help and advice for a newbie project

Hello all

I am new to the Arduino and electronic engineering, but i had an idea for a project and I hope this works.

I am wanting to make an electronic name badge for going to conventions. I hope that it will be in full color,
Here are the parts I am looking at.

  1. a standard Ardunio Uno R3
  2. a 2.2" TFT LCD display with micro SD board (2.2 18-bit color TFT LCD display with microSD card breakout [HX8340BN] : ID 797 : $29.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits)
  3. Power will probably be provided by a 9V battery or AA batteries, rechargeable so I do not burn through batteries

Here are my goals for the project.

  1. create a static image for a name badge.
  2. create a set of static images that can be changed by a push button
  3. create a short looping animation, like an animated gif used on message boards, that can play on an endless loop.
  4. create a set of short looping animations that can be changed with a push button.

and here is the help I am needing, like I said I am new, but willing to learn.

  1. for the 4 goals are they do-able on an Ardunio, meaning am I planing a project that is outside the power of the Ardunio, if so is there a similar product that could work.)
  2. for the display, is this a good product, or is there a display that would work better.

Also if anyone knows a person who has done this type of project, please fell free to send me a link to their project page. Just that I am looking for a full color screen, and not a simple 2 color matrix display.

thanks in advance for the help

It is definitely doable. In fact I would start with the tutorial Lady Ada provides; 2.2" TFT Display tutorial for using that display with the Arduino.

A google search should turn up examples of similar badges to provide inspiration!

thanks for the info, however every time I search for similar projects I get a ton of links to sites with the matrix LCD displays, none with the LCD TFT displays.

Yeh, I wouldn't expect to find many that use your specific approach, mostly because of the ones I am aware of were designed to be produced in fair quantities, and your chosen devices would raise the cost a bit. So for specific code examples on how to use that TFT with the arduino you'll likely have to rely on the tutorial link I posted and others like it you can find.

However, the examples you have found are still useful. Good code, is a independent of the output devices as possible. By examining the examples you have found you can use the common elements to produce a good design that abstracts the actual interface enough to improve your design and allow it to be more easily adjusted to other devices as available...