Lesson 01 — Setting Up the ESPHome Platform¶

1. Course Introduction¶

In this lesson, you will learn how to use and operate the rotary screen through ESPHome.

Next, we will learn how to install the ESPHome environment so that you can edit code on it and implement the features of the rotary screen.

2. Learning Objectives¶

Gain a basic understanding of the software required to drive the rotary screen using ESPHome
Learn how to install the required software

3. Software Overview¶

Home Assistant (often called "HA" for short) is a free, open-source smart home management platform—think of it as the central "control brain" for all your smart devices. It works on computers, small servers, or even dedicated smart home hubs, and lets you manage every smart product you own (lights, thermostats, sensors, your rotary screen, etc.) in one unified interface—regardless of the brand or technology the device uses. For your rotary screen, HA acts as the "command center": it can receive inputs from the screen (like knob rotations or touch taps), control other devices based on those inputs (e.g., turn up the lights when you twist the knob), and send data (like room temperature or music volume) to the screen for display.

ESPHome is a free, open-source tool built to configure smart hardware (specifically devices powered by ESP32/ESP8266 chips—your rotary screen uses an ESP32). The key benefit? You don't need to write complex code to make the screen work. Instead, you use simple, plain-text configurations (like filling in a template) to define what the rotary screen does: e.g., "show 'Hello World' on the display," "adjust the thermostat when the knob turns," or "wake the screen when touched." ESPHome takes these configurations, turns them into instructions the ESP32 can understand, and "loads" them onto your rotary screen—while also automatically syncing the screen's status (what it's displaying, how the knob is being used) with Home Assistant.

Together, Home Assistant and ESPHome turn your rotary screen into a flexible, customizable smart device: ESPHome gives the screen its "basic skills" (display, knob/touch response), and HA connects those skills to your entire smart home—so the screen can both control your devices and show you what's happening with them, all without requiring technical expertise.

4. How to Install the Software¶

First, we need to prepare:

a Raspberry Pi 5;

a 64GB SD card;

a CrowPanel 1.28inch-HMI ESP32 Rotary Display

product link:

https://www.elecrow.com/crowpanel-1-28inch-hmi-esp32-rotary-display-240-240-ips-round-touch-knob-screen.html

Download Home Assistant¶

Open the official website of Home Assistant: https://www.home-assistant.io/

The version we are using here is 2026/¾.

Please use the same version as ours; otherwise, the code we provide may produce errors under a newer version.

Select a Raspberry Pi and install the Home Assistant system according to this installation guide. (Install according to the official installation guide.)

After the installation is complete, insert the SD card with the Home Assistant system into the Raspberry Pi and connect the Ethernet cable.

Note: Make sure that the Wi-Fi network your Crowpanel HMI ESP32 Rotary Display will connect to is on the same local area network (LAN) as the Raspberry Pi.

The following devices need to be on the same LAN:

Your computer
Crowpanel HMI ESP32 Rotary Display
Raspberry Pi with the Home Assistant system

Note: The Raspberry Pi must be connected to a screen to view information. Once everything is ready, power on the Raspberry Pi and wait for it to load. The screen will display the following image.

(You need to connect a display screen to the Raspberry Pi in order to see these information.)