RGB LCD Shield

Created by lady ada

https://learn.adafruit.com/rgb-lcd-shield

Last updated on 2024-06-05 09:53:57 AM EDT

©Adafruit Industries Page 1 of 34

 Table of Contents

Overview 3

Parts List 5
• 1) Resistors
• 2) Potentiometer
• 3) Pushbuttons
• 4) i2c Port Expander Chip
• 5) Male Header Pins
• 6) Printed Circuit Board
• Additional

Assembly 8
• Resistors
• Buttons
• MCP23017 and Potentiometer
• Headers
• RGB LCD

Arduino Usage 22
• Download the Library
• Adjusting Contrast
• Shared Pins
• Writing Your Own Sketches
• Using with Monochrome Displays
• Detached Usage

CircuitPython Usage 26
• CircuitPython Microcontroller Wiring
• CircuitPython Installation of CharLCD Library
• CircuitPython Code
• Full Code Example

Python Docs 29

F.A.Q. 29

Downloads 32
• Files
• Schematic and Fab Print

Forums 34

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 Overview
adafruit_products_arduino_compatibles_715-04.gif

This new Adafruit shield makes it easy to use a 16x2 Character LCD. We really like the
range of LCDs we stock in the shop, such as our classic blue & white (http://adafru.it/
181) as well as the fancy RGB negative (http://adafru.it/399) and RGB positive (http://
adafru.it/398).

Unfortunately, these LCDs do require quite a few digital pins, 6 to control the LCD and
then perhaps another 3 to control the RGB backlight for a total of 9 pins. That's half of
the pins available on a classic Arduino!

With this in mind, we wanted to make it easier for people to get these LCD into their
projects. So we devised a shield that lets you control a 16x2 Character LCD, up to 3
backlight pins AND 5 keypad pins using only the two I2C pins on the Arduino! The
best part is you don't really lose those two pins either, since you can use I2C-based
sensors, real-time clocks, etc. and have them share the I2C bus. This is a super slick
way to add a display without all the wiring hassle.

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 This shield is perfect for when you want to build a stand-alone project with its own
user interface. The 4 directional buttons plus select button allows basic control
without having to attach a bulky computer.

The shield is designed for 'classic' Arduino-shaped boards such as the Uno, Metro,
etc. But it will also fit "Mega" sized boards because the I2C pins are labeled SCL/SDA.

This used to come as a kit but now comes as an assembled SMT design, so much less
soldering is required.

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 Revision History:

• As of May 29, 2024 – The PCB's design has been updated. Now it comes with
the buttons, chips and other components already soldered into place. You will
still need to solder on the shield headers and the LCD, but it's a lot easier.

Parts List
As of May 29, 2024 – The PCB's design has been updated. Now it comes with
the buttons, chips and other components already soldered into place. You will
still need to solder on the shield headers and the LCD, but it's a lot easier.

Rev B:

The shield comes with the board and headers. All other parts are already soldered on
for your convenience!

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 Rev A:

Check to make sure your kit comes with all the parts. Sometimes we make mistakes
so double check everything and email [email protected] if you need
replacements!

1) Resistors
There is a total of 5 resistors in this kit. For resistors labeled R1 and R2 on the
PCB, they are 1/4W 5% 4.7K resistors (Yellow, Violet Red, Gold). For resistors labeled
RED and BLUE on the PCB, they are 1/4W 5% 220 ohm resistors (Red, Red, Brown,

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 Gold). For the resistor labeled GREEN on the PCB, it is a 1/4W 5% 330 ohm resistor
(Orange Orange Brown Gold).

2) Potentiometer
There is one 10k trim potentiometer. This part will go in the spot labeled Contrast,
near the RESET button. Note: The pot may be blue instead of orange.

3) Pushbuttons
There are a total of 6, 6mm tactile switch pushbuttons. These will be used in the UP,
DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, SELECT, and RESET locations on the PCB.

4) i2c Port Expander Chip

There is one of these MCP23017 i2c (16 input/output) port expander chips in the kit.
This is how we are able to only use 2 Arduino pins to run the entire LCD and buttons.
Click here for more info on this chip. (http://adafru.it/732)

5) Male Header Pins

There are two strips of 36 male header pins in the kit. These will be used to attach
the shield to the Arduino, as well as attach the LCD to the PCB.

6) Printed Circuit Board

There will be one PCB in the kit as shown above.

Additional
You'll want an LCD to place into the shield. This isn't included by default since a lot of
people already have LCDs they may want to use. (We do sell these in packs however
so chances are you did get an LCD with your order).

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 You can also use 16x2 LCDs or even OLEDs that are the same size that do not have
an RGB backlight, or have no backlight at all.

We carry Negative type (http://adafru.it/399) or Positive type (http://adafru.it/

398) LCDs.

Assembly
As of May 29, 2024, the shield comes with the buttons, chips and other
components already soldered into place. You can skip ahead to the Headers
section if you have this new version.

Check the kit against the parts list (https://

adafru.it/cl9) to verify you have all the
parts necessary

Put the printed circuit board into a vise or

board holder, heat up your soldering iron
and make sure you're ready to go!

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 Resistors
We'll start with the first resistor R1 - which
has yellow, violet, red, gold bands on it.
This resistor is part of the interface
between the Arduino and the 'port
expander' that controls the LCD.

Bend the resistor into a 'staple' and slide it

into the slot marked R1 on the PCB.
Resistors do not have a direction so you
can put it in 'either way' and it'll work fine.

Bend the 'legs' of the resistor out so it sits

flat against the PCB and flip it over.

This way the resistor won't fall out while

soldering.

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 With your soldering iron heated up and
ready, solder in both leads of the resistor.
To do this, heat up the round ring pad and
the wire lead at the same time for 2 or 3
seconds, then dip the end of the solder
into the heated joint to melt it in.

Then remove the solder and the soldering

iron.

Once the soldering is complete, we can

clean up by clipping the leads of the
resistor. This keeps them from shorting to
something else. Use diagonal or flush
cutters to clip the wires right above where
the solder joint ends.

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 Since you did so great with the first
resistor, we'll place all of the rest now at
the same time. R2 is a 4.7K resistor just
like R1 (Yellow, Violet, Red Gold) so place
that one first

Next you can do the two 220 ohm

resistors RED and BLUE - named because
they are the backlight series resistors for
the RGB backlights on the LCDs. These
resistors are colored Red Red Brown Gold.
They look very similar to the 330 ohm
resistor so check carefully that you have
the red-band ones. Use a multimeter if you
can to verify the resistance!

Finally, place the remaing 330 ohm

resistor (Orange, Orange, Brown, Gold)
into the GREEN spot. The green LED is
might brighter than the red or blue in the
RGB backlight so a larger resistor is
required to balance it out.

Make sure the resistors all sit nice and flat

against the PCB.

Solder the resistors just like you did with

the first one.

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 Clip all the leads.

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 Buttons
Next up we will place the buttons. These
buttons are useful to send a signal to the
Arduino (say if you have a basic menu
system). We have a 4-way 'direction pad'
for up/down/left/right input and a button to
the right called SELECT. These 5 buttons
should be able to make 'talking' back to
your project easy. These are connected to
the I2C port expander chip so they require
no extra pins on the Arduino, our library
does the work of reading whether they are
pressed.

The button all the way to the right is the

RESET button, for when you want to reset
the entire system.

All the buttons are the same, and they

should snap nicely into place. Press down
onto each button until it snaps in and sits
flat against the PCB.

Flip over the PCB and check that all the

legs for the buttons are sticking out.

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 Solder each leg, taking care not to
accidentally 'short' two button legs
together. The ones for the directional pads
are very close!

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 MCP23017 and Potentiometer
We're nearly done! Now we will place the
I2C port expander chip. Double check that
it has the MCP23017-E/SP marking on it.
This is a 16-pin expander chip, that uses
the i2c bus. That means you can send it
commands using the i2c pins on an
Arduino and control 16 more digital pins! 5
of those pins go to the buttons, 6 go to the
LCD control and 3 are used for the
backlight (the remaining 2 are unused).

Unlike buttons or resistors, chips do have

a direction and the must be put in the right
way! First, use a flat table to carefully bend
the legs of the chip so they are parallel.
Then slip it into the silkscreened outline so
that the notch at the end of the chip is on
the right. Click the image to the left to
make absolutely sure you've got it in the
right way. Once you are sure, press the
chip into place.

Next, place the 10K potentiometer (the

orange-faced thing with three legs) into
the spot above the RESET button. It will
only fit one way. This is the contrast
potentiometer which will adjust how dark
the characters appear. All displays are
slightly different so you'll adjust this once
the display is soldered in.

The kit may come with two

potentiometers - a big blue one for
breadboarding the LCD and a smaller
orange one for the shield kit. You can
throw away or recycle the blue one, use
only the orange one here!

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 Flip over the PCB and solder in the three
legs of the potentiometer and then all 28
pins of the port expander.

Headers
The steps here on out apply both to the older kit shield and the newest shield.

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 Take a stick of 36 pin header and break off
a 10 pin piece, an 8 pin piece and two 6
pin pieces.

Place the header onto your Arduino, if you

have an R2 or earlier Arduino, there will be
two pins that 'hang over' past the AREF
breakout. These two extra pins are used
for R3 and later Arduino classics and
Mega's to make connecting to the I2C pins
easier. We suggest keeping those two pins
in case you ever upgrade your 'duino.

Place the shield right on top. It should fit

perfectly where all the short ends of the
header fit into the holes of the shield.

To make it sit flat, you may need to clip the

legs of the buttons down - they will
interfere with the DC jack, lifting the shield
a bit.

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 Solder all of the header pins. Even though
they aren't used for passing signals, they
will make the mechanical connection to
the Arduino strong.

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 RGB LCD
Next, check if you have an RGB LCD (with
18 pins) or a Monochrome display (not
RGB, with 16 pins).

If you have an RGB 18 pin display break

off a 18-pin strip of header and place it
with the long ends down into the LCD
placement slot.

If you have an Monochrome 16 pin

display break off a 16-pin strip of header
and place it with the long ends down into
the LCD placement slot so that the two
right-most pins are empty.

Now you can take the 16x2 LCD of your

choosing and place it on top. For the RGB
LCDs we stock, there are two connection
rows, just make sure it matches the outline
silkscreen on the shield and you should be
good to go.

If your LCD does not have an RGB

backlight or it has no backlight, you may
have to shorten the length of header (see
the previous step) until it matches and
make sure the LCD fits over the silkscreen
outline.

If you already soldered all 18 pins but you

have a 16 or 14 pin LCD, simply cut off the
right-most pin tops until it fits.

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 Solder all the pins to the LCD display.

Flip over the shield and place it flat on the

table so the long leads of the header stick
out.

Solder each of the header legs.

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 Finish up by carefully clipping the leads.
For some Arduinos, the long leads may
interfere with headers or parts on the
Arduino board so we suggest just clipping
them all. Do it carefully as these are a little
difficult to cut and may fly at you. We
suggest doing it over a trash can.

You're done!

Check out the next page for how to use

the shield and libraries.

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 Arduino Usage
The shield is really easy to use. Once you have attached the LCD of choice, plug it
onto the Arduino and download our library from GitHub (https://adafru.it/aMi). The
example included shows how to use the RGB backlight control and reading from the
keypad.

Download the Library

To interface with the LCD and buttons you must use our library which translates the
commands through the port expander

Open up the Arduino library manager:

Search for the Adafruit RGB LCD Shield library and install it

We also have a great tutorial on Arduino library installation at:

http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-all-about-arduino-libraries-install-use (https://
adafru.it/aYM)

Adjusting Contrast
The shield uses a character LCD with an external contrast potentiometer. The first
time you use it, adjust the potentiometer in the bottom right until you see the text
clearly. If you don't upload code to the Arduino, some boxes will appear instead

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 If you don't see any text on the LCD, be sure to try twisting the orange contrast
potentiometer until the text appears. You may have to turn it all the way around
from one side to the other until you see text

Shared Pins
The I2C pins are shared with other pins, and each Arduino type has a different
sharing scheme. Those pins cannot be used for anything else than I2C when this
shield is used!
Uno/Duemilanove/Diecimila - I2C pins are also the same pins as Analog 4 and Analog
5
Mega 1280 and 2560 - I2C pins are also the same pins as Digital 20 and 21
Leonardo and other 32u4-based - I2C pins are also the same pins as Digital 2 and 3

Writing Your Own Sketches

The Adafruit_RGBLCDShield library is a derivative of the LiquidCrystal library that
comes with Arduino so you can call any of the functions that you're used to and they'll
work just the same.

There are two extra functions you may want to use. One is lcd.setBacklight(color);
which will change the backlight color assuming you have an RGB LCD on. At this time,
the library does not do any PWM on the RGB backlight, so you can select from 8
different colors (inlcuding OFF) - if you place these #define's at the top of your sketch
you can simply call whichever color you want to appear.

// These #defines make it easy to set the backlight color

#define OFF 0x0
#define RED 0x1
#define YELLOW 0x3
#define GREEN 0x2
#define TEAL 0x6
#define BLUE 0x4
#define VIOLET 0x5
#define WHITE 0x7

Another extra of the shield is a 4-way directional keypad plus select button. This will
let you design your own control interface for 'stand-alone' Arduino projects. All the
buttons are read at once when you call lcd.readButtons(); which returns a variable
that has individual bits set for the buttons. You can easily test for which buttons were
held down at the time of the readButtons() call by using bitwise & as seen in this code
snippet.

Note that the library handles button debouncing internally. There is no need to

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 debounce the buttons in your code.

uint8_t buttons = lcd.readButtons();

if (buttons) {
if (buttons & BUTTON_UP) {
lcd.setBacklight(RED);
}
if (buttons & BUTTON_DOWN) {
lcd.setBacklight(YELLOW);
}
if (buttons & BUTTON_LEFT) {
lcd.setBacklight(GREEN);
}
if (buttons & BUTTON_RIGHT) {
lcd.setBacklight(TEAL);
}
if (buttons & BUTTON_SELECT) {
lcd.setBacklight(VIOLET);
}
}

Using with Monochrome Displays

Displays with monochrome backlights are controlled by the RED pin and will only
respond to colors that have RED in them (RED, YELLOW, VIOLET). For these displays,
you can use ON and OFF instead as in the snippet below:

uint8_t buttons = lcd.readButtons();

if (buttons) {
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
if (buttons & BUTTON_UP) {
lcd.print("UP ");
lcd.setBacklight(HIGH);
}
if (buttons & BUTTON_DOWN) {
lcd.print("DOWN ");
lcd.setBacklight(LOW);
}

Detached Usage
If you want to have the shield disconnected from the Arduino (say to panel mount it)
or if you want to use it with a different type of processor board, its very easy!

Just power the 5V pin with 5V, common ground to GND and then connect
the SCL labeled pin (top left) to I2C clock and SDA to I2C data. Those are the only
four wires you need to control the entire shield.

• On Uno-shaped Arduinos, SCL is also connected to Analog 5 and SDA is

connected to Analog 4.

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 • On Mega Arduinos, SCL is also connected to Digital 21 and SDA is connected to
Digital 20.
• On Leonardo Arduinos, SCL is also connected to Digital 3 and SDA is connected
to Digital 2.

Important: Wire +5V and GND to the shield pins shown in the pictures! The GND
pin next to the 5v pin is NOT connected. You must use the one next to the VIN
pin!

If you plan on using the reset button, you will need to attach a fifth wire between
the arduino's reset pin and the corresponding reset pin on the shield.

©Adafruit Industries Page 25 of 34

 CircuitPython Usage
It's easy to use the RGB character LCD shield with CircuitPython and the Adafruit
CircuitPython CharLCD (https://adafru.it/C47) library. This library allows you to easily
write Python code that controls the RGB character LCD.

CircuitPython Microcontroller Wiring

Assemble the shield kit as shown in the previous pages. Then, attach it to a Metro M0
or Metro M4. It's that simple!

CircuitPython Installation of CharLCD

Library
You'll need to install the Adafruit CircuitPython CharLCD (https://adafru.it/C47) library
on your CircuitPython board.

First make sure you are running the latest version of Adafruit CircuitPython (https://
adafru.it/Amd) for your board.

Next you'll need to install the necessary libraries to use the hardware--carefully follow
the steps to find and install these libraries from Adafruit's CircuitPython library
bundle (https://adafru.it/uap). Our CircuitPython starter guide has a great page on
how to install the library bundle (https://adafru.it/ABU).

If you choose, you may manually install the libraries from the bundle:

• adafruit_character_lcd
• adafruit_mcp230xx
• adafruit_bus_device

Before continuing make sure your board's lib folder or root filesystem has
the adafruit_character_lcd, adafruit_mcp230xx, and adafruit_bus_device files and
folders copied over.

Next connect to the board's serial REPL (https://adafru.it/Awz) so you are at the
CircuitPython >>> prompt.

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 CircuitPython Code
To demonstrate the usage of the character LCD we'll initialize it and display text using
CircuitPython code.

First, you'll need to import necessary modules, initialize the I2C bus, and create an
instance of the character LCD class. Paste the following code into your REPL:

import board
import busio
import adafruit_character_lcd.character_lcd_rgb_i2c as character_lcd
lcd_columns = 16
lcd_rows = 2
i2c = busio.I2C(board.SCL, board.SDA)
lcd = character_lcd.Character_LCD_RGB_I2C(i2c, lcd_columns, lcd_rows)

Now you're ready to start writing text and characters on the display! The usage of the
LCD class is exactly the same as shown in the parallel LCD wiring guide (https://
adafru.it/CVQ). Be sure to check out that guide (https://adafru.it/CVQ) for a complete
discussion of LCD usage.

As a quick test though you can run the following code to use the color property to
set the backlight to red and the message property to write text to the display:

lcd.color = [100, 0, 0]
lcd.message = "Hello\nCircuitPython"

See the parallel LCD guide for more functions you can call to control the LCD! (https://
adafru.it/CVQ)

That's all there is to using the RGB character LCD shield kit with CircuitPython!

©Adafruit Industries Page 27 of 34

 Full Code Example
Copy the following example to code.py on your board, and see a demo of some of
the different things the character LCD library has to offer!

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 ladyada for Adafruit Industries

# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

"""Simple test for I2C RGB character LCD shield kit"""

import time
import board
import adafruit_character_lcd.character_lcd_rgb_i2c as character_lcd

# Modify this if you have a different sized Character LCD

lcd_columns = 16
lcd_rows = 2

# Initialise I2C bus.

i2c = board.I2C() # uses board.SCL and board.SDA
# i2c = board.STEMMA_I2C() # For using the built-in STEMMA QT connector on a
microcontroller

# Initialise the LCD class

lcd = character_lcd.Character_LCD_RGB_I2C(i2c, lcd_columns, lcd_rows)

lcd.clear()
# Set LCD color to red
lcd.color = [100, 0, 0]
time.sleep(1)
# Print two line message
lcd.message = "Hello\nCircuitPython"
# Wait 5s
time.sleep(5)
# Set LCD color to blue
lcd.color = [0, 100, 0]
time.sleep(1)
# Set LCD color to green
lcd.color = [0, 0, 100]
time.sleep(1)
# Set LCD color to purple
lcd.color = [50, 0, 50]
time.sleep(1)
lcd.clear()
# Print two line message right to left
lcd.text_direction = lcd.RIGHT_TO_LEFT
lcd.message = "Hello\nCircuitPython"
# Wait 5s
time.sleep(5)
# Return text direction to left to right
lcd.text_direction = lcd.LEFT_TO_RIGHT
# Display cursor
lcd.clear()
lcd.cursor = True
lcd.message = "Cursor! "
# Wait 5s
time.sleep(5)
# Display blinking cursor
lcd.clear()
lcd.blink = True
lcd.message = "Blinky Cursor!"
# Wait 5s
time.sleep(5)
lcd.blink = False
lcd.clear()

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 # Create message to scroll
scroll_msg = "<-- Scroll"
lcd.message = scroll_msg
# Scroll to the left
for i in range(len(scroll_msg)):
time.sleep(0.5)
lcd.move_left()
lcd.clear()
time.sleep(1)
lcd.message = "Going to sleep\nCya later!"
time.sleep(5)
# Turn off LCD backlights and clear text
lcd.color = [0, 0, 0]
lcd.clear()

Python Docs
Python Docs (https://adafru.it/C49)

F.A.Q.
I have a monochrome display and some of the buttons
don't work.
The monochrome display only responds to backlight colors with RED in them. Use
"ON" and "OFF" instead. See the code snippet under "Using with Monochrome
Displays"

What pins are used? What pins are available?

The shield uses only the SCL and SDA I2C pins, and 5V power and ground. You
can use the I2C pins for other I2C sensors/devices as long as they do not share the
same address. If you are using an Arduino UNO, Analog 4 and Analog 5 are shared
with SCL/SDA so you can't use them. Likewise, Arduino Leonardos share SCL/SDA
with Digital 2 & Digital 3 so those would not be available.

I'm trying to compile and I'm getting error messages like

"No such file or directory" or "does not name a type"
If you're seeing error messages that look like any (or all) of the following, it means
that the Arduino IDE is not finding the Adafruit libraries
◦ error: Adafruit_MCP23017.h: No such file or directory
◦ error: Adafruit_RGBLCDShield.h: No such file or directory
◦ error: 'Adafruit_RGBLCDShield' does not name a type
◦ error: 'lcd' was not declared in this scope
◦ error: 'BUTTON_UP' was not declared in this scope

©Adafruit Industries Page 29 of 34

 ◦ error: 'BUTTON_DOWN' was not declared in this scope
◦ error: 'BUTTON_LEFT' was not declared in this scope
◦ error: 'BUTTON_RIGHT' was not declared in this scope
◦ error: 'BUTTON_SELECT' was not declared in this scope

There are three possible causes for this:

1. You didn't download the library folder.

Adafruit has written some extra software to make it easy to

use your shield. This software is contained in a library folder
that you can download here:

https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-RGB-LCD-Shield-
Library (https://adafru.it/aMi)

You download the folder by clicking on the

Downloads (https://adafru.it/aMj) button in the top right. You
will have the option of downloading the library in one of two
compressed formats: '.zip' or '.tar.gz'. Windows and Mac users
will probably want to select .zip, while Linux users may prefer
.tar.gz.

MacOS will automatically uncompress the downloaded file

into a folder, which you should find in the Downloads folder.

Windows users can double-click on the downloaded file. This

will open an Explorer window which will allow you to extract
the compressed library folder.

2. The library folder has the wrong name.

After downloading and uncompressing the library folder, you

change the name of the folder to "Adafruit_RGBLCDShield".
Don't abbreviate, add any spaces, underscores or other
characters. Make sure the capitalization is the same as
shown here.

3. The library folder is in the wrong place.

When you installed your Arduino IDE, it created a 'sketch

folder' for you (if you don't already know where that sketch
folder is, go into the Arduino application's 'Sketch' menu, and

©Adafruit Industries Page 30 of 34

 select 'Show Sketch Folder').

of the sketch folder, there should be another folder called

'libraries'. If not, create a new folder of the sketch folder, and
name it "libraries" (the name be "libraries" - not "library"
or"librarys" - not "Libraries" with a capital 'L' ! ).

Move your new Adafruit_RGBLCDShield folder into this

libraries folder.

Once you've made sure the folder has the right name and is in the right place, you
have to close and reopen the Arduino IDE, so that it will recognize the new library.

if you're curious, you can learn more about libraries here:

http://learn.adafruit.com/arduino-tips-tricks-and-techniques/arduino-
libraries (https://adafru.it/aYG)

Does the shield do the button de-bounce logic internally,

or do I need to do that in software when reading the
buttons?
The Adafruit_RGBLCDShield library handles button debouncing for you, when
you use the readButtons() function.

Is this compatible with my Arduino? There are two extra

pins on the header that don't plug into anything.
The shield will work fine with older Arduino boards. Extra pins were added to the
R3 version of the Uno and Mega. These are duplicates of other header pins and
are not required for proper operation of the shield.

Does this work with the Raspberry Pi?

At this time, it does not! This shield is for Arduinos only!

I am using this detached from the Arduino and it doesn't

seem to be getting any power.
Only the ground pin next to the VIN pin is used. You need to connect your ground
wire to this pin.

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 Can I use this with 20x4 LCDs?
Technically, yes. The pinouts for 20x4 and 16x2 are identical. However, the screen
is way bigger, and it covers the buttons up so we don't suggest it.

Downloads
Files
• MCP23017 Datasheet (https://adafru.it/Z8A)
• EagleCAD PCB files on GitHub (https://adafru.it/aQs)
• Fritzing object in the Adafruit Fritzing Library - Rev A (https://adafru.it/1a1E)
• Fritzing object in the Adafruit Fritzing Library - Rev B (https://adafru.it/1a1F)

Schematic and Fab Print

Rev B

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 Rev A

©Adafruit Industries Page 33 of 34

 Forums
Forums (https://adafru.it/forums)

©Adafruit Industries Page 34 of 34