I'd like to interface an Arduino Nano to a Waveshare e-Paper display (preferably I2C, but SPI acceptable).
Can anyone recommend some hardware that will allow me to connect the two? The only shields I've been able to find are for the Uno, but I'd rather work with the Nano.
Many thanks.
The UNO and Nano are about the same but in different form factor. The Nano gives you two analog input lines that are not pined out on the UNO. If this is prototype numbers would work, if it is more then that what do you expect it to look like? When using jumpers I use Black for ground, Red for +5 Orange +3.3 and yellow for the higher voltages. It makes debugging much easier especially after you have done a bunch of different projects.
Just a few extra thoughts:
Do you have an "E-paper HAT" (With a blue pcb), or do you have a "raw display panel" (without the blue PCB)?
I am not aware of any sort of shield for these displays which physically fits Arduino Nano.
As gilshultz said above: If you do have an "E-paper HAT", rather than a raw display, it should be a simple matter of wiring Nano pins to display pins. The displays natively use SPI.
If you instead have a "raw display", you will instead need some sort of driver board.
If you really want some sort of shield-type product fitting the Nano, you may need to design your own PCB. It's not particularly expensive, but there is a bit of a learning curve.
Yes (I have both), but the UNO is too big to fit into the case I want to use.
Without links to the hardware I will take a SWAG and say the I2C will directly connect without an additional shield. I do this all the time with LCD displays and use the little I2C converter board.
I've pretty much had my days of doing PCB manufacture; if it comes down to that being my only choice then it would probably be easier for me to switch to a different type of board. I've currently got my code running perfectly on a Nano, but LED and LCD diplays that I've used haven't worked out well; the LED can't be seen very well in bright light, and the LCDs turn black once they've been in the sun - so I'm hoping an E-paper display will solve the issue.
Edit: Apologies for the messed up quoting - it's not working as I expected it to for reasons I don't understand yet.
I've connected LCD & LED displays using those little converter/driver boards too; what I'd really like is "one of those little I2C driver/converter boards that I can connect a Nano to (via soldering wires or via a shield)".
The whole project only involves diplaying the time from a RTC on an E-Paper display, and controlling a relay with a via a couple of switches.
You were particularly keen on I2C, hey?
Something like this might be suitable.
If not, some kind of SPI display module would probably work.
The wiring is pretty straightforward.
I just had more of a "poke around" and it looks like that product you linked to also includes a plug/cable that interfaces with the board input (not sure why they didn't include a photo of that - I only spotted it when googling for a local supplier of the product).
So "problem solved"; many thanks for your help.
Good to know, I didn't realize that either!
Thanks for that too.
I normally prefer I2C only because I end up with 4 wires instead of 12 (the project includes an I2C RTC so I'm committed to using an I2C interface anyway; at that point the question becomes "only I2C" or "I2C + SPI" ... with the former being much neater from a wiring perspective - but not a "biggie" either way).
No worries.
I just ordered the driver board that you linked to - plus an "all-in-one" featuring an ESP32 - plus a small E-Paper display; I might look at making the jump to ESP32 - and if that doesn't work then I can always just do it the other way.
Thanks again for your help - much appreciated.
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