Published November 9, 2018 © CC BY-NC-SA

Nokia 5110 PCD8544 with NodeMCU ESP8266 Using Lua and u8g2

Want to use low-cost 84x48 LED displays driven by a PCD8544 using an ESP8266 and Lua? Easy! This project shows how.

IntermediateProtip1 hour5,559

Nokia 5110 PCD8544 with NodeMCU ESP8266 Using Lua and u8g2

Things used in this project

Hardware components

nodeMCU ESP8266 Development Board

Nokia 5110 LED Display

830 Reconfigurable Solderless Breadboard

150pc Jumper Wire Kit for Solderless Breadboard

Resistor 10k ohm

Software apps and online services

NodeMCU Firmware Cloud Build App

NodeMCU firmware

Story

While there is much info out in the Ether on how to use a PCD8544 display using C++ (Arduino, etc.), not much can be found on Lua.

What we want to achieve

Use a display with PCD8544 CMOS LCD controller/driver - e.g. Nokia 5110 LED Display - with a NodeMCU ESP826-compatible development board and Lua.

Requirements

NodeMCU ESP8266 compatible development board
Display with PCD8544 controller - e.g. Nokia 5110
nodeMCU firmware with the following modules included: gpio, i2c, spi, u8g2, uart
u8g2 configuration - ensure you include your fonts. For the example here we will need the 6x10_tf and 5x8_tf font

For simplicity, you can download a suitable firmware here.

The firmware was created using the online service nodemcu-build.com

Restrictions

This tip is focused on Lua and ESP8266
The pin connections are guaranteed to work with our Nokia 5110 displays. Other similar displays might have a different pin layout and you will need to adapt to your specific module.
The tip uses SPI, hence there might be conflicts if you are using other SPI modules.

How to

The u8g2 module only supports the PCD8544 controller via SPI. This means we will have to use the HMOSI and HSCLK GPIOs on the development board. For the connections, you are welcome to change the pin layout to suit your project needs.

Wiring

PCD8544/LED -> ESP8266
Pin 1 - RST -> D0/GPIO16
Pin 2 - CE (CS) -> D8/GPIO15 - pull down with 10k resistor to GND
Pin 3 - DC -> D4/GPIO2
Pin 4 - DIN -> D7/HMOSI (fixed - you can't use a different pin)
Pin 5 - CLK -> D5/HSCLK (fixed - you can't use a different pin)
Pin 6 - VCC -> 3.3V - either from Development board or other sources
Pin 7 - BL .... Not used in this example
Pin 8 - GND -> GND - either from Development board or another source.

Lua Code for using PCD8544 LCDs

--[[
	Nokia 5110 LED with PCD8544
	8 November 2018 
	Author: dante@serveronthemove.com.au
	Hardware:
		nodeMCU ESP8266(EX) Devkit V3
		8 pin Nokia 5110 84x48 display w PCD8544

	Wiring:
		LED			->	NodeMCU 8266
		1 - RST		->	D0/GPIO16
		2 - CE (CS)	->	D8/GPIO15 - pull down with 10K to GND
		3 - DC		->	D4/GPIO2
		4 - DIN		->	D7/HMOSI
		5 - CLK		->	D5/HSCLK
		6 - VCC		->	3.3V
		7 - BL		->	Not used in this example
		8 - GND		->	GND

	nodeMCU Firmware Build
		built against the master branch and includes the following modules: file, gpio, i2c, net, node, spi, tmr, u8g2, uart, wifi, tls
		u8g2 - SPI - pcd8544_84x48 module
		u8g2 - fonts: 6x10_tf, 5x8)tf
--]]

-- Variables 
PIN_CS  = 8 -- GPIO15, pull-down 10k to GND
PIN_DC  = 4 -- GPIO2
PIN_RES = 0 -- GPIO16
M_BUS 	= 1

-- Initialise module
spi.setup(M_BUS, spi.MASTER, spi.CPOL_LOW, spi.CPHA_LOW, 8, 8)
--gpio.mode(cs, gpio.INPUT, gpio.PULLUP)
disp = u8g2.pcd8544_84x48(M_BUS, PIN_CS, PIN_DC, PIN_RES)

disp:setFontRefHeightExtendedText()
disp:setContrast(125)
disp:setFontPosTop()

-- start
disp:clearBuffer() -- start with clean buffer
disp:setFont(u8g2.font_6x10_tf) -- set 6x10 font
disp:drawStr(1, 1, "Nokia 5110")
disp:drawStr(1, 9, "(PCD8544) test")
disp:drawStr(2, 17, "for nodeMCU")
disp:drawStr(2, 25, "by")
disp:setFont(u8g2.font_5x8_tf) -- switch to smaller font
disp:drawStr(1, 33, "ServerOnTheMove")
disp:drawStr(48, 39, ".com.au")
disp:sendBuffer() -- sent buffer to display

-- and done

Nokia 5110 PCD8544 with NodeMCU ESP8266 Using Lua and u8g2

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

What we want to achieve

Requirements

Restrictions

How to

Wiring

Code

Lua Code for using PCD8544 LCDs

Credits

SOTM

Comments

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Nokia 5110 PCD8544 with NodeMCU ESP8266 Using Lua and u8g2

Nokia 5110 PCD8544 with NodeMCU ESP8266 Using Lua and u8g2

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

What we want to achieve

Requirements

Restrictions

How to

Wiring

Code

Lua Code for using PCD8544 LCDs

Credits

SOTM

Comments

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