Thanks so much to David for sending this project in! David writes:
The project is similar to one you were kind enough to feature a year ago but this project does considerably more and is better documented. I am particularly pleased with the subroutine for displaying output on your bicolor 8×8 LED matrix (with backpack) because it will scroll any string of printable ASCII characters in proportional font with true descenders. In addition to passing the text to be displayed as string to the subroutine, font color and screen orientations are also arguments.
From GitHub:
A small, simple device for continuously scrolling the current time, date, temperature, humidity, and barometric trend over the last two hours is built from a Raspberry Pi Zero, an Adafruit BME280 I2C Temperature Humidity Pressure Sensor, and an Adafruit Bicolor LED Square Pizel Matrix with I2C Backpack for a total cost of less than $40. Its display is easily visible across a large, brightly lit room and its small size and utility make it an informative an attractive conversation piece for any room.
Featured Adafruit Product!
Adafruit BME280 I2C or SPI Temperature Humidity Pressure Sensor: Bosch has stepped up their game with their new BME280 sensor, an environmental sensor with temperature, barometric pressure and humidity! This sensor is great for all sorts of weather/environmental sensing and can even be used in both I2C and SPI!(read more)
Adafruit Bicolor LED Square Pixel Matrix with I2C Backpack: What’s better than a single LED? Lots of LEDs! A fun way to make a small colorful display is to use a 1.2″ Bi-color 8×8 LED Matrix. Matrices like these are ‘multiplexed’ – so to control all the 128 LEDs you need 24 pins. That’s a lot of pins, and there are driver chips like the MAX7219 that can help control a matrix for you but there’s a lot of wiring to set up and they take up a ton of space. Here at Adafruit we feel your pain! After all, wouldn’t it be awesome if you could control a matrix without tons of wiring? That’s where these adorable LED matrix backpacks come in. (read more)
Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!