pi-zero-dashboard

Create an LED screen dashboard using a raspberry pi zero to display weather, air traffic, etc.

See it in action! https://youtu.be/gYM97AqxEqI

Setup

sudo apt install git python3-dev libjpeg-dev zlib1g-dev i2c-tools libfreetype6-dev
git clone https://github.com/brianjgreen/pi-zero-dashboard.git
cd pi-zero-dashboard/
python3 -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Required Files

Create a file for your weather api key and another file with your locations you want to find weather forecasts.

weather_api.key

Create a test file with the name weather_api.key with your api key generated from: https://www.worldweatheronline.com/weather-api/ Sign up for the free option with the 100/day limit.

locations.json

Create a JSON file with your locations in this format:

{
    "Boston": "02110",
    "NewYorkCity": "10010"
}

The key (e.g. "Boston") is the name printed. The value (e.g. "02110") is the postal, zipcode, or city name using the required 'q' parameter format of the API described here: https://www.worldweatheronline.com/weather-api/api/docs/local-city-town-weather-api.aspx#qparameter

Scripts

get_weather.py

get_weather_data.py requests the weather forecast from the API and generates a JSON file for each location

python get_weather_data.py

print_weather_data.py

print_weather_data.py reads the generated JSON files and prints the weather forecasts

python print_weather_data.py

Crontabs

Use these example crontabs to make occasional requests for weather forecast data and to automatically start the display of the weather forecasts to a small OLED display.

@reboot /bin/bash -c 'sleep 60 && cd /home/pi/pi-zero-dashboard && source .venv/bin/activate && python oled_weather_display.py' &
0 */8 * * * /bin/bash -c 'cd /home/pi/pi-zero-dashboard && source .venv/bin/activate && python get_weather_data.py' &

References

• https://www.worldweatheronline.com/weather-api/
• https://www.worldweatheronline.com/weather-api/api/docs/local-city-town-weather-api.asp
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09C5K91H7?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
• https://pypi.org/project/luma.core/
• https://github.com/rm-hull/luma.examples.git