๐Ÿ—๏ธ Assembly๏ƒ

Due to the high amount of components integrated in such small PCB layout, most of them are too small to be soldered at home by you. Therefore, these boards come already with the components assembled.

The Smart Plant, in addition to the PCB assembled board, consist on the following parts:

  • A 2.9โ€ e-paper display. The recommended (and tested working) e-ink panel is the 296x128, 2.9inch E-Ink raw display panel that you can order directly on the manufacturer. Please note that other displays may not work at all.

  • A LiPo battery, with a recommended 1000mAh capacity, for space and power. The ideal dimensions shouldnโ€™t excess the 50x34x5mm in order to fit in the designed enclosure.

  • An enclosure where to fit the Smart Plant upper part that you can find on the 3D printable enclosure section.

  • Optionally, you can mount a solar panel that charges the battery under the right sunny conditions. The output voltage of the panel musnโ€™t excess the 6V and the recommended size to fit in the designed enclosure is 80x45mm

In order to assemble your Smart Plant:

  1. Open the clamp connector, by smoothly pulling up the tab.

  2. Introduce the e-paper FPC with the exposed pads facing up (so that you could still see them)

Note

The ribbon cable for the e-ink display does not need to be forced in, or slide all the way in. It only goes in a few millimetres, and then the clamp holds it in place.

  1. Close the clamp connector

Caution

Once itโ€™s plugged into the Smart Plant, and without an enclosure, be careful about the e-paper, the connector is fragile and could get damaged if isnโ€™t handled with care. It could be useful to use double.sided tape to stuck the screen onto the PCB, just to keep it from flapping loose, but keep in mind that removing it afterwards can damage the e-paper display.

  1. Bend carefully the e-paperโ€™s FPC in a way that the panel rests over the reverse side of the PCB.

  2. Connect the LiPo battery, making sure that the polarity is well respected: red wire is + (positive terminal) and black wire is the - (negative terminal).

At this point, and without any previous programming, it is normal that the board wonโ€™t turn on any LED or refresh the e-paper; you will need to program it!

Last but not least, make sure you have a fitting enclosure close to you, so you can protect your Smart Plant. If your printed on of my designs, introduce the Smart Plant from the e-paper side connector first before finishing entering the USB-C side.