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Lesson 27: OLED Display Module (SSD1306)

In this lesson, you will learn how to connect and display text and graphics on an OLED display module (SSD1306) using the Raspberry Pi Pico W. You’ll set up the I2C communication, use MicroPython to program the Pico W to control the OLED display, and practice displaying simple text messages.

Required Components

In this project, we need the following components.

It’s definitely convenient to buy a whole kit, here’s the link:

Name	ITEMS IN THIS KIT	LINK
Universal Maker Sensor Kit	94	Universal Maker Sensor Kit

You can also buy them separately from the links below.

Component Introduction	Purchase Link
Raspberry Pi Pico W	BUY
OLED Display Module (SSD1306)	-
Breadboard	BUY

Wiring

Note

To ensure the OLED module operates normally, please power it using the VBUS pin on the Pico.

Code

Note

Open the 27_ssd1306_oled_module.py file under the path of universal-maker-sensor-kit-main/pico/Lesson_27_SSD1306_OLED_Module or copy this code into Thonny, then click “Run Current Script” or simply press F5 to run it. For detailed tutorials, please refer to Open and Run Code Directly.
Here you need to use the ssd1306.py, please check if it has been uploaded to Pico W, for a detailed tutorial refer to Upload the Libraries to Pico.
Don’t forget to click on the “MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico)” interpreter in the bottom right corner.

from machine import Pin, I2C
import ssd1306
import time

# setup the I2C communication
i2c = I2C(0, sda=Pin(20), scl=Pin(21))

# Set up the OLED display (128x64 pixels) on the I2C bus
# SSD1306_I2C is a subclass of FrameBuffer. FrameBuffer provides support for graphics primitives.
# http://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/pyboard/library/framebuf.html
oled = ssd1306.SSD1306_I2C(128, 64, i2c)

# Clear the display by filling it with white and then showing the update
oled.fill(1)
oled.show()
time.sleep(1)  # Wait for 1 second

# Clear the display again by filling it with black
oled.fill(0)
oled.show()
time.sleep(1)  # Wait for another second

# Display text on the OLED screen
oled.text('Hello,', 0, 0)  # Display "Hello," at position (0, 0)
oled.text('sunfounder.com', 0, 16)  # Display "sunfounder.com" at position (0, 16)

# The following line sends what to show to the display
oled.show()

Code Analysis

Initializing the I2C communication:

This code segment sets up the I2C communication protocol. I2C is a standard protocol for communication between devices. It uses two lines: SDA (data line) and SCL (clock line).
```
from machine import Pin, I2C
i2c = I2C(0, sda=Pin(20), scl=Pin(21))
```
Setting up the OLED display:

Here, we initialize the SSD1306 OLED display with the I2C protocol. The parameters 128 and 64 define the width and height of the display in pixels, respectively.

For more information about the ssd1306 library, please visit stlehmann/micropython-ssd1306.
```
import ssd1306
oled = ssd1306.SSD1306_I2C(128, 64, i2c)
```
Clearing the display:

The display is cleared by filling it with white (1) and then updating the display with oled.show(). The time.sleep(1) command adds a one-second delay. Then, the display is cleared again by filling it with black (0).

SSD1306_I2C is a subclass of FrameBuffer, which supports graphics primitives. If you want to display other patterns, please refer to framebuf — frame buffer manipulation.
```
oled.fill(1)
oled.show()
time.sleep(1)
oled.fill(0)
oled.show()
time.sleep(1)
```
Displaying text:

The oled.text method is used to display text on the screen. The parameters are the text to display and the x, y coordinates on the screen. Finally, oled.show() updates the display to show the text.
```
oled.text('Hello,', 0, 0)
oled.text('sunfounder.com', 0, 16)
oled.show()
```