Customer:
I’m working on a costume project and need a programmable display to show sci-fi tech-like interface, barcodes, mock heart monitor etc. Does the Soldered Inkplate need an Arduino connected the whole time to run, or is it self-contained? Can I upload screens and programming to it, then have it run on its own without a computer connection?
Originally submitted via email support on 23 October 2023. Migrated to the forum for community visibility.
Soldered Support:
Inkplate 2 is completely standalone. It has an ESP32 on-board which is the main microcontroller and is, essentially “a more powerful Arduino” on its own.
If you have an Inkplate2 with enclosure and battery, you could create a slide-show type program which changes the picture it needs to display every 5 minutes or so (or any set interval of time). It would be totally self-contained and wireless. You could base your code heavily on this example:
https://github.com/SolderedElectronics/Inkplate-Arduino-library/blob/master/examples/Inkplate2/Advanced/DeepSleep/Inkplate2_Simple_Deep_Sleep/Inkplate2_Simple_Deep_Sleep.ino
This essentially wakes up the Inkplate every set amount of time and changes the loaded picture.
The pictures you’d want to show would have to be converted before-hand in order to fit into Inkplate’s memory.
Customer:
Would this be able to play videos in a loop? It’s supposed to go into a 3D printed tech piece and display a heart monitor graphic with moving vitals. Seems like this only works with still images?
Soldered Support:
It’s a high-latency low-power display. The refresh takes about 10 seconds for black and white and up to 20 seconds for black white and red images.
The display also flickers while it’s refreshing - which is normal for this type of ePaper. Moving images aren’t really possible, you could only make a cool slideshow which changes pictures every so often.