The Easy Nextion, Arduino Prototyping Station

by Amusement4489 in Workshop > 3D Printing

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The Easy Nextion, Arduino Prototyping Station

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A simple desktop station designed for rapid prototyping.

This comprehensive workstation can significantly expedite your development process, allowing you to bring your projects to life in a fraction of the time.

Supplies

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Electronics Components:

  • Nextion display
  • 4-pin female-to-female connector
  • Nextion Foca Max
  • Arduino Uno
  • Male-to-male DuPont jumper cables (Red, black, blue & yellow)
  • Male USB to male USB cable (for programming the Nextion display)
  • USB to printer cable (for programming the Arduino Uno)
  • Soldering iron and solder
  • Optional: Aftermarket power supply (2.1mm Barrel jack power supply - 120V, 2A) for use with larger Nextion displays like the 7" or 10" (Link)


3D Printing Supplies:

  • 3D Printer
  • 3D Print files (Link) Printables.com
  • PLA Filament


Fasteners and Accessories:

  • 8 M2.5x3 Threaded brass knurled nut inserts (Link)
  • 8 M2.5x5 screws (Link)
  • 12 Adhesive rubber dots (Link)


Additional Accessories:

  • Arduino 9v barrel jack on/off rocker switch (Link)

PRINT 3D MODELS

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Visit my Printables.com profile, download the 3 free 3D print files and print them out.

There's other models on my profile page as well incase you're using different hardware.

TGH56 | Printables.com

ATTACH 3D MODEL ACCESSORIES

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Mounting Brass Knurled Nut Inserts:

  • Heat your soldering iron to 250°C (482°F).
  • Use the soldering iron to secure the M2.5x3 threaded brass knurled nut inserts in place by melting them into the desired locations.

Mounting PCB Boards:

  • Position the PCB boards onto their respective stands, ensuring the holes on the PCB boards align with those on the stands.
  • Secure the PCB boards by fastening them with M2.5x5 screws.

Attach Adhesive Rubber Dot Feet:

  • Peel the adhesive rubber dots off the sheet and insert into to the corresponding holes underneath your 3D prints.

NEXTION FOCA MAX SOLDERING

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Assembling the Nextion Foca Max DuPont Cables:

Insert the four DuPont cables (black, red, blue, and yellow) into the Nextion Foca Max board in the following order:

  • +5V (Red wire)
  • TXD (Blue wire, for data transmission)
  • RXD (Yellow wire, for data reception)
  • GND (Black wire)

Pre-soldering Checklist:

  • Before proceeding, double-check all your wiring to ensure every connection is accurate.

Soldering Process:

  • After confirming your wiring is correct, proceed to solder the DuPont cables in place.
  • Apply solder to the back side of the Foca Max PCB to establish secure and reliable connections for your cables.

PCB MOUNTING

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Mount and secure both the Arduino Uno and Nextion Foca Max PCB boards to their respective stands using M2.5x5 screws.

NEXTION FOCA MAX WIRING

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Connect a USB-to-USB cable to both your computer and the Nextion Foca Max.

(OPTIONAL) You can also plug in an additional barrel jack power supply now to the Nextion Foca Max if you're using either a 7" or 10" display. NOTE: If you turn on your display and it flickers, you need to use the barrel jack to deliver additional power - this will resolve that issue.

WIRING THE NEXTION FOCA MAX TO ARDUINO UNO

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Connect the RED DuPont wire to the 5V pin on the Arduino.

Connect the BLACK DuPont wire to the GND (Ground) pin on the Arduino.

Connect the BLUE DuPont wire to the TX (Transmit) pin on the Arduino, usually labeled as D1.

Connect the YELLOW DuPont wire to the RX (Receive) pin on the Arduino, typically labeled as D0.


USB Connection:

Use a USB to printer cable to connect your Arduino Uno to your computer. This will establish a communication link for programming and for data transfer.

APPLY POWER

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Powering On the Station:

After making the above connections, make sure your Nextion Foca Max's DIP switch used to send power to the Nextion display is set to the "ON" position.

  • OFF = The DIP switch pulled towards the barrel jack
  • ON = The DIP switch is pulled towards the 4-pin connector

Apply power to both the Nextion Foca Max and Arduino Uno. Your Nextion display, Nextion Foca Max and Arduino Uno should now be powered on and ready to use.

Enjoy! :)

LEARN MORE ABOUT NEXTION

"The Sunday Blog" (Link) by Thierry is an excellent source for learning more about your Nextion display.

Thierry provides a wealth of easy-to-follow examples complete with images and downloadable Nextion files. This approach allows you to directly download the files and follow along with his tutorials, making it much easier to understand exactly how everything works. I highly recommend checking out this resource.

Thierry is also an active member of the Nextion forums and is willing to assist with any questions you might have along the way.