DISPLAYOTRO
Create a custom LCD menu system
Les Pounder loves to get hands-on with a good button, and if doing so can save him time and looks great, then it’s a win-win situation!
credit: https://github.com/pimoroni/displayotron
OUR EXPERT
Les Pounder is associate editor at Tom’s Hardware and a freelance maker for hire. He blogs about his adventures and projects at bigl.es.
YOU NEED
»Any Pi
»Raspberry Pi OS Pimoroni Display-O-Tron HAT
»Two M2.5 standoffs and screws
»Code: https:// github.com/ lesp/LXF-DotHAT-Timesaver/ archive/ refs/heads/ main.zip
LCDs are great for quick and simple information feeds, and one particular model, Display-O- L Tron from Pimoroni is especially fun. An easyto-use Python library enables us to create menus, stream text and generate colourful backlight effects with very little code. Around the board are six capacitive touch buttons that make up a simple user interface. We’re going to use this board to create a device that will open websites without touching the keyboard.
Screw the M2.5 standoffs into the two holes under the LCD screen. With the Raspberry Pi powered off, place the Display-O-Tron HAT on to all 40 pins of the GPIO. Now connect all of your accessories and power up the Pi to the desktop.