Description
The SmartLCD backpack module is designed to be interfaced directly to the parallel
interface of commonly available 16x02 and 20x04 LCD alphanumeric displays using the
Hitachi HD44780 controller (see hobby components items HCMODU0013, HCMODU0038,
& HCMODU0039 for compatible displays). Once soldered to the rear of one of these
displays the SmartLCD backpack module turns these displays into intelligent serial devices
which can then be controlled via either a serial UART or I2C interface. It also requires no
software or libraries to initialise the display, output text to the screen or control the features
of the module, which reduces development time and frees up much needed resources in
your microcontroller or development board.
For customers wishing to purchase the SmartLCD backpack already fitted to a suitable
display these are available from Hobby Components in both 16x02 and 20x04
configurations:
Hobby Components 1602 SmartLCD (SKU: HCMODU0122)
Hobby Components 2004 SmartLCD (SKU: HCMODU0163)
The SmartLCD module adds three types of interface to the parallel LCD:
Terminal Mode:
This is the out-of-the-box state (mode jumper fitted) and with no configuration required will
turn a 16x2 or 20x4 LCD into a serial UART terminal display. Just connect any device with
a serial UART interface (9600 default BAUD rate) to the SmartLCDs UART header and the
SmartLCD will automatically output any ASCII printable text it receives to the LCD. As well
as printable text the SmartLCD also supports several ASCII control codes such as line
feed, carriage return, backspace, delete etc.
AT Command Mode:
In AT command mode (mode jumper removed) the SmartLCD module can be controlled
using simple text based ‘AT’ commands via its serial UART header. AT command mode
adds a significantly greater level of control of the LCD, including precise positioning of text,
backlight and contrast controls, custom characters, etc. As they are simple serial text
commands they can be sent to the module using a microcontroller's serial print function
such as an Arduinos built-in Serial.println() function.
Page 5 Smart LCD Backpack Module Manual | ©Hobbycomponents.com
