Pi Zero Clock

thingiverse

I've been thinking, isn't this clock going overboard for something that's just supposed to tell time? But with the internet, why settle for ordinary when you can make it do so much more? You could design a clock that automatically adjusts to different time zones based on your IP address or maybe one that tracks your latest Amazon order. For me, this clock does what I need: it tells me when the next subway train is coming at my stop. This is a relatively simple build that requires some soldering, but all parts are off-the-shelf. A 1.2" 7-segment display from Adafruit in any color you like A Raspberry Pi Zero and supported power cord Some female to female jumper wires A small WiFi dongle, preferably one that doesn't require compiling a module for (a big plus!) For the non-press-fit version: 4 M2.5 screws and 3mm spacers There are now two versions of the clock available: the original design has a removable backplate and requires some M2.5 screws and spacers, but results in a more visually appealing clock as the seam is hidden at the back and on the corners and the layers are vertical. The press-fit version needs no screws and features a bezel on the front of the clock, but the design has to be split horizontally instead of vertically. As of 8/30/2018, the press-fit version was updated to be slightly larger in the horizontal direction to support better pressing and fitting. If you're an electronics expert like me, you could probably get by with just buying the display and some resistors and skipping the I2c backpack altogether, opting for a protoboard or even posterboard to hold the display in. If you go that far, you could also snag a cheap one from Ebay or Alibaba and change the dimensions in SCAD to fit. I now highly recommend using a Pi Zero W for this clock since you won't have to do any weird soldering I did. However, if all you have are Pi Zero originals, you can set it up with WiFi; I suggest grabbing a starter kit if you don't already have the necessary parts and doing a NOOBS graphical installation. A regular Raspbian installation over serial is also possible. I used wpa_supplicant for my WiFi configuration. The Pi Zero cannot support the amount of power that a WiFi dongle draws through USB, so you'll have to do this WiFi patch hack to get it to run off the main USB power. This means you can't plug anything else into that USB port, so be aware! Print Settings Printer Brand: MakerGear Printer: M2 Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: .2mm Infill: 20% Notes: Printed in Hatchbox PLA with 3 layers on top and bottom. The only hard part about the design is the curvature, and maybe getting the port holes well formed if you have trouble with your first layer sticking to the bed. Post-Printing As tight-fitting designs often do, my setup might not work on your machine. I highly recommend measuring your display and seeing how close the values are to those at the top of the SCAD file, regenerating as necessary, and if all else fails breaking out the X-acto knife and sandpaper and going to town. You can follow this guide for a general how-to on enabling I2c and using the backpack with a Raspberry Pi. I've included pictures of the wire setup on this page, but here they are again: +5V and V_IC on the clock should go to 5v on the raspi, which are pins 2 and 4 according to this image GND should go to ground, which is pin 6 SDA and SCL, the data and clock lines for I2c, need to go to the SDA and SCL GPIO pins on the pi, 3 and 5 respectively Adafruit has a few example python scripts to get you started in the tutorial. That should be it. Let me know if you have any questions!