In this project, we’ll see how to make an electronic die with Arduino that gives you a number between 1 and 6. This can be very useful when playing a board game, for example. The project includes an LCD screen to display the number and a push button to generate a new one.

Required materials

Now, here are the materials needed for the project:

  • An Arduino Uno board

  • A 16×2 Liquid Crystal LCD screen

  • A potentiometer

  • A push button

  • Two resistors: one 220 ohms and one 10 kilo-ohms

  • Jumper wires (around fifteen!)

What is the resistor on the push button for?

When using a push button, there can be voltages between 0V and 5V that may cause errors when reading its value.

The resistor on the push button removes any unknown voltage state by pulling the voltage down to 0V or up to 5V when the button is not being pressed. This is called a pull-down resistor. You can check out our course on the topic for more details.

What is the potentiometer for?

The potentiometer is used to adjust the brightness of the screen. You can skip it by connecting 5V directly to the brown wire, and the GND from the potentiometer to the screen can be connected directly to the Arduino board.

/* Electronic Die Program for Arduino */

#include <LiquidCrystal.h> // LCD library
const int pin_button = 7; // Push button connected to pin 7

LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2); // Initialize LCD with specified pins

void setup() {
  lcd.begin(16, 2); // Initialize the LCD
  int random_number = random(1, 7); // Generate a random number between 1 and 6
  lcd.print("Die Number: ");        // Display static text
  lcd.setCursor(13, 0);             // Set cursor for the number
  lcd.print(random_number);        // Display the number
}

void loop() {
  lcd.setCursor(0, 1); // Move cursor to the beginning of the second line
  int button_state = digitalRead(pin_button); // Read push button state
  if (button_state == 0) { // If button is pressed (active low)
    lcd.clear();                         // Clear the LCD
    int random_number = random(1, 7);    // Generate new number
    lcd.print("Die Number: ");          // Display static text
    lcd.setCursor(13, 0);               // Position for number
    lcd.print(random_number);           // Display new number
  }
}