Upcycling av teckendisplaymodul : En adapter for styrkretsen Hitachi HD44780

Sammanfattning: Upcycling can be described as an activity where outdated or discarded products are used as raw-materials in the construction of a new object, for which an increased quality or value is achieved. Some ideas for upcycling of technologically simple products have prooved successful, in the sense that those ideas have become widespread and practically implemented within a certain target audience. This thesis explores how an idea concerning upcycling of an electric product can be developed into a prototype, with the intent to simplify application of the idea within the target audience of electronic hobbyists. This is achieved through the development of a prototype for an adapter, the purpose of which is to extend the functionality of a character based LCD module with the Hitachi HD44780 control circuit. This allows for using such LCD module for displaying text in additional languages, and (for certain applications) using it as a substitute for a monochromatic graphical LCD module. The conclusion of the study is that the adapter prototype is capable of increasing the number of user defined characters that can be displayed simeltanously by a character LCD module, and that the prototype may be of use for certain types of applications within the intended target audience.