Inkplate 6PLUS frontlight control and auto-off timer

Soldered_Bot · January 4, 2024, 1:28am

Customer:

Is the front lighting controllable via software? Could a timer be written such that if turned on by a button, it turns off after a programmed amount of time?

Originally submitted via email support on 4 January 2024. Migrated to the forum for community visibility.

Soldered_Bot · January 4, 2024, 7:58am

Soldered Support:

The frontlight is only available on the 6PLUS model. Here’s the example on how to use frontlight:

github.com/SolderedElectronics/Inkplate-Arduino-library

examples/Inkplate6PLUS/Basic/Inkplate6PLUS_Simple_Frontlight/Inkplate6PLUS_Simple_Frontlight.ino

master

/**
 **************************************************
 * @file        Inkplate6PLUS_Simple_Frontlight.ino
 * @brief       Frontlight control demo for Soldered Inkplate 6PLUS.
 *
 * @details     Demonstrates how to enable and control the frontlight on the
 *              Inkplate 6PLUS. The example allows adjusting frontlight
 *              brightness through the Serial Monitor by sending characters
 *              that increase or decrease intensity. A small light animation
 *              ("lightshow") can also be triggered.
 *
 *              Frontlight brightness range is 0-63.
 *              display.frontlight.setState(true) enables the frontlight driver
 *              circuit and display.frontlight.setState(value) sets the
 *              brightness level. Expected output: the frontlight turns on during
 *              setup, the brightness level changes when '+' or '-' is sent via
 *              the Serial Monitor, the current brightness value (0-63) is
 *              printed in the Serial Monitor, and the 's' command runs a short
 *              brightness sweep animation.
 *

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Yes, an auto-off timer can be implemented. You could use millis(); or use one of ESP32’s timers if you need it to be non-blocking. Here’s a library for this:

https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/libraries/esp32timerinterrupt/