4D Systems gen4-IoD-28T

Many boards deal with IoT. Most send data to the cloud; none displays data from the cloud.

Here comes the 4D Systems gen4-IoD-28T. It combines an IoT-capable board with a touch-screen. IoD stands for Internet of Displays.

This screen belongs to the 4th generation of 4D Systems screens, with a slim and sleek design. The white plastic provides protection around the screen and four supports to fix the screen.

Hardware

The board relies on the very popular ESP8266 from Espressif with 512 Kbytes of external flash. 

​It features an internal antenna and a connector for an external antenna.
The board comes with a programmer and a flat cable.

The programmer is the standard Silicon Labs CP2104. The board features two buttons, Reset and Flash, and a micro-USB port.
The blue part of the cable should be on top, and the silver pads face the boards.
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The board includes a sliding micro-SD card slot.

The animation on the right details how to insert and remove a card.

The SD-card stores the widgets used by Visi-Genie, or data retrieved from the cloud.

Software

As a board powered by an ESP8266, the gen4-IoD-28T can be programmed with the Arduino framework. 

Installing the board requires three steps.
  • First, download and install the ESP8266 boards package using the Arduino Boards Manager. 
  • Second, download the gen4-IoD Datasheet and go to section 12.1 Arduino IDE, which lists the parameters for the gen4-IoD boards.
  • Third, find the boards.txt file under the Arduino15/packages/ esp8266/hardware/esp8266 folder and copy-paste the parameters for the gen4-IoD boards at the end of the file, and save it.  
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Unfortunately, the listing contains non-standard ASCII characters. The folder that contains the boards.txt file depends on the OS, but the data-sheet only provides the path for Windows.
  • Windows C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages \esp8266\hardware\esp8266\2.3.0
  • macOS /Users/USER/Library/Arduino15/packages/esp8266/. hardware/esp8266/2.3.0
gen4-IoD-28T Boards Parameters fro Arduino

    









					
									

		
	






	

		
			

				
					
						


4D Systems has developed GFX4d, a graphics library ​with all the functions for displays graphics and texts, but also for downloading files and managing the SD-card.

The library comes with a large set of examples. The most sticking example is the GFXdemo4D project. This project connects to internet, downloads files and images, save them to the SD card, and finally displays them.

​As always, 4D Systems provides an extensive collection of Application Notes. However, I was unable to find any documentation of the GFX4d library, with an exhaustive list of the functions and their parameters. The header file isn't even self-documented, for example with Doxygen comments to auto-generate HMTL or PDF files.




					
										
					
						











					
									

		
	





Conclusion




	

		
			

				
					
						


The 4D Systems gen4-IoD-28T illustrates the IoD or Internet of Displays concept perfectly. This is a must-have display for IoT projects.

Starting at $29, the gen4-IoD series offers great value for an all-in-one solution. Let's hope some improvements on the missing documentation about GFX4D library to make the gen4-IoD-28T even easier to use.



					
										
					
						




					
							

		
	













	

		
			

				
					
						


Pros



  • Perfect display for IoT projects
  • ​Great GFX4D library
  • Slim and sleek design



					
										
					
						


Cons



  • Not so easy procedures for installation
  • Missing documentation about GFX4D library



					
										
					
						


Wrap-Up



  • Perfect display for IoT projects
  • Great value
  • Confusing or missing documentation



					
									

		
	













	

		
			

				
					
						


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Posted: Aug 4, 2017
Updated: