Beginner
10 min

Revolutionize your data presentation with MCP23S17 and PIC32MZ2048EFM100

See it in 2x16: Clear, Concise, Captivating!

LCD mini Click with Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF

Published Jul 22, 2025

Click board™

LCD mini Click

Dev. board

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC32MZ2048EFM100

Elevate your solution's display capabilities, enhance the user experience, and unleash the full potential of an LCD display through seamless integration with an SPI adapter!

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

LCD Mini Click is based on the MCP23S17, a 16-bit I/O expander with a serial interface from Microchip. The MCP23S17 has an external reset input and a configurable interrupt source, which can also be configured as active-high or active-low. This bidirectional I2C expander acts as a bridge between the host MCU to four data bit pins, an enable control pin, and a register select pin of the display. In order to work, the enable pin should be held HIGH. The register-select pin toggles between command mode (logic LOW) and data mode (logic HIGH). The brightness of the backlight LED can be controlled directly over the

host MCU, but for the contrast of the LCD, there is the MCP4161, an 8-bit single SPI digital POT with non-volatile memory from Microchip. LCD Mini Click uses a standard 4-wire SPI serial interface from both the I2C expander and the digital potentiometer to communicate with the host MCU. The MCP23S17 supports a high-speed SPI interface of up to 10MHz and can be selected over the CS pin and reset over the RST pin. It sends interrupts over the INT pin. The MCP4161 also supports high-speed SPI of up to 10MHz and can be selected over the CS2 pin. The PWM pin can control the brightness of the LCD's backlight LED.

The LMB162XFW display with an appropriate cable does not come with the LCD Mini Click adapter board and is offered separately. However, the LCD Mini Click has an appropriate connector to interface the LCD. This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the PWR SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. Also, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

LCD mini Click top side image
LCD mini Click bottom side image

Features overview

Development board

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF development board is a fully integrated 32-bit development platform featuring the high-performance PIC32MZ EF Series (PIC32MZ2048EFM) that has a 2MB Flash, 512KB RAM, integrated FPU, Crypto accelerator, and excellent connectivity options. It includes an integrated programmer and debugger, requiring no additional hardware. Users can expand

functionality through MIKROE mikroBUS™ Click™ adapter boards, add Ethernet connectivity with the Microchip PHY daughter board, add WiFi connectivity capability using the Microchip expansions boards, and add audio input and output capability with Microchip audio daughter boards. These boards are fully integrated into PIC32’s powerful software framework, MPLAB Harmony,

which provides a flexible and modular interface to application development a rich set of inter-operable software stacks (TCP-IP, USB), and easy-to-use features. The Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF development board offers expansion capabilities making it an excellent choice for a rapid prototyping board in Connectivity, IOT, and general-purpose applications.

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Architecture

PIC32

MCU Memory (KB)

2048

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

100

RAM (Bytes)

524288

You complete me!

Accessories

LCD mini display, based on the LMB162XFW, is a compact and versatile SPI-controlled LCD mini display featuring a sharp 2x16 pixel resolution. Its striking deep blue display color contrasts beautifully with the light yellow-green display data, ensuring clear and vibrant visuals. With a compact form factor, the display measures just 53.0x20.0x9.1mm (maximum dimensions), making it suitable for space-constrained applications. This mini display's SPI control enables seamless integration into various electronic projects, while its elegant color combination enhances visibility. Whether used in industrial instruments, consumer devices, or DIY electronics, the LCD mini display offers a sleek and functional solution for presenting essential data and information in a visually appealing manner.

LCD mini Click accessories image

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

DIGIPOT Chip Select
RPB4
AN
Expander Reset
RA9
RST
SPI Chip Select
RPD4
CS
SPI Slock
RPD1
SCK
SPI Data OUT
RPD14
MISO
SPI Data IN
RPD3
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
PWM Signal
RPE8
PWM
Expander Interrupt
RF13
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
NC
NC
SCL
NC
NC
SDA
Power Supply
5V
5V
Ground
GND
GND
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Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

LCD mini Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF as your development board.

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF front image hardware assembly
GNSS2 Click front image hardware assembly
Prog-cut hardware assembly
GNSS2 Click complete accessories setup image hardware assembly
Board mapper by product7 hardware assembly
Necto image step 2 hardware assembly
Necto image step 3 hardware assembly
Necto image step 4 hardware assembly
Necto image step 5 hardware assembly
Necto image step 6 hardware assembly
Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF MCU Step hardware assembly
Necto No Display image step 8 hardware assembly
Necto image step 9 hardware assembly
Necto image step 10 hardware assembly
Debug Image Necto Step hardware assembly

Track your results in real time

Application Output

1. Application Output - In Debug mode, the 'Application Output' window enables real-time data monitoring, offering direct insight into execution results. Ensure proper data display by configuring the environment correctly using the provided tutorial.

2. UART Terminal - Use the UART Terminal to monitor data transmission via a USB to UART converter, allowing direct communication between the Click board™ and your development system. Configure the baud rate and other serial settings according to your project's requirements to ensure proper functionality. For step-by-step setup instructions, refer to the provided tutorial.

3. Plot Output - The Plot feature offers a powerful way to visualize real-time sensor data, enabling trend analysis, debugging, and comparison of multiple data points. To set it up correctly, follow the provided tutorial, which includes a step-by-step example of using the Plot feature to display Click board™ readings. To use the Plot feature in your code, use the function: plot(*insert_graph_name*, variable_name);. This is a general format, and it is up to the user to replace 'insert_graph_name' with the actual graph name and 'variable_name' with the parameter to be displayed.

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for LCD mini Click driver.

Key functions:

  • lcdmini_set_backlight - Set backlight function

  • lcdmini_set_contrast - Set contrast function

  • lcdmini_display_text - LCD mini display text

Open Source

Code example

The complete application code and a ready-to-use project are available through the NECTO Studio Package Manager for direct installation in the NECTO Studio. The application code can also be found on the MIKROE GitHub account.

/*!
 * @file main.c
 * @brief LCDmini Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This is an example that demonstrates the use of the LCD mini Click board.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initialization driver enables - SPI, performing hardware reset, default config, 
 * setting up the backlight, and entering text to be written.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * This example shows the written text, then the text is moved left, 
 * with changing between rows of the LCD screen.
 *
 * @note If the screen isn't initialized you may need to restart the device.
 * 
 * @author Stefan Ilic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "lcdmini.h"

static lcdmini_t lcdmini;
static log_t logger;

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    lcdmini_cfg_t lcdmini_cfg;  /**< Click config object. */

    /** 
     * Logger initialization.
     * Default baud rate: 115200
     * Default log level: LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG
     * @note If USB_UART_RX and USB_UART_TX 
     * are defined as HAL_PIN_NC, you will 
     * need to define them manually for log to work. 
     * See @b LOG_MAP_USB_UART macro definition for detailed explanation.
     */
    LOG_MAP_USB_UART( log_cfg );
    log_init( &logger, &log_cfg );
    log_info( &logger, " Application Init " );

    // Click initialization.
    lcdmini_cfg_setup( &lcdmini_cfg );
    LCDMINI_MAP_MIKROBUS( lcdmini_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    if ( SPI_MASTER_ERROR == lcdmini_init( &lcdmini, &lcdmini_cfg ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Communication init." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    lcdmini_hw_reset( &lcdmini );
    log_printf( &logger, "---------------------\r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "   SPI LCD Config    \r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, " Clear LCD display   \r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "     Cursor OFF      \r\n" );
    
    if ( LCDMINI_ERROR == lcdmini_default_cfg ( &lcdmini ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Default configuration." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    log_printf( &logger, "---------------------\r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "  Setting Backlight  \r\n" );
    lcdmini_set_backlight ( &lcdmini, 1 );
    Delay_ms ( 100 );
    
    log_printf( &logger, "---------------------\r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "  Set Contrast: 200  \r\n" );
    lcdmini_set_contrast( &lcdmini, 200 );
    Delay_ms ( 100 );
    
    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
    
    log_printf( &logger, "---------------------\r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "     Display text    \r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "---------------------\r\n" );
    
    lcdmini_display_text ( &lcdmini, 1, 6, "Mikro E" );
    lcdmini_display_text ( &lcdmini, 2, 2, "LCD mini Click" ); 
    lcdmini_display_text ( &lcdmini, 3, 2, "LCD mini Click" ); 
    lcdmini_display_text ( &lcdmini, 4, 6, "Mikro E" );
    Delay_ms ( 500 );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    Delay_ms ( 500 );
    lcdmini_send_cmd( &lcdmini, LCDMINI_SHIFT_LEFT ); 
}

int main ( void ) 
{
    /* Do not remove this line or clock might not be set correctly. */
    #ifdef PREINIT_SUPPORTED
    preinit();
    #endif
    
    application_init( );
    
    for ( ; ; ) 
    {
        application_task( );
    }

    return 0;
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END

Additional Support

Resources

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