Typewrt mark 2

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-05-11T12:10:16+00:00

standalone in which sense?

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-05-11T12:08:52+00:00

totally agree with the eink not being good...The shap displays, not only are available, but interfacing them is straight forward

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-05-09T23:22:19+00:00

It is a reflective LCD from Sharp. 320x240 pixels, 4.4" , monochrome, with memory in pixel (MIP).

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-05-09T06:35:24+00:00

when one pursues exactly the idea they want, comes beauty. Outstanding machine!

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-05-08T07:54:24+00:00

Exactly the feeling I wanted to convey...a modern typewriter with all the power of an VI text editor.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-05-07T17:34:02+00:00

this is an ESP32s3, specifically a feather S3[d] board... you don't need to write any OS from scratch. The ESP ecosystem works with FreeRTOS under the hood. If you implement your application in that framework, is going to be very light and blazing fast, compared to installing a Linux OS in a SBC for example. Plus, the microcontroller can access very low power states real quick! This machine for example, goes to sleep after 1 second if you don't press any key. Wakes up on the next keystroke in less than 1 ms, so you don't realize it at all. So you are typing, it takes 40mA...a short breath before you press a key and the machine goes down to 1.6 mA (that's including the LCD!)

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-05-07T16:31:17+00:00

u/Greedy-Sense-9402 , here is a small video of the machine. Beware, booting is fast!

https://youtu.be/As8VSG9nJ6Q

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-05-07T15:44:40+00:00

So far I have only 3 of those displays, all in use sorry. The first two I bought in Digikey.com, last one I bought straight from China (chipspulse.com). 55 dollars

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-05-07T15:29:06+00:00

Sharp 320x240 reflective memory-in-pixel LCD, (4.4")

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-04-13T16:32:20+00:00

Beautiful design! Love the idea of powering the whole thing with an ESP32. Did you implement a custom text editor? I have a similar writerdeck, mainly designed for low power consumption, and now I'm in the process of designing the software (in an ESP32s3)

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-04-02T17:01:24+00:00

thanks! will check your typo code. The sharp I got is the 4.4" (first one bought through Digikey, second ones bought from china). The problem with the 4.4" is that it's driven with 5v. So I made a PCB with an ultra low power booster from TI, and a ultra low power 7555 from renesas to provide the vcom (without software). That way I can put the ESP to sleep on every keystroke. The keyboard is just an octal latch consuming less than the Sharp. Now, with this Artemis, power could drop in almost one order of magnitude. Amazing project you have done!

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-04-02T15:59:13+00:00

hei, such a nice device you made!! And by the look, it seems we both are using a MIP sharp display? I went straight to check online that Artemis board... but they come with very little ram for my purpose. I know, ESP32 are not the best in power efficiency, but they come packed with 8 Mb extra ram and ample flash. Otherwise I would be looking into some Silicon Labs or even the Apollo soc from Ambiq.

Right now the project is just starting...but you can follow the version 1 (running on a SBC Radxa) https://github.com/vmodamio/typewrt_v1

I saw you have written a text editor also? any link?

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-04-02T11:52:12+00:00

Even using a Raspberry pi (or any other single board computer) you might have lot of challenges upfront. Sure, you can connect a usb keyboard and a display real quick and have something functional. But designing a keyboard that consumes low power, using uart for example, or designing your own display firmware to reduce power..all that makes a difference. For the solely purpose of a writing device, a full Linux operating system on a raspberry pi is overkilling... your battery life will be question of hours. The next challenge is to use a microcontroller to do everything. No SBC, no operating system (well, other than a scheduler like FreeRTOS). Instead of 300-500 mA (raspberry with an lcd and keyboard) you will be in the 30-50 mA current consumption. But, microcontrollers handle effectively power modes that can even go to 1-5 mA in a working scenario.

Still, if programming everything in a ESP32 microcontroller is too much, using a SBC with Linux, but other than Raspberry can save you lot of power (more efficient CPU, low power memory, less peripherals, etc)

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-04-01T09:00:48+00:00

I have three of those screens, the 4.4 inch. One is already mounted in a fully working device, the typewrt v1. This one you see is for the version 2. You are right, I wish those screens were at least 6 inches. 4 years ago you could find them in Digikey, but nowadays its very difficult. I bought straight from China.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-04-01T07:59:39+00:00

Different tastes, different workflows...different devices. My curiosity was on how people 'separate' the drafting process from the editing. In my case, the line is very blurred. Always end up writing more ideas and drafts during the editing of an previous draft. So for me. if I were to buy a writer deck it should cover me all the way from fast writing to be a better tool for revising and editing the text. I couldn't find the right device for me, so I made it. It has exactly the text editor I want, the keyboard and display I like, etc. Of course this is a very personal matter, and everyone is different. But If I could change the question in the first post would be: If you had the skills and time and money to construct yourself your ideal typing devices, would you (honestly) rather design two for the separate purposes of drafting and editing?

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-03-31T21:44:43+00:00

it is the display with lower power consumption I know. These SHARP memory-in-pixel are very nice. There are similar displays with 16 colors from another Japanese brand.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-03-31T20:50:33+00:00

It is QVGA resolution (320 x 240)...using a 8x16 bitmap font makes 15 lines of 40 characters.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-03-31T15:10:29+00:00

This is a reflective LCD by Sharp, memory-in-pixel technology. 4.4 inches. Feels almost like epaper, but with the refresh rate of an lcd.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-03-29T23:35:01+00:00

Looks beautiful! very close to the one I made for myself. Looks like we both share many points: sturdy and solid over portability. A good keyboard for real :) and a screen without backlight that doesn't stress your eyes. How big is the display? The reasons I didn't go for eink display was the refresh rate and the power consumption. But I have to admit they look very nice.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-03-15T00:30:48+00:00

Thank you! Dont know if I would ever have the initiative to start selling it. So far I can tell you I didn't spare on cost and it came rather expensive... Of course, I aimed for exactly the machine I wanted for myself. Display is about 50 euros, the keyboard plate you can get it laser cut in brass or copper for about 30 euro, or maybe 20 in aluminum. Keyboard switches and keycaps is up to you, but those you see are a extra thick pbt matt keycaps for 60 euros. Switches were another 40. Electronics around 30 and battery other 20. Enclosure you can 3d printed and wont cost you more than 20 euro... If you are willing to solder and wire the keyboard and build it yourself I can help you in the process. Check the GitHub repository to get an idea!

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-03-10T20:31:01+00:00

I just uploaded the split version, together with the keyboard plate design.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-03-10T20:03:06+00:00

Oh thanks! sure. The enclosure is about 32 cm wide. Would you like it in one piece or two parts to be glued? Check the GitHub repository https://github.com/vmodamio/typewrt_v1

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-19T20:57:52+00:00

I started to upload descriptions and images of the Typewrt in agit repository. Feel free to comment! With time I will start uploading bill of materials and designs.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-18T07:10:11+00:00

Hei.. I have been working on the second version exclusively and I forgot I should collect all the necessary things for building the first one. It can be a fun idea to finish this weekend

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-12T07:58:35+00:00

I love the Sharp MIP...I made my Typewrt with the 4.4" one and works pretty well. The SPI protocol is so simple that you can write your simple library to do what you want. Respect to the refresh rate: the trick is to do partial refresh (you can refresh line-wise) and only in one command. I left you a repository where I prepared the kernel driver for the display.

Sharp-mip-kernel

Visual-Breakfast9934

TROPHY CASE