Connecting the EXT3 to the Espressif ESP32

Scope

This configuration has been tested successfully against

• ​Espressif ESP32-DevKitC and ​Espressif ESP32-Pico boards
• for screens up to 7.41" due to the SRAM available for data, about 128 kB from total of 520 kB.

This configuration may also work on other boards based on the ESP32, although with a different pinout.

Thank you to W. Shepherd Pitts and Joe Harrison from NCSU for sharing the idea. 

Software

On the main sketch, set the board to boardESP32DevKitC, corresponding to the pins defined in the hV_Configuration.h file of the ePaper_EXT3_Basic_Library (link 1, link 2).

Notes

Some ESP32-based boards may fail to flash with the Arduino environment.

As a solution, install a 10 µF electrolytic capacitor between GROUND (minus side of the capacitor) and EN (plus side of the capacitor) so the ESP32 board automatically goes into boot/flash mode.

Sketch.ino

hV_Configuration.h

Hardware

Options

Large screens 9.7" and 12.2" require panelCSS to be defined and connected.

If the second memory is populated on the EXT3 board, flashCSS needs to be defined and connected. The library will keep flashCSS HIGH to avoid any interferences with the other devices connected to the SPI bus.

Credits: Based on an idea created by W. Shepherd Pitts, PhD, NCSU - modified by Joe Harrison, NCSU - 12 Oct 2021
Posted: 18 Oct 2021
Updated: