Large Digit Driver Hookup Guide Datasheet by SparkFun Electronics

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Large Digit Driver Hookup Guide
Introduction
Large numerical displays are a great addition to any project where you want
to be able to see information at a distance. Scorekeepers and lap timers
would be a great application for large 7-segment LED displays. The Really
Big 7-Segment Display (6.5") fits that bill nicely. Driving several displays at
the same time would be handy, which is where the Large Digit Driver board
comes in.
The Large Digit Driver can be soldered directly to the bottom of the
7-Segment Display.
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Large Digit Driver Hookup Guide SparkFun Wish List
Several Large Digit Drivers can be chained together to create a display with
multiple digits.
Covered in This Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will give you an overview of the Large Digit Driver and
provide an example of hooking up the driver to an Arduino:
• Board Overview – To begin, we’ll go over each of the pins on the
breakout board and their function.
• Hardware Hookup – In this section, we’ll show you how to hook the
Large Digit Driver up to an Arduino.
• Example: One Large Digit – Here, we give an example of an Arduino
sketch to control one of the large 7-segment displays through the
Large Digit Driver.
• Example: Two Large Digits – We show how to daisy chain two large
7-segment displays together and control them with two Large Digit
Drivers.
• Resources and Going Further – This section gives some additional
resources for getting more out of the Large Digit Driver.
Materials Used
You will need a few components and tools to follow along with this tutorial.
Here is what you will need:
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Page 3 of 8 IQQA ".7 4.1.7 ol- I1- rkeun "‘" um ma. om" Em:
Jumper Wires Premium 6" M/F Pack of 10
PRT-09140
This is a SparkFun exclusive! These are 155mm long jumpers termin…
Wall Adapter Power Supply - 12VDC 600mA
TOL-09442
This is a high quality AC to DC 'wall wart' which produces a regulated …
SparkFun RedBoard - Programmed with Arduino
DEV-12757
A
t SparkFun we use many Arduinos and we're always looking for the …
7-Segment Display - 6.5" (Red)
COM-08530
No really - it's 6 inches (153mm) tall! This very large 7-segment displa…
For each additional digit you want to add, you will need:
• 7-Segment Display - 6.5" (Red)
• Large Digit Driver
• Jumper Wire - 0.1", 6-pin, 4"
Recommended Reading
Before getting started with the Large Digit Driver, there are a few concepts
that you should be familiar with. Consider reading some of these tutorials
before continuing:
• What is an Arduino? – We will use an Arduino to control the Large
Digit Driver
• Shift Registers – The Large Digit Driver uses a shift register to move
data to each digit
• How to Solder - Castellated Mounting Holes – You will need to solder
the Large Digit Driver to the back of the 7-segment LED display
Board Overview
Pin Descriptions
The Large Digit Driver has 6 input pins and 6 output pins.
IN Pin Description
GND Connect to ground
LAT Data transfer in from SER on the rising edge of the latch pin
CLK Data transfer in from SER on the rising edge of the clock pin
SER Serial data in
5V Connect to power (5V)
12V Connect to power (12V)
OUT
Pin Description
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GND Connect to ground (used to provide a ground pin to the next
Large Digit Driver in the chain)
LAT Connect to the LAT pin on the next Large Digit Driver in the
chain
CLK Connect to the CLK pin on the next Large Digit Driver in the
chain
SER Serial data out to the next Large Digit Driver
5V 5V out to the next Large Digit Driver
12V 12V out to the next Large Digit Driver
Hardware Hookup
Protect the Board
Before you attach the Large Digit Driver to the 7-segment display, you will
need to isolate the exposed vias on the back of the board. Some of the
Driver boards are created with through-hole vias that are not covered with
solder mask. As a result, this could likely short out the traces on the back of
the 7-segment display.
We recommend using a piece of electrical tape or high temperature tape to
cover the vias on the back of the Driver board.
Attach the Board
You will need to solder the Large Digit Driver to the back of the 7-segment
display. Have the Driver’s 10 pins facing toward the bottom of the large
7-segment display and lined up with the traces on the back of the
7-segment display. Follow the Soldering Castellated Vias Guide to solder
all 10 of the castellations as well as the 2 castellations at the top of the
board (these should be attached to the 12V line and are just for mechanical
support).
Connect the Board
We will be using the Arduino’s regulated 5V and unregulated 12V (from the
wall adapter) to power the 7-segment display and Large Digit Driver.
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Connect the Large Digit Driver to the the following pins on the Arduino.
Large Digit Driver Arduino
GND GND
LAT 5
CLK 6
SER 7
5V 5V
12V VIN
Example: One Large Digit
Load the Single Digit Example Code
Plug your Arduino into your computer via USB cable. Open up the Arduino
program and copy in the following sketch.
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Page 6 of 8 Han The large 7 52mm displays (an b2 (antralled easily with byte segmenmmk = s; D D -)Run an Ardumo
Large Digit Driver - 1 Digit (https://codebender.cc/sketch:122917?
referrer=ShawnHymel) by ShawnHymel
(https://codebender.cc/user/ShawnHymel?referrer=ShawnHymel)
È Clone & Edit
(/?
referrer=ShawnHymel)
3 Download
(https://codebend
e
referrer=ShawnHy
m
[ Edit
Loading Boards...  
/
*
Controlling large 7segment displays
By: Nathan Seidle
SparkFun Electronics
Date: February 25th, 2015
License: This code is public domain but you buy me a beer
The large 7 segment displays can be controlled easily with
one display.
Here's how to hook up the Arduino pins to the Large Digit
Arduino pin 6 > CLK (Green on the 6pin cable)
5 > LAT (Blue)
7 > SER on the IN side (Yellow)
5V > 5V (Orange)
Power Arduino with 12V and connect to Vin > 12V (Red)
GND > GND (Black)
There are two connectors on the Large Digit Driver. 'IN' i
your microcontroller (the Arduino). 'OUT' is the output si
digits.
Each display will use about 150mA with all segments and de
*/
//GPIO declarations
//========================
byte segmentClock = 6;
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
 
Run
Upload the sketch to your Arduino, and plug the 12V adapter into the
Arduino.
Flip the 7-segment display over. You should see it count the digits 0-9 (the
decimal point will appear on 9).
Example: Two Large Digits
Attach a Second Digit
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Page 7 of 8 byte sementcllnk = s;
Use the 6-pin jumper wire to attach a second 7-segment display to the first
display unit. Make sure that you connect GND of the OUT on the first
display to the GND of the IN on the second display, LAT of the OUT on the
first display to the LAT of the IN on the second display, and so on.
You will want to connect the Large Digit Driver on the right to the Arduino
as per the Hardware Hookup section.
Load the Two Digit Example Code
Make sure the Arduino is plugged into your computer using a USB cable.
Copy the following sketch into the Arduino program.
Large Digit Driver - 2 Digits (https://codebender.cc/sketch:122919?
referrer=ShawnHymel) by ShawnHymel
(https://codebender.cc/user/ShawnHymel?referrer=ShawnHymel)
È Clone & Edit
(/?
mel)
3 Download
(https://codebend
e
referrer=ShawnHy
m
[ Edit
Loading Boards...  
/*
Controlling large 7segment displays
By: Nathan Seidle
SparkFun Electronics
Date: February 25th, 2015
License: This code is public domain but you buy me a beer
This code demonstrates how to post two numbers to a 2digi
Here's how to hook up the Arduino pins to the Large Digit
Arduino pin 6 > CLK (Green on the 6pin cable)
5 > LAT (Blue)
7 > SER on the IN side (Yellow)
5V > 5V (Orange)
Power Arduino with 12V and connect to Vin > 12V (Red)
GND > GND (Black)
There are two connectors on the Large Digit Driver. 'IN' i
your microcontroller (the Arduino). 'OUT' is the output si
digits.
Each display will use about 150mA with all segments and de
*/
//GPIO declarations
//========================
byte segmentClock = 6;
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
 
Run
Upload the sketch to your Arduino, and plug in the 12V supply. The
7-segment display (now two digits!) should count from 00 to 99.
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Resources and Going Further
Now that we have tested the large 7-segment displays, they are ready to be
used in your project! Feel free to change the code to display other numbers
or symbols on the displays.
Resources
Here are some additional resource to help you with the Large Digit Driver:
• Large 7-Segment Display Datasheet
• Datasheet for the shift register on the Large Digit Driver
• Large Digit Driver GitHub Repository
Other Tutorials
What will you make with the Large Digit Driver? If you need some
inspiration, check out these related tutorials:
Dungeons and Dragons Dice
Gauntlet
A
playful, geeky tutorial for a leather
bracer that uses a LilyPad Arduino,
LilyPad accelerometer, and seven
segment display to roll virtual 4, 6, 8,
10, 12, 20, and 100 side dice for
gaming.
Galileo Unread Email
Counter
How to create a simple unread-
email checker with the Intel/Arduino
Galileo.
Interactive Hanging LED
A
rra
y
Learn how we converted 72
lightbulbs into an interactive LED
array for our conference room.
Alphanumeric GPS Wall
Clock
This is a GPS controlled clock - a
clock you truly never have to set!
Using GPS and some formulas, we
figure out what day of the week and
if we are in or out of daylight savings
time.
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