Bins Display for TTGO/LilyGO T-Display

Self-contained ESP32 reminder display for St Albans bin collections.

What it does

• Connects to Wi-Fi using a captive portal.
• Defaults to postcode AL15SR and UPRN 10001062494.
• Looks up a representative UPRN automatically when the postcode is changed.
• Fetches live collection data from the St Albans public Veolia NoticeBoard endpoint.
• Caches the latest collection dates locally.
• Shows a large PUT OUT TONIGHT alert from 18:00 the evening before collection until 12:00 on collection day.
• Shows refuse, recycling, date/time, and Wi-Fi status when idle.
• Includes a versioned status page with Wi-Fi, IP, postcode, UPRN, last fetch, uptime, and health.
• Refreshes on boot and every 6 hours.

The data endpoint used is:

https://gis.stalbans.gov.uk/NoticeBoard9/VeoliaProxy.NoticeBoard.asmx/GetServicesByUprnAndNoticeBoard

Hardware target

The default PlatformIO environment targets the common TTGO/LilyGO T-Display ESP32 1.14 inch ST7789 board:

• ESP32
• CH9102F USB serial
• 16MB flash
• ST7789 135 x 240 display

If your board turns out to be an ESP32-S3 T-Display, the display pin mapping and board target will need changing.

First boot setup

1. Flash the firmware.
2. The board starts a Wi-Fi access point named Bins Display Setup.
3. Connect to it from a phone or laptop.
4. Open http://192.168.4.1 if the setup page does not open automatically.
5. Enter Wi-Fi details.
6. Leave postcode as AL15SR or change it.
7. Leave UPRN as 10001062494, clear it, or change the postcode to trigger an automatic lookup.

The live St Albans collection endpoint requires a UPRN. When the postcode changes, the firmware asks the St Albans NoticeBoard quick-search service for the first address in that postcode and stores its UPRN. This assumes properties in the same postcode share the same collection schedule.

If the access point does not appear, the ESP may already have saved Wi-Fi credentials from a previous sketch. Hold the left button while resetting or reconnecting USB. The board will clear saved setup and force the Bins Display Setup portal to stay open.

Buttons

• Left button: cycle through the five display pages.
• Right button: refresh collection data now.
• Hold right button: toggle alert preview mode.

Versioning

Each PlatformIO build increments the patch version in VERSION and regenerates include/version.h. Record the resulting version in CHANGELOG.md for the build you flash.

Windows flashing

Install PlatformIO Core, then from this folder run:

pio run -t upload

On this machine I installed PlatformIO with Python. If pio is not on PATH, use:

& "$env:APPDATA\Python\Python313\Scripts\pio.exe" run -t upload

To watch serial logs:

pio device monitor

If pio device list only shows Bluetooth COM ports, the board is not visible over USB yet. Try another USB cable or press the board reset/boot button while connecting.

If upload fails, hold the left button while plugging in USB, release it after upload starts, and try again.