MaTouch ESP32-S3 MaUWB Development Board Adds 3.95-inch Touchscreen and UWB

MaTouch ESP32-S3 MaUWB development board

Makerfabs has introduced the MaTouch ESP32-S3 MaUWB SPI TFT Touch 3.95-inch ST7796, an ESP32-S3 development board that combines a touchscreen, UWB connectivity, and battery support on a single platform. The board targets UWB ranging, indoor positioning, embedded interfaces, and rapid prototyping.

The board uses an ESP32-S3 chipset with 16MB Flash and 8MB PSRAM and drives a 3.95-inch 480 × 320 display through an SPI interface. The ST7796 display controller works with a capacitive touch panel and FT6336U touch controller. Makerfabs also integrates its MaUWB solution, allowing developers to show UWB ranging and positioning results directly on the display. The UWB section operates on channel 5 at 6489.6MHz and supports 850Kbps and 6.8Mbps data rates. The system can support up to eight anchors and 64 tags.

MaTouch ESP32-S3 MaUWB Top and Bottom Side

MaTouch ESP32-S3 MaUWB Specifications:

• Wireless Module: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1: ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 processor up to 240MHz, 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM, Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth LE 5, 16MB Flash, and PCB antenna
• Display: 3.95-inch TFT LCD: 480 × 320 resolution, ST7796 display driver, SPI interface, FT6336U capacitive touch controller, and backlight control
• Storage: MicroSD Card: Local data logging and storage
• UWB: MaUWB-DW3000: Supports UWB ranging and indoor positioning
  • RF Band: CH5: 6489.6MHz
  • UWB Rate: 850Kbps/6.8Mbps
  • Capacity: 8 Anchors/64 Tags
• USB: 2× USB Type-C: One native USB port and one USB-to-UART port with CH340K driver for programming and debugging
• Expansion: 2× JST 1.25mm 4-pin: GPIO expansion interfaces for additional peripherals
• Power: USB Type-C/LiPo: 5V input through USB Type-C with a 4.0V–5.25V operating range and LiPo battery support
• Battery Charger: TP4056: Onboard LiPo charging and battery level monitoring
• Dimensions: 94.3 × 72.4mm

Specifications

Developers can program the board through Arduino IDE using the ESP32 board package. Makerfabs recommends Arduino IDE 1.8.19 or 2.3.6 and ESP32 SDK version 2.0.16 for this board. The setup requires GFX Library for Arduino v1.5.6 and LVGL v8.3.11. Makerfabs also provides a 3.95_UWB_position example that uses three MaUWB Direct devices as anchors and the MaTouch board as a tag. The example calculates the tag’s position through trilateration and displays anchor distances, coordinates, and positioning status on the touchscreen. More details available on wiki page and GitHub.

GFX Library for Arduino v1.5.6 and LVGL v8.3.11

The MaTouch ESP32-S3 MaUWB SPI TFT Touch 3.95-inch ST7796 is available from Makerfabs for $59.80 at the time of writing. The manufacturer lists the board as in stock.

Images used courtesy of MaTouch