#16 How to Re-program (reverse engineer) e-ink (epaper) Price Tags (Shelf Labels) with an Arduino
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День томуRecently I realized my local grocery store replaced traditional price tags with electronic e-ink (epaper) price tags / shelf labels. I found out that you can easily buy the same ones from e-bay, and I was able to re-program / hack them.
These devices can be used as cheap Arduino E-Ink Displays, and you can easily program these with usb-TTL adapter, or any Arduino board.
The brand of the e-paper display I re-program is Hanshow, and the model is Stellar.
Here are the links which is mentioned in the video:
Blog page (in Chinese, but auto translation works fine):
javabin.cn/2022/epaper.html
github.com/reece15/stellar-L3...
Other projects you might think interesting:
github.com/atc1441/ATC_TLSR_P...
github.com/reiyawea/HanshowClock
github.com/rbaron/pricetag-pr...
github.com/dustybee/HanshowESL
github.com/ieiao/hanshow-2in9...
github.com/search?q=hanshow
▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Intro
0:32 - Contents of the package
1:20 - Tear-down
5:00- Investigation existing projects
6:25 - How to make connections and upload custom firmware
8:18 - Bluetooth operations (updating the time, sending comments, and OTA)
12:48 - Further development ideas and conclusion
@pixobit5882 Рік тому
I am working at a company that installs and programms these tags. They are normally updated via a special access point which is connected to a local server in the market. For big market chains they are getting their prices from a central server somewhere in the world. For smaller markets they can enter the prices manually in a special software.
@devinholland2189 Рік тому
I there a way to program a single one using a device you hold near to it? NFC or RFID style interface?
@CallousCoder Рік тому
@@devinholland2189t shouldn’t be too hard to make this yourself. These are off the shell price tags. So if you buy one you’ll get access to the api for sure. And seeing this it’s just a simple http session that you can sniff and use Yourself. And the contents is just an image. So it’s just a post of a base64 encoded image.
@karlfrankeser Рік тому
Acutally these tags are super encrypted! I once talked with the local installer of the Imagotag brand and it is super secure. Once you setup the tag in a network it is set for life on it, only a special encryption key can be used to reset the tag...
@someguy4915 Рік тому
@@karlfrankeser Oh wow 'super encrypted', is that like military-grade or even better? They're set up in the network and then are set up for life? Wow, so even if the network goes down they are still in the network, that's really super-network. Basically the same as practically any wireless network, such as Wifi, where you setup the access method (WPA2-PSK for example) and then it will be able to connect indefinitely... Sorry to burst the bubble, but the guy taking these out of the box and registering them as he hangs them on the shelves is not an engineer and usually has no clue how they work, just how he is supposed to set them up... Same as how a taxi driver is usually not aware of the exact design details of the engine in his car...
@JohnDlugosz Рік тому
@@CallousCoder "odd the shell" you mean "off the shelf"?
@atc1441 Рік тому
Maker of this project here :) nice to see it being used, on my channel you can find some in-depth videos about the reversing and creating of this firmware and more E-Paper and price tag related content
@bansci Рік тому
Thanks! I've been staring at these for months thinking about using them for inventory management. You've managed to make it easy enough to try, thank you!
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Hi Aaron, Nice project. I already told them to check your channel in the video ;)
@stevebabiak6997 Рік тому
@@makersfunduck - this comment should be pinned.
@TylerHallHiveTech Рік тому
Small world. I contacted you on Twitter and got a few from you. I haven’t made an effort on them yet but I will soon!
@brokejaw 16 днів тому
How much would you charge to hack these for me? I have about 10? I can pay for shipping both ways.
@ettcha 4 місяці тому
These things make sense in my country! Prices are recalculated almost daily, and i can assure you, never downwards 😂
@Mavi222 4 місяці тому
In my country, they go sometimes 50% OFF, but only after they go 50% up the day earlier😅
@Panin2001oca 4 місяці тому
@@Mavi222that is still a discount though. +50% and then -50% means -25% in the end
@huhnXXIII 4 місяці тому
Argentina?
@ettcha 4 місяці тому
@@huhnXXIII Zimbabwe
@koppo5657 3 місяці тому
@@huhnXXIII damn i was about to ask the same, the situation is very dire here
@MrFastFox666 Рік тому
BestBuy has had these for a while now, but as far as I can tell they work with IR, like a TV remote. We just scan the barcode for the tag at the register, then enter in the product we want to link to the tag, then the tag updates automatically. There are these large chrome saucer looking things hanging from the ceiling all around the store, and if you point a camera at them while setting a tag you can see a ton of IR LEDs blinking.
@TheFPSPower Рік тому
That makes a lot of sense, it's a big investment but over time it pays off.
@MrFastFox666 Рік тому
@@TheFPSPower they are pretty handy. They update automatically so we don't have to go around changing labels when the price changes. Ours also have an LED so when we can't find where an item is supposed to be we can make the tag linked to that item flash a green LED. I'm sure the labor saved alone makes it worth the investment.
@josephhacker6508 Рік тому
@@MrFastFox666 you know inflation is out of control when price tags have OTA update capabilities
@ReNeyer Рік тому
@@josephhacker6508 The paper tags in my supermarket show the week they've been updated on, recently been seeing some Week 42/22 at 1,49 and then Week 2/23 at 2,39 .. Crazy.
@giedrius2149 Рік тому
@@TheFPSPower idk man it's also a lot of e waste. The paper method used before required paper but at least that's recycable. Also out of all the things to optimize or investing into bringing out their own brands... this? come on.
@wkjagt 5 місяців тому
They have these in a large department store here in Canada. They use the built-in LED to more easily find products in some cases. For example, when buying a light bulb for your car, you can look up the model you need on a touch screen (by entered your car brand, model, year etc) and then there's a button that says something like "flash price tag". When you press it, the LED on the price tag for the bulb you selected starts flashing bright green, which makes it really easy to spot it among the hundreds of other similar looking bulbs.
@dosdude1935 4 місяці тому
That’s really normal
@birdcrossing 4 місяці тому
very helpful tho
@MikeKolcun 4 місяці тому
I’m also in Canada. Which store does the flashing? That’s really cool
@wkjagt 4 місяці тому
@@MikeKolcun Canadian Tire. In the automotive section, they have these touch screens to find parts like oil filters, light bulbs etc by brand and year of your car. When it shows a list of search results, there's a button on the individual product that says something like "flash label" or something. It makes a green LED flash on the price tag.
@Q_0 4 місяці тому
We use the exact same tags in the netherlands, the flashing function is so usefull
@adriancentra Рік тому
I was hoping for a wireless hack that could change the display of tags deployed in a supermarket…purely for scientific purposes of course. But this is very cool nonetheless!
@KevinSun242 5 місяців тому
Wonder if you can capture the frequency or signal with the Flipper Zero or something...
@Nexalian_Gamer 4 місяці тому
It'd be funny to put a Rick Roll on one of those (or all of them if you're feely extra evil) 😈
@8888k 4 місяці тому
Same, but I know that if that existed these would go away instantly where I live. People everywhere would use them probably to protest against the supermarket rising prices, etc
@mccormack570 Рік тому
My local supermarket has these, they often throw out boxes of them into their bins, I just take the boxes and I currently have a big wall of them with various article titles that I've written (I'm a journalist). The supermarket doesn't mind because I'm getting rid of their illegally dumped e-waste for free, and I get some cool little electronics that are very versatile.
@mortenmoulder Рік тому
Why the heck would they throw them away?
@makersfunduck Рік тому
I also talked the manager of the supermarket. They simply dont have time for troubleshooting, and since they are buying it with huge quantities, they are very cheap for them, and dont care. They did not gave any to me though :(
@Ale_giro Рік тому
@@makersfunduck I work as shelf restocking stuffs, when i see one "tilting" or just with broken plastic i'll ask if i can take it, or even i may ask for "some to take home", i hope they give them to me. Usually they keep the battery died or the broken pieces ready to dump, somewhere... Like, 100-150 pieces every couple months!! But as i see, there are at least 18-19 different models (standard, ice, double ice, no logo, with "S" logo only, with "S" logon and ice (or TWO ice) logo, with led, without led, red and black, black only, square shape, rectangular shape, double size shape, etc....)
@makersfunduck Рік тому
@@Ale_giro Usually, if they have the same brand, only specs are changing, and you can still re-program those. for example some of them have smaller screens, so you need to send of course smaller images to them. some of them have cold resistant, apart from that they can use same firmware. So I suggest all of the ones that you can find :)
@conundrum2007 7 місяців тому
What about recycling the wonky tags into E bike power meters?
@ThomasBensler Рік тому
luckily these are available from my local supermarket ;)
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Just dont steal it :P
@bachibak Рік тому
@@makersfunduck I'm not stealing it, just permanent borrowing ¶:
@tiberiu_nicolae Рік тому
😂
@renakunisaki Рік тому
They often throw out "broken" ones that still actually work fine.
@madcow3417 Рік тому
If you want to program 50 of them without soldering, I made a tool that would work a couple months ago. There was a similar physical interface on a GMRS radio that I was trying to troubleshoot. I measured the hole pattern and drilled a 1/4" piece of plastic. I then used pieces rigid wire connected to a mini-grabber. Gravity held the rigid wire down to the connectors well enough to program it. In this case if the plastic adapter is cut(or 3d printed) to the size of the opening of that case then it will line up the pins for you.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
thanks for the tip. Pogo pins are literally life saver
@ZincLeadAlloy Рік тому
I'd love seeing this implemented as a LP counter for yugioh
@mahinaemoon82 Рік тому
not a bad idea, but the colored ones are better for this
@vffa 2 місяці тому
Then again, battery is rated for ~10 years with 2 rewrites per day. So, that'd be a quick drain.
@fangthewarrior Рік тому
I was apart of a Best Buy remodel team that put these up, they're so cool! I had asked a lot of questions about them. One being if they could update automatically (like in a price change) and the answer was yes! There are transmitters in the ceiling that can send information to individual tags, even when they're close together.(I've even had them go off my mistake in the box or in my hand probably due to the same id?) Unfortunately I get the chance to have a the PDA to program them myself but basically it's scan that barcode on the tag then the product, wait a bit then it starts strobing! My guess is, the PDA sends this info to a centralize computer that then sends the programing data to the tags through those transmitters via IR. That little blip from the tag after programing probably means 'complete'. They had them in this size and a *much* larger size too, for the appliances, I think something like 2½"x3" maybe? Those for sure can be used in projects and would be cheap!
@makersfunduck Рік тому
In the next video, I tried to do something similar (#17) for personal practical purposes. It uses the Bluetooth on your PC and your PC acts as a transmitter. and you can get a regular updates from any website.
@dieseldragon6756 4 місяці тому
A German supermarket chain I shop at here (UK) has recently rolled those tags out to our local stores, and the larger size is about 4" x 6". Likely intended for bigger ticket items, but they've been deployed mostly throughout their "Middle of Lidl" section. (Discounted non-food items).
@fightme5543 Рік тому
I love the fact that we're starting to create a real world watch-dogs
@annevanderbijl3510 5 місяців тому
Love the "will it run doom" in the tags of this video :)
@benvanoers1118 Рік тому
these things are super helpful. Where i work we have got the exact same esl's . you can let it blink to find the product, it updates the price automatically, and you only have to scan the product and the esl to pair it. Also the battery lasts around 5 years.
@Joepert Рік тому
Albert Heijn zeker?😉
@benvanoers1118 Рік тому
@@Joepert exact!
@clemradio 4 місяці тому
@@benvanoers1118keicool
@captainchaos3667 Рік тому
My local supermarket just put these up, and I was already planning to try and hack them when your video showed up in my feed. 😄
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Did it work?
@renakunisaki Рік тому
Instead of soldering pins to those pads, I use the thin wires from telephone cables. Hold them down with kapton tape because they break easily. You can glue headers to the edge of the board/case, or splice them to thicker wires and let those hang loose.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Thanks for the tip.
@lluisllimargas2637 Рік тому
Have you tried pogo pins connectors to temporary connect to the board? You can even make your own socket using 3D-printing. They work like a charm.
@PeetHobby Рік тому
Oops, I just post the same tip, didn't read all the comments before I posted.
@atc1441 Рік тому
Made exactly that for them a while ago ukposts.info/have/v-deo/gIaqhYGGiYGbkps.html
@rick_er2481 Рік тому
What do you mean with socket? like the Tag Connect?
@stevebabiak6997 Рік тому
@@rick_er2481 - the pogo pins need to be held in position. With a PCB they have the various pad positions and can drill holes wherever a pin is to be used. In this case, the suggestion was to 3D print something with holes in the proper size and position rather than drilling.
@lluisllimargas2637 Рік тому
@@stevebabiak6997 @Rick_er Pins are great for a short period of time (p.e. testbeds/bed of nails, ...), but if you need a more permanent connection using SMT connectors (p.e. debugging) it is useful to place the PCB in a 3D printed socket that perfectly fits and holds the board in position, so P-Pins are always at same place.
@ralex7213 Рік тому
Hi. Thanks a lot for the video!
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Hi, You are so welcome!
@vittorianis Рік тому
Y good work
@onlinetoby_ 4 місяці тому
they normally communicate (well in bigger setups) via special wifi access points that additionally to 2.4 and 5gh wifi have an rf receiver and transmitter, biggest producer is ses imagotag and the V:IoT protocol, connections to the server (where the prices and images are stored) are verified through x.509 certificates to combat mitm attacks.
@bruhgamingnl1315 4 місяці тому
I know in Albert Heijn employees can log in on those handheld terminals (ZEBRA android devices with special software and barcode scanner) and log in to a software that allows you to change what product is displayed on those tags/fix them if the display isn't working correctly/refresh it. You can also find the product by activating a green LED that flashes
@Subgunman 4 місяці тому
I can see a use for these in a facility where you have a watchman who must either use a Dallas Key device on his time clock. The time clock can scan the barcode and register the time they arrived at a particular post in their tour. If properly synchronized the correct time of day will appear at each post of the tour.
@thundercookie15 4 місяці тому
I use these things in the store I work. And it saves about 14-23 hours of labor per week of just manually changing prices. With this system it’s all automatic. We have special access points they connect to all around the store and all price info gets sent from there. Batteries need to be replaced every 2-3 years depending on how often the displays are changed or how much the LED is used.
@seanglennon2064 5 місяців тому
Cool (interesting), thanks for making this video (producing this content)
@sebaberny7170 Рік тому
very nice, could it be used to read an analog input different than the battery voltage?
@tissuepaper9962 Рік тому
Good thinking
@makersfunduck Рік тому
I think it wont be possible, at least with the ones with this Microcontroller. I did not see any analog GPIO pin exposed in the datasheet.
@volkinaxe Рік тому
how are they noemley programed ? wood be a bit ezer to do then tereing it apart?
@CristianSanchezFurio Рік тому
I was once given a bunch of these as a gift because some of them started to fail and acted funny. I have them in a drawer and I think I'm going to try to do something interesting with them.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
There are tons of possible use cases I can think of for this tags. If want me to try something, I can also do that for the next video;)
@LordGryllwotth Рік тому
In Norway they are programmed via IR I pressume. There is these IR blasters connected via ethernet cable hanging from the ceiling.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
That's interesting. I wonder how they handle the blockages between the shelves.
@IOUaUsername Рік тому
@@makersfunduck Extremely bright IR LED which just reflects off most surfaces. It illuminates the entire room the same way a light fixture does, but with IR pulses. My air conditioner remote works like this, allowing it to be mounted on the wall near the door and still work without having to pick it up and point it at the air conditioner. I guess the IR pulse sequence includes a serial number to only update one particular price tag. They only need to change the prices overnight, so even if it takes 6 hours to update them all, that's still fast enough.
@ronny-andrebendiksen4137 Рік тому
There are also some that are Zigbee based, meaning they can be centrally updated while creating a mesh.
@Ale_giro Рік тому
In Italy, in the superstore i work for, those are connected and updated via WiFi (a modem) for a great number of changes,or by their remote controller if changes are for few products. It would be nice to mod them with smartphone (nft? Wifi? Bt?) without the needed of tear it down and soldering.
@edc1569 Рік тому
I doubt the tags themselves use Wi-Fi, it would be a total calamity trying to have thousands of tags on a Wi-Fi network, and the battery life would be dreadful.
@EquaTechnologies 3 місяці тому
I once saw once of these displays blink in my local grocery store. They look EXACTLY like they are printed.
@309electronics5 Рік тому
Have seen these at my supermarkets i am also dutch and always wondered if these where e-ink and they are. I saw them life updating the e-paper tags in the Albert Heijn and jumbo. I also saw some of them blinking a green light. Always wanted to mess with them and now i will! Nought some e-paper tags the same ones as the Albert Heijn got a set of 50 for 90 euro
@kevrosbane 5 місяців тому
any way to hook these up to the twitch api? to have a dedicated live sign to tell when someone is live or if ur stream is still live and hasnt shutdown.
@MarkPentler Рік тому
My local shop has Solum Newton ESL tags and I'm wondering what the best way of going about programming those is. Can someone point me in the right direction?
@MNSweet Рік тому
If you don't need the high refresh rate of an LCD, the eInk is so nice for contrast at a distance. Should you choose to continue tinkering with these displays, I'm excited to follow along. I have some ideas for YT Shorts I'll reply with.
@MNSweet Рік тому
YT Short ideas: - program the expiration dates of your pantry or fridge and leave it on the box or bag, so you can see if something is past due. - If you have a Pi for it: connect it to your calendar and attach it to the inside of your front door so you know if you have any events to check. Add Weekday, Month Date on top followed by # events today. - Connect one to a YT subscriber API to display the current count via a Pi - My Favorite: Put hidden messages on them and hide them in the background of future videos. Make it an Easter egg hunt for viewers.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
I guess I covered most of your comments here : ukposts.info/have/v-deo/enOcgatsbomQunU.html
@PeetHobby Рік тому
Can buy some pogo test pins and make a 4 pin program header with them, works great for SMD program pads.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
I really wished to have those when I made this video, but I didnt have. Definitely they are quite nice.
@mrpappa4105 4 місяці тому
Would it be possible to make a Sonos display? Just the info of the current song that is playin and maybe the next song. And even better add volume, next song and previous song. Great video, thanks
@tomwiseman Рік тому
Very useful when prices are increasing every week.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Unfortunately yeah..
@NicksStuff 3 місяці тому
- How many tags do you want? - Yes!
@seekingthelovethatgodmeans7648 Рік тому
I remember vaguely a satire article that printed in a local newspaper three or four decades ago about shelf tags like this, where the posited communications medium was a cathode ray tube or other modulated light, and each scan just raised the price, and the TV in the electronics department kept raising the prices. Obviously this was well before the formal invention of this product. It's a crying shame there isn't a better way than we have now to recycle these things. Even if they can be reused for a long time, the need for new batteries to be installed periodically would be a valid issue. Could entire shelves have low voltage power and communication outlet strips on them, obviating the need for each tag to be autonomous and hopefully rendering the whole system hack resistant? How fast can these tags update their image? Could they do a kind of crude video?
@digitalchaos1980 Рік тому
Maybe use NFC for comms and wireless charging for power! 😎
@marsrover001 Рік тому
Yes these tags could be made much cheaper by using wireless charging coils for power and something nfc like for data. The scanner would be unique but one scanner can change infinite tags. I don't like the battery and Bluetooth/ir system big stores now use. As it's intentionally more expensive up front so all tags can be remotely updated just to put one more employee out of work. Technology is supposed to make life easier, not put us out of work.
@renakunisaki Рік тому
They can refresh at about 2FPS but for better display health you need to do a full refresh every few frames which takes about 5 seconds. So, not good for video. (I don't know if this controller supports fast refresh.)
@thundercookie15 4 місяці тому
In normal store usage, the battery only gets used when it has to update the display or you use the on board LED, with an average battery life of about 3-6 years.
@ElySky95 Рік тому
Dont those displays just need one pulse to keep the data ? Then why not just connect the display to the programer ?
@jonathantheyorkie 4 місяці тому
The e-ink is very innovative! Although be careful because you can get in trouble and I don't think a skull is a price unit yet. But if you want to do that, maybe talk to someone about it. You have great ideas, so put them to good use instead of pranking stores.
@gabrielsirilan3406 3 місяці тому
I am quite late to the party. I had a shower thought that E-ink displays could be used for price tags, and I am quite delighted to know that it exists! I am definitely not going to see it anytime soon in my country though.
@SkywereProductions 8 місяців тому
Hey, so everything worked but it's not centered on the display, its a bit up and to the right, all the "empty" space is filled in with a glitch pattern, what went wrong do you think?
@makersfunduck 8 місяців тому
I believe your image does not have the same resolution as your pricetag.
@littlebocarlito3741 8 місяців тому
Im making a e-paper smartwatch do you have a tip for automatic updateing
@makersfunduck 8 місяців тому
what about using Bluetooth, and communicate through it with your phone? it would be possibly most energy efficient and convenient solution.
@littlebocarlito3741 8 місяців тому
@@makersfunduck ok thanks
@xl97 Рік тому
Is there a way to have one 'central' micro controller (Arduino..etc) control multiple of the e-paper units? (hardwired or not) I get it can be programmed and then 'set'..the image/pic will stay. But if you wanted to use one to keep updating it,,using a single micro controller seems like overkill. Nice video/tutorials!
@makersfunduck Рік тому
you dont even need anothermcu, to control all. You can directly control them from your PC. Check this video for example: ukposts.info/have/v-deo/enOcgatsbomQunU.html
@jackstech601 Рік тому
the shop i work at has some, we use the sesimagotag vusion there alright but the screens break easliy and they randomly stop updating. there is a central wifi access point for them to connect to.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Maybe you can ask them to give those broken units to you? thats how I did and acquired a bunch of them for free. Most of them worked just fine after re-programming.
@mikiqex 4 місяці тому
Just an idea - it's impractical at even a small scale, but anyway... Since e-ink doesn't need a power, it should be possible to get rid of the battery and implement system similar to RFID, where the power needed to redraw the screen is provided during update process by the external reprogramming device. The problem is it would probably mean to physically access every single updated tag, which is time consuming (the device would have to know what tags to update to prevent any errors - either updating a wrong one, or forgetting some).
@ericlawrence9060 9 місяців тому
I was wondering the same thing!
@Teknopottu Рік тому
The rally english is strong with this one. New subscriber, interesting stuff you have here. Btw any experience in re-using small printer screens, with or without touch screen? I'm in under the impression that they are pretty hard to re-use but my knowledge on this matter is at least a decade old.
@theRPGmaster Рік тому
I think he's not Finnish, but rather Dutch, German, or somewhere around there
@SumeaBizarro 3 місяці тому
I noticed they are using e-ink price tags in few medium and large stores in my country, and certain chain. To me weirdest thing was inclusion of red color for specials and sales, as I never heard that color even single one was a possibility for eInk displays, though many don't talk about advancements in the field.
@MarijnJonkers 4 місяці тому
Hallo Jumbo, best store in the Netherlands! (Don’t worry, I’m not a psycho to think that, I just work there 😅)
@_der_pinguin_2463 Рік тому
where do you need to connect the wires on the esp, and do you need some special firmware on it?
@tissuepaper9962 Рік тому
Look, if you're not familiar enough with serial communication protocols to read the labels on the PCB and know what to do, this project may be too advanced for you. Try reading about the UART, SPI, and I2C protocols and then you'll be able to answer your own question. You have to answer it yourself because the answer depends on the exact board you have and the exact price tag you buy.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
it is standard serial communication. so, tx, tx, vcc and ground.
@ProductionsByRayne Рік тому
is there a way to use this display [or one like it] inside a pc case? to display cpu/ gpu temps, utilization, etc. ?
@makersfunduck Рік тому
You can take a look at the next video (#17). The code I shared can do this with a little modification. you only need to comment out the part where it opens the browser in "main.py"
@littlehills739 Рік тому
looks like fun day out with spark gap e.m.p toy
@JohnDeaux Рік тому
Next time to to an Aldi or Rewe store. If you talk to the store manager you might get some(I did). All the information to find the datasheet is on the back of them and they are good ePaper displays. Interestingly just like the ones you got Aldi uses hansbow nebular-350R-N, same manufacturer but different module than you got
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Himm, nice tip. thanks :)
@arrowtlg2646 5 місяців тому
Were you able to repurpose a nebular? I was given one but I'm struggling to mess with it
@garcitxiki9 Рік тому
use it for a module keyboard with a little ink display to show the volume bar or something like that
@FlorinArjocu Рік тому
Would be nice to hack the rfid or wifi/bluetooth connection for the same thing, so one could maybe change what they show in a store :))
@MK-of7qw 4 місяці тому
Wish this was a thing 25 years ago when I worked in retail. It took us forever to update shelves sale prices from the weekly flyers.
@paulollerhead Рік тому
Are supermarkets putting these things on trolleys yet? It would be a great advertising space suppliers would pay good money for. Adding latest deals etc. You could also have it update when the trolley passes certain aisles of products.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Thats really a nice idea. I see you have a nice business mind. :)
@bws833 Рік тому
Thank you, a very interesting video. Just one question, why is there a piano playing in the background?
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Many people did not like the background music, so I must do something about it in the next video I guess :/
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Himm, I have never thought about that. they are using NFC to register the tags, but if they were also using it for that purpose, that is a really clever.
@dh2032 Рік тому
the 4:12, hidden antenna, a door alarm think to stop them walking out door with all the over expensive items on desplay in the shop, stuff not nailed down?
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Himm, I know they are using it to register the tags to their systems, however if they are also using it for that purpose, that is very clever.
@dh2032 Рік тому
@@makersfunduck it only guess, the real that sticky labels, lumps of plastic, look very simple in construction, loop of wire and resistor or something making a wire loop, and the sticker one look even simpler in construction look like kitchen foil cut out loop shape and small blob of something, the do make dud one too mixed with real one, that look the same, so only real one will be working flashing light at the door ones? but display label tag I thing they will all be working ones, its a real circuit board so putting dud parts not going to make any since
@RedHeadForester Рік тому
I had no idea these things exist! Neat! I wonder how soon I'll see them in use here in England? At least I'll know what they are when I see them. I can see a lot of benefits during this period of rapidly increasing prices. The supermarkets have got to invest that extra profit somewhere! (Grumble grumble...)
@theRPGmaster Рік тому
Weird, is England really that far behind the rest of Europe?
@Jasper_S 4 місяці тому
Cool video! just got it recommended to me by the yt algorithm, really didn't know they had so much potential! Very cool! Ps. I hope that it isn't your own postalcode you just showed..😅
@zoenagy9458 11 місяців тому
please do an update how to prog one wirelesly, unmodified one
@JBothell_KF0IVQ Рік тому
I wonder if you could take an image, split it up and send it to multiple modules to make a composite display?
@alexstone691 Рік тому
I had the same idea as one kindle sized epaper display is pretty pricey
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Yeah, but would it look cool? Because there will be quite big gap between the tags.
@drakohyena9672 Рік тому
BAD APPLE
@prsn Рік тому
@@makersfunduck You HAVE to try playing doom with these. You will become a legend. And after all, people have played doom on a light bulb before.
@MrDexi87 Рік тому
Best low power screen tech :)
@JKa244 4 місяці тому
E-ink displays look amazing under microscope. It's like film grain instead of pixels.
@georgehelyar Рік тому
If you update your powershell, && will work. It has been available in cmd for a long time but it somehow took years to make it to powershell. I think it got added in pwsh 7
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Thanks. I have got always annoyed when that does not work in powershell
@olafschermann1592 Рік тому
Awesome, thank you
@makersfunduck Рік тому
You're welcome!
@mihumono Рік тому
Do not try to recharge those batteries those aren't rechargeable. They are small so they will not make huge flames but it is still not recommended.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
So true
@dennis8196 Рік тому
Even zinc chloride/zinc air/alkaline cells can be recharged provided it's a modified sine wave 1:5 ratio and you don't force too much back, but you can only get about 18-20 charges at 80% of the original capacity at best. Used to do this a lot during the 80's & 90's before rechargeable lithium batteries were common place.
@MaxMuller0 Рік тому
@@dennis8196 it‘s not a good idea for CR cells and will make a horrible smell. LIR cells are supposed to be rechargeable however.
@markylon 3 місяці тому
They last over 15 years no need to charge them
@xtevesousa Рік тому
In the conclusion there is some ghosting under the 7 of the temperature and the 5 of the time, do you have any ideia why?
@makersfunduck Рік тому
It is because of the partial refresh. full refresh takes a bit of time
@mrono1910 Рік тому
We have had these for many many years already in scandinavia
@makersfunduck Рік тому
I guess almost all stores will have them in near future
@sjoervanderploeg4340 Рік тому
Hah, I did the same about two years ago. I just walked up to the storemanager and asked if I could have one for "experimentation" :D
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Dude really thanks for the tip. I didnt know that they would give them for free. So now I got a box of them :D
@sjoervanderploeg4340 Рік тому
@@makersfunduck nice 👍
@BaDRuleTR Рік тому
Currently in Turkey, prices change till you arrive to the register from the shelf. Yes we have an awesome economy... So these would be pain in the ass to use here. 😂
@peterjf7723 Рік тому
Over 80% inflation in Türkiye.
@DavidKenny64 5 місяців тому
Would be great for a bedside clock that also, naturally, tells you when the power went off during the night.
@vrstoned7870 Рік тому
I wonder how much environmental these have compared to a normal paper pricetag?
@codyrap95 Рік тому
I don't think they are. You have plastic and batteries, even if you were to use them for 100 years I think it would still do more damage to the environment and be way less recyclable than paper.
@erebostd Рік тому
The pricetags the shop uses are quite different, i know it, I’m one of the guys who does the data transfer. Do you want one of our tags to fiddle around with? But i don’t think you’ll get as much out of it as the cheap chinese ones. Oh, and we have some in color, up to 4 😉
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Sure, that would be cool :)
@SpicyMang0s Рік тому
Neat
@erebostd Рік тому
@@makersfunduck you’re in the Netherlands? I can send you a tweet if you want! 😄👍
@makersfunduck Рік тому
@@erebostd Sure, im in Netherlands :) @Makersfunduck
@erebostd Рік тому
@@makersfunduck hi again 😊 - is your twitter account hidden? I can't find it. I can try again later, or you can give me q mail address you use for the community, so we can exchange the information. Or do you have a PO box I can send you the device? 👋😊
@Roadbobek Рік тому
Am I able to upload the custom firmware without an esp board? Can I do it with a raspberry pi 4, pi zero 2 w or pi pico??? I’m a total noob. They all use gpio. I don’t know what I’m talking about.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Sure. All you need is a serial communication. you can connect it to serial port of the rasp pi board, and just follow the steps.
@2000freefuel Рік тому
I'd like to see one of those price tags turned into a Thermostate for wall/window unit air conditioners, with a DHT temp/humidity sensor and an IR LED
@fusseldieb Рік тому
Put an ESP inside it and use the deep-sleep functionality to get more or less decent battery life
@makersfunduck Рік тому
I tried this but even with the full "deep sleep" the battery only can last a few days. ESPs are not designed for long life battery applications. or anything with wifi really. wifi sucks out the battery like crazy
@mfx1 Рік тому
I saw one very early system that was solar powered and used the stores existing lighting to program them. I assume patents mean competitors have to use other ways.
@renakunisaki Рік тому
That's a brilliant way to get rid of the literal tons of single-use batteries.
@JensGulin Рік тому
@@renakunisaki agree about waste, but added components (solar cell, accumulator) and complexity probably makes it too expensive. And they will have a limited component life span anyway, or they decide to change system after a few years. End result: more money and more waste. That's the way it works currently. :-( Broadcasting through the flicker of lamps is quite interesting, but I would guess it would be mostly for the novelty. Radio is so well established and everywhere these days. And free to use spectrum and protocols keeps it safe.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
But how do they get "sun" inside of the stores? regular lights dont produce enough energy to charge the batteries
@mfx1 Рік тому
@@makersfunduck Regular lights work fine have you never used a solar calculator indoors? Eink shelf labels use very little power the solar cell just needs to trickle charge a capacitor.
@markylon 3 місяці тому
The battery lasts for more than 15 years so no need for solar
@adri325 Рік тому
Can I use the SP-Cow ESP32S ESP32 Development Board 2.4GHz Dual-Mode WiFi+ Bluetooth Dual for this project? I am not able to see the VCC pin in it
@makersfunduck Рік тому
I believe you can. I only used it to program them.
@RedRingOfDead Рік тому
The start of the video, was that Jumbo? Surely sounds interesting to play with tho but I'm wondering what store it is
@Joepert Рік тому
Yes it definetely was
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Yep :)
@RedRingOfDead Рік тому
@@makersfunduck nice. Now let's troll them
@Croissinate Рік тому
That duck was FRICKING loud
@makersfunduck Рік тому
It is quacking less loud now in the next video :)
@Croissinate Рік тому
@@makersfunduck T H A N K !
@loopymind 4 місяці тому
Love seeing my logo file show up in the strangest places
@ThomasBensler Рік тому
do they keep their display content after removing the batteries? they should, as that's the whole point of e-ink, isn't it?
@makersfunduck Рік тому
yes. The content stays if you remove the batteries. indefinetely :=)
@kettenotter Рік тому
Oh that's interesting! I wonder if you could remove the battery and use some long range wireless charging/power. 🤔
@jeremyloveslinux Рік тому
@@kettenotter there are some from waveshare that use nfc to update, no battery
@kettenotter Рік тому
@@jeremyloveslinux Thats awesome! Didn't knew you could power anything with nfc. But they do look a little bit pricy. Now I want to use them to put some notes around the house.
@Nathan-gm1uj Рік тому
please tell me im not the only one who saw the bart simpson in the pcb xD
@makersfunduck Рік тому
You have a really careful eye :D it was a test image that I sent to it.
@barnabypine7717 4 місяці тому
Are you able to reprogramme it via RFID?
@BlueCardinal33 Рік тому
What's the reasoning about how it updates over bluetooth? Is the Arduino bluetooth enabled, and if so, does it just pop up some some "bluetooth serial device"? It kind of amazes me how it all "just works" when connecting some wires.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Well that way, you can update the screen without connecting any extra hardware. It eliminates any requirement for companion Bluetooth app.
@BlueCardinal33 Рік тому
@@makersfunduck Right but it'd be nice to hear about the details how it all works too :)
@Impossible_Fishy Рік тому
Khols has had these forever and ive always wanted to figure out how those work
@Dr.Frogerston 4 місяці тому
Aight Imma go to Target real quick
@kylekartgaming Рік тому
One of my local stores did the same thing.
@Veso266 Рік тому
But how are normal people supposed to update prices on this tags? Do chinese provide any device for that I dont think supermarket people are flashing them with NodeMCU like you do
@makersfunduck Рік тому
In the grocery store, I saw a market staff was using a terminal. I check the website of the product, and it supports NFC for that, so I assume they do registration with NFC. Also they sell a companion station which can be integrated to SAP or other software which they use to manage their business operations. That station is communicating on 2.4 Ghz (proprietary) with the price-tags, so everything is integrated.
@Veso266 Рік тому
@@makersfunduck hmm, nice, if this station is not to expensive you could maybe show it in a video
@GotrekGurninsson Рік тому
Those tags are for dealing with insane inflation that’s coming. The price will change every second like in venezuela
@josephhacker6508 Рік тому
My thoughts exactly
@cheynespc Рік тому
hahahahaha cheaper then printing then so much
@ChairmanHehe Рік тому
would be cool to try to connect to the rf interfaces
@makersfunduck Рік тому
But this ones do not have RF interface. I heard those form the comments, but I dont have one yet.
@ChairmanHehe Рік тому
@@makersfunduck ah I see
@JohnDlugosz Рік тому
So you can't program them without updating the firmware first? I would think there would be instructions on the manufacturer's website.
@makersfunduck Рік тому
I believe their firmware would allow that. Because the one I flashed already supports OTA updates. But obviously they do not share it. but you can update screen with their own software of course.
@Evercreeper Рік тому
Super cool
@makersfunduck Рік тому
Thanks.
@user-ww6lt3gf5m 4 місяці тому
Can you please tell the steps on how can i use the esp32 instead of usb to uart, to flash the e-ink?
@makersfunduck 4 місяці тому
Hi, You can just use TX RX pins on esp32
@user-ww6lt3gf5m 4 місяці тому
@@makersfunduck thank you, Happy new year!
@user-ww6lt3gf5m 4 місяці тому
Hello, the flash was successful, but i have a problem with the display, i have a black line in the left and bottom where the “battery” is supposed to be. See image: pasteboard.co/w3qycQTlmgJy.jpg Do you know how to fix this?
@frosty1433 6 місяців тому
I think these things pay for themselves faster than you might think, considering the hours/wages saved from the manual process.
@santa901000 Рік тому
I wonder if you can play DOOM on this...
@makersfunduck Рік тому
full screen refresh is roughly 1 minute for this type of displays. so you can expect 1/60 fps. That is the refresh rate even if you have a supercomputer. So probably yeah.. verrrryyy slow doom
@le9038 Рік тому
It's about time I start trolling the supermarkets with this thing...
@agustinsida8877 Рік тому
Now i finally have a reason to steal these
@dav1dbone 4 місяці тому
I honestly would never have known, they are that good, especially when they have colour. The only reason I knew was due to a faulty unit that was glitching, I thought that's an lcd, strange why one lcd in a random place? Then noticed they were everywhere, the little ir sensor being the giveaway. I'd reckon over time once they all start failing that will be their downfall. Never going to work without automatic battery charging.
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