“Follow this exciting tutorial to create your own visual workday scheduler using a Raspberry Pi Pico and an LED strip.
I’m delighted to introduce you to a captivating project I recently discovered on GitHub, to which I’m now a proud contributor. The beauty of this venture lies in its simplicity and practicality. It offers a compelling way to visualize your entire workday, from sunrise to sunset, in your very own workspace.
Our primary tool for this creation is a microcontroller called Raspberry Pi Pico W. This mighty gadget teams up with Google Calendar to present your day’s events on a LED strip. In my own experience, I’ve found that it integrates seamlessly with the aesthetic of my living space furniture. The end result is not just functional, but also an aesthetically pleasing addition to my room.
What makes this even more thrilling is the project’s open-source nature. I was so drawn to the idea and execution that I didn’t hesitate to roll up my sleeves and dive in as a contributor. My inaugural contribution was adding an easy WiFi setup, making the project even more user-friendly!
I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to embrace the open-source community. If you find a project that resonates with you, don’t hesitate to contribute. It’s a wonderful way to learn, grow, and make an impact on projects that inspire you.
The Build Steps
Let’s dive into the impressive capabilities of this project.
At its most basic, the LED strip acts as a progress bar, taking you from the start of the day through to its conclusion using a hardcoded configuration. In this fundamental setup, there’s no need for any integration with Google Calendar.
For a more enriched experience, an advanced configuration allows you to set up a public calendar that interacts directly with the Pi Pico. With this in place, the start and end times of your day, along with all the events, are directly fetched from Google and visually represented on your LED strip.
Here are the steps we’ll be walking through:
- Gathering the materials and tools: Getting everything you need in place.
- Preparing the Pi Pico: Uploading the necessary code onto the microcontroller.
- How Does The Code Work? Explaining the code
- Configuring Google Calendar Integration: This is an advanced, optional step that allows for even more personalized display.
- Wiring And Creating The Device: Setting up the hardware components.
- Future Improvements and Motivation: Discussing potential enhancements and the driving force behind the project.”