Electronics and software program engineer Spiros “Bond” Bontomitsidis has designed an open supply eBook reader firmware for the Soldered Electronics InkPlate 6 Flick ePaper show: the FlickBook.
“FlickBook [lets you] construct your personal fully-featured eBook reader from scratch utilizing an InkPlate 6 Flick improvement board,” Bond explains of the machine. “This challenge delivers native EPUB parsing, gesture-based navigation, battery-powered operation, and full library administration — all with open-source {hardware} and software program! The aim of this challenge was to create a really open and customizable eBook reader that rivals industrial units whereas remaining utterly hackable and modifiable. In contrast to proprietary e-readers that lock you into particular ecosystems, this DIY resolution provides you full management over your digital library and studying expertise.”
Initially constructed for eReaders, the ePaper panels within the InkPlate 6 Flick can now try this job once more due to a customized firmware. (📹: Spiros Bond)
The center of the challenge is the Soldered Electronics InkPlate 6 Flick, which pairs upcycled touchscreen ePaper shows with Espressif ESP32 microcontrollers to create customizable good shows. Bond’s customized firmware, in the meantime, is tailor-made particularly to be used as an eReader — delivering native assist for library administration and parsing of EPUB-format digital books saved on microSD, gesture-based navigation, progress monitoring, gentle and darkish modes, and low-power operation good for over per week of steady use per cost. This latter is aided by the truth that electrophoretic ePaper shows want energy solely when altering state, in contrast to constantly-refreshing liquid crystal shows (LCDs).
The trade-off with ePaper shows is a comparatively sluggish refresh fee, although Bond estimates page-turn refreshes at beneath a second on the FlickBook. They’re simply readable in vivid daylight, however their reflective nature implies that they grow to be tougher to see the darker it will get — which the InkPlate 6 Flick solves with entrance lighting system, adjustable in Bond’s firmware for 64 ranges of brightness. When the battery does run low, it may be charged by way of USB Sort-C — and a real-time show lets you already know when it is time to plug the FlickBook in.
Extra info on the challenge is on the market on GitHub, the place you may additionally discover the supply code beneath the permissive MIT license.
