Inkplate 6FLICK, 10, and 5 for elderly care with touchscreen and battery monitoring

TECHNICAL SUPPORT Inkplate
1

Customer:

I’m planning a project for elderly people living alone that needs a touchscreen e-paper solution. The concept is to have family and doctors remotely enter information displayed on the screen, with the elderly person able to interact with it. I’m considering combining a shopping tool, agenda, and medication reminder.

Which of your devices would be best for this? Is sound possible (beep, MP3, or I2S output)? Does the touchscreen work well? Is the button programmable? Does the screen power off automatically?

Attachment omitted in migration: ~WRD0000.jpg

Originally submitted via the contact form on soldered.com on 30 November 2025. Migrated to the forum for community visibility.

2

Soldered Support:

The best option for your project would be the Inkplate 6FLICK, which has a multi-touch touchscreen and a frontlight for viewing in dimmer rooms. The refresh rate can be as fast as 225ms, making it suitable for a responsive UI.

Regarding implementation, if the Inkplate makes simple GET and POST requests to a server, there shouldn’t be any problem. We have a full implementation of the 6FLICK in micropython available at GitHub - SolderedElectronics/Inkplate-micropython: MicroPython driver for Soldered Inkplate devices · GitHub, but for a complex project we strongly advise using the Arduino Adafruit GFX library (the regular Inkplate library) instead. The micropython port has a slower refresh rate and less usable PSRAM. Using Arduino libraries lets you access lower-level FreeRTOS functions to create multiple threads for UI elements.

Regarding sound, using a buzzer is possible. However, I2S output is not feasible because the 6FLICK uses one of the I2S channels for communicating with the screen. Since these are blocking functions, audio playback during a screen refresh wouldn’t be possible.

The screen can be turned off or kept on depending on your configuration—on for faster refreshes or in deep sleep for less power consumption.

3

Customer:

I’ve finished the e-paper API on the server side and will start testing on the 10-inch screen tomorrow. My goals are: every day after midnight the agenda should load automatically to the e-paper screen, and the left or right button should work as a panic button sending a pushover message to the family.

Is there a way to check the battery level?

Attachment omitted in migration: ~WRD0000.jpg

4

Soldered Support:

Here are some tips for your project:

You could put the panel in deep sleep during the night to save battery, and use the RTC to wake up the Inkplate at midnight. Time could be synced via NTP at midnight to keep it accurate. The wakeup pin can be repurposed to work as a panic button.

You can read the voltage of the battery and convert it into a percentage. A full battery reads 4.2V, while the Inkplate may become unstable below 3.3V—around 3.6V you should show a low battery alert.

Relevant resources:

5

Customer:

I found 2 buttons on the 10-inch screen. Do they have a purpose now? Can both be customized? Will the screen go to sleep automatically? Is there a manual that explains all?

Attachment omitted in migration: ~WRD0000.jpg

6

Soldered Support:

The WAKE button can be customized—it’s GPIO_NUM_36 in Arduino. You can read the button state like this:

#define BUTTON_PIN 36 // GPIO_NUM_36

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);

  // GPIO 36 is input-only, no internal pull-up/down available
  pinMode(BUTTON_PIN, INPUT);

  Serial.println("GPIO 36 button example started.");
}

void loop() {
  int buttonState = digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN);

  // Adjust logic depending on wiring:
  // If using pull-up (button to GND): pressed = LOW
  // If using pull-down (button to 3.3V): pressed = HIGH

  if (buttonState == LOW) { // pressed for pull-up wiring
    Serial.println("Button pressed!");
  }

  delay(50); // small debounce
}

To put the board in deep sleep, check the deep sleep documentation for Inkplate 10: Inkplate 10 – Deep sleep | Soldered Documentation

7

Customer:

Can you verify if the schematics in attachment matches my Inkplate 10? If not, please send the correct one. Also, I cannot find the schematics for Inkplate 5 V2—please help me find or send them.

Attachment omitted in migration: Inkplate10 schematics v1.0.pdf

Attachment omitted in migration: ~WRD0004.jpg

8

Soldered Support:

Here are the schematic links:

For the Soldered (purple PCB) Inkplate 10: Soldered-Inkplate-10-hardware-design/OUTPUTS/V1.3.1/Soldered Inkplate 10 Schematics.pdf at main · SolderedElectronics/Soldered-Inkplate-10-hardware-design · GitHub

For the Inkplate 5 Gen2: Soldered-Inkplate-5-Gen2-hardware-design/OUTPUTS/V1.1.0/Soldered Inkplate 5 Gen2 Schematics.pdf at main · SolderedElectronics/Soldered-Inkplate-5-Gen2-hardware-design · GitHub

If the PCB is blue, it’s the e-radionica version (with three touchpads and a different GPIO expander). If it’s purple, it’s the Soldered version. You can check by opening the case—look for screws on the back or a small opening with “OPEN HERE” text on the side.

9

Customer:

How do I insert the CR2032 battery into the holder?

Attachment omitted in migration: ~WRD0002.jpg

Attachment omitted in migration: image001.png

10

Soldered Support:

The left tab needs to be on top and the right tab on the bottom. Refer to the accompanying image for how to insert it correctly.

Attachment omitted in migration: image.png