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Inkplate 6 – RTC alarm

The onboard RTC supports creating an alarm that triggers at a specific time, allowing the firmware to detect and respond accordingly. Alarms can be configured to trigger once per day, per hour, or per minute.

Simple alarm​

This section demonstrates setting a simple RTC alarm that is checked using polling. The firmware continuously checks the alarm flag and responds when it is triggered.

#include "Inkplate.h"            // Include the Inkplate library in the sketch
Inkplate inkplate(INKPLATE_1BIT); // Create an Inkplate object and set the library to 1-bit mode (BW)

#define REFRESH_DELAY 1000 // Delay between refreshes
unsigned long time1;       // Time for measuring refresh in millis

// Set clock
uint8_t hour = 12;
uint8_t minutes = 50;
uint8_t seconds = 30;

// Set date and weekday (NOTE: For weekdays, 0 means Sunday, 1 means Monday, ...)
uint8_t weekday = 1;
uint8_t day = 20;
uint8_t month = 2;
uint8_t year = 23;

// Set alarm time and date (the alarm will be generated 10 seconds after board power up)
uint8_t alarmHour = 12;
uint8_t alarmMinutes = 50;
uint8_t alarmSeconds = 40;
uint8_t alarmWeekday = 1;
uint8_t alarmDay = 20;

void setup()
{
    inkplate.begin();        // Initialize the Inkplate library (you should call this function ONLY ONCE)
    inkplate.clearDisplay(); // Clear the frame buffer of Inkplate
    inkplate.display();      // Display the cleared image on Inkplate
    inkplate.setTextSize(3); // Set text to be three times larger than the classic 5x7 px text

    inkplate.rtcSetTime(hour, minutes, seconds);                                         // Send time to the RTC
    inkplate.rtcSetDate(weekday, day, month, year);                                      // Send date to the RTC
    inkplate.rtcSetAlarm(alarmSeconds, alarmMinutes, alarmHour, alarmDay, alarmWeekday); // Set the alarm
}

// Variable that keeps count of how many times the screen has been partially updated
int n = 0;
void loop()
{
    if ((unsigned long)(millis() - time1) > REFRESH_DELAY)
    {
        inkplate.rtcGetRtcData();           // Get the time and date from the RTC
        seconds = inkplate.rtcGetSecond();  // Store seconds in a variable
        minutes = inkplate.rtcGetMinute();  // Store minutes in a variable
        hour = inkplate.rtcGetHour();       // Store hours in a variable
        day = inkplate.rtcGetDay();         // Store day of the month in a variable
        weekday = inkplate.rtcGetWeekday(); // Store day of the week in a variable
        month = inkplate.rtcGetMonth();     // Store month in a variable
        year = inkplate.rtcGetYear();       // Store year in a variable

        inkplate.clearDisplay();                                       // Clear content in the frame buffer
        inkplate.setCursor(100, 300);                                  // Set the position of the text
        printTime(hour, minutes, seconds, day, weekday, month, year); // Print the time on the screen

        if (inkplate.rtcCheckAlarmFlag()) // Check if the alarm has occurred
        {
            inkplate.rtcClearAlarmFlag(); // It is recommended to clear the alarm flag after the alarm has occurred
            inkplate.setCursor(400, 400); // Set a new position for the cursor
            inkplate.print("ALARM!");
        }

        if (n > 9) // Check if a full refresh is needed or if a partial update is sufficient
        {
            inkplate.display(true); // Do a full refresh
            n = 0;
        }
        else
        {
            inkplate.partialUpdate(false, true); // Do a partial update and keep the e-paper power supply on
            n++;                                 // Keep track of how many times the screen has been partially updated
        }

        time1 = millis(); // Store the current millis
    }
}

void printTime(uint8_t _hour, uint8_t _minutes, uint8_t _seconds, uint8_t _day, uint8_t _weekday, uint16_t _month,
               uint8_t _year)
{
    // Write time and date information on the screen
    char *wday[] = {"Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"};

    print2Digits(_hour);
    inkplate.print(':');
    print2Digits(_minutes);
    inkplate.print(':');
    print2Digits(_seconds);

    inkplate.print(' ');

    inkplate.print(wday[_weekday]);
    inkplate.print(", ");
    print2Digits(_day);
    inkplate.print('/');
    print2Digits(_month);
    inkplate.print('/');
    inkplate.print(_year, DEC);
}

void print2Digits(uint8_t _d)
{
    if (_d < 10)
        inkplate.print('0');
    inkplate.print(_d, DEC);
}

inkplate.rtcSetAlarm()

Sets the alarm using the provided parameters.

Returns type: void

Function parameters:

TypeNameDescription
uint8_trtcAlarmSecondSet the alarm seconds.
uint8_trtcAlarmminuteSet the alarm minutes.
uint8_trtcAlarmHourSet the alarm hours.
uint8_trtcAlarmDaySet the alarm day.
uint8_trtcAlarmWeekdaySet the alarm weekday.

inkplate.rtcCheckAlarmFlag()

Checks if the alarm flag is on

Returns type: bool

Returns value: Returns true if the alarm flag is on

Interrupt Alarm​

The RTC alarm can also generate an interrupt instead of requiring polling. The alarm event can wake up the MCU from sleep or trigger an action immediately. To use this, you will need to globally declare a volatile flag variable (for example, volatile int _alarmFlag) to use as the alarm flag and a function that modifies this flag:

#include "Inkplate.h"             // Include the Inkplate library in the sketch
Inkplate inkplate(INKPLATE_1BIT);  // Create an Inkplate object and set the library to 1-bit mode (BW)

volatile int _alarmFlag = 0;      // Variable to store the alarm flag

void IRAM_ATTR alarmISR()         // This function will be called when an alarm interrupt event occurs
{                                 // NOTE: The function must be declared before setup() and loop()!
  _alarmFlag = 1;                 // Set the alarm flag
}

void setup()
{
    pinMode(39, INPUT_PULLUP);      // Set the RTC INT pin on ESP32 GPIO39 as input with the pull-up resistor enabled

    inkplate.begin();        // Initialize the Inkplate library (you should call this function ONLY ONCE)
    inkplate.clearDisplay(); // Clear the frame buffer of Inkplate
    inkplate.display();      // Display the cleared image on Inkplate
    inkplate.setTextSize(3); // Set text to be three times larger than the classic 5x7 px text
  
    inkplate.rtcSetEpoch(1589610300);
    inkplate.rtcSetAlarmEpoch(inkplate.rtcGetEpoch() + 10, RTC_ALARM_MATCH_DHHMMSS);

    // inkplate.rtcSetTime(6, 25, 0);        // Or you can use another method to set the time and date
    // inkplate.rtcSetDate(6, 16, 5, 2020);
    // inkplate.rtcSetAlarm(10, 25, 6, 16, 6); // Set an alarm 10 seconds from now
  
    attachInterrupt(39, alarmISR, FALLING); // Set the interrupt function and interrupt mode
}

// Variable that keeps count of how many times the screen has been partially updated
int n = 0;
void loop()
{
    inkplate.clearDisplay();         // Clear the frame buffer of Inkplate
    inkplate.setCursor(100, 100);      // Set the position of the text
    inkplate.rtcGetRtcData();          // Get the time and date from the RTC

    // Print the time on the screen
    printTime(inkplate.rtcGetHour(), inkplate.rtcGetMinute(), inkplate.rtcGetSecond(), inkplate.rtcGetDay(), inkplate.rtcGetWeekday(), inkplate.rtcGetMonth(), inkplate.rtcGetYear());
    
    if (_alarmFlag)     // Check the alarm flag
    {
        // _alarmFlag = 0;              // Uncomment if you want to clear this flag
        inkplate.rtcClearAlarmFlag();    // It is recommended to clear the alarm flag after the alarm has occurred
        inkplate.setCursor(200, 200);    // Set the position of the text
        inkplate.print("ALARM");         // Print the text
    }
    
    if (n > 9) // Check if a full refresh is needed or if a partial update is sufficient
    {
        inkplate.display(true); // Do a full refresh
        n = 0;
    }
    else
    {
        inkplate.partialUpdate(false, true); // Do a partial update and keep the e-paper power supply on
        n++;                                 // Keep track of how many times the screen has been partially updated
    }

    delay(700);                             // Delay between refreshes.
}

void printTime(uint8_t _hour, uint8_t _minutes, uint8_t _seconds, uint8_t _day, uint8_t _weekday, uint8_t _month,
               uint16_t _year)
{
    // Write time and date information on the screen
    char *wday[] = {"Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"};

    print2Digits(_hour);
    inkplate.print(':');
    print2Digits(_minutes);
    inkplate.print(':');
    print2Digits(_seconds);

    inkplate.print(' ');

    inkplate.print(wday[_weekday]);
    inkplate.print(", ");
    print2Digits(_day);
    inkplate.print('/');
    print2Digits(_month);
    inkplate.print('/');
    inkplate.print(_year, DEC);
}

void print2Digits(uint8_t _d)
{
    if (_d < 10)
        inkplate.print('0');
    inkplate.print(_d, DEC);
}

Full examples​

For full working code examples, which provide an excellent overview, a real-world use scenario, and code comments, see the links below:

Inkplate6_RTC_Simple.ino

This example shows how to set the time and date, how to read the time, and how to print the time on Inkplate using partial updates.

Inkplate6_RTC_Interrupt_Alarm.ino

This example shows how to set the time and date, set up an alarm, read the time, print the time on Inkplate using partial updates, and handle an interrupt.