LCD display (16x2) with I2C backpack in Raspberry Pi - Mini Project: Build & Apply

LCD Display (16x2) with I2C Backpack on Raspberry Pi

📖 Scenario: You have a Raspberry Pi connected to a 16x2 LCD display with an I2C backpack. You want to show a simple message on the screen using Python.

🎯 Goal: Write a Python program that initializes the LCD display, sets up the I2C address, and prints a welcome message on the first line and a status message on the second line.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a variable called lcd_address with the I2C address 0x27.

Create an instance of the LCD display using the lcd_address and 16 columns and 2 rows.

Write the message 'Hello, Raspberry Pi!' on the first line of the LCD.

Write the message 'I2C LCD Ready' on the second line of the LCD.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Many Raspberry Pi projects use 16x2 LCDs with I2C backpacks to show status, sensor readings, or user prompts in a compact way.

💼 Career

Understanding how to interface hardware components like LCDs with Raspberry Pi is useful for embedded systems, IoT development, and prototyping physical computing projects.

1

Set up the LCD display library and I2C address

Import the I2C_LCD_driver module and create a variable called lcd_address with the value 0x27.

Raspberry Pi

# Import the LCD driver and set the I2C address
# Your code here

Hint

The I2C address for many LCD backpacks is 0x27. You need to import the driver module first.

2

Create the LCD display instance

Create a variable called lcd by calling I2C_LCD_driver.lcd() with lcd_address, cols=16, and rows=2.

Raspberry Pi

import I2C_LCD_driver
lcd_address = 0x27
# Create the lcd instance with 16 columns and 2 rows
# Your code here

Hint

Use the lcd class from the driver with the correct address and size.

3

Write messages to the LCD display

Use lcd.lcd_display_string() to write 'Hello, Raspberry Pi!' on line 1 and 'I2C LCD Ready' on line 2.

Raspberry Pi

import I2C_LCD_driver
lcd_address = 0x27
lcd = I2C_LCD_driver.lcd(address=lcd_address, cols=16, rows=2)
# Display 'Hello, Raspberry Pi!' on line 1
# Display 'I2C LCD Ready' on line 2
# Your code here

Hint

Use the lcd_display_string method with the message and the line number.

4

Print confirmation message to console

Write a print() statement that outputs 'LCD messages sent successfully.' to confirm the program ran.

Raspberry Pi

import I2C_LCD_driver
lcd_address = 0x27
lcd = I2C_LCD_driver.lcd(address=lcd_address, cols=16, rows=2)
lcd.lcd_display_string('Hello, Raspberry Pi!', 1)
lcd.lcd_display_string('I2C LCD Ready', 2)
# Print confirmation message
# Your code here

Hint

Use print() to show a message on the console.