Arduino & Nextion Display – Use Slider to Control LED Brightness

In this project we are going to learn how to control an LED using a Nextion Display with a simple touch button.

Watch the Video!

Step 1: What You Will Need

 

• Arduino UNO (or any other board)
• Nextion Display
• 1X LED
• 1X 1 Kilo ohm resistor
• Breadboard
• Jumper wires
• Nextion Editor program: Download Nextion
• Visuino program: Download Visuino

Step 2: The Circuit

 

• Connect Nextion Display VCC red wire to Arduino 5V pin
• Connect Nextion Display GND black wire to Arduino GND pin
• Connect Nextion Display Yellow wire (RX) wire to Arduino TX pin
• Connect Nextion Display Blue wire (TX) wire to Arduino RX pin
• Connect LED positive pin to Arduino digital pin 6
• Connect Resistor one end to LED negative pin
• Connect Resistor other end to Arduino GND pin

Step 3: Nextion Editor

• Download Nextion Editor and Install it
• Start Nextion Editor
• In the Nextion Editor click on the “New” button
• In the Window set the name for the Project like “LEDPWM“
• In the “Setting” window select the Model of your Nextion Display & click “Ok”
• Select Display Direction 90 & click “Ok”
• In the Editor on the left in the “Toolbox” find “Slider” & drag it to the right
• Center & Resize the Slider
• In the “Event” window > Touch Press Event” Check the “Send component ID“
• In the “Event” window > Touch Release Event” Check the “Send component ID“
• In the Toolbar click on the “Compile” button
• In the Menu Select “File” > “TFT File Output“
• Set the Output folder & click on the “Output” button
• Save the File to the SD card
• Insert the SD card to your Nextion Display
• Power the Arduino and you will notice that the Nextion Display will start to Update it self
• On the Finish disconnect the power and remove the SD card from the Nextion display

Step 4: Start Visuino, and Select the Arduino UNO Board Type

The Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu also needs to be installed. Download Free version or register for a Free Trial.

Start Visuino as shown in the first picture Click on the “Tools” button on the Arduino component (Picture 1) in Visuino When the dialog appears, select “Arduino UNO” as shown on Picture 2

Step 5: In Visuino Add, Set & Connect Components

• Add “Nextion Display” component
• Double click on the “DisplayNextion1” And in the Elements window drag “Slider” to the left side.
• In the properties window: Make sure that the Max & Min are the same values as the maxval & minval in the Nextion Editor (see picture 3 & picture 4)
• And close the Elements window
• Connect “DisplayNextion1” pin out to Arduino Serial pin
• Connect “DisplayNextion1” > “Slider1” pin Out to Arduino Analog PWM pin [6]

Before Uploading Disconnect RX pin

 

and

After the Upload Connect the RX pin back

Step 6: Generate, Compile, and Upload the Arduino Code

In Visuino, at the bottom click on the “Build” Tab, make sure the correct port is selected, then click on the “Compile/Build and Upload” button.

Step 7: Play