lvgl-upy-examples

A collection of LVGL 9.0 example projects using Micropython. This repository primarily supports the ESP32-S3 DevKitC-1 board. Micropython uses the esp-idf 5.2.x version. I will endeavor to provide the most detailed instructions possible for achieving the results demonstrated in these examples.

To use this repository, create a python virtual environment and install the dependencies:

python3 -m venv env
source env/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

The esptool package will be used for flashing the binary to your board. The mpremote package will be used for transferring files and accessing the REPL.

Building / Flashing the ESP32-S3

The binaries used for these examples were compiled using https://github.com/lvgl-micropython/lvgl_micropython by Kevin Schlosser. This project seeks to make it easier to get LVGL working for Micropython.

I have copies of the binary builds used for these examples in the ./builds directory. Feel free to use one of these builds if it matches your board and screen. Otherwise you will need to build a binary for your target board and supported display/touch sensor documented in the lvgl_micropython/README.md.

Building LVGL + Micropython for the ESP32-S3 with ILI9341 Display

In another terminal clone the lvgl_micropython repo

git clone https://github.com/lvgl-micropython/lvgl_micropython.git
cd lvgl_micropython

Install any of the build requirements listed in the README.md for your target OS.

Using the provided make.py script provide the necessary parameters for your target board. I am personally using a ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1-N32R8V dev board with a ESP32-S3-WROOM-2-N32R8V integrated module. This means my board has 32MB of Octal SPI flash. I am using an ILI9341 TFT display with an integrated XPT2046 touch sensor. So below is what my make.py parameters looked like.

python3 make.py esp32 clean mpy_cross BOARD=ESP32_GENERIC_S3 BOARD_VARIANT=SPIRAM_OCT DISPLAY=ili9341 INDEV=xpt2046 --octal-flash --flash-size 32

This will trigger the build process, which will download the necessary submodules, and pass the appropriate parameters to each subsystem build. When complete you should have a built *.bin binary in ./lvgl_micropython/build/. The above make.py command produced lvgl_micropython/build/lvgl_micropy_ESP32_GENERIC_S3-SPIRAM_OCT-32_OCTFLASH.bin. I have renamed this lvgl_9p0_micropy_1p23_ili9341_ESP32_GENERIC_S3-SPIRAM_OCT-32_OCTFLASH.bin to denote that it used the LVGL 9.0 Library and Micropython 1.23 with the ili93241 display driver.

Flashing ESP32-S3

Plug in your development board and identify the tty port using mpremote devs. In my case (macOS) this resolves to /dev/tty.usbserial-14410. Export this port as an environment variable.

export PORT=/dev/tty.usbserial-14410

Conveniently the above build step produced an "almost" working esptool command. I have used the below to flash my device.

python -m esptool --chip esp32s3 -p ${PORT} -b 115200 --before default_reset --after hard_reset write_flash --flash_mode dout --flash_size 32MB --flash_freq 80m --erase-all 0x0 ./builds/lvgl_9p0_micropy_1p23_ili9341_ESP32_GENERIC_S3-SPIRAM_OCT-32_OCTFLASH.bin

If your board has a smaller flash size be sure to adjust accordingly.

Projects

This repository is organized as a series of example projects. It is designed to progressively explore the LVGL framework in Micropython on the ESP32-S3, but feel free skip ahead, copy adapt, etc. This repository is MIT Licensed, to save space on your micropython device I have forgone including the license text within the examples. If you copy the code to your projects please include a copy of the ./LICENSE with the program.

• Project 1: Interactive LVGL in REPL
• Project 2: Helloworld LVGL as main.py