The LILYGO T-HMI: An ESP32-S3 Board with a 2.8-Inch Color Display and Resistive Touch Panel for HMI Applications

LILYGO, a well-known manufacturer of ESP32-S3 boards, has introduced its latest product, the LILYGO T-HMI board. This board is based on the ESP32-S3 and features a 2.78-inch color display with resistive touch technology, making it an excellent choice for HMI (Human Machine Interfaces) applications. Additionally, the board is equipped with Grove connectors, allowing for easy expansion with sensors or actuators.

Grove connectors are a standardized set of connectors used for rapid prototyping. The system consists of a Base unit, usually a microprocessor, and various Grove modules. The modules can connect to the Base unit to enable different inputs or outputs. Alternatively, if you do not have a Base unit, you can use Grove to Pin Header Converter and connect Grove modules directly to the pins on devices like Raspberry Pi or Arduino.

Regarding support, LILYGO provides a PDF schematic, Example code, Default Firmware, Arduino Library, PlatformIO Library, and a DXF file for reference. All these are available on their official GitHub repo.

Features of the LILYGO T-HMI color display board

The T-HMI is LILYGO’s touch display screen with an ESP32-S3 chip. The screen uses a 2.8-inch ST7789 LCD and is equipped with a resistive screen stylus/pen; more features are listed below,

• wireless MCU – ESP32-S3 with dual-core Tensilica LX7 running up to 240 MHz
• 16MB SPI flash, 512KB RAM, 8MB PSRAM, and microSD card socket for expanded storage.
• Connectivity – 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n) with 40 MHz channel support, BLE 5.0 with long-range capabilities
• Antenna – PCB antenna and external u.FL antenna support.
• Display – 2.8-inch 320×240 color (RGB) display with resistive touch support
• USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming.
• Expansion – 3 Grove connectors for expansion modules.
• Misc – Reset, Boot, and On/Off buttons; Reed switch (IO21); 3x external backup button interfaces.
• Power Supply – 5V via USB Type-C port or 2-pin JST PH2.0 connector, support for LiPo battery.
• Dimensions – Compact dimensions of 80 x 50 x 12.5mm.

One tiny problem with this board is that the USB port used for JTAG requires the CDC_ON_BOOT configuration to be enabled. If that is disabled or the port cannot be found during program upload, you must manually enter the upload mode by pressing and holding the BOOT button while connecting the USB and then clicking reset on the programming software.

You can buy the T-HMI board from LILYGO on Aliexpress for a price of $22.78, and that includes free shipping.

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