Note: this page refers to a product that is retired.

TFTEtchASketch

An Arduino version of the classic Etch-a-Sketch.

TFT EtchASketch

GLCD EtchSketchDemosm

This example for the Arduino TFT draws a white line on the screen, based on the position of 2 potentiometers. If you press a momentary button, the screen will erase.

Hardware Required

  • Arduino Uno

  • Arduino TFT screen

  • breadboard

  • hookup wire

  • two 10-kilohm potentiometers

  • momentary switch

  • 10-kilohm resistor

Circuit

Connect power and ground to the breadboard.

GLCD logo1

Place the potentiometers on the breadboard. On each pot, connect one side to ground, and the other to power. Connect the middle pin of one potentiometer to A0, the other one to A1.

GLCD sketch2

Put a switch across the center of the breadboard. Connect one end to power, the other end to the Arduino digital pin 2. Connect the same pin to ground through a 10-kilohm pull-down resistor

GLCD sketch3

Connect the screen to the breadboard. The headers on the side of the screen with the small blue tab and arrow should be the ones that attach to the board. Pay attention to the orientation of the screen, in these images, it is upside down.

GLCD sketch4

Connect the BL and +5V pins to power, and GND to ground. Connect CS-LD to pin 10, DC to pin 9, RESET to pin 8, MOSI to pin 11, and SCK to pin 13. If uyou're using a Leonardo, you'll be using different pins. see the getting started page for more details.

GTFT sketch5 Click the image for a larger version

Code

To use the screen you must first include the SPI and TFT libraries.

1#include <SPI.h>
2#include <TFT.h>

Define the pins you're going to use for controlling the screen, and create an instance of the TFT library named

TFTscreen
. You'll reference that object whenever you're working with the screen.

1#define cs 10
2#define dc 9
3#define rst 8
4
5TFT TFTscreen = TFT(cs, dc, rst);

Set up the cursor's x & y position. In the example, it starts in the center of the screen; determined by dividing the height and width of the screen by 2. Create a named pin for your erase switch.

1int xPos = LCDscreen.width()/2;
2int yPos = LCDscreen.height()/2;
3
4int erasePin = 2;

In

setup()
, after declaring the erase pin as an input, initialize the display and clear the screen's background.

1void setup() {
2
3 pinMode(erasePin, INPUT);
4
5 TFTscreen.begin();
6
7 TFTscreen.background(0,0,0);
8}

Read the values of the pots and map them to smaller numbers.

1void loop()
2{
3
4 int xValue = analogRead(A0);
5
6 int yValue = analogRead(A1);
7
8 xPos = xPos + (map(xValue, 0, 1023, 2, -2));
9
10 yPos = yPos + (map(yValue, 0, 1023, -2, 2));

You'll want to keep the cursor from moving offscreen with a few

if()
statements before you draw the point.

1if(xPos > 159){
2
3 (xPos = 159);
4
5 }
6
7 if(xPos < 0){
8
9 (xPos = 0);
10
11 }
12
13 if(yPos > 127){
14
15 (yPos = 127);
16
17 }
18
19 if(yPos < 0){
20
21 (yPos = 0);
22
23 }
24
25 TFTscreen.stroke(255,255,255);
26
27 TFTscreen.point(xPos,yPos);

Finally, check the button. If it is being pressed and is

HIGH
, clear the screen with
background()
.

1if(digitalRead(erasePin) == HIGH){
2
3 TFTscreen.background(0,0,0);
4
5 }
6
7 delay(33);
8}

The complete sketch is below :

1/*
2
3 TFT EtchASketch
4
5 This example for the Arduino screen draws a white point
6
7 on the GLCD based on the values of 2 potentiometers.
8
9 To clear the screen, press a button attached to pin 2.
10
11 This example code is in the public domain.
12
13 Created 15 April 2013 by Scott Fitzgerald
14
15 http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/TFTEtchASketch
16
17 */
18
19#include <TFT.h> // Arduino LCD library
20#include <SPI.h>
21
22// pin definition for the Uno
23#define cs 10
24#define dc 9
25#define rst 8
26
27// pin definition for the Leonardo
28// #define cs 7
29// #define dc 0
30// #define rst 1
31
32TFT TFTscreen = TFT(cs, dc, rst);
33
34// initial position of the cursor
35int xPos = TFTscreen.width() / 2;
36int yPos = TFTscreen.height() / 2;
37
38// pin the erase switch is connected to
39int erasePin = 2;
40
41void setup() {
42
43 // declare inputs
44
45 pinMode(erasePin, INPUT);
46
47 // initialize the screen
48
49 TFTscreen.begin();
50
51 // make the background black
52
53 TFTscreen.background(0, 0, 0);
54}
55
56void loop() {
57
58 // read the potentiometers on A0 and A1
59
60 int xValue = analogRead(A0);
61
62 int yValue = analogRead(A1);
63
64 // map the values and update the position
65
66 xPos = xPos + (map(xValue, 0, 1023, 2, -2));
67
68 yPos = yPos + (map(yValue, 0, 1023, -2, 2));
69
70 // don't let the point go past the screen edges
71
72 if (xPos > 159) {
73
74 (xPos = 159);
75
76 }
77
78 if (xPos < 0) {
79
80 (xPos = 0);
81
82 }
83
84 if (yPos > 127) {
85
86 (yPos = 127);
87
88 }
89
90 if (yPos < 0) {
91
92 (yPos = 0);
93
94 }
95
96 // draw the point
97
98 TFTscreen.stroke(255, 255, 255);
99
100 TFTscreen.point(xPos, yPos);
101
102 // read the value of the pin, and erase the screen if pressed
103
104 if (digitalRead(erasePin) == HIGH) {
105
106 TFTscreen.background(0, 0, 0);
107
108 }
109
110 delay(33);
111}

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