Display-Case GC9A01 — Tilted Desk Stand

A 15°-tilted desk stand for a round GC9A01 1.28" TFT (240×240, SPI) with an integrated ESP32-C3 Super Mini. USB-C reachable from the outside. Print-ready for Bambu Lab (0.4 mm nozzle, PLA, no supports).

Firmware without a toolchain: flash the display right from your browser — open the Web Flasher » (Chrome or Edge, desktop).

📦 Download the model on MakerWorld.

Housing variants

Both housings use the same electronics, wiring and firmware (web flasher above).

	Variant	Folder
	Wedge stand (original): 15° wedge, 58 × 52 × 66 mm	this folder (STL/, 3MF/, STEP/)
	Round puck: ⌀64 mm puck, 15° tilt, wedge foot, lid with ESP32 snap sled	puck/

Contents

Display-Case-GC9A01/
├── STL/                          # print-ready meshes
│   ├── FINAL-Case.stl
│   ├── FINAL-Deckel.stl          # lid (snap-fit)
│   └── FINAL-Klemmring.stl       # clamp ring (holds the display)
├── 3MF/CASE-FINAL-alle-teile.3mf # all parts in one file
├── STEP/CASE-FINAL.step          # parametric CAD (Fusion import)
├── Firmware/
│   ├── esp32_hud/                # GC9A01 HUD (clock/weather/sun/date, WiFi portal)
│   ├── esp32_starfield/          # Warp starfield demo (no WiFi)
│   ├── esp32_matrix/             # Matrix rain demo (no WiFi)
│   ├── esp32_fire/               # demoscene fire demo (no WiFi)
│   └── esp32_plasma/             # full-color plasma demo (no WiFi)
├── puck/                         # round puck variant (own STL/3MF/STEP, Fusion source)
├── docs/                         # GitHub Pages web flasher + wiring diagram
└── BOM.md                        # bill of materials

Wiring (GC9A01 → ESP32-C3 Super Mini)

Display	ESP32-C3 GPIO
VCC	3V3
GND	GND
SCL / SCK	GPIO4
SDA / MOSI	GPIO6
RES / RST	GPIO5
DC	GPIO7
CS	GPIO10
BLK	3V3 (backlight always on)

Firmware

Two sketches are included. Two ways to flash:

1. Web flasher (easiest — no software)

Open https://medpex.github.io/display-case-gc9a01/ in Chrome or Edge on a desktop, plug the ESP32-C3 in via USB-C, and click a flash button. That's it.

• GC9A01 HUD — rotating info display: clock, weather, daylight/sun arc and date, with a short random animation show once per hour. WiFi and location are set up in the browser on first boot (see below). No cloud, no account, no telemetry.
• Demos (no WiFi, no setup, run instantly):
  • Warp Starfield — flicker-free warp-speed flight through the stars
  • Matrix Rain — falling glyph columns with fading trails
  • Fire — old-school demoscene fire simulation
  • Plasma — full-color plasma waves cycling through the rainbow

HUD first-time setup

On first boot the HUD opens a WiFi hotspot GC9A01-HUD-Setup. Connect a phone/laptop to it; a captive portal appears where you:

1. select your home WiFi and enter the password;
2. optionally set City (display label), Latitude, Longitude and Timezone (POSIX, e.g. CET-1CEST,M3.5.0,M10.5.0/3) for weather and the clock.

Settings are saved on the device (NVS). Time comes from NTP, weather from Open-Meteo (no API key). Defaults to Berlin if you skip the location fields. To change WiFi/location later, flash again — an erase re-opens the portal.

2. Self-compile (arduino-cli)

Requires the esp32:esp32 core ≥ 3.3.7. Important: CDCOnBoot=cdc (otherwise no serial / auto-upload on the C3 Super Mini).

# HUD — libs: "GFX Library for Arduino", ArduinoJson, WiFiManager (tzapu)
arduino-cli compile --upload -p /dev/cu.usbmodemXXXX \
  --fqbn "esp32:esp32:esp32c3:CDCOnBoot=cdc,FlashSize=4M,PartitionScheme=huge_app" \
  Firmware/esp32_hud

# Demos (starfield / matrix / fire / plasma) — libs: "Adafruit GFX Library", "Adafruit GC9A01A"
arduino-cli compile --upload -p /dev/cu.usbmodemXXXX \
  --fqbn "esp32:esp32:esp32c3:CDCOnBoot=cdc,FlashSize=4M" \
  Firmware/esp32_starfield   # or esp32_matrix / esp32_fire / esp32_plasma

Default location can also be changed in Firmware/esp32_hud/esp32_hud.ino (DEF_CITY / DEF_LAT / DEF_LON / DEF_TZ) before compiling.

Print settings

• Material: PLA
• Layer height: 0.2 mm
• Walls: 1.7 mm (= 4 perimeters at 0.4 mm nozzle)
• Infill: ~15 % gyroid
• Supports: none (only a short bridge over the USB-C port, prints free)
• Orientation: case lying on its back/bottom; lid & clamp ring flat.

Assembly

1. Drop the display into the boss from the front (D-shape/chin down, FPC through the notch).
2. Put the clamp ring on from the back — fixes the display; align its opening to the FPC.
3. Click the ESP32-C3 into the snap holder in the lower area, USB-C toward the port.
4. Wire it up per the table above.
5. Click the lid in (snap-fit) — bottom closes flush.
6. Optionally stick 4× rubber feet under the base.

CAD notes

• Import STEP/CASE-FINAL.step into an empty Fusion document to keep editing.
• Internal Fusion length unit = cm; model authored in mm (c(x)=x*0.1).
• Key dimensions: wedge 58 D × 52 W × 66 H mm, wall 1.7, floor 2.0, tilt 15°.

License

• Standard Digital File License (matches the MakerWorld listing) — personal, non-commercial use only. No sharing, remixing, redistribution, hosting or commercial use without permission.
• Attribution: Display-Case GC9A01 by medpex.