Re: [mh] Large digital clock

Hello Jeff,

The combo of Wemos and Arduino was one of convenience.  I wasn't 
convinced I wanted to create a new Tasmota component, and then continue 
to maintain that module going forward, for this application vs. running 
the standard binaries.

The problem with just doing everything with the standard Tasmota 
binaries, both for this project and another alarm clock I am working on, 
is that Tasmota has no support for the displays I am interested in 
(WS2812 and MAX72xx).  Handing off that capability to a "daughteboard" 
seemed like the path of least resistance.

Regarding the sketch and Tasmota config, I hadn't cleaned that up in a 
publishable way yet so figured I would wait to see if there was interest 
before putting in the effort.  The Tasmota part is pretty easy so I have 
now added the required console commands to the wiki.  Let me know if you 
are interested in the Arduino sketch also.

Jeff


On 2021-07-12 9:15 a.m., Jeff wrote:
> Hi Jeff,
>
> I was wondering why there was a need for both an Arduino and the Wemos 
> D1. I've had a similar project on my mind recently, but was planning 
> on the D1 handling everything.
>
> Also, the page you linked says "Tasmota config and Arduino sketch are 
> available", but there's no further information on how to find them.
>
> Thanks!
> Jeff Huettner
>
>
> On 7/10/21 6:25 PM, Jeff Siddall via misterhouse-users wrote:
>> I wanted a large clock visible from anywhere in my back yard.  I had 
>> previously tried a few mechanical types but invariably after a couple 
>> of years they would stop working from being exposed to the elements.
>>
>> Instead I thought I would try to build a digital version out of an 
>> Arduino and a Tasmota hooked up to dual 8x8 dot matrix WS2812 
>> programmable LED boards.  The Tasmota takes care of the time duties, 
>> running NTP plus timezone and DST calculations, as well as providing 
>> a nice UI for the color and brightness controls for the LEDs.  The 
>> Arduino receives time and color info from the Tasmota over the serial 
>> interface and calculates which LEDs should be set on the display.  I 
>> had to create a custom narrow font to make it all fit into a 8x16 
>> format, but it was all pretty fun actually.  I didn't want to have to 
>> make it waterproof so instead I installed it on the inside bottom of 
>> the fixed part of the glass patio door.
>>
>> Turned out great!  Even in direct sunlight and at half brightness the 
>> LEDs are readable from 50'.
>>
>> Since the Tasmota has a web interface that makes it easy to remotely 
>> control, I added a couple of time_cron blocks to MH that dim the 
>> display in the evening and brighten it in the day so it doesn't blind 
>> anyone at night.  Those WS2812 are pretty bright!  I am also 
>> contemplating tying it into the MH motion tracking code so the LEDs 
>> only get bright when someone is in the yard.  That should extend the 
>> life of the LEDs too.  Not sure how long this will last but hopefully 
>> longer than the mechanical ones!
>>
>> I also posted a writeup with a couple of pictures on the wiki here:
>>
>> https://github.com/hollie/misterhouse/wiki/Digital-Clock
>>
>>
>>
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