DEV-13628 Datasheet DEV-13628 | P1-P3

Photon OLED Shield Hookup Guide

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Introduction

Want your Photon projects to display sensor readings, play pong, or draw

little doodles? The Photon OLED Shield might be the perfect fit, and we’re

going to show you how to use it.

If the OLED screen in the picture above looks familiar, it’s probably

because we use the same component in our Microview and Micro OLED

Breakout products, as well as the OLED Block for the Edison. We love it for

it’s combination of small footprint yet surprisingly clear graphics – the

screen itself is 0.66" across, with a display area measuring 64 pixels wide

by 48 pixels tall.

Please Note: All SparkFun shields for the Photon are also compatible

with the Core from Particle. The WKP, DAC and VBT pins on the

Photon will be labeled A7, A6 and 3V3*, respectively, on the Core, but

will not alter the functionality of any of the Shields.

Covered in this Tutorial

This tutorial will cover the functionality of the OLED shield, how to hook it

up in your project, and how to program with it using the SparkFun Micro

OLED Library.

Required Materials

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All you need to get started with the Photon OLED Shield is a Photon, a

micro-USB cable, and the OLED shield. You’ll also want to sign up for an

account on particle.io and register your photon. Instructions on how to do

this can be found at docs.particle.io.

Suggested Reading

• Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) – SPI is the preferred method of

communication with the display.

• I C – Alternatively, I C can be used to control the display. It uses less

wires, but is quite a bit slower.

OLED Shield Overview

Pin Descriptions

Since the shield does all of the work for you, there’s no need to actually

wire these connections - but in case you’re looking at datasheets, or code

for the Microview or OLED breakout, this table will give you a clue as to

what the shield is doing. As always, you can check the schematic for more

info.

OLED

Shield Pin

Photon

SPI

Function

I C Function Notes

GND GND Ground Ground 0V

3V3 (VDD) 3V3 Power Power

Should be a regulated

3.3V supply.

(SDI/MOSI)

A5 MOSI SDA Serial data in

D0 (SCK) A3 SCK SCL SPI and I C clock

D2 (SDO) MISO —

Can be unused in

SPI mode. No

function for I C.

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D/C D6

Data /

Command

I C address

selection

Digital pin to signal if

incoming byte is a

command or screen

data.

Photon Kit

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KIT-13345

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9

SparkFun Photon Micro

OLED Shield

 DEV-13628

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RST D7 Reset Reset

Active-low screen

reset.

CS A2 —

SPI chip select

(active-low)

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Setting the Jumpers

With the board flipped over, you’ll notice there are six jumpers. The majority

of these jumpers are used to switch between SPI and I C mode. As the

board ships, these jumpers are set to configure the display in SPI mode.

Here’s an overview of each jumper, moving from left-to-right, top-to-bottom

in the picture above:

• VD/VB -- This jumper shorts the digital power supply (VDD) to the

battery power supply (VBAT). Because both of these supplies can be

powered at 3.3V, an easy one-supply solution is to short them

together and provide them a single supply. If you need to power the

digital supply at something lower, like 1.8V, you may need to cut this

jumper and provide two supplies.

• D1/D2 -- This jumper can be used to short D1 to D2. If you want to

use SPI, leave this jumper open. If you're using I C, short the jumper.

By default this jumper is open.

• D/C -- This jumper can be used to short D/C to either 3.3V (1) or 0V

(0). In I C mode, the D/C pin sets the 7-bit address of the display. In

SPI mode this jumper should be left open, as the D/C pin needs to be

toggled to determine if an incoming byte is data or command.

• BS2 and BS1 -- These pins on the OLED determine which interface

you're using to control the OLED. With the two signals, there are four

possible combinations:

BS2BS1Interface

00 SPI

01 IC

1 0 8-bit Parallel (6800)

1 1 8-bit Parallel (8080)

By default, both of these jumpers are set to 0, which puts the display

in SPI mode. If you want to change it to I C mode, clear the BS1

jumper and set it to 1.

That brief overview should cover the 99% use case. Consult the schematic

and the notes therein if you have any questions about jumpers or pins.

Using the OLED Shield

When attaching your Photon to the top of the OLED shield, make sure the

beveled end of your Photon (next to A0 and D0) matches up with the

beveled lines on the top of the OLED shield (the end with the Open Source

Hardware Logo). The pin labels on the Photon should match those on the

OLED shield as well. You can stack many of our Photon shields together,

which is why the OLED screen juts out to the side. So, you can end up with

something like this:

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P1-P3 P4-P6 P7-P9 P10-P12

DEV-13628

Mfr. #:

Buy DEV-13628

Manufacturer:

SparkFun

Description:

Display Development Tools PhotonMicro OLED Shield

Lifecycle:

New from this manufacturer.

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