Firmware written in C/C++ (with Platformio) and PCB designed with KiCAD
What is Pulse Light?
Pulse Light is an open source and open hardware payment terminal.
It has firstly been designed around the Cyclos Payment Framework but could be connected to any other network with a bit of work.
Built around an ESP32 microcontroller, the Pulse Light provides a 2.8" TFT Screen and 100Mb Ethernet connectivity.
The Pulse Light is available in a Countertop and Unattended version (respectively PL-C and PL-U).
What is the purpose of this device?
As it has been designed to work with Cyclos (and more precisely with the local currency La Zinne) this terminal only allows QR Code payments with a Cyclos compatible app.
Thus, no Contactless nor Contactful payments are possible with EMVCo cards.
The compatibility with contactless cards is currently studied but would require expensive certifications and are not in the scope for the moment.
What is Open Payment Terminal?
Open Payment Terminal (OPT) is a new standard that I would like to submit to the world.
The goal would be to regroup the Open Source and Open Hardware philosophy for the payment industry.
This would allow a better understanding of the payment flows (e.g. : how it works when I pay someone at a POS ?, how my payment is handled in the backend and so on).
This would also allow to construct a community around payment terminals in order to improve these.
This would not be limited to devices like the Pulse Light Terminal but could also be implemented for "standard" payment terminals.
What do I need to use a Pulse Light?
In order to use a Pulse Light Terminal, you'll need the following things :
- A wired internet connection : Pulse Light is sold with the WiFi disabled by default as the WiFi is less secure. A LTE version is on its way for both the Pulse Light - C (Countertop) and Pulse Light - U (Unattended) versions.
- An Access-Client-Token for the network (or local currrency) you want to use.
- A PC with the free Pulse Light Manager (available for Windows, Mac and Linux)
How much cost a Pulse Light Terminal?
As the project is still in the development phase, prices are not available yet but we want to keep the price for a one time buy below 100€exVAT.
How can I contribute to the project?
If you want to help with this project you can simply go to the Github repository of the project : Pulse-Light
Project Status : 8th June 2025
The first revision of the prototype is currently in production.
It embeds the following features :
- A Single Cell, removable, Li-Po battery of a 660 or 1200mAh (Varta Easypack S or L)
- A fuel gauge for battery monitoring (MAX17048)
- A charger IC with integrated powerpath (BQ24230)
- A buzzer for, at least, sound notification and if possible, haptic feedback for touch input on the screen
- A 2.8 inches capacitive touch screen module from Waveshare
- An ESP32-PICO-V3 as the main CPU
Currently, the prototype is a WiFi only version.
The current firmware is working for both WiFi and Ethernet version but to simplify the design in the Proof Of Concept phase I preferred to go for this solution.
Current UI is built using the TFT_eSPI library only.
As it is kind of ugly for the moment, I'm currently learning to use LVGL as this library provides a nicer look.
