SparkFun Block for Intel® Edison - OLED

The Intel® Edison is an ultra small computing platform that will change the way you look at embedded electronics. Each Edison is packed with a huge amount of tech goodies into a tiny package while still providing the same robust strength of your go-to single board computer. Powered by the Intel® Atom™ SoC dual-core CPU and including an integrated WiFi, Bluetooth LE, and a 70-pin connector to attach a veritable slew of shield-like "Blocks" which can be stacked on top of each other. It's no wonder how this little guy is lowering the barrier of entry on the world of electronics!

Equip your Edison with a graphic display using the Edison OLED Block! Simply snap this board onto your Edison to gain access to a 0.66", 64x48 pixel monochrome OLED. To add some control over your Edison and the OLED, this board also includes a small joystick and a pair of push-buttons which can be used them to create a game, file navigator, or more!

If you are looking to add a little more stability to your Intel® Edison stack, check out this Hardware Pack. It will provide you with increased mechanical strength for stacking Blocks on your Edison!

SparkFun Block for Intel® Edison - OLED Product Help and Resources

SparkFun Blocks for Intel® Edison - OLED Block

February 13, 2015

A quick overview of the features of the OLED Block for the Edison.

Edison Getting Started Guide

December 5, 2014

An introduction to the Intel® Edison. Then a quick walk through on interacting with the console, connecting to WiFi, and doing...stuff.

Programming the Intel® Edison: Beyond the Arduino IDE

January 7, 2015

Intel's Edison module goes beyond being just another Arduino clone. Check this tutorial for advice on how to get the most out of your Edison by writing code in C++!

General Guide to SparkFun Blocks for Intel® Edison

January 5, 2015

A general guide for using SparkFun Blocks for Intel® Edison in your next project!

Loading Debian (Ubilinux) on the Edison

December 5, 2014

How to load a Debian distribution (specifically Ubilinux) onto the Edison.

Installing libmraa on Ubilinux for Edison

January 5, 2015

libmraa is a tool kit for interacting with various Intel single board computers.

Core Skill: DIY

Whether it's for assembling a kit, hacking an enclosure, or creating your own parts; the DIY skill is all about knowing how to use tools and the techniques associated with them.

1 DIY

Skill Level: Noob - Basic assembly is required. You may need to provide your own basic tools like a screwdriver, hammer or scissors. Power tools or custom parts are not required. Instructions will be included and easy to follow. Sewing may be required, but only with included patterns.
See all skill levels


Core Skill: Programming

If a board needs code or communicates somehow, you're going to need to know how to program or interface with it. The programming skill is all about communication and code.

3 Programming

Skill Level: Competent - The toolchain for programming is a bit more complex and will examples may not be explicitly provided for you. You will be required to have a fundamental knowledge of programming and be required to provide your own code. You may need to modify existing libraries or code to work with your specific hardware. Sensor and hardware interfaces will be SPI or I2C.
See all skill levels


Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping

If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.

2 Electrical Prototyping

Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
See all skill levels


Comments

Looking for answers to technical questions?

We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.

  • Member #282738 / about 8 years ago * / 1

    Awesome little board!

  • ribbbet / about 8 years ago * / 1

    Here is a basic example of using the OLED to display:

    • wifi connection
    • battery usage
    • cpu usage
    • memory usage
    • ssd usage
    • number of active network connections

    Written in C and using the ping pong driver.

    github.com/AMStrix/edison-sparkfun-oled-control

  • ArduinoPerson1243 / about 10 years ago / 3

    Can we have a video demonstration for this?

    • Microman / about 10 years ago / 2

      They're all still in the works (hence the long wait. That, and the need for libraries and SFE's moving. The picture is really of a prototype that does work.

      I'd rather they get the thing made than make a video on a prototype with software that might not run on the final board.

  • Roseen / about 10 years ago / 2

    Will it be possible to stack Oled, Battery pack and Edison together somehow?

    • KeithM / about 9 years ago / 1

      You can peel the battery off the foam tape that atttaches it to the board, and then your able to stack the OLED and battery block.

    • M-Short / about 10 years ago / 2

      Not initially. The OLED block is and end block (only one connector) because you don't want to cover up the screen. The battery block is currently and end block as well. We are trying to find a way around that, but because of battery size etc., the initial offering of the battery block will only be an end block.

    • Microman / about 10 years ago / 1

      They will be, something I'm 99% sure of.

  • Member #91718 / about 9 years ago / 1

    Why is the OLED monochrome? The device has 1GB of ram. I could store a full 32-bit double-buffered surface for this thing. Are there color screens for this in this form factor?

    • Shadyman / about 9 years ago / 1

      Not that I've seen, they're pretty much all LCD at that size.

  • The Doctor Doge / about 9 years ago / 1

    It's pretty hard to tell... Is it possible to stack a battery block and this onto the same Edison?

    • Member #695656 / about 9 years ago / 1

      yeah you just need to unglue the battery from the battery block and move it somewhere else

  • Member #684468 / about 9 years ago / 1

    Hey guys,

    I'm trying to get the oled block to work with the "pong" example.

    Following the instructions on the oled block page, everything compiles correctly however when I try to run the example I get an error:

    "terminate called after throwing an instance of 'int'"

    I am running debian (ubilinux), not the default edison OS install - I'm assuming this is whats causing things to fail?

    Any ideas? Does the oled block work on debian?

    Cheers,

    d.

    • Radagan / about 9 years ago / 1

      I had the exact same error. Installed Ubilinux and mraa as per tutorials. I copy over the pong example, it compiles fine, but throws:

      'terminate called after throwing an instance of 'int'

      when I run it, unless I run it as root or with sudo. But when I run it privileged, the OLED works fine, but the buttons do not.

      Is this block comparable with the GPIO and base blocks?

      • Member #283533 / about 9 years ago / 1

        The pong example worked for me first try on ubilinux. Definitely had to run with sudo. The buttons worked as well but not when I have the GPIO block in the stack. Try taking that off.

  • Member #684468 / about 9 years ago / 1

    -

  • Member #684468 / about 9 years ago / 1

    -

  • Member #315486 / about 10 years ago / 1

    I am trying to get the Edison OLED working using node.js and mraa. I have tried a number of things based on the mraa javascript examples but cannot get it to work. I can read the pusbuttons using mraa but spi does not work and I cannot find anything in google searches.

    • tripzero / about 10 years ago / 1

      Make sure you are on the latest mraa and are using the right spi output. IIRC, the Edison has 2 SPI...

      • Member #683775 / about 9 years ago / 1

        Also me trying to use OLED block by mraa and node.js. Have you same working sample via javascript? thanks in advance.

  • Member #400234 / about 10 years ago / 1

    I am using the Edison_OLED.cpp & edison_fonts.h with some success. However Blanks (" " or decimal 32) and negatives(- or decimal 45) are not in the font sets for 2 or higher. This makes showing negative numbers and clearing the screen hard to do. Will these be added anytime in the near future?

  • Member #643372 / about 10 years ago / 1

    Hello, I received this block but I can't figure out how to make it work. I succeed to get the button thanks to gpios but no way to do something with the screen. Do we have to put a battery on the +- holes on the bottom of the board? I tried to light up the screen with SPI thanks to the SparkFun Micro OLED Breakout code but using libmraa for intel edison but it doesn't. Can you confirm that we have to use SPI (i2cdetect -r -y x detects nothing). I know that you are working on an hookup guide but could you please write some basics information there? Thank you in advance

  • B. / about 10 years ago * / 1

    On the picture of the OLED block from the sensor pack I see what appears to be an unpopulated header for 3.3-4.2v. From the tutorial I see I can power the stack with a LiPo attached here. If the board is also powered by USB will the battery be charged? Is it recommended to only power by either USB or Battery but not both?

    • B. / about 10 years ago / 1

      Any answers? I'd like more detail on powering the edison through the oled block.

      • jimblom / about 10 years ago / 1

        There's a bit of info about this header in the hookup guide.

        Those pins deliver power to the Edison's VSYS bus, which is regulated to 3.3V by the Edison. It won't charge a LiPo, but the LiPo supply voltage is within the tolerable range of that supply. It's definitely recommended to only use one supply at a time.

        • KeithM / about 9 years ago / 1

          Jim, I read that the Edison does NOT regulate the power on VSYS, and that if you supply too much power, it will break the Edison. Is that true, or does it really regulate the power?

        • Member #353300 / about 10 years ago / 1

          It takes 4v to get the edison to boot, but 4.5v to get the screen to come on.

  • rohityadav / about 10 years ago / 1

    Hi, regarding the Oled display addon available for pre-order now - are they end block or can be have the battery, Oled and Edison modules stack up together? If it's the end block how do we power-up Edison and the Oled display?

  • Member #282788 / about 10 years ago / 1

    I wonder if there are any plans for a 1x1 screen. 64x48 is going to be just overwhelming. So much power in OS and hardware and no sound or decent screen. All of the screens (not many) I could find working with Edison are ports from Arduino. C'mon, people, make Edison spark and sing!

    • Microman / about 10 years ago / 2

      Thankfully, SFE stocks these already! For some odd reason you'll find them in the LED section. I don't know why, must be some issue their side.

  • TheCryptoman / about 10 years ago / 1

    Quick question. Edison module does not support video I/O and yet there is an OLED breakout board that can be used with it.

    How does this breakout board interface with Edison? Does it communicate over I2C or something? If there is a datasheet for this breakout board, how can I access it?

    Thanks...

  • JohnathanN. / about 10 years ago * / 1

    Is the mating connector for the 70-pin connector going to be sold here? or can you link us to it somewhere?

    • M-Short / about 10 years ago / 1

      We do plan on carrying the connectors some time after we get them in. Right now the supply and lead times on these is horrible. Once we get them in and have a good steady supply we'll start sharing.

      • stomatocode / about 10 years ago / 1

        I was going to ask, and I wasn't sure if that's what Jonathan was getting at, if there was going to be some kind of ribbon cable that could break the LCD away from it's board? So that the screen itself could be as far from the other components as possible, does that make sense?

      • JohnathanN. / about 10 years ago / 1

        Good to know. Thanks.

  • Skerpy_D / about 10 years ago / 1

    How do you connect this?

    • M-Short / about 10 years ago / 1

      There is a connector on the bottom of the board that connects with the Edison

      • Member #694270 / about 9 years ago / 1

        How is that possible? The Edison does not have a 70 pin connector on top.

        • M-Short / about 9 years ago / 1

          Technically the connector on the bottom of the OLED block and the connector on the bottom of the Edison mate.

          • Member #694270 / about 9 years ago / 1

            Ah! The Edison goes on the bottom of the stack and the OLED on the top. :-)

  • michael_yoyo / about 10 years ago / 1

    Will y'all be releasing schematics for these breakout boards at any point?

    • M-Short / about 10 years ago / 1

      We will be once they are finalized. This is one of the rare occasions where we release something before its 100% finished. All the boards have working prototypes, but some may get some tweaking before they are released.

  • Judging by the fact that literally everything in the Edison category is sold out, I'd say that people like them.

    • M-Short / about 10 years ago / 1

      We haven't had stock yet of anything in the Edison category. Because of the launch we are posting these early but we have yet to get initial stock and in some cases have not 100% finalized the design.

Customer Reviews

No reviews yet.