Thing-O-Matic LCD Temperature Readout

thingiverse

Text rewritten by AI: Instructions to connect and configure an LCD display on Thing-O-Matic using original text: 1. Acquire an LCD compatible with "Hitachi HD44780" chipset, such as Newhaven Display's NHD-16032AZ-FL-YBW or Sparkfun's 16x2 display. Connect the LCD to a "ST7920" comm chipset, which is compatible with the standard Hitachi HD44780. Use this link for Digikey (digikey.com) and this one for Sparkfun (sparkfun.com). 2. Decide on a way to connect the LCD to the Thing-O-Matic motherboard's IDC port. The provided photos show a solution using 5-pin female connectors, chopped up and wired to fit the 16 pins on the LCD. Create a chart to keep track of which pin on your LCD is connected to which pin on the motherboard: Pin Number on LCD | Pin Name/Purpose on LCD | Pin on ToM MoBo (Port and Pin on Arduino) --- | --- | --- 1 | GND | 2 | +5v | 3 | NC -> RS (read/write) | 4 (c,3) 4 | RW -> E (enable) | 5 (c,2) 5 | E -> RS | 7 (c,0) 6 | 0 | 9 (g,2) 7 | 1 | 11 (g,0) 8 | 2 | 13 (l,6) 9 | 3 | 6 (c,1) 10 | 4 | 8 (d,7) 11 | 5 | 10 (g,1) 12 | 6 | 12 (l,7) 13 | 7 | 14 (l,5) 15 | +5v | 16 | GND | If using the compiled firmware, follow this pin connection chart. If compiling your own firmware with the patch, connect wires anywhere you desire and add a message in place of "MOLDARAMA" and "SCRIBBLE." Use the provided wikipage (makerbot.com) to identify ports and pins for custom wire placements. 3. Apply the patch to your firmware source tree, then edit Configuration.hh in v2/src/Motherboard/boards/mb24/. Define HAS_LCD and input port and pin assignments from the chart. Customize settings for toolhead counts and heated platform temperature. If needed, add a message for extra space to the right of the temperature readout. 4. Compile and upload the firmware to your machine. If the LCD is already connected, it will start functioning after 1 second. The output displayed on the LCD will be TX:YYY/ZZZ, representing toolhead index (starts at 0), current temperature, and set temperature for each extruder. For the Newhaven 20x2 display, the toolhead index is shown; for the smaller 16x2 from Sparkfun, identify the toolhead from the line. Additionally, the platform temperature with its set temperature will be displayed as P:XXX/YYY. Enjoy your newly connected and functional LCD display on your Thing-O-Matic!