GPS with LCD display – Arduino Project

I built a GPS that displays latitude and longitude on an LCD display with an Arduino.

The project will also display the latitude, longitude and time on the serial monitor of the Arduino IDE when connected by USB.  For testing I put everything in a plastic box and powered it with a 9V battery (see photo).

Project photo.

Click to enlarge.  Left to right on the breadboard: GPS antenna, GPS module, potentiometer for LCD brightness, LCD display.

Project Fritzing diagram.

Note that the GPS antenna is not shown.  I was not able to locate the Fritzing icon for the GPS or antenna.

Project schematic.

None. I was not able to locate the Fritzing icon and Fritzing produced a rats nest for a schematic.

Project sketch.

// GPS displaying lat and lon on LCD and lat, lon and date-time on serial monitor
// based on
// TinyGPS++ from IDE
// LCD example from IDE
// September 28, 2018 MGL
// Notes
// Can be connected via USB for serial monitor output or 9V battery operated for portability in which
// case the serial output will go nowhere.

#include <TinyGPS++.h>
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

/*
* LCD to Arduino connections
LCD pin 4 RS to Arduino digital pin 12
LCD pin 6 E to Arduino digital pin 11
LCD pin 11 D4 to Arduino digital pin 5
LCD pin 12 D5 to Arduino digital pin 4
LCD pin 13 D6 to Arduino digital pin 3
LCD pin 14 D7 to Arduino digital pin 2
LCD pin 5 R/W to GND
LCD pin 2 VDD to +5V
LCD pin 1 VSS to GND
LCD pin 15 A to +5v (backlight)
LCD pin 16 K to GND (backlight)
10K potentiometer (for backlight brightness control):
one end terminal to +5V
one end terminal to GND
middle terminal (wiper) to pin 3 VO on LCD 
*/
/*
* GPS to Arduino connections
GPS TX pin to Arduino RX pin
GPS RX pin to Arduino TX pin
9600 baud
GPS Vcc pin to +5V
GPS GND pin to GND
*/

// GPS variables and assignments and baud 
static const int RXPin = 8, TXPin = 7;
static const uint32_t GPSBaud = 9600;

// The TinyGPS++ object
TinyGPSPlus gps;

// The serial connection to the GPS device
SoftwareSerial ss(RXPin, TXPin);

// LCD pins variables and assignments
const int rs = 12, en = 11, d4 = 5, d5 = 4, d6 = 3, d7 = 2;
LiquidCrystal lcd(rs, en, d4, d5, d6, d7);

void setup()
{
Serial.begin(115200);
ss.begin(GPSBaud);

Serial.println(F("DeviceExample.ino"));
Serial.println(F("A simple demonstration of TinyGPS++ with an attached GPS module"));
Serial.print(F("Testing TinyGPS++ library v. ")); Serial.println(TinyGPSPlus::libraryVersion());
Serial.println(F("by Mikal Hart"));
Serial.println();

// LCD is 16 columns, 2 rows
lcd.begin(16, 2);

/* for testing LCD
// Print a message to the LCD.
lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print("hello, world");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
// print the number of seconds since reset:
lcd.print(millis() / 1000);
*/
}

void loop()
{
// This sketch displays information every time a new sentence is correctly encoded.
while (ss.available() > 0)
if (gps.encode(ss.read()))

// call displayInfo() function to print info to serial monitor
displayInfo();
//
/*
// Example code for date and time
// lcd.print(gps.date.month());
// lcd.print(F("/"));
// lcd.print(gps.date.day());
// lcd.print(F("/"));
// lcd.print(gps.date.year());
// lcd.print(F(" "));

// if (gps.time.hour() < 10) Serial.print(F("0"));
// lcd.print(gps.time.hour());
// lcd.print(F(":"));
// if (gps.time.minute() < 10) Serial.print(F("0"));
// lcd.print(gps.time.minute());
// lcd.print(F(":"));
// if (gps.time.second() < 10) Serial.print(F("0"));
// lcd.print(gps.time.second());
// lcd.print(F("."));
// if (gps.time.centisecond() < 10) Serial.print(F("0"));
// lcd.print(gps.time.centisecond());
*/

// print info to LCD
lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print("lat ");
lcd.print(gps.location.lat(), 6);

lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print("lon ");
lcd.print(gps.location.lng(), 6);

if (millis() > 5000 && gps.charsProcessed() < 10)
{
Serial.println(F("No GPS detected: check wiring."));
while(true);
}
}

void displayInfo()
{
Serial.print(F("Location: ")); 
if (gps.location.isValid())
{
Serial.print(gps.location.lat(), 6);
Serial.print(F(","));
Serial.print(gps.location.lng(), 6);
}
else
{
Serial.print(F("INVALID"));
}

Serial.print(F(" Date/Time: "));
if (gps.date.isValid())
{
Serial.print(gps.date.month());
Serial.print(F("/"));
Serial.print(gps.date.day());
Serial.print(F("/"));
Serial.print(gps.date.year());
}
else
{
Serial.print(F("INVALID"));
}

Serial.print(F(" "));
if (gps.time.isValid())
{
if (gps.time.hour() < 10) Serial.print(F("0"));
Serial.print(gps.time.hour());
Serial.print(F(":"));
if (gps.time.minute() < 10) Serial.print(F("0"));
Serial.print(gps.time.minute());
Serial.print(F(":"));
if (gps.time.second() < 10) Serial.print(F("0"));
Serial.print(gps.time.second());
Serial.print(F("."));
if (gps.time.centisecond() < 10) Serial.print(F("0"));
Serial.print(gps.time.centisecond());
}
else
{
Serial.print(F("INVALID"));
}

Serial.println();
}

Project parts list.

(1)  GPS – NEO-6M  (for example: DIYmall GPS Module NEO-6M Antenna Receiver 3V-5V 9600 Baud Rate Arduino Quadcopter Drone Speedometer at Amazon for about $20USD https://a.co/d/6Zxl9C3)

(1)  LCD  – 16 x 2 display

(1)  Potentiometer – 10k

Arduino.

Breadboard and jumpers.

9V battery and lead optional for portable use.

Project notes.

Some of the wire colors in the photo do not match the Fritzing diagram as I ran out of red and black jumpers.

I found the accuracy to be about 10 feet.