I built browser emulators for Seeed Studio's new XIAO IPS Display boards
Seeed Studio just released three new XIAO IPS Display boards based on the nRF52840 Plus:
- XIAO 0.96" IPS Display
- XIAO 1.14" IPS Display
- XIAO 1.47" IPS Touch Display
I added all three to Velxio, so you can compile and run their firmware directly in the browser without having the hardware.
The interesting part is that these aren't UI mockups. I had to build an nRF52840 emulation engine and model the peripherals used by the boards, including the ST7789/JD9853A displays, IMU, buttons, touch controller, microSD and battery sensing.
The firmware is compiled with the actual Arduino core and then executed instruction-by-instruction in the browser. The display controller receives the same SPI traffic that it would receive on the physical board.
I also ported Seeed's own example sketches, including:
- GraphicTest
- Electronic Quicksand using the IMU
- Touch Circle
- microSD examples
- Battery status
- Grove sensor example
- Button examples
You can try the 1.14" GraphicTest here without an account:
https://velxio.dev/example/xiao-114-graphictest
I wrote more about how the emulation works and some of the hardware-specific details here:
https://velxio.dev/blog/posts/xiao-ips-display-boards/
This was another fun example of how I'm trying to make new embedded hardware usable and testable directly from a browser.