CoreInk

SKU:K048

Description

CoreInk is a main control device with an E-Ink display launched by M5Stack, using the ESP32-PICO-D4 controller. The front is embedded with a 1.54" E-Ink display with a resolution of 200x200, supporting black/white display. Compared to ordinary LCD screens, the E-Ink display provides a better text reading experience, with features such as low power consumption and image retention when powered off. For human-machine interaction, it offers a rotary switch and physical buttons, integrated LED indicator, and buzzer. It has a built-in 390mAh lithium battery, combined with an internal RTC (BM8563) to achieve timed sleep and wake-up functions, providing excellent battery life. There are independent power and reset (RST) buttons on the left side and bottom of the device, making it easy to use and debug. It offers a variety of peripheral interfaces (HY2.0-4P, M-BUS, HAT module interface) to expand various sensor devices, providing infinite possibilities for subsequent application development.

Tutorial

View tutorials & quick start.

UIFlow

This tutorial will introduce you to controlling the CoreInk device through the UIFlow graphical programming platform

UiFlow2

This tutorial will introduce you to controlling the CoreInk device through the UiFlow2 graphical programming platform

Arduino IDE

This tutorial will introduce you to controlling the CoreInk device through Arduino IDE programming

Features

Developed based on ESP32, supports WiFi
Built-in 4M Flash
Low power consumption display panel
Nearly 180-degree viewing angle
Human-machine interaction interface
Magnetic back design
Built-in lithium battery
Rich expansion interfaces

Includes

1 x CoreInk
1 x USB Type-C cable (20cm)

Applications

IoT controller
E-book reader
Industrial instrument display panel
Electronic label

Specifications

Specification	Parameters
ESP32-PICO-D4	240MHz dual core, 600 DMIPS, 520KB SRAM, Wi-Fi
Flash	4MB Flash
Input Voltage	5V @ 500mA
Interface	TypeC x 1, HY2.0-4P x 1, M-BUS bus female connector, top HAT expansion interface
E-Ink Display	GDEW0154M09, SPI interface, 200 x 200@1.54", Dpi:184, 1-bit black/white display (grayscale: 2) Viewing area (mm): 27.6x27.6, Dot pitch (mm) 0.138x0.138, Refresh time (s) 0.82, Partial refresh time (s) 0.24
Physical Buttons	Programmable button x1, Reset button x1, Power button x1
LED	Green LED x 1
RTC	BM8563
Buzzer	Passive buzzer x1
Antenna	2.4G 3D antenna
Pinout	G25, G26, G36, G23, G34, G18, G21, G22, G14, G13
Battery	390mAh@3.7V
Operating Temperature	0 ~ 60°C
Case Material	Plastic (PC)
Product Size	56.0 x 40.0 x 16.0mm
Product Weight	31.8g
Package Size	61.0 x 45.5 x 21.2mm
Gross Weight	54.9g

Learn

Note

Precautions:

When using, please avoid high-frequency refreshing for a long time. It is recommended to refresh at intervals of (15s/refresh). Do not expose to ultraviolet light for a long time, as this may cause irreversible damage to the E-Ink display. CoreInk uses a low-power power management scheme different from CORE and StickC devices. When using, the PWR button is used as the power-on button (long press for 2s). To shut down the device, you need to use the software API or press the reset button on the back.

Schematics

CoreInk Sch PDF

1/2

PinMap

E-Ink Screen

Screen Pixels: 200x200

ESP32 Chip	GPIO4	GPIO0	GPIO15	GPIO9	GPIO18	GPIO23
GDEW0154M09	BUSY	RST	D/C	CS	SCK	MOSI

Rotary Switch & Physical Buttons & LED & Buzzer

ESP32 Chip	GPIO37	GPIO38	GPIO39	GPIO5	GPIO10	GPIO2	GPI12
Rotary Switch	Right	Center	Left	/	/	/	/
Physical Button	/	/	/	Physical Button	/	/	/
LED	/	/	/	/	LED	/	/
Buzzer	/	/	/	/	/	Buzzer	/
Power Control	/	/	/	/	/	/	MOS

USB to Serial Download

ESP32 Chip	GPIO1	GPIO3
CP2104	RXD	TXD

Internal I2C Connection

ESP32 Chip	GPIO21	GPIO22
BM8563	SDA	SCL

Coreink-HY2.0 4P Port

PORT	PIN	Note:
EXT-PORT	G32/33	I2C

ESP32 ADC/DAC Mappable Pins

ADC1	ADC2	DAC1	DAC2
8 Channels	10 Channels	2 Channels	2 Channels
G32-39	G0/2/4/12-15/25-27	G25	G26

For more information on pin assignments and pin remapping, please refer to the ESP32 datasheet

Dimensional Drawing

Datasheets

Softwares

Arduino

USB Driver

Click the link below to download the driver for your operating system. There are currently two driver chip versions, CP210X (for CP2104 version) / CP34X (for CH9102 version) driver packages. After extracting the package, select the installation package corresponding to your operating system's bit version for installation. (If you are unsure which USB chip your device uses, you can install both drivers. CH9102_VCP_SER_MacOS v1.7 may show an error during installation, but it has actually completed the installation, so you can ignore it.)

Driver Name	Applicable Driver Chip	Download Link
CP210x_VCP_Windows	CP2104	Download
CP210x_VCP_MacOS	CP2104	Download
CP210x_VCP_Linux	CP2104	Download
CH9102_VCP_SER_Windows	CH9102	Download
CH9102_VCP_SER_MacOS v1.7	CH9102	Download

MacOS Port Selection

On MacOS, there may be two selectable ports. Please choose the port named wchmodem when using.

Easyloader

Easyloader	Download Link	Note
CoreInk Test Easyloader	download	/

Video

Demonstrating some basic features of CoreInk.