Arduino - Ultrasonic Sensor - OLED
In this tutorial, we are going to learn how to read the distance from ultrasonic sensor and display it on an OLED.

Hardware Required
1 | × | Arduino UNO or Genuino UNO | |
1 | × | USB 2.0 cable type A/B | |
1 | × | SSD1306 I2C OLED Display 128x64 | |
1 | × | Ultrasonic Sensor | |
1 | × | Breadboard | |
1 | × | Jumper Wires | |
1 | × | (Optional) 9V Power Adapter for Arduino |
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About OLED and Ultrasonic Sensor
If you do not know about OLED and Ultrasonic Sensor (pinout, how it works, how to program ...), learn about them in the following tutorials:
- Arduino - OLED tutorial
- Arduino - Ultrasonic Sensor tutorial
Wiring Diagram

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Arduino Code - Ultrasonic Sensor - OLED
/*
* Created by ArduinoGetStarted.com
*
* This example code is in the public domain
*
* Tutorial page: https://arduinogetstarted.com/tutorials/arduino-ultrasonic-sensor-oled
*/
#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_GFX.h>
#include <Adafruit_SSD1306.h>
#define SCREEN_WIDTH 128 // OLED display width, in pixels
#define SCREEN_HEIGHT 64 // OLED display height, in pixels
const int TRIG_PIN = 9; // Arduino pin connected to Ultrasonic Sensor's TRIG pin
const int ECHO_PIN = 8; // Arduino pin connected to Ultrasonic Sensor's ECHO pin
Adafruit_SSD1306 oled(SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT, &Wire, -1); // create SSD1306 display object connected to I2C
String tempString;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
// initialize OLED display with address 0x3C for 128x64
if (!oled.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, 0x3C)) {
Serial.println(F("SSD1306 allocation failed"));
while (true);
}
delay(2000); // wait for initializing
oled.clearDisplay(); // clear display
oled.setTextSize(2); // text size
oled.setTextColor(WHITE); // text color
oled.setCursor(0, 10); // position to display
tempString.reserve(10); // to avoid fragmenting memory when using String
}
void loop() {
// generate 10-microsecond pulse to TRIG pin
digitalWrite(TRIG_PIN, HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(10);
digitalWrite(TRIG_PIN, LOW);
// measure duration of pulse from ECHO pin
long duration_us = pulseIn(ECHO_PIN, HIGH);
// calculate the distance
float distance_cm = 0.017 * duration_us;
// print the value to Serial Monitor
Serial.print("distance: ");
Serial.print(distance_cm);
Serial.println(" cm");
tempString = String(distance_cm, 2); // two decimal places
tempString += " cm";
Serial.println(tempString); // print the temperature in Celsius to Serial Monitor
oledDisplayCenter(tempString); // display temperature on OLED
}
void oledDisplayCenter(String text) {
int16_t x1;
int16_t y1;
uint16_t width;
uint16_t height;
oled.getTextBounds(text, 0, 0, &x1, &y1, &width, &height);
// display on horizontal and vertical center
oled.clearDisplay(); // clear display
oled.setCursor((SCREEN_WIDTH - width) / 2, (SCREEN_HEIGHT - height) / 2);
oled.println(text); // text to display
oled.display();
}
Quick Steps
- Open Arduino IDE, Go to Tools Manage Libraries

- Search “SSD1306”, then find the SSD1306 library by Adafruit
- Click Install button to install the library.

- You will be asked for intalling some other library dependencies
- Click Install All button to install all library dependencies.

- Copy the above code and open with Arduino IDE
- Click Upload button on Arduino IDE to upload code to Arduino
- Move your hand in front of sensor
- See the result on OLED and Serial Monitor
※ NOTE THAT:
The about code automatically horizontal and vertical center aligns the text on OLED display. See How to vertical/horizontal center on OLED for more detail.
Video Tutorial
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