1.1.5 4-Digit 7-Segment Display¶

Introduction¶

Next, follow me to try to control the 4-digit 7-segment display.

Components¶

Schematic Diagram¶

T-Board Name	physical	wiringPi	BCM
GPIO17	Pin 11	0	17
GPIO27	Pin 13	2	27
GPIO22	Pin 15	3	22
SPIMOSI	Pin 19	12	10
GPIO18	Pin 12	1	18
GPIO23	Pin 16	4	23
GPIO24	Pin 18	5	24

Experimental Procedures¶

Step 1: Build the circuit.

Step 2: Go to the folder of the code.

cd /home/pi/raphael-kit/python/

Step 3: Run the executable file.

sudo python3 1.1.5_4-Digit.py

After the code runs, the program takes a count, increasing by 1 per second, and the 4 digit display displays the count.

Code

Note

You can Modify/Reset/Copy/Run/Stop the code below. But before that, you need to go to source code path like raphael-kit/python. After modifying the code, you can run it directly to see the effect.

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time
import threading

SDI = 24
RCLK = 23
SRCLK = 18

placePin = (10, 22, 27, 17)
number = (0xc0, 0xf9, 0xa4, 0xb0, 0x99, 0x92, 0x82, 0xf8, 0x80, 0x90)

counter = 0
timer1 = 0

def clearDisplay():
    for i in range(8):
        GPIO.output(SDI, 1)
        GPIO.output(SRCLK, GPIO.HIGH)
        GPIO.output(SRCLK, GPIO.LOW)
    GPIO.output(RCLK, GPIO.HIGH)
    GPIO.output(RCLK, GPIO.LOW)

def hc595_shift(data):
    for i in range(8):
        GPIO.output(SDI, 0x80 & (data << i))
        GPIO.output(SRCLK, GPIO.HIGH)
        GPIO.output(SRCLK, GPIO.LOW)
    GPIO.output(RCLK, GPIO.HIGH)
    GPIO.output(RCLK, GPIO.LOW)

def pickDigit(digit):
    for i in placePin:
        GPIO.output(i,GPIO.LOW)
    GPIO.output(placePin[digit], GPIO.HIGH)

def timer():
    global counter
    global timer1
    timer1 = threading.Timer(1.0, timer)
    timer1.start()
    counter += 1
    print("%d" % counter)

def loop():
    global counter
    while True:
        clearDisplay()
        pickDigit(0)
        hc595_shift(number[counter % 10])

        clearDisplay()
        pickDigit(1)
        hc595_shift(number[counter % 100//10])

        clearDisplay()
        pickDigit(2)
        hc595_shift(number[counter % 1000//100])

        clearDisplay()
        pickDigit(3)
        hc595_shift(number[counter % 10000//1000])

def setup():
    GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
    GPIO.setup(SDI, GPIO.OUT)
    GPIO.setup(RCLK, GPIO.OUT)
    GPIO.setup(SRCLK, GPIO.OUT)
    for i in placePin:
        GPIO.setup(i, GPIO.OUT)
    global timer1
    timer1 = threading.Timer(1.0, timer)
    timer1.start()

def destroy():   # When "Ctrl+C" is pressed, the function is executed.
    global timer1
    GPIO.cleanup()
    timer1.cancel()  # cancel the timer

if __name__ == '__main__':
    setup()
    try:
        loop()
    except KeyboardInterrupt:
        destroy()

Code Explanation

placePin = (10, 22, 27, 17)

These four pins control the common anode pins of the four-digit 7-segment displays.

number = (0xc0, 0xf9, 0xa4, 0xb0, 0x99, 0x92, 0x82, 0xf8, 0x80, 0x90)

A segment code array from 0 to 9 in hexadecimal (common anode).

def clearDisplay():
    for i in range(8):
        GPIO.output(SDI, 1)
        GPIO.output(SRCLK, GPIO.HIGH)
        GPIO.output(SRCLK, GPIO.LOW)
GPIO.output(RCLK, GPIO.HIGH)
GPIO.output(RCLK, GPIO.LOW)

Write “1” for eight times in SDI., so that the eight LEDs on the 7-segment Dispaly will turn off so as to clear the displayed content.

def pickDigit(digit):
    for i in placePin:
        GPIO.output(i,GPIO.LOW)
    GPIO.output(placePin[digit], GPIO.HIGH)

Select the place of the value. there is only one place that should be enable each time. The enabled place will be written high.

def loop():
    global counter
    while True:
        clearDisplay()
        pickDigit(0)
        hc595_shift(number[counter % 10])

        clearDisplay()
        pickDigit(1)
        hc595_shift(number[counter % 100//10])

        clearDisplay()
        pickDigit(2)
        hc595_shift(number[counter % 1000//100])

        clearDisplay()
        pickDigit(3)
        hc595_shift(number[counter % 10000//1000])

The function is used to set the number displayed on the 4-digit 7-segment Dispaly.

First, start the fourth segment display, write the single-digit number. Then start the third segment display, and type in the tens digit; after that, start the second and the first segment display respectively, and write the hundreds and thousands digits respectively. Because the refreshing speed is very fast, we see a complete four-digit display.

timer1 = threading.Timer(1.0, timer)
timer1.start()

The module, threading is the common threading module in Python，and Timer is the subclass of it. The prototype of code is:

class threading.Timer(interval, function, args=[], kwargs={})

After the interval, the function will be run. Here, the interval is 1.0，and the function is timer(). start () means the Timer will start at this point.

def timer():
    global counter
    global timer1
    timer1 = threading.Timer(1.0, timer)
    timer1.start()
    counter += 1
    print("%d" % counter)

After Timer reaches 1.0s, the Timer function is called; add 1 to counter, and the Timer is used again to execute itself repeatedly every second.