LCD Display Shield with Pushbuttons

This is a Shield which can plug directly on top of an Arduino board with no additional wiring. Available HERE.

It has a 2x16 character White on Blue LCD display.

It also has 6 pushbuttons (Up), (Down), (Left), (Right), (Select). These drive a single Arduino pin (Analog 0) and a supplied sub routine returns which button was pushed. See "int read_LCD_buttons()" in the sketch below.

Additional pins that are available for other functions are brought out to pads for wires, pins etc. The pins dedicated to the LCD Display and pushbuttons are shown in the following table:

Pin Allocation for LCD, Buttons

Pin	Function
Analog 0	Button (select, up, right, down and left)
Digital 4	DB4
Digital 5	DB5
Digital 6	DB6
Digital 7	DB7
Digital 8	RS (Data or Signal Display Selection)
Digital 9	Enable
Digital 10	Backlit Control

Next
Here is a Test Software Sketch you can copy and paste into a New(blank) Arduino IDE window. It will show you on the display which buttons are pushed. NOTE: The display is crisp white on blue; the photo doesn't show it well.

/* YourDuino.com Example Software Sketch
 TEST LCD Display with Pushbuttons
 Based on code by Mark Bramwell and debouncing by peterstrobl
 terry@yourduino.com */

/*-----( Import needed libraries )-----*/
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

/*-----( Declare objects )-----*/
LiquidCrystal lcd(8, 9, 4, 5, 6, 7); //These are the pins used on this shield

/*-----( Declare Constants )-----*/
#define btnRIGHT  0
#define btnUP     1
#define btnDOWN   2
#define btnLEFT   3
#define btnSELECT 4
#define btnNONE   5

/*-----( Declare Variables )-----*/
int lcd_key       = 0;
int adc_key_in    = 0;
int adc_key_prev  = 0;

void setup()   /*----( SETUP: RUNS ONCE )----*/
{
  lcd.begin(16, 2);              // start the lcd object
  
  lcd.setCursor(0,0);
  lcd.print("Push A Button!"); 
  
  lcd.setCursor(10,1);
  lcd.print("A="); // For display of A0 Analog values from button push
  
}/*--(end setup )---*/

void loop()   /*----( LOOP: RUNS CONSTANTLY )----*/
{
  lcd.setCursor(7,1);            // move cursor to second line "1" and 7 spaces over
  lcd.print(millis()/1000);      // display seconds elapsed since power-up

  adc_key_prev = lcd_key ;       // Looking for changes
  lcd_key = read_LCD_buttons();  // read the buttons

  if (adc_key_prev != lcd_key)
  {
    lcd.setCursor(12,1); 
    lcd.print("    ");         // Blank, display returned Analog value of button
    lcd.setCursor(12,1); 
    lcd.print(adc_key_in); 
  }

  lcd.setCursor(0,1);            // move to the begining of the second line

  switch (lcd_key)               // depending on which button was pushed, we perform an action
  {
  case btnRIGHT:
    {
      lcd.print("RIGHT ");
      break;
    }
  case btnLEFT:
    {
      lcd.print("LEFT   ");
      break;
    }
  case btnUP:
    {
      lcd.print("UP    ");
      break;
    }
  case btnDOWN:
    {
      lcd.print("DOWN  ");
      break;
    }
  case btnSELECT:
    {
      lcd.print("SELECT");
      break;
    }
  case btnNONE:
    {
      lcd.print("NONE  ");
      break;
    }
  }/* --(end switch )-- */

}/* --(end main loop )-- */

/*-----( Declare User-written Functions )-----*/

int read_LCD_buttons()
{
  adc_key_in = analogRead(0);      // read the value from the sensor 
  delay(5); //switch debounce delay. Increase this delay if incorrect switch selections are returned.
  int k = (analogRead(0) - adc_key_in); //gives the button a slight range to allow for a little contact resistance noise
  if (5 < abs(k)) return btnNONE;  // double checks the keypress. If the two readings are not equal +/-k value after debounce delay, it tries again.
  // my buttons when read are centered at these valies: 0, 144, 329, 504, 741
  // we add approx 50 to those values and check to see if we are close
  if (adc_key_in > 1000) return btnNONE; // We make this the 1st option for speed reasons since it will be the most likely result
  if (adc_key_in < 50)   return btnRIGHT;  
  if (adc_key_in < 195)  return btnUP; 
  if (adc_key_in < 380)  return btnDOWN; 
  if (adc_key_in < 555)  return btnLEFT; 
  if (adc_key_in < 790)  return btnSELECT;   
  return btnNONE;  // when all others fail, return this...
}