CE-351 Microcontrollers, 2022 Spring
LCD display and some sensors
Name: Mychael Garcia
Email: mhgarcia@fortlewis.edu

Materials:

LCD display and some sensors overview

For this project, we used an Arduino Uno and an LCD display to print out some simple information. After learning how to use the display we added some temperature and humidity sensors and would print their results to the display as well.

Task 1:
For this task, we were to get used to and learn how to "write" to the display with the built-in LCD library.
LCD

Task 2:
After getting a stagnant output we wanted to display the same message but with the addition of the display counting to 5 and then restarting back from 0 again. This would be repeated indefinitely until the display was turned off.


Task 3:
For this task, we were to implement the two previous tasks. Have the display print a phrase and show movement but instead, we moved the phase across the screen or scroll across the display.


Task 4:
After we got the display working and learned how to use it we started to add some sensors and display their output. We started off by reading a small Thermistor. This device was implemented as a variable resistor and part of a voltage divider, the Arduino would read the change in voltage and correlate that to a temperature.


Task 5:
This was relatively the same as the previous task but instead, we used a DHT11 to read temperature and humidity. We were able to show some changes by blowing on the device.


Task 6:
For this task, we changed the sensor for an integrated circuit one (TMP 36) and used an analog input to correlate a voltage change to a temperature increase or decrease. This was done by using the linear relationship that for every 10mV the temperature would either increase or decrease by one degree Celsius.
TMP

Task 7:
For this task, we were to change the temperature sensor to an IR receiver module. Using a simple IR remote we wanted to display the output of each button and its correlating decimal number. The IR receiver reads pulses from the remote and this pattern correlates to a Hexadecimal number, we then convert this to decimal with is much easier to understand and read.


Task 8:
This task was completely different than the rest, we were to remove the microcontroller chip (ATMega 328p) and program the chip on a breadboard. We would not need the Arduino Uno board to run the chip, just to re-program it and as a power supply.


Task 9:
After removing the microcontroller from the PCB we wanted to implement the use of interrupts. These would be used to do small parts of the desired program but be spread out so the display we are using would not cut in and out displaying information.



Conclusion:

This tutorial was very helpful in understanding how to use an LCD display and what capabilities it has. We also learned how to integrate sensors into the display and show changes. This method could be used instead of outputting everything to the serial monitor on a laptop. We then used an IR receiver and remote, this was a simple wireless communication but could be implemented to more advanced uses in the future. After this, we wanted to be able to use a microcontroller but not on the PCB board. We just needed it to reprogram the device. This method could be used as a way to decrease the overall size of systems and create a more professional product. Lastly, we used interrupts to split our loop into multiple parts. This would keep the display outputting its required information but in small bursts, we could perform other tasks.
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