DogLcd

This is an Arduino library for the Dog Text-LCD modules manufactured by Electronic Assembly.

The features that make them an interesting option for development are

• the displays are available with 1, 2 and 3 lines of characters
• they can be combined with Led backlights in 5 different colors
• they are not too expensive
• you only need 4 Arduino IO-pins to control the display (SPI-mode)
• you can connect more than one display to your arduino (each new display will require one more IO-Pin)

The Hardware

Here is the bare minimum of wiring needed to connect the display to an Arduino.

(Click here for print resolution)

On the Hardware-page I show you how to connect the display to your Arduino and how you can add a hardware reset and backlight switching with just a few more components.

There is also a section about driving more than one display from the Arduino.

The Code

The DogLcd-library is a close relative of the new LiquidCrystal-library, that was first shipped with Arduino-0017. There are only a few minor changes necessary to port existing LiquidCrystal-code to the DogLcd-library.

The two libraries are so similar, I didn't have to bother writing my own examples, it was enough to recycle a few from the LiquidCrystal-library.

The basic documentation and a few examples for the DogLcd-lib are on on the Code-page.

All methods that are available from the DogLcd-lib are documented on the Library-page.

Known Bugs

• You have to call home() or setCursor() after creating a custom character otherwise it wont be printed on the display. http://code.google.com/p/doglcd/issues/detail?id=3

If you find another one please report it on the Issues page, thank you!