AH-64D EUFD with ESP32 S3 Dual Core LVGL 7 Inch

[Pikas62]

Hi BojoteX, Planning for my AH-64D front panel continues. Thanks to you, the plan for my CMWS is now complete, so I would like to build the EUFD. I would like to do this with this ESP32S3 with integrated 7-inch display and your ingenious CockpitOS. But before I order it, can you tell me if it will work?

Link to HW:
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005008160547213.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.shoppingCartRecommend.2.7e324ae4eBv6rF&gps-id=shoppingCartRecommend&scm=1007.13440.426876.0&scm_id=1007.13440.426876.0&scm-url=1007.13440.426876.0&pvid=177822d3-126b-4853-ae49-fa2d2f65be7a&_t=gps-id:shoppingCartRecommend,scm-url:1007.13440.426876.0,pvid:177822d3-126b-4853-ae49-fa2d2f65be7a,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238110%231995&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%22152%22%2C%22spu_best_type%22%3A%22price%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%2C%22sceneId%22%3A%223440%22%2C%22fromPage%22%3A%22recommend%22%7D&pdp_npi=6%40dis%21EUR%2127.49%2126.39%21%21%21218.18%21209.45%21%40210388c917714908715924595e8403%2112000044038750345%21rec%21DE%213904456479%21XZ%211%210%21n_tag%3A-29919%3Bd%3A70743b6b%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895&utparam-url=scene%3AshoppingCartRecommend%7Cquery_from%3A%7Cx_object_id%3A1005008160547213%7C_p_origin_prod%3A&_gl=1*h1siy9*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3NzE0ODk1MDQuQ2p3S0NBaUF3TkRNQmhCZkVpd0FkN3RpMUhXRGFuZUtfYkZ6dWs0a3Z0WUNSWk9Ya2VMWG1rRTF6OWpkdEVrWUdxdTZsb19xNnFOZ2pCb0NFYWdRQXZEX0J3RQ..*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE3NzEyMjQ5MzcuQ2owS0NRaUExOERNQmhEZUFSSXNBQnRZd1QxX3ZkZE15TTBCVWw0SlhudGFrbC1UOGRONy1jd0FwX3V0eW9OYVB6TjFkcUF0cGE2aVZNSWFBdFZsRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDk2OTk1MzI2LjE3NjkwOTc0NTk.*_ga*MTI5MTE4MDg1Ni4xNzY5MDk3NDU5*_ga_VED1YSGNC7*czE3NzE0ODg3NTkkbzQ0JGcxJHQxNzcxNDkxMjQ1JGo0NCRsMCRoMA..

https://github.com/VIEWESMART/UEDX80480070ESP32-7inch-Touch-Display

[BojoteX]

From the actual CockpitOS side, both the bus and drivers are supported, so, technically, it wont be an issue operating it, however, there are lots of "ifs" and I'm not even sure if this is even "doable" with DCSBIOS. How does this display work? can you show me videos, manual... I'm not a heli guy, so no idea how that screen operates or if it even receives data from DCSBIOS. Can that screen be exported? have you considered Helios?

[Pikas62]

Hello, sorry, I should have explained more, of course.

The EUFC display only outputs lines of text, similar to the UFC of the F-16 and F/A-18, only slightly larger. Attached is a photo of a typical display page. I will also make a video.

The viewport can of course be exported. In fact, I have already done this in my current front panel. But now I want to have all viewports on a separate display in the new version of my cockpit. If I solve it via a viewport, I have 3 cables (HDMI, power, data). I thought that if I could solve this like with the CMWS, I would have a much cleaner solution with only one cable.

About the display. I got the idea to implement this with CockpitOS when I read someone's post on the DCS forum (https://forum.dcs.world/topic/356729-ah-64d-simpit-project/ -> the bottom entry). So I thought it would be perfect for implementation with CockpitOS. Unfortunately, the guy isn't responding to my inquiries.

About the hardware. The display is an ESP32-S3 with an integrated 7-inch TFT display. It seems to be well documented. There is a GitHUB page about the display: https://github.com/VIEWESMART/UEDX80480070ESP32-7inch-Touch-Display.

Tell me what information you need, and I'll look it up.

[BojoteX]

Well, I reviewed the DCSBIOS exported strings and the good news is that it will definitely work. It is, in fact, easier to implement that any of the gauges I have. The time consuming part are the margins, font, text placement, but Claude or ChatGPT can solve that in 5 minutes.

In fact, do this: (this a new featue implemented last night) download the latest version of CockpitOS (not the release, but the one in dev)
once you do, run the same script you tested to compile. CockpitOS-START.py. then navigate to Label Creator, then Create New Label Set, use any name you want, example, EUFD Apache. Then, follow the flows, choose Apache, then in the big list of panels use the arrows, up/down/right/left to "inspect" the DCSBIOS values available.

so yes, it will work, we have all we need

[Pikas62]

That sounds good😀. Then I'll order the display. It will take a little while because they are celebrating the Chinese New Year in China until the beginning of March 😏. Thank you very much for your research. I'll get back to you as soon as I have the display.Am 20.02.2026 um 14:18 schrieb Jesus Altuve ***@***.***>: Well, I reviewed the DCSBIOS exported strings and the good news is that it will definitely work. It is, in fact, easier to implement that any of the gauges I have. The time consuming part are the margins, font, text placement, but Claude or ChatGPT can solve that in 5 minutes. In fact, do this: (this a new featue implemented last night) download the latest version of CockpitOS (not the release, but the one in dev) once you do, run the same script you tested to compile. CockpitOS-START.py. then navigate to Label Creator, then Create New Label Set, use any name you want, example, EUFD Apache. Then, follow the flows, choose Apache, then in the big list of panels use the arrows, up/down/right/left to "inspect" the DCSBIOS values available. image.png (view on web) so yes, it will work, we have all we need —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[BojoteX]

Depends, what do you have in mind? I have a user with an CockpitOS running as RS485 "master" using TFTs while at the same time using Arduino RS485 'slaves' connected to it.. working perfect, so its mixing Arduinos and ESP32s with no issues

[Pikas62]

I already have an Apache PLT front panel. So far, the entire panel with the CMWS device is been running on the Arduino Mega, and the CMWS display is implemented via a Viewport. Now I want to implement the CMWS device entirely on the ESP32-S3 with the 2.4-inch SPI display, while continuing to control the rest of the front panel via the Arduino Mega.

[BojoteX]

The other thing you can do is leave the Arduino "as is" and connect a CockpitOS device (with the 2.4 SPI display) as the slave. it will work EXACTLY the same... you wont' have to touch anything else, OBVIOUSLY you need to use an RS485 transceiver.

So that you understand, a transceiver is a little device that connects to the Arduino using 5 pins (VCC, GND, RX, TX, DE). It has a cable that connects to ANOTHER transceiver, also connected to an ESP32 S3. Same pins. What this does is make the two devices talk to each other via serial (RS485) and CockpitOS already have this functionality so you can 'daisy chain' them. Essentially, what this does is present the "master" to the PC as the main device and the "slave" is just an "extension" of the master, so, for the PC you just have a big mixed device Arduino + ESP32 that works as one

[Pikas62]

Am I understanding this correctly? DCSBios can't "listen" to both the Arduino "Connect Serial Port" script and the CockpitOS HID Manager at the same time?

[BojoteX]

Actually it works perfectly fine also doing that!! I was under the impression you wanted a single device with another as slave

[Pikas62]

I didn't really want to do that, but thanks to you, I now know how to do it 👍.