An e-book reader device can be the best thing to have for anyone hooked on to reading. Making one from scratch can be an even more fulfilling experience, something that is perhaps more applicable to the DIY enthusiasts. One inherent benefit with such a device is that you have complete control over the entire thing, which includes the software side of it.

With off-the-shelf e-readers such as the Kindle or the Kobo, you have a device that offers a very refined user experience but you are also tied to the company’s own content source. That can be a serious limitation but not so with a device that you have created on your own.

Take for instance the one created by Guyrandy Jean-Gilles and is named Pi e-Reader. As mentioned by xda-developers, the e-reader project is based on a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) board and an E Ink display that has been manufactured by Good Display. The e-reader project also includes a touch interface as well as a front light system which will allow for comfortable reading even in the dark.

The e-paper display communicates with the CM4 via the SPI connector while a Texas Instruments TPS61165 drives the front light. The brightness is controlled by the CM4 using PWM. All of the details have been hosted at GitLabs, which includes the schematics, KiCAD files, and bills of materials for the CM4 version of the e-reader project. Also available for download is a Raspberry Pi HAT version to use alongside the full-sized SBC.

Apart from the hardware itself, the software is another equally important aspect that ensures a refined user experience. Much of that again has been written by Jean-Gilles though other open-source codes and libraries have also been used. In its current form, Pi e-Reader comes with MuPDF for dealing with PDF files while eReader software has been sourced from The Open Book project.

That said, it being a DIY project, you always the full liberty to customize and tweak the hardware and software to suit your specialized requirements. That said, what needs to be added is that the Pi e-Reader isn’t the simplest of DIY project and is best undertaken by those having some amount of hardware and software skills.

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