Interfacing Hex keypad with arduino

Question

I was trying to interface my hex keypad with Arduino. I declared rows as input and columns as output. When I initialize three of the four columns as HIGH and one as LOW, and detect the button pressed as LOW in the corresponding row, it works fine. That is, it detects the button when its corresponding row and column is LOW. But, when I reverse the condition, i.e. when I try to detect the button pressed when its corresponding row and column is high while others are low, it does not work as expected.

I really want to know why is this happening?

The code that works:-

int row[]={6,7,8,9};
int col[]={10,11,12,13};
int i,j; 
int col_scan;
void setup()
{
   Serial.begin(9600);
   for(i=0;i<=3;i++)
   {
      pinMode(row[i],OUTPUT);
      pinMode(col[i],INPUT);
      digitalWrite(col[i],HIGH);
   } }
void loop()
{ 
   for(i=0; i<=3; i++)
   {
      digitalWrite(row[0],HIGH);
      digitalWrite(row[1],HIGH);
      digitalWrite(row[2],HIGH);
      digitalWrite(row[3],HIGH);
      digitalWrite(row[i],LOW);
      for(j=0; j<=3; j++)
      {
     col_scan=digitalRead(col[j]);
     if(col_scan==LOW)
     {
        keypress(i,j);
        delay(300);
     }}
   }}
void keypress(int i, int j)
{
   if(i==0&&j==0)
      Serial.println("1");
   if(i==0&&j==1)
      Serial.println("2");
   if(i==0&&j==2)
      Serial.println("3");
   if(i==0&&j==3)
      Serial.println("A");
   if(i==1&&j==0)
      Serial.println("4");
   if(i==1&&j==1)
      Serial.println("5");
   if(i==1&&j==2)
      Serial.println("6");
   if(i==1&&j==3)
      Serial.println("B");
   if(i==2&&j==0)
      Serial.println("7");
   if(i==2&&j==1)
      Serial.println("8");
   if(i==2&&j==2)
      Serial.println("9");
   if(i==2&&j==3)
      Serial.println("C");
   if(i==3&&j==0)
      Serial.println("*");
   if(i==3&&j==1)
      Serial.println("0");
   if(i==3&&j==2)
      Serial.println("#");
   if(i==3&&j==3)
      Serial.println("D");
}

the code that doesn't work:-

int row[]={6,7,8,9};
int col[]={10,11,12,13};
int i,j; 
int col_scan;
void setup()
{
   Serial.begin(9600);
   for(i=0;i<=3;i++)
   {
      pinMode(row[i],OUTPUT);
      pinMode(col[i],INPUT);
      digitalWrite(col[i],LOW);
   } }
void loop()
{ 
   for(i=0; i<=3; i++)
   {
      digitalWrite(row[0],LOW);
      digitalWrite(row[1],LOW);
      digitalWrite(row[2],LOW);
      digitalWrite(row[3],LOW);
      digitalWrite(row[i],HIGH);
      for(j=0; j<=3; j++)
      {
     col_scan=digitalRead(col[j]);
     if(col_scan==HIGH)
     {
        keypress(i,j);
        delay(300);
     }}
   }}
void keypress(int i, int j)
{
   if(i==0&&j==0)
      Serial.println("1");
   if(i==0&&j==1)
      Serial.println("2");
   if(i==0&&j==2)
      Serial.println("3");
   if(i==0&&j==3)
      Serial.println("A");
   if(i==1&&j==0)
      Serial.println("4");
   if(i==1&&j==1)
      Serial.println("5");
   if(i==1&&j==2)
      Serial.println("6");
   if(i==1&&j==3)
      Serial.println("B");
   if(i==2&&j==0)
      Serial.println("7");
   if(i==2&&j==1)
      Serial.println("8");
   if(i==2&&j==2)
      Serial.println("9");
   if(i==2&&j==3)
      Serial.println("C");
   if(i==3&&j==0)
      Serial.println("*");
   if(i==3&&j==1)
      Serial.println("0");
   if(i==3&&j==2)
      Serial.println("#");
   if(i==3&&j==3)
      Serial.println("D");
}

Answer 1

To use unipolar switches as inputs, you need pulling resistors to give the input pin a defined value when the switch is open.

The ATmega has software configurable internal pullups. Even if these are not configured, implementation detail may (or may not) yield a very weak unreliable pullup effect.

There is no configurable pulldown on the ATmega. To operate in that direction (with a switch to high) you would need external pulldown resistors.

A few matrix keyboards include diodes, to combat some of the confusion which results when multiple keys are pressed in a simple matrix.

Also, you should add a tiny delay between driving and reading, in order to allow for capacitive delay.