Inky

Inky is an open-source, student-built e-ink dashboard. It displays your daily tasks, upcoming deadlines, and habit tracking (like study streaks) on a low-power e-ink display.

Why E-ink?

We chose e-ink for this project because:

• Cool: It is cool, and the temperature is also cool comparing to a normal monitor.
• Low Power: It only consumes power when updating the image.
• Always On: The dashboard is always visible without emitting light, making it less distracting than a monitor or phone.
• Paper-like Reading: High contrast and readability.

How it works

Coming Soon.

Setup and Usage

Prerequisites

• Node.js

Installation

1. Clone the repo. yeah.

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/inky.git
   cd inky

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   npm install express canvas

Running the System

You need to run both the backend server and the frontend UI.

1. Start the Backend Server This runs on port 3001 and handles data storage and image rendering.

node backend/server.js

2. Start Admin UI On port 3000 , it allows you to manage your dashboard.

npm start

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser to add tasks or track habits.

Device Integration

To display the dashboard on your e-ink device:

1. Ensure your device is on the same network as your computer.
2. The device should make a HTTP GET request to:

   http://<YOUR_COMPUTER_IP>:3001/render
   

3. The server responds with a PNG image (800x600 grayscale).
4. Your device should download this image and write it to the e-ink display.

Example Workflow

1. You finish studying and click "Mark study done today" on the web UI.
2. The backend updates data.json.
3. Your e-ink device wakes up (e.g., every hour), fetches the new image from /render, and updates the screen to show the filled square for today.