Arduino Counter Using TM1637 LED Display & Obstacle Avoidance Sensor
2026-08-27 | By Ron Cutts
License: GNU Lesser General Public License Displays Microcontrollers Arduino ESP32
In this tutorial, we will learn how to make a simple digit counter using an LED display TM1637, an obstacle avoidance sensor, and Visuino.
Watch the video.
Learn more about Visuino: What is Visuino
What You Will Need
Arduino UNO (or any other Arduino)
Visuino program: Download Visuino





The Circuit
Connect LED Display pin[CLK] to Arduino digital pin[10]
Connect LED Display pin[DI0] to Arduino digital pin[9]
Connect LED Display pin[GND] to Arduino pin[GND]
Connect LED Display pin[VCC] to Arduino pin[5V]
Connect obstacle avoidance sensor pin[VCC] to Arduino pin[5V]
Connect obstacle avoidance sensor pin[GND] to Arduino pin[GND]
Connect obstacle avoidance sensor pin[D0] to Arduino digital pin[7]

Start Visuino, and Select the Arduino UNO Board Type
To start programming the Arduino, you will need to have the Arduino IDE installed from here: https://www.arduino.cc/.
Please be aware that there are some critical bugs in Arduino IDE 1.6.6. Make sure that you install 1.6.7 or higher; otherwise, this will not work! If you have not done so, follow the steps to set up the Arduino IDE to program Arduino UNO! The Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu also needs to be installed. 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 in Picture 2


In Visuino ADD Components
Add "TM1637 7 Segment Display 4 Digits Module + 2 Vertical Points (CATALEX)" component
Add "Counter" component
Add "Infrared(IR) Obstacle Avoidance Sensor" component



In Visuino Set and Connect Components
Select "Counter1" component and in the properties window set "Max>Value" to 9999
Select "Counter1" component and in the properties window set "Min>Value" to 0
Double click on "Display1" component and in the "Digits" window drag "Integer Display 7 Segments" to the left side
On the left side of the "Digits" window select "Integer Display 7 Segments1" and in the properties window set "Count Digits" to 4
Close the "Digits" window
Connect Arduino digital pin[7] to "ObstacleAvoidance1" pin[In]
Connect "ObstacleAvoidance1" pin[Out] to "Counter1" pin[In]
Connect "Counter1" pin[Out] to "Display1">"Integer Display 7 Segments1" pin[In]
Connect "Display1" pin[Clock] to Arduino board digital pin[10]
Connect "Display1" pin[Data] to Arduino board digital pin[9]





Generate, Compile, and Upload the Arduino Code
In Visuino, Press F9 or click on the button shown on Picture 1 to generate the Arduino code, and open the Arduino IDE
In the Arduino IDE, click on the Upload button, to compile and upload the code (Picture 2)


Play
If you power the Arduino UNO module, the LED display should start counting numbers when the obstacle avoidance sensor detects an obstacle. Once it reaches 9999, it will restart to 0 and count again.
Congratulations! You have completed your project with Visuino. Also attached is the Visuino project that I created for this; you can download it here and open it in Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu

