One of the components is the 16×2 LCD display.

While this is kind of handy… it was a real nuisance to get sorted out and working with the Netduino.  I think it’s a combination of many factors… 1 being that  there aren’t a lot of libraries ready yet for the Netduino… and 2, I’m not that handy with all this stuff yet.

But… I finally did manage to make it work.  After much poking, prodding, downloading of projects, tweaking of code, and fortunately, no burnt offerings (in the way of fried components).  It works!

To make this work…

First, go here, and download the MicroLiquidCrystal_20100905.zip file.  You can find it at the bottom of the post (from Szymon, a forum member here… Thanks!)

Then, load up your project.  Use the GpioLiquidCrystalTransferProvider as your provider.

Finally, setup your provider code as follows:

GpioLiquidCrystalTransferProvider lcdProvider = new GpioLiquidCrystalTransferProvider(Pins.GPIO_PIN_D10,
                                Pins.GPIO_PIN_D11,
                                Pins.GPIO_PIN_D12,
                                Pins.GPIO_PIN_D13,
                                Pins.GPIO_PIN_A0,
                                Pins.GPIO_PIN_A1,
                                Pins.GPIO_PIN_A2
               ); 

      LiquidCrystal lcd = new LiquidCrystal(lcdProvider);

And, you’ll end up with a screen like the one above…

Please keep in mind.  Due to the way this LCD works, you can’t control certain features.  For instance, I don’t think you can control the Backlight, or the On/Off status of the LCD from code (there are hard switches on the LCD board).

And the library doesn’t have all the cool features yet of an aged library (scrolling text, or blinking text, etc).  But… considering the Netduino has only been out for a short time… I’m happy for now!

I did find this post by Guy Ziv (from nxtasy.org):

he says (and I quote from Lugnet):

The .NET Micro Framework documentations
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/embedded/bb278106.aspx
says it requires at least 256K RAM and 512K Flash.

The NXT processor has 64K RAM and 256K Flash….

So, it looks like my fears are true. I was really looking forward to using .NET to program on the NXT. I’ll have to see what sort of controller I can find, and make some interface cables to use the NXT motors and sensors.