Wake Electronics
Tinta

Wireless information displays for modern spaces.

Tinta (formerly inki) is a battery-powered e-paper sign for shared rooms and desks. With the open-source Seatsurfing system it shows a space as free or booked and lets people reserve it with a tap — no cables, no maintenance. The same open hardware also shows sensor data, home-automation status, and more.

How to build one View the code
Tinta e-paper display showing a room booking
Set and forget

Set it up once, and it runs for years.

Available in compact 4.2-inch and large 7.5-inch sizes, with 3D-printable enclosures to fit your space.

Up to years of battery life

Up to about 10,000 refresh cycles on standard AA batteries — the device is fully off between updates.

Browser setup

Configure over a Wi-Fi hotspot from any phone or laptop. No programming, drivers, or cables.

Persistent image

E-paper keeps its content on screen even when the device is completely powered off.

Wireless updates

Firmware and content update over Wi-Fi, through a custom dual-slot bootloader.

Applications

Room booking, sensors, home automation, weather.

The use case is set by the firmware image and can be switched over the air. Point it at your own data source to add a new one.

Room booking display

Seatsurfing

Room and desk booking display, with live status over the open-source Seatsurfing REST API.

Time-series visualization

Historian

Time-series sensor data such as temperature curves, via CCU-Historian.

Home automation display

Homematic

Home-automation status: live sensor readings and device state at a glance.

Weather map display

Weathermap Preview

Real-time weather maps from the free basemap.de WMS service (BKG, CC BY 4.0).

Exploded view of the Tinta kit: 3D-printed case parts and the e-paper module

Build your own

Open hardware and software — the complete package: PCB, firmware, and 3D-printable case.

Companion app

Control Tinta with your cell phone.

Tinta Tap is an open-source Android app. Hold your phone to a Tinta to book the desk or room, or push a short message or a sketch straight to the screen over NFC.

A phone tapping a Tinta sign to book a desk Watch the tap-to-book demo
Try the interactive demo App source

Android, open source (Apache-2.0). The NFC tap uses the optional NFC-equipped Tinta.

Specifications

At a glance.

ProcessorRaspberry Pi Pico W (Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz)
Displays4.2″ black-and-white e-paper (400×300) · 7.5″ (800×480)
Power~80 mA when active; fully switched off in hardware between refreshes
Batteries3× AAA (4.2″) or 3× AA (7.5″), ordinary alkaline — no lithium fire risk
Runtime~5,000 wake cycles (4.2″) to ~10,000 (7.5″) — comfortably over a year at typical rates
ConnectivityWi-Fi; fetches content over HTTP or HTTPS, local network or internet
Enclosure3D-printed PLA, dovetail mount; lifts off for battery changes
Dimensions4.2″: 106×82×17 mm, 88 g · 7.5″: 182×126×22 mm, 208 g (without batteries)
LicensesFirmware Apache-2.0 · Hardware CERN-OHL-S-2.0
Build your own

Everything is open — build one today.

Every file needed to build, modify, and run the device is public: firmware, the custom dual-slot bootloader, the PCB design, and the 3D-printable case. Assemble the kit, flash the firmware over USB, and configure from a browser.

Tinta assembly animation

  1. Get the firmware

    Download the UF2 for your display and use case from the GitHub Releases.

  2. Flash over USB

    Hold the BOOTSEL button, plug in the Pico W, and copy the UF2 onto the drive that appears. No toolchain needed.

  3. Configure in a browser

    The device opens a Wi-Fi hotspot named inki-setup. Connect and open 192.168.4.1 to set Wi-Fi, data source, and layout.

Firmware · Apache-2.0 Hardware · CERN-OHL-S-2.0
Download firmware (UF2) Repositories on GitHub
Around the web
Seatsurfing Hackaday YouTube