LCD & Relay Breakout Board

Image 1: LCD & Relay Breakout Board (Top Side)

Image 2: LCD & Relay Breakout Board (Bottom Side)

Image 3: LCD & Relay Breakout Board (Assembled)

Image 4: LCD & Relay Breakout Board (Testing)

This project involved the design and development of a breakout board integrating a 20x4 LCD and a 2-channel relay interface. The board uses an IDC socket to provide a simple connection to a target microcontroller board, allowing the LCD and relays to be controlled through a single interface.

The 20x4 LCD can display up to 80 characters, with onboard controls for adjusting its brightness and contrast. The relay section uses two low-trigger channels, allowing the relays to be activated through signals from the connected microcontroller.

Both relay channels include optocouplers, which provide electrical isolation between the microcontroller's control signals and the relay load. This helps protect the microcontroller from voltage spikes generated on the load side.

The board was designed as a reusable interface for projects requiring LCD-based status display and relay-based switching, while keeping the connection to the microcontroller simple through the IDC interface.