T-Watch-Keyboard-C3 is a device that looks like a miniature PC replica comprised of an ESP32-C3 powered keyboard, and the TTGO T-Watch ESP32 programmable device with a 1.54-inch touchscreen display.
The LilyGo TTGO T-Watch ESP32 programmable touchscreen display has been around for a while, and the company used to provide an accessory keyboard based on Microchip ATSAM20 Cortex-M0+ microcontroller that has now been replaced with ESP32-C3 WiFi and Bluetooth RISC-V microcontroller to create the T-Watch-Keyboard-C3 devices pictured below.
T-Watch-Keyboard-C3 specifications:
- TTGO T-Watch
- MCU – ESP32-D0WDQ6 dual-core microcontroller @ 240 MHz with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.x with 520KB SRAM
- Memory – 8MB PSRAM
- Storage – 16MB QSPI flash
- Display – 1.54-inch LCD screen
- USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming via CP2104 USB to TTL chip
- Sensor – 3-axis accelerometer
- Misc – Power button, RTC
- Dimensions – 40 x 38 x 20 mm
- Weight – 43.19 grams
- Watch-keyboard-C3
- MCU – ESP32-C3 single core RISC-V microcontroller @ 160 MHz with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE
- QWERTY mini keyboard
LilyGO provides Arduino sample code for the keyboard on Github, and the display in a separate repository. Documentation from the company is not usually great, but it’s really abyssal for the T-Watch-Keyboard-C3, as I had to chat with the company to find out there were actually two ESP32 chips in the design, one ESP32 for the display, and one ESP32-C3 for the keyboard. I’d assume the latter replaced the Microchip MCU due to some supply issues and it is cheap enough. It’s not even clear how the display and keyboard interface with each other although it must be I2C or SPI.
To make matters worse, the Aliexpress page where the T-Watch-Keyboard-C3 is sold for $47.98 includes three options with the other two being the watch-keyboard-C3 board only with some cables and headers, and watch-keyboard-C3 board with additional “motor mic speaker module” which I assume is a board with a vibration motor, and built-in speaker and microphone, with the latter possibly not included in the T-Watch-Keyboard-C3 package, but only God and LilyGo know about that…
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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A huge microcontroller@ 160 MHz with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE ? To handle a keyboard ?? nonsense… Even if i’m fan of risc-v.
It could be because of the silly world we live in with Microchip MCU possibly out of stock, and the ESP32-C3 costs about the same (if not less?).
Oh, man, I feel your pain on that one. Thanks for the honesty.
There was so little information, I almost clicked on the “move to trash” button. I had to contact them to understand there were two ESP32 in the design. But I suppose it was worth it since it’s the top post for the week as some people on Reddit liked it.
adorable
I got one of these. It worked fine but then I compiled and uploaded what appeared to be the same code that come from the factory in the example from the GitHub repo and now it says the keyboard can’t be found. It’s like the source is using the wrong i2c address or something. I have been at it for hours and can’t figure it out. Did you get anything to run on yours?