EarthMake.com has launched its initial product, The ArduinoLCD. It slashes the hardware costs and development time of arduino-based projects that need a graphical user interface (GUI).
The ArduinoLCD is an all-in-one modular concept that combines a touchscreen, a 3.5-inch "smart" color LCD, as well as a 16-bit graphics processing unit (GPU) and mounting bracket in an Arduino development environ. Speedy customization of graphical objects, macros, images and fonts is made possible by the EarthSEMPL programming language. Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform founded on adaptable easy-to-use software and hardware. Artists, hobbyists, electronics designers and those looking to manufacture interactive instruments and usages find use for the ArduinoLCD.
The ArduinoLCD has a 3.5-inch, 65K color, 250 nit brightness, 320 x 240 resolution LCD with inbuilt resistive touchscreen. Its smart control module has a 4 megabyte flash memory, USB 2.0, 16-bit GPU and Arduino Shield interfaces. It draws less than 200 mA, has a -20 to 60°C functioning temperature range and functions from to 6 to 9 V. Being reasonably priced, it is an appropriate substitute for vacuum fluorescent displays, STN passive matrix displays, character modules, or the expensive complicated graphical LCD instruments.
Randy Schaufer, EarthMake founder, states that with the EarthSEMPL language and the Arduino shield I/O people can make robot interfaces, home automation controllers, 3D print controllers, and even kinetic art. GUI widgets and macros enable users to produce an interface model very quickly.
Ken Segler, chief maker at EarthMake, declares that the 3.5" LCD has 64% more display area than the earlier 2.8" LCD. A combination of the hardware and software API from the highly acclaimed ezLCD technology and the Arduino open-source Uno R3 concept support users in copying macros, bitmaps and fonts to the ArduinoLCD flashdrive from a PC via USB. The Arduino IDE supports rapid product development via Windows, OSX and Linux operating systems.