Luke Miller used an ATtiny84 to control an Adafruit 4-Digit 7-Segment Display w/I2C Backpack in his latest project.

Here’s a little project that uses an ATtiny84 microcontroller, programmed with the Arduino software, to build a thermostatically-controlled heater. It allows the user to choose a temperature setpoint, and then displays the current temperature using an Adafruit 4-digit 7-segment LED display over I2C.

What’s better than a single LED? Lots of LEDs! A fun way to make a small display is to use an 8×8 matrix or a 4-digit 7-segment display. Matrices like these are ‘multiplexed’ – so to control all the seven-segment LEDs you need 14 pins. That’s a lot of pins, and there are driver chips like the MAX7219 that can control a matrix for you but there’s a lot of wiring to set up and they take up a ton of space. Here at Adafruit we feel your pain! After all, wouldn’t it be awesome if you could control a matrix without tons of wiring? That’s where these adorable LED matrix backpacks come in. We have them in two flavors - a mini 8×8 and a 4-digit 0.56″ 7-segment. They work perfectly with the matrices we stock in the Adafruit shop and make adding a bright little display trivial.

Pick one up here.