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Alphanumeric LED

Alphanumeric sensor

The alphanumeric LED can be used to display up to 4 characters (letters or numbers).

Use it to display short messages, counters, and much more!

Quick Reference

These instructions work with the Elecfreaks alphanumeric display, but not with the Adafruit ones.

Wiring

Use the I2C cable to connect the sensor. This has 4 wires in 2 pairs: orange-yellow and red-black:

Code

Wire up as follows, using the Edge Connector or Motor Controller board:

Alphanumeric Display Suggested wire colour Edge Connector Motor Controller
VCC Red 3V3 V
GND Black GND G
SCL Yellow SCL C
SDA Orange SDA D

On the edge connector it should look like this:

Code

On the motor controller it should look like this:

Code

Coding

You will need to add an extension to get additional blocks for the display. Click on the extensions block:

Code

Then search for "lcd":

Code

Then click on the i2cLD1602 extension:

Code

You should see a new block appear:

Code

Enter this code in on start and forever blocks:

Code

Download the code to the microbit.

The code shows a simple message:

Code