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Microcontroller for LCD?

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excetara2

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We are working on a senior project that is going to use a Microcontroller and LCD (controlled via 5 buttons) for an auto bar. We don't really know what microcontroller or LCD to get. Any advice on either would be good. We prefer not to spend to much. The microcontroller will control the lcd's and 9 solenoid valves to control drink pouring.

Thanks.
 
excetara2 said:
We are working on a senior project that is going to use a Microcontroller and LCD (controlled via 5 buttons) for an auto bar. We don't really know what microcontroller or LCD to get. Any advice on either would be good. We prefer not to spend to much. The microcontroller will control the lcd's and 9 solenoid valves to control drink pouring.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Just about any micro will work for you. PICs are very well supported on this forum, as well as other places. If you decide to go that route, then check out Nigel's tutorials which should help you get going:

PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at:
WinPicProg Page

AVRs are almost as popular here, and would work well for you. You could check AVR freaks for tutorials on these.

Most character LCDs are easy to control, and Nigel even has a tutorial on using them.

EDIT: for what you want to do, a simple, and inexpensive 16F628A should serve you well. This is the pic Nigel will start you out with.
 
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No, we haven't used LCD's before. None of the group has. The entire class is this project (you choose), but one person has taken VHDL where they had to control a display. I have briefly used a microcontroller in a Digital Signal Processing class and a simulator in a Logic class. I know C++ and Java well but have never done any PIC programming. Done assembly programming in the Logic class. I will look at that tomorrow.

Are you saying use an AVR instead of a PIC or can a PIC be used to control everything?

Thanks for the help so far.
 
If you never used it in the real world type senario use a PIC Micro. You will save headaches. Mainly because most people here use PICS and many use AVR and some ARM and other types.

PICs have more info and supported more here.
 
excetara2 said:
Are you saying use an AVR instead of a PIC or can a PIC be used to control everything?

Thanks for the help so far.
Click to expand...

No, no, no, nothing like that at all. :) I prefer the PIC, but that is because that is what I started with. An AVR would work just as well. They do have quite different architectures...

To answer the question, yes a simple PIC will do it all for you. :D

Which micro did you try out in your SDP course? When is the project due?

If you have some experience in C++, C should be easy for you, more or less. You will need to understand some assembly, to really understand your chip.
 
This may be a stupid question but the PIC can control both the LCD and the solenoids. Some LCD's come with a microcontroller and some don't. Any recommendation on what PIC or LCD to get? LCD we were thinking at least 240x128 for the size.
 
excetara2 said:
This may be a stupid question but the PIC can control both the LCD and the solenoids. Some LCD's come with a microcontroller and some don't. Any recommendation on what PIC or LCD to get? LCD we were thinking at least 240x128 for the size.
Click to expand...

Yes, that'll be no problem for the PIC; it'll handle your buttons LCD and solenoids. (Don't forget to put a diode across those solenoids though.) A simple PIC 16F629A with 2k program memory should be enough for your project.

You don't really need a graphic LCD for this, do you? If you can use a character LCD, they are very easy to use, as they have a common HD44780 controller chip, and like I say, Nigel's tutorials can show you how to use it. If you do need a graphic LCD, they are quite a bit harder to use, and they have different controller chips.

EDIT:
What voltage do the solenoids need, and how much current do they draw? You may have to drive them with a transistor if they need more than 5V, or take a lot of current.
 
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Yes, they are solenoids made for an ice machine for a refrigerator. It runs on 12V if I remember correctly.

I will check out that PIC and maybe look into character displays. The original design had a regular LCD but I agree character display would be a lot easier.
 
excetara2 said:
We are working on a senior project that is going to use a Microcontroller and LCD (controlled via 5 buttons) for an auto bar. We don't really know what microcontroller or LCD to get. Any advice on either would be good. We prefer not to spend to much. The microcontroller will control the lcd's and 9 solenoid valves to control drink pouring.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

From a vast experience of working with several different LCD's my favorite LCD's to work with are from Matrix Orbital. Most of them are easy to use and can be addressed via I2C, SPI, and USART, but more importantly if you have any questions they have a huge forum board, and have excellent designer and customer support. If you only have a 5 button input scheme, with 9 outputs, you really don't need a huge microcontroller.

Having worked with Microchip's PIC's extensively, I would look at one of the 18 series and see which one fits your needs. If you need any other help you can just pm me on the forums here.
 
If you only need to display text, SparkFun Electronics - Basic 16x2 Character LCD - Black on Green 5V

For graphics also,
SparkFun Electronics - Graphic LCD 128x64 STN LED Backlight

Full color ones exist, but require much more work and a more powerful processor. In my opinion it's not worth it for most projects. As far as microcontrollers, between the PIC and AVR, I'd probably go with the AVR.

The full featured programmer would cost you $30,
Atmel Products - Tools & Software

The software is entirely free for both C and Assembly, with no restrictions,
Atmel Products - Tools & Software

The AVR in my opinion is more intuitive to work with, as it more closely ressembles architectures like the 68HC11, plus having 32 registers is very nice. If you are interested in AVRs, go to AVR Freaks.
 
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Probably a little late on the draw here but Renesas has some controllers that are designed to directly drive LCD displays too. Just a thought.
 
What voltages do the backlight take on the BG Micro LCD1030 display? It doesn't say on the data sheet? Will 5v at the + and 0v at the - work?
 
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