The Zerowriter Ink Is an Espressif ESP32-Powered Distraction-Free ePaper Writing Tool
Built in partnership with Soldered Electronics, the Zerowriter Ink packs an Inkplate 5 display and low-profile mechanical keyboard.
Adam Wilk, creator of the distraction-free Zerowriter ePaper typewriter, has teamed up with Soldered Electronics to build a commercialized — but still open-source — version dubbed the Zerowriter Ink.
"Zerowriter Ink is an ePaper word processor with a low-profile mechanical keyboard, brilliant readability, and marathon-ready battery life," Wilk explains of the new design. "This is an exciting new collaboration between Zerowriter and Soldered Electronics, makers of the Inkplate series of ePaper displays. We aim to build an active, robust community around this product, and we hope you’ll be a part of it!"
The original Zerowriter was unveiled late last year, built by Wilk using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W single-board computer and a Waveshare 4.2" ePaper display with a compact mechanical keyboard. The housing was 3D-printed clamshell affair, inspired by Penk Chen's Penkēsu, or ペンケース, while the software was a custom Python word processor designed to deliver distraction-free typing.
The new Zerowriter Ink design opts for a flat, solid layout similar to that of the Alphasmart family of similarly distraction-free typing tools — or, if you go back far enough, the classic Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 portable microcomputer. The display is an Inkplate 5, still using electrophoretic ePaper technology but with a boosted 1280×720 resolution, while the 60% layout mechanical keyboard beneath uses low-profile switches and keycaps.
The Raspberry Pi has also been replaced in the new design. "Zerowriter runs on [an Espressif] ESP32 [microcontroller], and is written entirely in Arduino," Wilk explains. "It's one of the easiest languages to learn and work with for hardware projects. Our goal is to keep things extremely approachable. By the time Zerowriter Ink ships to backers, we will publish the code base on GitHub and release our hardware design files."
Those interested in picking up a Zerowriter Ink at launch can sign up on Crowd Supply to be notified when the project's crowdfunding campaign goes live.