That is super cool. But admittedly when I saw the title i was hoping for a mini version of those massive flipboard signs. Those things are amazing.
One of those is definitely on the cards for me, I have been meaning to get to that for a long time.
A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
31–40 of 146 posts
Re: A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand, it is also overkill to learn how to program and deal with an ESP32 if you already know some light linux sysadmining and some high level programming language to set this up.
ESP32 can run μPython which should make it quite a bit easier for those that know some high level programming language. For me using an ESP32 seems like the more reliable, secure, easier and faster solution but people have their preferences and I relate to it being a bit scary at first.
μPython is great - I am not complaining about it, but for someone who is tinkering with a project, it is different enough from Cpython to make things frustrating.
If this was a commercial project, I would agree completely (and from a BOM cost, the manufacturer would be a lot better off investing the time in the dev on a microcontroller)
Re: A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
#33That is super cool. But admittedly when I saw the title i was hoping for a mini version of those massive flipboard signs. Those things are amazing.
I have a small one in my office that tells the time & updates the S&P every 15 minutes. It's surprisingly loud. Especially at the top of every hour when all of the dials are flipping I've more or less gotten used to it but I have one colleague who refuses to have any meetings in my office because they find it so distracting.
Re: A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
#34I need one of these, but showing my upcoming meetings. Then I need it to start blinking when I'm supposed to be somewhere besides my desk.
I was thinking the same thing.
Re: A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
#35That is super cool. But admittedly when I saw the title i was hoping for a mini version of those massive flipboard signs. Those things are amazing.
There are various projects for 3D-printing these… looks like a pretty feasible undertaking until you realize you need dozens to make a proper sign.
Re: A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
#36That's neat, seems like it would be a cool kit to distribute.
Re: A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
#37This is really cool! One thing that always annoys me with those signs is when they try to put too much information on them. You have all of the stops, fine. You then have all of the information about the train splitting which you might well need. But then they start adding information about short platforms etc. It takes several minutes for it all to scroll past. Which is super annoying if you're trying to work out if…
Open google maps. Drag up. Instant departures info.
Re: A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
It costs six bucks and runs something very close to stock Debian, which greatly eases software development.
Yes, and Electron allows people to use JavaScript and CSS which simplifies cross-platform software development.
I hate Electron apps as much as the next person, but it's indisputable that to get a simple desktop app deployed, Electron is easier, and to me that signifies that it serves a purpose, at least in the prototyping space.
I have like 10 ESP32's lying around my house, they're fun to tinker with, but my Raspberry Pis get a lot more attention from me because there is a substantially lower cognitive overhead with them than the ESPs. If I had a plan on selling my stuff, then yeah, the Raspberry Pi might be overkill and I'd consider going for an MCU module. However, for a fun little DIY project, I don't see how an RPi is a problem.
EDIT: Realized I forgot to mention another point; not everyone really wants to muck with pointer arithmetic for simple things; this app was written in Python, and as far as I know, the ESP32 chips are mostly C/Arduino; I realize that there exists NodeMCU and such variants, but due to the Raspberry Pi being "Just a computer", you have access to virtually every language under the sun.
Re: A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
#39wow, crazy how small Pi has become! I remember trying to do a similar project for the bus stop at the corner of my street to know when to leave to catch the bus. It was fun, but I never really finished when I realised how big just the Pi would be (still powered by usb-a, etc). Nice to see this one so well executed!
I’m patiently waiting for a Pi Zero format for new Pi 4B (or something close...).
Regarding the size of B series, unless I need the ports, I almost always snip out the ports — don’t bother desoldering it, the ground plane in Pi acts as a massive heat sink. Instead, I snip slowly and carefully the metal housing of ports, and then wiggle the plastic bits until the break away. Reduces the size, and leaves sufficient space to put small modules in place.
I posted a few pictures in my previous comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20462711
Re: A Raspberry Pi-powered live train station sign
#40Hey folks, balena.io founder here, just chiming in to mention that Chris is one of our Hardware Hackers in Residence, and if you think that doing HW projects with all sorts of cool technologies and writing them up for the world is your dream job, we're hiring! https://balena.workable.com/j/27A101659C Happy to answer any balena (or train station sign) related questions, of course :)
No question, just wanted to say thank you for Etcher.