Getting Started with ePaper Driver Board

Get One Now 🖱️

The ePaper driver board features a 24-pin FPC connector, built-in charging IC for efficient and safe battery charging, and a JST 2-pin BAT connector for easy battery connection. Ideal for creating WiFi-enabled digital photo frames.

note

This breakout board does not include an ePaper display; the display must be purchased separately.

Introduction

Feature

• Built-in Charging IC: Ensures efficient and safe battery charging.
• BAT Connector with Switch: Allows for easy battery connection and includes a switch to combine the battery and switch for more efficient energy saving.
• 24-Pin PFC Connector: Provides versatile connectivity options for various peripherals.
• Extension IO Port: Enables connection of additional sensors, such as temperature and humidity sensors, for enhanced functionality.
• Compatible with Seeed Studio XIAO Ecosystem: Seamlessly integrates with the XIAO series(Pre-Soldering Version) for versatile project development.

Application

• Smart Home Dashboard: Display real-time information such as weather updates, calendar events, and notifications from various smart home devices.
• Energy Monitoring: Show energy consumption data from smart meters, helping homeowners track and manage their energy usage more efficiently.
• Security Alerts: Display alerts and notifications about security events, such as motion detection or door/window sensor activation.
• Smart Thermostat Display: Show temperature and humidity levels, as well as control settings for your smart thermostat.
• Digital Photo Frame: Create a WiFi-enabled digital photo frame that can display images from your smart home network.

Hardware Overview

1. 24-pin FPC Conncctor: For the ePaper interface.
2. JST BAT Connector: For battery connection and switch.
3. XIAO Socket: For connecting the Seeed Studio XIAO development board.
4. IO Break out: For connecting Grove sensors or the others controller, such Arduino UNO or Raspberry Pi.
5. Power switch: For battery power control.

Pinout Definitions

ePaper SPI Pins	XIAO
RST	D0
CS	D1
DC	D3
BUSY	D2
SCK	D8
MOSI	D10
3V3	3V3
GND	GND

Supported eInk

1. 1.54-inch E-paper - Dotmatix 200x200
2. 2.13-inch E-Paper -Flexible Monochrome 212x104
3. 2.13-inch E-Paper - Quadruple 212x104
4. 2.9 inch E-paper - Monocolor 128x296
5. 2.9-inch e-paper - Quadruple color 128x296
6. 4.2-inch E-Paper - Monocolor 400x300
7. 4.26-inch E-Paper - Monocolor 800x480
8. 5.65-inch E-paper - Sevencolor 600x480
9. 5.83-inch E-paper - Monocolor 648x480
10. 7.5-inch E-paper - Monocolor 800x480
11. 7.5-inch E-paper - Tri-Color 800x480

Getting Started

To use the XIAO eInk Expansion Board, we need to program the XIAO series. The table of different sizes E-paper supported by XIAO is as follows:

E-paper / XIAO	XIAO SAMD21	XIAO RP2040	XIAO nRF52840	XIAO ESP32-C3	XIAO ESP32-S3
1.54-inch E-paper - Dotmatix 200x200	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
2.13-inch E-Paper -Flexible Monochrome 212x104	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
2.13-inch E-Paper - Quadruple 212x104	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
2.9 inch E-paper - Monocolor 128x296	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
2.9-inch e-paper - Quadruple color 128x296	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
4.2-inch E-Paper - Monocolor 400x300	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
4.26-inch E-Paper - Monocolor 800x480	RAM overflowed	✅	✅	✅	✅
5.65-inch E-paper - Sevencolor 600x480	FLASH overflowd	✅	✅	✅	✅
5.83-inch E-paper - Monocolor 648x480	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
7.5-inch E-paper - Monocolor 800x480	RAM overflowed	✅	✅	✅	✅
7.5-inch E-paper - Tri-Color 800x480	RAM overflowed	✅	✅	✅	✅

Hardware Preparation

Step 1. Material preparation

Seeed Studio XIAO SAMD21	Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040	Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 (Sense)	Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3	Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 (Sense)
Get One Now 🖱️	Get One Now 🖱️	Get One Now 🖱️	Get One Now 🖱️	Get One Now 🖱️

STEP 2. Insert the XIAO into the XIAO Socket: Align the pins and gently insert your XIAO into the XIAO socket on the board.

STEP 3. Insert the eInk into the FPC Connector: Carefully slide your E-paper into the 24-pin FPC connector on the ePaper Breakout Board.

Software Preparation

The recommended programming tool is the Arduino IDE, and you need to configure the Arduino environment for the XIAO and add the on-board package.

tip

If this is your first time using Arduino, we highly recommend you to refer to Getting Started with Arduino.

Step 1. Launch the Arduino application.

Download Arduino IDE

Step 2. Select your development board model and add it to the Arduino IDE.

• If you want to use Seeed Studio XIAO SAMD21 for the later routines, please refer to this tutorial to finish adding.

• If you want to use Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040 for the later routines, please refer to this tutorial to finish adding.

• If you want to use Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 for the later routines, please refer to this tutorial to finish adding.

• If you want to use Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 for the later routines, please refer to this tutorial to finish adding.

• If you want to use Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 for the later routines, please refer to this tutorial to finish adding.

Using the Seeed_Arduino_LCD Library

Step 3. Install Seeed Arduino LCD Library

tip

This library has same function as TFT library and no compatible with this library. If you have installed TFT library, please uninstall it first.

Download and install the Seeed Arduino LCD library from GitHub.

Download the Library

After downloading the library, go to Sketch -> Include Library -> Add .ZIP Library and select the downloaded library.

There are 4 basic examples, open a basic example you like:

1. Bitmap: Display a bitmap image.
2. Clock: Display a clock.
3. Clock_digital: Display a digital clock.
4. HelloWorld: Display basic patterns and text of different sizes on the e-ink screen.
5. Shape: Display different sizes of words and shape randomly.

Step 4. Upload the Code

Before uploading the code, you need to open User_Setup_Select.h in Seeed_Arduino_LCD library.

Since this example uses a 2.9-inch e-ink screen, we need to comment out line 160 #include <User_Setups/Setup666_XIAO_ILI9341.h> in this file, and uncomment line 165 #include <User_Setups/Setup504_Seeed_XIAO_EPaper_2inch9.h>. If you are using other e-ink screens, please follow this approach to make modifications.

After that, go to Tools -> Board -> XIAO ESP32C6 and Tools -> Port -> Select the port your board is connected to. Then click Upload to upload the code.

Now you will see the feedback in your epaper screen! Following are the results of Helloworld examples.

caution

If you are using a 1.54-inch or 2.9-inch e-ink screen, due to their driver chips, flickering may occur when using dynamic effects such as clocks. Please be assured this is not a program issue. However, it is not recommended to run dynamic effect examples for extended periods to avoid reducing the screen's lifespan.

If you are using 5.83 and 7.5-inch screens, they have different chips, so they won't have the flickering phenomenon.

Image Extraction Software

Usage of the Websites(recommend)

Here I'm using a 7.5-inch e-inked screen for the test

How to Make Picture

This URL provides a very convenient image extraction operation, which can easily help us realize displaying a variety of images on top of the e-ink screen, let's get started!

Step 1.Select image

First pick the image you want, try not to exceed the size of 800*480.

Step 2.Image Settings

• Canvas Size(s)

  • Canvas Size: Set the dimensions of the canvas. For example, 800 x 480 pixels means the canvas width is 800 pixels and the height is 480 pixels.

• Background Color

  • Background Color: Choose the background color of the canvas. Options include:

  • White: White background

  • Black: Black background

• Transparent: Transparent background

  • Invert Image Color
  • Invert Image Color: This option is used to invert the colors of the image. When selected, the colors of the image will be reversed.

• Brightness / Alpha Threshold

  • Brightness / Alpha Threshold: Set the brightness value of the pixels, ranging from 0 to 255. Higher values make the pixels brighter; pixels below this value will turn black.

• Scaling

  • Scaling: Choose the scaling method for the image. Options include:

• Original size: Maintain the original size

  • Other scaling options (specific options may need further explanation)

• Center

  • Center: Choose whether to center the image on the canvas. Note: This option only works if the image is larger than the original size.

Step 3.Preview

Once the settings are complete, you can see a preview of how your image will appear here

Step 4.Output

• Copy the converted code
  
• Replace the image code in this header file
  

Display Effect

Usage of the Image2lcd software

How to Make Picture

Use the build-in software Paint in Windows to create a picture with the same resolution as the screen you are using, and save it asBMP or JPG file;

note

Your picture resolution must be the same as the screen you are using, for example, 4.2-inch E-paper is 400 x 300 pixels, then you can not use the size of 300 x 400, it will cause the iamge2lcd output .h file with an extra 200 bytes.

The colors of the picture should be consistent with the standard colors of the drawing board that come with Windows.The color of the drawing board is as follows:

E-paper	Colors
1.54-inch E-paper - Dotmatix 200x200	pure black and white
2.13-inch E-Paper -Flexible Monochrome 212x104	pure black and white
2.13-inch E-Paper - Quadruple 212x104	black, white, red, and yellow
2.9 inch E-paper - Monocolor 128x296	pure black and white
2.9-inch e-paper - Quadruple color 128x296	black, white, red, and yellow
4.2-inch E-Paper - Monocolor 400x300	pure black and white
4.26-inch E-Paper - Monocolor 800x480	pure black and white
5.65-inch E-paper - Sevencolor 600x480	black, white, red, yellow, blue, green, orange
5.83-inch E-paper - Monocolor 648x480	pure black and white
7.5-inch E-paper - Monocolor 800x480	pure black and white
7.5-inch E-paper - Tri-Color 800x480	pure black and white

Bitmap Conversion

Step 1. Open Image2lcd.7z, extract it and open the application.

Step 2. Open the picture, select the "Output file type" as the "C array (*.c)", select the "Scan mode" as the "Horizon Scan", the other parameters setting is show in follows:

Epaper	BitPixl	Max Width and Height	Reverse color	Display mode
1.54-inch E-paper - Dotmatix 200x200	Monochrome	200x200	✅	Mirror left-right
2.13-inch E-Paper -Flexible Monochrome 212x104	Monochrome	104x212	✅	Normal
2.13-inch E-Paper - Quadruple 212x104	4 Gray	104x212	/	Normal
2.9 inch E-paper - Monocolor 128x296	Monochrome	128x296	✅	Normal
2.9-inch e-paper - Quadruple color 128x296	4 Gray	128x296	/	Normal
4.2-inch E-Paper - Monocolor 400x300	Monochrome	400x300	✅	Mirror left-right
4.26-inch E-Paper - Monocolor 800x480	Monochrome	800x480	/	Mirror left-right
5.65-inch E-paper - Sevencolor 600x480	256 colors	600x448	/	Normal
5.83-inch E-paper - Monocolor 648x480	Monochrome	600x480	✅	Mirror left-right
7.5-inch E-paper - Monocolor 800x480	Monochrome	800x480	✅	Mirror left-right
7.5-inch E-paper - Tri-Color 800x480	Monochrome	800x480	/	Normal

tip

• After set the Max Width and Height, it need to click the arrow to confirm.
• Don't include head data.
  

Step 3. Click "Save" to save the the lcd output array as a file of .h.

Resources

• [PDF]: ePaper_Breakout_Board_for_XIAO_V2_PCBA.pdf

Tech Support & Product Discussion

Thank you for choosing our products! We are here to provide you with different support to ensure that your experience with our products is as smooth as possible. We offer several communication channels to cater to different preferences and needs.