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User Interface
It is possible to control all operations of the printer over a serial line. But if you want a stand alone printer or simple some additional way of input, you can use the user interface methods offered by the firmware.
The simplest addition is a single LCD, which shows some current data like extruder/bed temperature or z-level. If you want some methods of input, you can add keys. The minimum required is three signals. You can use a rotary encoder with push button function or three plain push buttons. The addition of a complete key matrix up to 4x4 buttons is also possible. For acoustic feedback, a piezo buzzer can be added.
The current implementation supports direct connection to IO pins of your Arduino or an indirect connection over I2C to a PCF8574 chip, where the display and keys/buzzer are connected. You need one chip for the display and one for the keys and buzzer. If you have the pins, use direct connection. It is much faster and less error prone.