Customer:
I’m interested in the Inkplate 10 and have several questions:
- How much of this device is recycled and where do materials come from?
- What is the lifespan of the Inkplate 10, especially if used primarily for writing papers?
- How modular is it? Can components be easily replaced to reduce e-waste and extend lifespan?
- How difficult would it be to attach solar power to this device?
- I want to write essays on the Inkplate but have no coding or programming experience. How difficult would it be to attach a keyboard and install a writing program? If I wanted to do something else or add other functionality later, how hard would that be to change?
Originally submitted via email support on 4 November 2023. Migrated to the forum for community visibility.
Soldered Support:
The ePaper display is recycled from Kindle devices; everything else is new. Each display is tested and calibrated before shipping. The device should last a long time and isn’t limited by lifespan constraints. We have units in the office used daily with many refreshes per day that still work great.
The devices are easily repairable with open source hardware and software. If the ePaper needs replacement, we provide a calibration sketch to load the optimal VCOM (the voltage that drives the display, which varies slightly for each ePaper model). All other components are on the back of the board and can be soldered/unsoldered. They’re identifiable via the PCB file, which you can open in KiCad (a free program), and the schematic. We’re happy to help diagnose any issues that occur.
For solar power, use the onboard JST battery connector. Get a Li-Ion battery as a buffer and an external IC to charge the battery via the solar panel. Inkplate supports many low-power features designed for this use case.
We’ve had inquiries about keyboard integration but haven’t seen a user fully implement and share their code. Writing code that captures keyboard characters, types them, and saves as a file is quite involved, especially without programming experience. See this thread on our GitHub issues: USB or BT Keyboard Example · Issue #98 · SolderedElectronics/Inkplate-Arduino-library · GitHub
If you haven’t programmed before, starting with a simple test, “hello world”, or drawing shapes on Inkplate would be a good starting point, then progress from there.