https://github.com/suhlig/wordclock
A Word Clock in Ruby
https://github.com/suhlig/wordclock
academic clock raspberry-pi ruby word-clock
Last synced: 10 months ago
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A Word Clock in Ruby
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/suhlig/wordclock
- Owner: suhlig
- Created: 2016-12-25T19:25:51.000Z (about 9 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2024-06-09T17:21:11.000Z (over 1 year ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-04-18T19:14:33.987Z (10 months ago)
- Topics: academic, clock, raspberry-pi, ruby, word-clock
- Language: Ruby
- Homepage:
- Size: 438 KB
- Stars: 6
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 1
- Open Issues: 1
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.markdown
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README
# Ruby Word Clock
[](https://app.travis-ci.com/suhlig/wordclock)
 
This is an implementation of a [Word Clock](http://www.instructables.com/id/Wordclock/) in Ruby. It maps every point in time between midnight and 23:59 hours to a sentence, which is represented as positions of pixels to light up. The current implementation uses German words.
The LEDs are driven by a [Fadecandy](https://github.com/scanlime/fadecandy) board using [faderuby](https://github.com/JamesHarrison/faderuby).
The hardware setup was largely inspired by the [WordClock mit WS2812](https://www.mikrocontroller.net/articles/WordClock_mit_WS2812) article at [mikrocontroller.net](https://www.mikrocontroller.net/). It uses it's [24 hours version](https://www.mikrocontroller.net/wikifiles/1/12/WordClock24h-Frontplatte-800x800.png) as character table.
# LED Indices
The following table shows the positions for a single, continuous strip of LEDs. Read from top to bottom, with the MSB in the top row:
```
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567
ESAISTOVIERTELEINSDREINERSECHSIEBENEELFÜNFNEUNVIERACHTNULLZWEINZWÖLFZEHNUNDOZWANZIGVIERZIGDREISSIGFÜNFZIGUHRMINUTENIVORUNDNACHEINDREIVIERTELHALBSIEBENEUNULLZWEINEFÜNFSECHSNACHTVIERDREINSUNDAELFEZEHNZWANZIGGRADREISSIGVIERZIGZWÖLFÜNFZIGMINUTENUHREFRÜHVORABENDSMITTERNACHTSMORGENSWARMMITTAGS
```
# Development
This is a regular Ruby project, i.e. after cloning the project, the usual
```bash
$ bundle install
$ bundle exec rake
```
will get you started with running the tests.
For further investigation, there is also a terminal simulator that shows a text version of the clock in action:
```bash
$ bundle exec exe/wordclock-simulator "12.11.2017 17:23"
```
It's even prettier when the party mode is enabled (e.g. on Shrove Tuesday):
```bash
$ bundle exec exe/wordclock-simulator "28.2.2017 23:59"
```
# Deployment
See [deployment](deployment/README.markdown) for details.
# Troubleshooting the WS2811B LEDs
## Wiring
I accidentally killed a number of LEDs with a ground loop because the Raspberry Pi and the soldering iron were connected to different wall sockets.
To find out whether an LED is dead, someone in [the forum](https://www.mikrocontroller.net/topic/385955) recommended to measure the resistance between `DATA` and `GND`:
* If the resistance is between 2 and 15 MΩ, the LED is ok.
* If the resistance is ∞, the LED is dead.
Since then, this is my safety procedure when soldering LEDs:
1. Connect `GND` of soldering iron to `GND` of the LED strip to be soldered
1. Connect `GND` of power supply to `GND` of the LED strip to be soldered
1. Solder black wire to `GND` of LED strip
1. Solder red wire to `+5V` of LED strip
1. Connect `GND` of Fadecandy to LED strip
1. Connect `DATA` of Fadecandy to LED strip
1. Connect Fadecandy to USB
1. Connect `+5V` of power supply to LED strip
1. Start test
## Software Tests
* `fadecandy` comes with a number of useful examples that can exercise a number of LEDs:
```bash
$ cd ~/workspace/fadecandy/examples/perl
$ ./random.pl; ./turnthemoff.pl
```
Having `random.pl` and `turnthemoff.pl` in one line ensures that all LEDs are turned off when `random.pl` is interrupted.
* Tailing the log file
Assuming that `wordclock` is the host, the following will tail entries related to `fcserver` from the system journal:
```bash
ssh wordclock sudo journalctl -u fcserver -f
```
Once a client connects, it will show a line similar to this:
```
Dec 17 18:07:52 wordclock fcserver[684]: [1481994472:2735] NOTICE: New Open Pixel Control connection
```
# Bill of Materials
## Electronics Parts
| Component | Price |
| :-------- | ------: |
| [300 WS2811B LEDs](https://www.ebay.de/itm/222192610445) | 33,21 € |
| [Adafruit FadeCandy](http://www.exp-tech.de/adafruit-fadecandy-dithering-usb-controlled-driver-for-neopixels) Dithering USB-Controlled Driver for NeoPixels | 28,45 € |
| [Raspberry Pi 3 Model B](https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01CEFWQFA/) | 34,99 € |
| [SanDisk Ultra Android microSDHC 16GB](https://www.amazon.de/dp/B013UDL5V6/) | 7,99 € |
| [MeanWell LED-Netzteil 5V](https://www.ebay.de/itm/310840219652) | 37,00 € |
| [Kabel USB 2.0 Micro B Stecker auf 2x offene Kabelenden](https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01A9GLG6Q/) | 1,49 € |
## Mechanical Parts
| Component | Price |
| :-------- | ------: |
| [Back plane](https://www.ebay.de/itm/301477115708) for mouting the LEDs | 7,88 € |
| [Front plane](https://www.mikrocontroller.net/articles/WordClock_mit_WS2812#WC24h_Sammelbestellung_Frontplatten) | 54,00 € |
| [Mounting plane](https://www.mikrocontroller.net/articles/WordClock_mit_WS2812#WC24h_Sammelbestellung_Zwischenb.C3.B6den) | 59,50 € |
| [Picture frame](https://www.alutech.de/alu---zuschnitt-profil-18.html) (incl. mounting set) | 42,48 € |
| [Cable box](https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01C6V7OP4/) | 12,99 € |
All prices as of Sept. 2016 incl. S&H.
# Icons
* X-Mas tree from https://grammio.com/static/images/emoji/D83CDF84.png
# Switch to SSD (USB)
https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=196778
## Benchmarks
https://jamesachambers.com/raspberry-pi-storage-benchmarks-2019-benchmarking-script/
* before:
Raspberry Pi 3 with Kingston - Model: SD32G
Running HDParm tests ...
Category Test Result
HDParm Disk Read 20.87 MB/s
HDParm Cached Disk Read 20.71 MB/s
DD Disk Write 17.1 MB/s
FIO 4k random read 1775 IOPS (7103 KB/s)
FIO 4k random write 93 IOPS (375 KB/s)
IOZone 4k read 5818 KB/s
IOZone 4k write 1093 KB/s
IOZone 4k random read 6255 KB/s
IOZone 4k random write 599 KB/s
Score: 634
```
* after:
Raspberry Pi 3 with SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.2 SSD 128 GB
```
Category Test Result
HDParm Disk Read 34.49 MB/s
HDParm Cached Disk Read 33.90 MB/s
DD Disk Write 32.1 MB/s
FIO 4k random read 1985 IOPS (7941 KB/s)
FIO 4k random write 2581 IOPS (10327 KB/s)
IOZone 4k read 11261 KB/s
IOZone 4k write 10129 KB/s
IOZone 4k random read 7718 KB/s
IOZone 4k random write 10143 KB/s
Score: 2203
```
Not as impressive as I had hoped, but it's likely due to the Raspberry Pi 3 having only USB-2.