Hi All,

I would like to design a circuit that receives an input from four different buttons, each time a button is depressed, it adds a predetrmine value to the running total. Example: button 1 has a value of 15. If I press button 1 the value on an LCD shows 15. If I press it twice, the value increments to 30. Additionally, if I press button 2 which has a value of 55, it functions that same as button 1 but with 55 being added to teh existing value of 30.

So in the example if I push button 1 twice, and button 2 three times I get 30+30+55+55+55 = 225 which displays on the LCD.

Questions:
1. Can this be done with a PIC or other MicroController?
2. What do I need to get started on this quest?
3. If it's overly difficult, Is there a place I can have this built/designed for me?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Of course you can do it by a uC (microcontroller).
The first think you have to buy is a programmer which supports the uC you are going to use. Then you will need to download the appropriate software which will compile your code depending on the language you want to program the uC. If you look in ebay there are some cheap programmers. If you dont want to spend money buying the software choose AVR uCs because you can find the appropriate software free on the internet. If you know how to hack you can choose PIC and hack the software

 

The AVR ATmega controllers are very easy to use and the software is free.
I have example code for the Optrex 51505 LCD at http://tinyurl.com/6895up
The code uses the LCD4Bit library.

(* jcl *)

 

Hi,
The main part of your project is LCD interfacing while the main logic is and button interface is simple.
To get started with AVR MCUs see my tutorial series

http://extremeelectronics.co.in/category/avr-tutorials/

There you will learn how to get started, making programmer and a development board.

Then you may go on and use my easy to use LCD interfacing libraries for AVR MCU in. Find it here

http://extremeelectronics.co.in/avr-tutorials/using-lcd-module-with-avrs/

When you have learned how to use LCD modules the rest is very easy for you to implement.

Hope It helps!

 

Thanks for all of the input. I'm really excited about learning to program micro controllers. Are there any good books about teh different chips, their capibilities, and what's required to program them? Is there anybody in Maryland, USA that wants to teach hands on?

 

Thanks for all of the input. I'm really excited about learning to program micro controllers. Are there any good books about teh different chips, their capibilities, and what's required to program them? Is there anybody in Maryland, USA that wants to teach hands on?

If you want to look at the PIC range, and that is a personal preference, start at the microchip website (http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2551) and have a browse of the comparative. The datasheet for each uC should act as your central resource for information about using the uC - all of which are downloadable from the microchip website.

Dave