LILYGO T-Panel – 4-inch HMI display, ESP32-S3 and ESP32-H2 based WiFi, BLE, and 802.15.4 gateway

LILYGO T-Panel is a 4-inch HMI display and IoT gateway based on the ESP32-S3 WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 microcontroller and the ESP32-H2 module with Bluetooth LE 5 and 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, Matter Both. Connectivity.

Last year, Espressif introduced the ESP-Thread Board Router/Zigbee Gateway board with the ESP32-S3 and ESP32-H2 and demonstrated how both chips can be combined to create an IoT gateway. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a company design a product based on both the ESP32-S3 and ESP32-H2 until I saw the T-panel, which also has an RS485 interface and a Qwiic expansion connector.

T-panel specifications:

• wireless chip/module
  • Wireless SoC – ESP32-S3R8 Dual Core Tensilica LX7 Microcontroller @ 240 MHz
    • 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE Connectivity
    • Memory – 8MB PSRAM
  • Wireless module – ESP32-H2-MINI-1 module
    • MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller up to 96 MHz with 320 KB SRAM, 128 KB ROM, 4 KB LP memory; Bluetooth 5.2 LE/Mesh and 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) radios.
    • Storage – 4MB flash storage
    • PCB antenna
    • Dimensions – 13.2 x 16.6 x 2.4 mm
• storage
  • Storage – 16MB SPI Flash (W25Q128) connected to ESP32-S3 MCU
  • microSD card slot
• Display – 4-inch IPS LCD with 480×480 resolution using ST7701S SPI+RGB controller. Looking at the T-panel schematic (and the silkscreen on the PCB), it appears that the display also supports touch via I2C, but that’s not a feature the company is highlighting…
• USB – 2x USB Type-C ports for programming (one for ESP32-S3 and one for ESP32-H2)
• Serial – 4-pin terminal block connected to RS485 / CAN bus transceiver module (optional)
• expansion
  • 2x Qwiic connectors (I2C and UART)
  • 16-pin GPIO header for ESP32-H2
  • XL9535 GPIO expansion chip for additional IO for ESP32-S3 and ESP32-H2
• others
  • ESP32-S3 3D antenna for WiSoC
  • 4x buttons: Boot and reset are connected to the ESP32-S3. Boot and reset connected to ESP32-H2
• Power – 7V to 24V via 2-pin terminal block
• Dimensions – 89 x 89 x 28.5mm

Although the spec states that “Arduino, PlatformIO-IDE, and Micropython” are supported, this is just a copy/paste, and the actual GitHub repository shows the basics of PlatformIO and Arduino IDE. Only detailed instructions are provided, and the ESP32-H2 is programmed using the Arduino IDE.

Available resources include firmware files for ESP32-S3 and ESP32-H2, sample code for key hardware features (display with Arduino_GFX and LVGL, RS485, SD card, WiFi, etc.), and PDF schematics . Like other LILYGO hardware, the T-Panel is not a plug-and-play solution, but should be considered a “bring-your-own firmware solution”, either Arduino code or firmware based on Espressif’s ESP Thread Border Router SDK. Illustration.

LILIGO’s T-panel with RS485 transceiver can be purchased on Aliexpress for $58.98 including shipping.

Jean-Luc started CNX Software as a part-time job in 2010, then quit his job as a software engineering manager and began writing daily news and reviews full-time in late 2011.