drive a standard hd44780 lcd using a pcf8574 and i2c

23/01/12 Drive a standard HD44780 LCD using a PCF8574 and I2C. | Let's Make R…

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Drive a standard HD44780 LCD using a PCF8574 and I2C.Login or register to post comments by Runaround Collected by 5 userspicaxe, I2C, display, 8574Tip/walkthrough

By Runaround@ January 4, 2009drive a parallel display using a 8574 port expanderTime to build: 1 hourCost to build: $7

Control method: I2CCPU: Picaxe

Any parallelly interfaced character LCD you get these days will have a Hitachi HD44780 chip or a different one compatible with theHD44780. These usually have 14 pins (16 if have backlight)

D0-D7 is the bi-directional data bus

R/W determines if we read from or write to the LCD

RS stands for "register select". RS=0 means that the instruction register is selected. RS=1 means that the data register isselected. In other words, according to the status of RS pin, the data on the data bus is treated either as a command or characterdata.

E pin enables or disables the LCD module. When Enable is low the LCD is disabled and the status of RS,R/W and the data bus

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will be ignored. When Enable pin is high the LCD is enabled and the status of the other control pins and data bus will beprocessed by the LCD. When writing to the display, data is transferred only on the high to low transition of this signal. Vo pin is for adjusting the contrast of the display. Usually, when this pin is grounded the pixels will be the darkest.Vcc is the power supply pin

CommandsThe commands for HD44780 chip are:

Function set (8-bit interface, 2 lines, 5*7 Pixels): 0x38Function set (8-bit interface, 1 line, 5*7 Pixels): 0x30Function set (4-bit interface, 2 lines, 5*7 Pixels): 0x28Function set (4-bit interface, 1 line, 5*7 Pixels): 0x20Scroll display one character right (all lines): 0x1EScroll display one character left (all lines): 0x18Home (move cursor to top/left character position):0x02Move cursor one character left: 0x10Move cursor one character right: 0x14Turn on visible underline cursor: 0x0ETurn on visible blinking-block cursor: 0x0FMake cursor invisible: 0x0CBlank the display (without clearing): 0x08Restore the display (with cursor hidden): 0x0CClear Screen: 0x01Set cursor position (DDRAM address): 0x80+ addrSet pointer in character-generator RAM (CG RAM address): 0x40+ addr

Entry mode set: 0x04, 0x05, 0x06, 0x07i.e. : %000001ISwhereI : 0 = Dec Cursor 1 = Inc CursorS : 0 = Cursor Move 1 = Display Shift

To send a command: set R/W pin to0 (write), set RS pin to 0 (command selected), put the command to data bus D0-D7.

Set E pin to 1 then to 0 (remember: data is transferred only on the high to low transition of this signal).

To send data: set R/W pin to0 (write), set RS pin to 1 (data selected), put the data to bus D0-D7, rise E and then back to 0.

Initialization

HD44780 based LCD displays MUST be initialized. An internal reset circuit automatically initializes the HD44780U when the power is turned on.

The data sheet warns that under certain conditions, the lcd may fail to initialize properly when power is first applied. This is particularylikely if the Vdd supply does not rise to its correct operating voltage quickly enough. It is recommended that after power is applied acommand sequence of 3 bytes of values $30 is sent to the module. This will guarantee that the module is in 8 bit mode and properlyinitialised.

The HDD44780 lcd control chip was designed to be compatible with 4-bit processor. Once the display is put in 4 bit mode, using theFunction Set command, it is a simple matter of sending two nibbles instead of one byte, for each subsequent command or character.When using 4 bit mode only data lines D4 to D7 are used. Note that the Function set command for 4-bit interface, 2 lines, 5*7 Pixels is0x28. So first use the Function set command $20 (4-bit interface, 1 line, 5*7 Pixels); from now on, all commands and data must besent in two halves, the upper four bits first.Now you can send the Function set command 0x28.

Take now the well-known PCF8574P. This is a general purpose eight-bit input/output chip.The hard-coded address is: 0100.A2A1A0The 0100 part is hard-coded in the PCF8574P. The A2A1A0 is for us to choose. Make these bits one or zero by tying the corresponding pins to Vcc or Ground:

NOTE: Philips produces two variants of this IC: the PCF8574 and the PCF8574A. The only difference is the I2C chip address!PCF8574 0100.A2A1A0PCF8574A 0111.A2A1A0

Important: the I2C standard prescribes pull-up resistors on the SDA and SCL line. This is one of the most common mistakes whenfirst using an I2C interface. Forget the pull-ups and your interface will not work (sigh!). Picaxe manual show resistors of 4k7 ohms. Arduino don't need pull up resistor.

Now connect all together!

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Sample Picaxe code

Please use a fixed size font or C&P this code to picaxe editor.

'''' schema:'' +---------------------------------------------------------------+' | |' | LCD DISPLAY Hitachi HD44780 Standard |' | |' | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 |' +-+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-+' | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |' GND V+ CNT RS RW E D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 LV+ LGND' | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ' = +5 | | = | | | | |' | +-+ | | | | | | |' | < | | | | | | |' | 10K ><+ +------------------+ | | | |' | < | | | | | |' +-----+ | | | | | |' | | | | | |' | | | | | |' | | | | | |' | | | | | |' to Picaxe I2C | | | | | |' ̂ ̂ | | | | | |' +5 | | ++ | | | | |' | | | | | | | | | | | |' +-+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-+ | | | |' | V+ SDA SCD INT P7 P6 P5 P4| | | | |' | | | | | |' D PCF8574 port expander | | | | |' | | | | | |' | A0 A1 A2 P0 P1 P2 P3 GND| | | | |' +-+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-+ | | | |' | | | | | | | | | | | |' +---+---+ | | | +------------------------+' | | | +------------------------+' gnd | +------------------------+' +------------------------+''''' name - 8574 bit - LCD' ------ -------- --------------- SYMBOL DB4 = 0 ; LCD Data Line 4 (pin 11) SYMBOL DB5 = 1 ; LCD Data Line 5 (pin 12) SYMBOL DB6 = 2 ; LCD Data Line 6 (pin 13) SYMBOL DB7 = 3 ; LCD Data Line 7 (pin 14)



SYMBOL RS = 4 ; 0 = Command 1 = Data (pin 4) ; 5 free (to pin 15 for lcd bk light, for ex.) ; 6 free SYMBOL E = 7 ; 0 = Idle 1 = Active (pin 6) SYMBOL Addr8574 = $40 ; this is the 8574 I2C address ; A2=A1=A0=0 <-> x100 000x SYMBOL RSCMDmask = %00000000 ; Select Command register SYMBOL RSDATmask = %00010000 ; Select Data register = High P4 on 8574 SYMBOL Emask = %11100000 ; Enable = P7 on 8574

SYMBOL temp = b11 SYMBOL aByte = b12 SYMBOL rsbit = b13 SYMBOL index = b14

main: GOSUB InitialiseLcd ; Initialise the LCD

mainloop: aByte = $01 'clear GOSUB SendCmdByte aByte = 2 * 8 | $40 ; Program User Defined Character 2 GOSUB SendCmdByte aByte = %00110 : GOSUB SendDataByte ; ## aByte = %10110 : GOSUB SendDataByte ; # ## aByte = %11111 : GOSUB SendDataByte ; ##### aByte = %00101 : GOSUB SendDataByte ; # # aByte = %00100 : GOSUB SendDataByte ; # aByte = %00100 : GOSUB SendDataByte ; # aByte = %01010 : GOSUB SendDataByte ; # # aByte = %10001 : GOSUB SendDataByte ; # # aByte = 2 ; put User Defined Character 2 GOSUB SendCmdByte ' goto home table 10, ("Let's make") table 20, ("ROBOT") for b0 = 10 to 19 readtable b0,aByte GOSUB SendDataByte next b0 aByte = $80 | $40 ; Put cursor at start of Line 2 GOSUB SendCmdByte

wait 1 for b0 = 20 to 24 readtable b0,aByte GOSUB SendDataByte next b0 wait 3

aByte = $80 | $0C ; Put cursor at start of Line 2 GOSUB SendCmdByte aByte = 2 ; Display User Defined Character 2 GOSUB SendDataByte wait 9 aByte = 1 GOSUB SendCmdByte goto mainloop

' INITIALIZE LCD' -----------------------------------------------------------------'InitialiseLcd:

' initialize I2C i2cslave Addr8574, i2cslow, i2cbyte



for index = 0 TO 5 read index,aByte gosub SendInitCmdByte next ' Nibble commands - To initialise 4-bit mode eeprom 0,( $33 ) ; %0011---- %0011---- 8-bit / 8-bit eeprom 1,( $32 ) ; %0011---- %0010---- 8-bit / 4-bit ' Byte commands - To configure the LCD ; ; Display Format ; 4bit mode, 2 lines, 5x7 ; ; 001LNF00 eeprom 2,( $28 ) ; %00101000 ; L : 0 = 4-bit Mode 1 = 8-bit Mode ; N : 0 = 1 Line 1 = 2 Lines ; F : 0 = 5x7 Pixels 1 = N/A ; ; Setup Display ; Display ON, Cursor On, Cursor Steady ; ; 00001DCB eeprom 3,( $0E ) ; %00001110 ; D : 0 = Display Off 1 = Display On ; C : 0 = Cursor Off 1 = Cursor On ; B : 0 = Cursor Steady 1 = Cursor Flash ; ; Setup Cursor/Display ; Inc Cursor Cursor Move ; ; 000001IS eeprom 4,( $06 ) ; %00000110 %000001IS Cursor Move ; I : 0 = Dec Cursor 1 = Inc Cursor ; S : 0 = Cursor Move 1 = Display Shift eeprom 5,( $01 ) ; Clear Screen return

' SEND INIT CMD BYTE - SEND CMD BYTE - SEND DATA BYTE' -----------------------------------------------------------------'SendInitCmdByte:

pause 15 ; Delay 15mS at 4MHz

SendCmdByte:

rsbit = RSCMDmask ; Send to Command register

SendDataByte:

' ' put MSB OUT FIRTS ' via I2C ' temp = aByte >> 4 | rsbit gosub DirectSendCmd ' ' put LSB ' temp = aByte & $0F | rsbit rsbit = RSDATmask ; Send to Data register next

DirectSendCmd: temp = temp xor Emask ' E=1 writei2c (temp) ' send to 8574 via I2C temp = temp xor Emask ' E=0 writei2c (temp)return

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Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.By stocky6409@ Tue, 2010-01-19 05:16

i2c PCF8574 LCD

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Thanks for the tips - excellent work!

I knew there had to be a way to do this - just couldnt work it out!

I am using i2c for a number of things in my project and have other PCF 8574's on the bus all working nicely but wanted to add an LCD.Ihave the circuit working as per your example but am stuck when trying to us it to display the contents of a variable - can you help?

Say i have b5 = 1 to 255 and i want to display it as a number - how could i do that?

All i seem to get is the ascii character that the number represents

Thanks in advance :-)

Stocky

By Runaround@ Tue, 2009-01-06 11:41

just some other prices on


just some other prices on ebay:

4x16 LCD with b/l : eur 5.45

4x20 LCD with b/l : eur 5.93

4x20 LCD with b/l and metal frame: eur 7.01

PCF8574 dip16: eur 0.96

with much less then 10 USD you can build an I2C display!

By Runaround@ Tue, 2009-01-06 11:30

1. I'm using the axe020-28


1. I'm using the axe020-28 Pin poject board. Take a look at the Picaxe manual for the eeprom istruction.

Syntax:DATA {location},(data,data...)EEPROM {location},(data,data...)- Location is an optional constant (0-255) which specifies where to beginstoring the data in the eeprom. If no location is specified, storage continuesfrom where it last left off. If no location was initially specified, storage begins at 0.- Data are constants (0-255) which will be stored in the eeprom.Function:Preload EEPROM data memory. If no EEPROM command is used the values areautomatically cleared to the value 0. The keywords DATA and EEPROM haveidentical functions and either can be used.Information:



This is not an instruction, but a method of pre-loading the microcontrollers datamemory. The command does not affect program length.

2. YES. On ebay you can buy a 2x20 LCD with b/l for about 5euros (6.7 usd). Without b/l for about 4euros. So much less then a serialdisplay!

3. ? yes? You can see some other chips? There are some resistors (the damn pull-up resistors :@, don't needed if you have anArduino..), a capacitor, 2 leds...

By LOLGeek@ Tue, 2009-01-06 17:37

:)


Cool thanks for the information!By LOLGeek@ Tue, 2009-01-06 08:26

I have a couple questions.


I am new at this and was wondering.

1. Your eeprom calls are they for a specific memory chip (like calls to memory allocations)? And if so does the Pic 28 come with thememory or did you add eeprom memory chip to the system?

2. I am getting MOP-AL162A-BYFY from http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=562

Will this work in the same type of way since it is a Parallel Interface?

3. I see you have some other chips on your Bread Board. Are any of those to control the LCD? For the one I am getting it states italready has a controler on it. So I am just wondering if I may need something extra to get it to work.

Thanks for the tip! :)

By robologist@ Tue, 2009-01-06 12:24

Only one extra


LCDs usually need a potentiometer to change the voltage on the contrast pin, labeled Vo (pin 3) above. What Runarounddemostrated here is a parallel interface, specifically of a 4 bit interface. An 8 bit interface is also possible.

By LOLGeek@ Tue, 2009-01-06 17:40

thanks


Thanks for helping!ALL LMR ARE BELONG TO US!Let's make robots!

drive a standard hd44780 lcd using a pcf8574 and i2c

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