Tft design

ESP32 TFT Dashboard PCB

A compact two-layer carrier board for building a small ESP32-based dashboard. It connects a 30-pin ESP32 development board to an SPI TFT display and a five-pin rotary encoder, with four M2 mounting holes for mechanical assembly.

Project status: Hardware design / first-revision prototype. Review the connector orientation and module pinouts against your exact ESP32 and TFT modules before fabrication or assembly.

Features

• Socketed 30-pin ESP32 development board
• 11-pin SPI TFT display connection
• Five-pin JST-XH rotary encoder connection
• Bottom-layer ground plane
• Four non-plated 2.2 mm mounting holes for M2 hardware
• Through-hole construction for straightforward hand assembly
• KiCad source files and FreeCAD mechanical models

Board specification

Interfaces

TFT display

The display header carries 3V3, GND, backlight, clock, serial data, data/command, reset, and chip-select signals. The PCB silkscreen identifies pin 1 and the power connections.

Rotary encoder

The JST-XH connector carries ENC_CLK, ENC_DT, ENC_SW, 3V3, and GND.

Repository contents

• tft-design.kicad_pro — main KiCad project
• tft-design.kicad_sch — schematic
• tft-design.kicad_pcb — PCB layout
• tft-design.FCStd — FreeCAD mechanical model
• tft-design_resized.FCStd — alternate/resized mechanical model
• 1.kicad_pro and 1.kicad_pcb — additional KiCad design files retained with the project

Fabrication outputs are intentionally not tracked. Generate fresh Gerber and drill files from the current PCB revision before ordering.

Fabrication export

1. Open tft-design.kicad_pro in KiCad 10 or a compatible newer release.
2. Open PCB Editor, refill copper zones, and run the Design Rules Checker.
3. Plot F.Cu, B.Cu, F.Mask, B.Mask, F.SilkS, B.SilkS, and Edge.Cuts as Gerbers.
4. Generate both PTH and NPTH Excellon drill files.
5. Load every Gerber and both drill files in Gerber Viewer.
6. Confirm the outline, plated connector holes, non-plated mounting holes, copper, and silkscreen before creating the fabrication ZIP.

Assembly checks

Before powering the board:

• Confirm the ESP32 header orientation and pin-1 positions.
• Confirm the TFT module uses the expected 11-pin ordering.
• Verify that the TFT module includes suitable backlight current limiting, or add an appropriate external driver/current-limiting solution.
• Check for shorts between 3V3 and GND.
• Power the board with a current-limited supply for initial bring-up.

Software

Firmware is not included in this repository. The chosen display driver and GPIO definitions must match the fitted TFT module and the PCB net assignments.