Hello, I’m excited to review the ESP32 display modules and HMI touchscreens from Elecrow with sizes ranging from 2.4 to 7.0 inches. For this review, Elecrow kindly provided me with both 3.5-inch and 7.0-inch models. While their screens differ in size, both modules share several components, such as the ESP32 microcontroller, making them adaptable options for a variety of projects. The Elecrow 7.0-inch display module is powered by the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N4R8 module equipped with an ESP32-S3 dual-core LX6 32-bit microprocessor, 4 MB of flash, 384 kB of ROM, and 512 kB of SRAM. This microcontroller supports both WiFi and Bluetooth for wireless communication. The 7.0-inch display itself is a capacitive touch screen with a resolution of 800×480 pixels. The display is controlled by the EK9716BD3/EK73002ACGB driver and is compatible with LVGL for additional functionality. In the case of the 3.5-inch display module, the main difference is the use of the ESP32-WROOM-32-N4 […]
ESPHome compatible “Smart Powermeter” supports up to 6 CT clamps
J.G.Aguado’s “Smart Powermeter” is an ESP32-S2 board with a 2.9-inch e-paper display designed to measure power consumption through up to six CT clamps, or Current Transformer clamps, that are each attached to one of the AC lines of a house or appliance. I used an MT87 Digital Clamp Multimeter nearly 10 years ago to easily and safely measure the power consumption of a whole house by simply clamping it on one of the cables outside and reading the results on the display. The Smart Powermeter works in the same way but can perform measurements for up to six devices, and besides seeing the results on the display the ESP32-S2 can also send the data to the cloud or local server for data gathering and analysis using ESPHome or Arduino firmware. Smart Powermeter specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-S2-MINI-1-N4R2 SoC – Espressif ESP32-S2FH4 CPU Single-core 32-bit LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 […]
WCH RISC-V microcontrollers can now be programmed with the Arduino IDE
WCH has launched some interesting RISC-V microcontrollers in the last year or so, including the “10 cents” CH32V003 RISC-V microcontroller with 2KB SRAM and 16KB flash or the CH32V307with more resources (up to 64KB SRAM and 256KB flash) and additional peripherals. So far they were programmable in C language using MounRiver IDE or an open-source toolchain, but WCH has now announced Arduino support for many of those RISC-V microcontrollers which should enable more people to get involved. The core library for CH32duino works with OpenOCD through WCH-LINKE hardware to download the firmware and debug WCH chips and a riscv-none-embed-gcc toolchain that supports custom RISC-V instructions (half-word and byte compression instruction extensions and hardware stack push/pop functions) found in WCH RISC-V microcontroller. The following evaluation kits are currently supported with ADC, DAC, USART, GPIO, EXTI, SysTick, I2C, and SPI peripherals: CH32V003F4P EVT board CH32V203G8U EVT board CH32X035G8U EVT board CH32V103R8T6_BLACK EVT […]
2023 Year in review – Top 10 posts, statistics, and what to expect in 2024
It’s the last day and last article of the year, so we will look at some highlights of 2023, some traffic statistics on the CNX Software website, and speculate what interesting developments may happen in 2024. Looking back at 2023 The semiconductor shortage that had happened since 2020 started to fade away in early 2023, and supplies for most electronics components and devices seem to be adequate at this time, so that was a bright spot this year, and hopefully, it will stay that way in 2024 despite geopolitical tensions. We did not have any super exciting new Arm application processors from Rockchip, Amlogic, or Allwinner announced this year, although the Amlogic S928X penta-core Cortex-A76/A55 CPU started to show up in some 8K TV boxes. The launch of the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC with a Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Cortex-A76 processor was probably the main highlight for Arm on this side […]
LILYGO T4-S3 board combines 2.41-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with ESP32-S3R8 microcontroller
LILYGO T4-S3 is yet another ESP32-S3 board with an integrated display, but the main difference here is the 2.41-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with brighter colors than typical TFT displays. It’s actually not the first ESP32-S3 board with an AMOLED display from LILYGO as we previously covered the T-Track and T-Display-S3 AMOLED boards from the company, but the new T4-S3 has a larger 2.41-inch display with touchscreen function and an aspect ratio that may make it more suitable for a wider range of HMI applications. LILYGO T4-S3 specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 8MB PSRAM Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE + Mesh connectivity Storage – 16MB SPI flash, MicroSD card socket Display – 2.41-inch RGB AMOLED touchscreen display with 600×450 resolution (QSPI controller) with 800cd/m2 brightness, 36.2 x 48.96mm active […]
MEMENTO is an ESP32-S3-based, CircuitPython or Arduino programmable DIY camera module
Adafruit’s new MEMENTO – Bare Board Camera module is powered by the ESP32-S3 and can be programmed with CircuitPython or Arduino. The module includes a camera with an OV5640 sensor which features auto-focus capabilities and the board includes a 1.54″ 240×240 Color TFT to display the images. Previously we have covered many ESP32-based camera modules like the TinyML-CAM, the Arduino Nicla Vision, TTGO T-Camera, and many other camera modules that feature the OV5640 sensor you can check those out if interested. Features and Specifications of the MEMENTO ESP32 Camera Module: Processing and Connectivity ESP32-S3 Module Dual-core 240MHz Tensilica processor 8 MB Flash, 2 MB PSRAM WiFi and BTLE capabilities Camera and Display OV5640 Camera Module 5MP sensor 72-degree view Autofocus JPEG encoder 1.54″ Color TFT Display with 240×240 resolution Storage – MicroSD card slot (SPI) Ports and Expansion Two Digital/Analog Stemma Ports – JST PH-3 connectors for A0, A1, power, […]
Raspberry Breadstick – A RP2040-based development board in a quirky form factor
The Raspberry Breadstick is a breadstick-shaped development board that is designed for ease of use. Unlike other development boards, the Breadstick is built to fit directly on your breadboard and interface with the other electronic components in your project without the need for lengthy jumper wires. It serves to deliver a prototype that is neat, straightforward, and easy to troubleshoot. It is based on Raspberry Pi’s debut microcontroller, the RP2040, which is the same MCU chip that powers the Raspberry Pi Pico and several other boards. We recently covered the Waveshare RP2040-PiZero that comes in the Pi Zero’s form factor. The RP2040 is cheap and supports C/C++, MicroPython, and CircuitPython. The Breadstick has other interesting features such as a lineup of 24 addressable RGB LEDs with fast refresh rates, a 6-axis inertial measurement unit for collecting acceleration and rotation data, as well as 16MB of external flash storage for your […]
T-Keyboard-S3 4-key USB mechanical keyboard features keycaps with 0.85-inch color display
LILYGO T-Keyboard-S3 is an ESP32-S3 powered USB mechanical keyboard with four keys each equipped with a keycap featuring a 0.85-inch 128×128 color display to show different icons or characters. We have already covered several programmable small mechanical keyboards/keypads or macropads, so the first time I saw the T-Keyboard-S3 I did not think much of it until I read the $65 price tag on Aliexpress which I found excessive for this type of device. That’s only until I realized that each resin keycap has its own color display that the price made sense, and it makes quite a versatile macropad as you could easily program multiple layouts depending on the use case. T-Keyboard-S3 specifications: Wireless module ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 MCU – ESP32-S3R8 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash Connectivity – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 with LE/Mesh […]