Category: Embedded Systems

  • Application Shell for ESP32-S3 T-Embed

    Over the past couple of months I have been working on an application shell for the T-Embed from Lilygo It is now available at https://github.com/cydergoth/tembed-app-shell This shell is an example of how to put together an application for the ESP32-S3 and the T-Embed with the ST8879V LCD controller and an 320×170 LCD.

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  • Engraving a PCB

    Hardware works best when it matters the least. Norman Ralph Augustine It’s time to move our IR Transmitter circuit from breadboard to PCB. Just as a reminder, this is what the circuit looks like: This is a circuit trivial enough to be made on a single layer Through Hole board (TH). These boards are readily…

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  • Debugging with an Analog Discovery 2

    The wages of sin is debugging. Ron Jeffries I have demonstrated that it is possible to use an ESP32 both as an infrared transmitter and receiver, and I mentioned that the IR receiver I used decoded the carrier wave. In today’s post I shall show you how I discovered that fact using a Digilent Analog…

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  • Let’s talk about GPIO (Part 5)

    “spooky actions at a distance” Albert Einstein Last time we talked about the LED PWM controller in the ESP32, today we’ll talk about the Remote Control Transceiver (RMT) device which is similar but capable of input as well as output. In order to utilize this controller we need some external hardware, in this case the…

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  • Let’s talk about GPIO (Part 4)

    The world belongs to those who think and act with it, who keep a finger on its pulse. William Ralph Inge Now that we can use basic digital GPIO functionality, let us look at using one of the SoC functions which can be connected to the GPIO via the IOMUX. In this case, we’re going…

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  • Let’s talk about GPIO (Part 3)

    We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them. Steve Jobs Last time we build a small demo app to blink a light on a Sparkfun ESP32 Thing+. Today, we’re going to extend that to use a button click to toggle the light instead. In order to do that,…

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  • Let’s talk about GPIO (part 2)

    “The Doctor: Don’t blink. Don’t even blink. Blink and you’re dead. Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink.” Steven Moffat One of the most basic uses of a GPIO pin is to connect to an LED, the ubiquitous Light Emitting Diode. This is so common that many boards actually come with an…

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  • Let’s talk about GPIO (part 1)

    Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?’ I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.”  Charles Babbage General Purpose Input Output (GPIO) is the primary way by which microcontrollers sense and change their environment.…

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  • Tools maketh the man

    “Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.” Thomas Carlyle Tools are a force multiplier, these tools help me extend my reach: What are your go-to tools?

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  • Screenshot capture from LVGL

    “Visualizing information can give us a very quick solution to problems. We can get clarity or the answer to a simple problem very quickly.” David McCandless Working with VLGL, the little graphics library for embedded systems, is an interesting process. Sometimes you want to capture what you see in order to use it for diagnosis,…

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