Arduino Nesso N1 - Button and Touch Test

A comprehensive, production-ready example demonstrating proper button and touch screen interaction on the Arduino Nesso N1 using the M5Unified library.

Features

Hardware Integration

• ✅ Proper I2C GPIO expander access - Buttons read correctly via M5Unified (not direct GPIO)
• ✅ Capacitive touch screen - FT6336U touch controller with coordinate tracking
• ✅ Buzzer feedback - Audio confirmation for all interactions
• ✅ Visual display - Real-time counter display with improved readability

User Interface

• Three counters - BTN A, BTN B, and TOUCH press counts
• Large, readable fonts - Optimized text sizes for 1.14" display
• Reset functionality - Press both buttons simultaneously to reset all counters
• Audio feedback - Distinct beep tones for each button/touch type
• Serial logging - Detailed event output for debugging

Technical Highlights

• 60 FPS display - Smooth visual updates
• Proper debouncing - Clean state management with static variables
• Touch coordinates - X/Y position logging to serial monitor
• Hardware abstraction - Demonstrates correct M5Unified usage

Hardware Requirements

Required

• Arduino Nesso N1 (ESP32-C6)
  • Built-in 1.14" IPS LCD display (240×135 pixels)
  • Built-in capacitive touchscreen (FT6336U)
  • Built-in I2C GPIO expanders (buttons at 0x43/0x44)
  • Built-in buzzer (GPIO 11)

No Additional Hardware Needed

All components are integrated into the Nesso N1!

Software Requirements

Arduino Libraries

Install via Arduino Library Manager or arduino-cli:

# M5Unified Library (required)
arduino-cli lib install "M5Unified"

Board Package

arduino-cli core install esp32:esp32

Installation

Method 1: Arduino CLI

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/rogerguess/nesso-n1.git
cd nesso-n1/button_test_m5unified

# Compile and upload
arduino-cli compile --fqbn esp32:esp32:arduino_nesso_n1 .
arduino-cli upload -p /dev/cu.usbmodem1101 --fqbn esp32:esp32:arduino_nesso_n1 .

Method 2: Arduino IDE 2.x

1. Open button_test_m5unified.ino in Arduino IDE
2. Select Tools → Board → ESP32 Arduino → Arduino Nesso N1
3. Select Tools → Port → [Your Nesso N1 Port]
4. Click Upload button

Usage

Display Interface

┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│      BUTTON & TOUCH             │
├─────────────────────────────────┤
│  BTN A    BTN B      TOUCH      │
├─────────────────────────────────┤
│    0        0          0        │
│                                 │
│    Press both to reset          │
└─────────────────────────────────┘

Controls

Action	Result
Press Button A (left)	Green counter increments, 1000 Hz beep
Press Button B (right)	Magenta counter increments, 1200 Hz beep
Touch screen anywhere	Cyan counter increments, 1400 Hz beep
Press both buttons together	All counters reset to 0, 1500 Hz beep

Serial Monitor Output

Connect at 115200 baud to see detailed logging:

========================================
  Nesso N1 BUTTON TEST
  Using M5Unified Library
========================================

✅ M5Unified initialized
✅ I2C GPIO expanders ready
✅ Buttons are now accessible

========================================
Ready! Press buttons or touch screen!
========================================

╔════════════════════════════════════╗
║  *** BUTTON A PRESSED ***         ║
╚════════════════════════════════════╝
Press count: 1

╔════════════════════════════════════╗
║  *** SCREEN TOUCHED! ***          ║
╚════════════════════════════════════╝
Touch position: X=120, Y=67
Touch count: 1

Important Technical Notes

Why M5Unified is Required

⚠️ Critical: Buttons on the Nesso N1 are NOT on direct GPIO pins!

• KEY1 (Button A) and KEY2 (Button B) are controlled via I2C GPIO expander at addresses 0x43/0x44
• Using pinMode() and digitalRead() on GPIO 0 or GPIO 9 will NOT work
• M5Unified library provides the correct abstraction layer

Correct approach:

M5.begin();      // Initialize I2C expanders
M5.update();     // Read button states from I2C
if (M5.BtnA.wasPressed()) { ... }

Incorrect approach (won't work):

pinMode(0, INPUT_PULLUP);
digitalRead(0);  // This reads ESP32 GPIO 0, not the button!

Touch Screen

• Controller: FT6336U capacitive touch via I2C (address 0x38)
• Resolution: Full display resolution (240×135)
• Detection: M5.Display.getTouch(&tp) returns touch point
• Coordinates: tp.x (0-240), tp.y (0-135)

Troubleshooting

Buttons Not Responding

Symptom: Pressing buttons does nothing

Solution:

1. Ensure M5Unified library is installed
2. Verify M5.begin() is called in setup()
3. Verify M5.update() is called in loop()
4. Check Serial Monitor for initialization messages

Touch Not Working

Symptom: Screen touches not detected

Solution:

1. Ensure you're touching the screen, not the bezel
2. Try pressing firmer (capacitive touch requires contact)
3. Check Serial Monitor for touch coordinates
4. Verify M5GFX/M5Unified display initialization

Display Too Small to Read

Symptom: Text is hard to read

Solution: This sketch already uses optimized font sizes:

• Labels: size 2 (larger than default)
• Counters: size 3 (maximum readable)
• Instructions: size 2

If still too small, consider increasing text size in code (may require layout adjustments).

Code Structure

button_test_m5unified.ino
├── setup()
│   ├── M5.begin()           // Initialize I2C expanders
│   ├── M5.Display.init()    // Initialize display
│   ├── drawUI()             // Draw static interface
│   └── ledcAttach()         // Setup buzzer
│
├── loop()
│   ├── M5.update()          // Read button states from I2C
│   ├── Button A handling    // M5.BtnA.wasPressed()
│   ├── Button B handling    // M5.BtnB.wasPressed()
│   ├── Both buttons reset   // M5.BtnA.isPressed() && M5.BtnB.isPressed()
│   └── Touch detection      // M5.Display.getTouch()
│
├── drawUI()                 // Initial screen layout
├── updateDisplay()          // Update counter values
└── playTone()               // Buzzer feedback

Customization

Change Beep Tones

Edit frequencies in loop():

playTone(1000, 50);  // Button A: 1000 Hz, 50ms
playTone(1200, 50);  // Button B: 1200 Hz, 50ms
playTone(1400, 50);  // Touch: 1400 Hz, 50ms
playTone(1500, 100); // Reset: 1500 Hz, 100ms

Adjust Font Sizes

Edit in drawUI() and updateDisplay():

M5.Display.setTextSize(2);  // Labels (BTN A, BTN B, TOUCH)
M5.Display.setTextSize(3);  // Counter numbers

Change Colors

Modify color constants (RGB565 format):

TFT_CYAN      // Title
TFT_YELLOW    // Labels
TFT_GREEN     // Button A counter
TFT_MAGENTA   // Button B counter
TFT_CYAN      // Touch counter
TFT_WHITE     // Instructions

Performance

Tested on Arduino Nesso N1 (ESP32-C6 @ 160MHz):

Metric	Value
Memory usage	18KB RAM (5%)
Flash usage	424KB (13%)
Display update	~10ms per frame
Button latency	<20ms
Touch latency	<30ms

License

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

You are free to:

• Share and redistribute
• Modify and build upon this work

Under these terms:

• Attribution - Credit Roger Guess and link to this repository
• NonCommercial - No commercial use without permission
• ShareAlike - Derivatives must use the same license

See LICENSE file for full terms.

For commercial licensing, contact via GitHub.

Credits

Author: Roger Guess Repository: https://github.com/rogerguess/nesso-n1 Hardware: Arduino Nesso N1 (Arduino + M5Stack collaboration) Libraries: M5Unified (M5Stack)

Resources

• Arduino Nesso N1 Documentation
• M5Unified Library
• Arduino IDE Download

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork this repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Test thoroughly on actual Nesso N1 hardware
4. Submit a pull request with clear description

Support

• Issues: https://github.com/rogerguess/nesso-n1/issues
• Discussions: https://github.com/rogerguess/nesso-n1/discussions

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