03c18","config_props":{"name":"","interval":"2"},"outputProps":{},"dependency_set":{},"x":160,"y":180,"wires":[["af9f97ff.d855d8"]]},{"id":"af9f97ff.d855d8","type":"smow_lcd/lcd clear","z":"9fd8f881.c03c18","config_props":{"name":"","i2c_config":"e1ed4617.521318"},"outputProps":{},"dependency_set":{},"x":330,"y":180,"wires":[["20136d7c.2267c2"]]},{"id":"20136d7c.2267c2","type":"common/delay","z":"9fd8f881.c03c18","config_props":{"name":"","period":"1"},"outputProps":{},"dependency_set":{},"x":500,"y":180,"wires":[["1443da0d.e62b76"]]},{"id":"1443da0d.e62b76","type":"smow_lcd/lcd print","z":"9fd8f881.c03c18","config_props":{"name":"","i2c_config":"e1ed4617.521318","x":"0","y":"0","text":"\"Hello World\""},"outputProps":{},"dependency_set":{},"x":710,"y":180,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"e1ed4617.521318","type":"smow_lcd/lcd port","z":"","config_props":{"name":"","i2c_port":"0","scl_pin":"19","sda_pin":"18","lcd_rows":"2","lcd_columns":"16","sda_pullup_en":"false","scl_pullup_en":"false","lcd_address":"39","i2c_clock":"100000","lcd_memory_columns":"32"},"outputProps":{},"dependency_set":{}}]

To import this code to the studio, copy it and paste it into the import nodes dialog box in the import section.

Lets understand the code,

• The flow starts with an on interval node. All next nodes connected to it get triggered repeatedly after the specified interval of time.
• Double click on the node to change its properties.
• We set the time interval of the on-interval node to 2 seconds.
• We use a LCD clear node to clear the LCD screen.
• We configure the LCD clear node by clicking on the pencil icon on the 'LCD port' property of the it. We set the SCL pin to 19 and SDA pin to 18. We then click on Add and done to complete the configuration.
• The LCD screen is cleared every 2 seconds as the time interval of on event node is set as 2 seconds.
• We then connect a delay node to add a delay of 1 sec before the next node, LCD print runs.
• This delay prints the text after every 1 second.
• We use a LCD print node to print the text on the LCD screen. We enter the text to be displayed in the 'Text' property of the LCD print node.
• Now, we upload the code to the Smowboard using the upload button on the Studio.
• We can see the text blinking as the LCD clear node clears the screen every 2 seconds, while the LCD print node prints the text every 1 second.

Output

Project2: Print user entered text

Flow

[{"id":"4288f2c7.ff862c","type":"tab","label":"Flow 1","disabled":false,"info":""},{"id":"7ba54039.08c2a","type":"smow_serial/on receive","z":"4288f2c7.ff862c","config_props":{"name":"","uart_port":"39a246b2.1b828a","mode":"2","user_len":"20","termination_char":"\"\n\"","clip_pattern":"true"},"outputProps":{},"outputs":[{"variables":[{"name":"data","value":"data"}]}],"dependency_set":{"wait_for_len":false,"wait_for_char":true},"x":180,"y":200,"wires":[["baff32ab.7fc8a"]]},{"id":"baff32ab.7fc8a","type":"smow_lcd/lcd clear","z":"4288f2c7.ff862c","config_props":{"name":"","i2c_config":"4ce95df9.dec564"},"outputProps":{},"dependency_set":{},"x":370,"y":200,"wires":[["8e247740.aa43e8"]]},{"id":"8e247740.aa43e8","type":"smow_lcd/lcd print","z":"4288f2c7.ff862c","config_props":{"name":"","i2c_config":"4ce95df9.dec564","x":"0","y":"0","text":"data"},"outputProps":{},"dependency_set":{},"x":540,"y":200,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"39a246b2.1b828a","type":"smow_serial/serial port","z":"","config_props":{"name":"","uart_port":"0","baud_rate":"115200","tx_pin":"1","rx_pin":"3","rx_control_buffer_size":"256","word_length":"3","parity_config":"0","stop_bits":"0","flow_ctrl_mode":"0"},"outputProps":{},"dependency_set":{"uart0":true,"uartX":false}},{"id":"4ce95df9.dec564","type":"smow_lcd/lcd port","z":"","config_props":{"name":"","i2c_port":"0","scl_pin":"19","sda_pin":"18","lcd_rows":"2","lcd_columns":"16","sda_pullup_en":"false","scl_pullup_en":"false","lcd_address":"39","i2c_clock":"100000","lcd_memory_columns":"32"},"outputProps":{},"dependency_set":{}}]

To import this code to the studio, copy it and paste it into the import nodes dialog box in the import section.

Lets understand the code,

• We start the flow with an on-recieve node which gets triggered when Smowboard recieves serial data from the computer. The on-recieve node passes the serial data to the next nodes.
• We configure the on-recieve node by clicking on the pencil icon on the serial ports property of it. We set the port no. to 'uart0' and the TX and RX pins as 1 and 3 respectively.
• We then use a LCD clear node to clear the screen of LCD.
• We connect a LCD print node to print the text on the LCD screen. In the text property of the LCD print node, we select 'data' which is the output of the on-recieve node.
• We now click on the serial display button and enter the text that is to be printed on the LCD screen.
• We click on the send button to send the text(serial data) to the Smowboard.
• Now, we upload the code to the Smowboard using the upload button on the Studio.
• When the Smowboard recieves the text from computer, the on-recieve node gets triggered and we can see the text being printed on the LCD screen.

Output

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