README.md

Unicorn HAT HD Clock

Digital clock with weather status on a Pimoroni Unicorn HAT HD for the Raspberry Pi

This script relies on:

• AccuWeather to retrieve weather information
• https://sunrise-sunset.org/api for sunrise and sunset information to adjust the brightness accordingly

GIFs

Instructions

I. Download the required files

1. Clone this repository
   • git clone https://github.com/jalenng/unicorn-hat-hd-clock.git
2. Ensure you have Python 3 installed
   • python3 --version
3. Install the required dependencies:
   • pip install -r requirements.txt
   • pip install -r requirements-sim.txt (if using the simulator)

II. Configure AccuWeather

• You will need an AccuWeather API account to get an API key: https://developer.accuweather.com/.
• Find the AccuWeather location key for your location.

III. Configure the options

1. Open the file options.json with a text editor
2. Make the desired edits to the file
   • clock

     Name	Default Value	Description
     12hrFormat	true	If true, clock displays in 12-hour time. Otherwise, clock displays in 24-hour time.
     demo	false	If true, the time is sped up, and the screen cycles through the various icons
     omitLeadingZeros	true	If true, the leading zeroes of the hour are dropped. Otherwise, include the leading zeros.
     color	[255, 255, 255]	An array of values in RGB order. Determines the color of the clock.

   • led

     Name	Default Value	Description
     fps	10	Desired framerate of the screen
     minBrightness	0.004	A float between 0.0 and 1.0 that determines the brightness of the screen during the night
     maxBrightness	0.5	A float between 0.0 and 1.0 that determines the brightness of the screen during the day
     rotation	180	Rotation of the screen

   • weather

     Name	Default Value	Description
     enabled	true	If true, shows and updates weather information
     apiKey	N/A	Important: Insert your AccuWeather API key here
     locationKey	N/A	Important: Insert your AccuWeather location key here
     updateInterval	1800	Time in seconds between API calls to get weather data

   • sunrise

     Name	Default Value	Description
     enabled	true	If true, updates display brightness according to sunset and sunrise information. Otherwise, display brightness will constantly be at the average of minBrightness and maxBrightness
     latitude	N/A	Important: Insert your latitude for sunrise/sunset data
     longitude	N/A	Important: Insert your longitude for sunrise/sunset data
     updateInterval	86400	Time in seconds between API calls to get sunset/sunrise data

3. Save your changes to the file

IV. Run the script

• Run the script to make sure everything is working as intended.
  • e.g. python3 main.py

V. Schedule the script to run on startup

1. Open the file /etc/rc.local with a text editor
   • e.g. sudo nano /etc/rc.local
2. Before the line that says exit 0, add the line python3 <path to main.py> &
   • e.g. python3 /home/pi/unicorn-hat-hd-clock/main.py &
   • Be sure to include the & at the end
3. Save your changes to the file