Customer:
We’re evaluating Inkplate 10 for a pilot project that requires an E-ink display with the following capabilities: built-in battery, connection to a standard WiFi network with IP address (static or DHCP), ability to receive information via TCP-IP protocol, low energy consumption, solid enclosure, and ease of programming.
Inkplate 10 appears to meet our needs:
- Large screen size
- ESP32 microcontroller with integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0
- 3D-printed enclosure and 3000mAh battery
- Arduino library and MicroPython module
Our main concern is ease of programming. We need to receive information via TCP-IP, display it with formatting control (font size, position on display, etc.). Do you supply any pre-programmed templates or configuration where we can set an IP address and have information sent over TCP-IP automatically display on the device?
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Originally submitted via email support on 1 February 2024. Migrated to the forum for community visibility.
Soldered Support:
Inkplate 10 should work well for your requirements.
For programming, we have examples that get data via HTTP/HTTPS in the Inkplate library:
These are the WiFi examples for Inkplate 10. Getting started is also covered in our guide: Inkplate Get Started Page — Inkplate docs documentation
For minimizing power consumption, here are examples that use deep sleep:
Your final code would typically use WiFi to get data, then deep sleep to minimize power, setting an alarm to wake up when new data needs to be displayed. This approach provides a good starting point for your application.
Customer:
One additional question: how long does the built-in battery last while maintaining a permanent WiFi signal without using deep sleep?
Our E-ink solution needs to display new data minimally every 1 minute.
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Soldered Support:
The built-in battery for Inkplate 10 is 3000 mAh. It’s difficult to approximate exactly how long it would last since it depends on the specific program you write, but without deep sleep it could last at least one day, possibly a bit more.
Changing the display and getting data from the internet both consume power. If the device is otherwise idle waiting between updates, you can use delay() or millis() in Arduino code to keep the board waiting. However, I would strongly recommend implementing deep sleep. This way you can achieve weeks on a single battery charge.