

7-SEGMENT FLIP-DISC DISPLAY.
A 7-segment display is a type of electronic display device that is used to display digits. It is called a “7-segment” display because it consists of seven individual segments that are used to form the digits from 0 to 9. As for the flip-discs-based display, the name 7-segment is conventional because the display consists of 23 independent discs that can be controlled individually which allows the display of additional symbols or letters e.g. °F, °C, %.
The designed modules: a 7-segment display, an Arduino-based controller and 2 dot and 3 dot modules allow building a clock, scoreboard, thermometer or any display in any configuration based on these modules.
Modules dedicated and designed to work with:
- Flip-disc clock design in preparation
- Arduino Controller
- 2-Dot Module
- 3-Dot Module
HOW TO CONTROL THE DISPLAY.
It is worth mentioning here that flip-disc displays require a specific power supply, in order to flip the disc we need to supply the disc with a current pulse of about 0.5A with a precise length of about 1ms (see flip-disc datasheet) and with correct polarity. You have two options to control the display: first option is a dedicated power module called pulse shaper and any control board such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi etc. You don’t need anything else. How to connect the boards can be found below in the description. You don’t have to worry about the whole procedure of powering and controlling the individual discs, because it is done by the ready-made Arduino program and the display itself. The second option is even simpler because you just need to connect the display to a dedicated Arduino-based controller and of course, there are ready-made sample program codes for clock, thermometer, counter, etc. In both cases we have similar capabilities, but the option with a dedicated controller is more elegant because it has additional advantages: built-in pulse shaper power supply, real-time clock, buttons, connector for temperature sensor, etc.
What you need to control the display – summary:
- Option one
- Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc.
- Flip-disc power supply module
- Option two
- Arduino Nano Every / Arduino Nano 33 IoT
- Dedicated Arduino controller for the flip-disc displays
HOW TO USE.
- The displays can be connected in series
- Any number of modules requires only one power module or one control module
- The displays can be connected with 2-dot or 3-dot modules in any configuration
- If you use a dedicated control module, the only requirement is an external 12V power source
- If you decide not to use a dedicated controller, then you must use the power supply module in addition to the Arduino board. This configuration requires a 3.3V-5V (VCC) power supply for the display. Only 3 pins DIN, CLK, EN (MOSI, SCK, EN – SPI) are required to control the display and two pins for power supply module
- 12V, 1.5A external power supply is required
- Examples of module connection diagrams can be found in the description below
DATASHEET.











