January 07, 2015

Build a Raspberry Pi-based Word Clock

We see plenty of word clocks with the Arduino platform, however the following version by Bernd Krolla is quite unique and also driven by a Raspberry Pi. The clock itself has many feautres apart from telling the time in words - it can scroll messages using each word as a pixel, has a capacitive-touch interface - and even display low-resolution images as well.

Thanks to the connectivity of the Raspberry Pi this clock could be modified to display all sorts of data that can be obtained from the Internet, giving you a whole world of options with display possibilties. Finally, Bernd gives us a detailed description about his clock in the following video:

For more information, links to code and so on - visit the clock's website. And for more, we're on facebookGoogle+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.

For projects that require interaction between an Arduino and a Raspberry Pi you can save time and space by using our new PiLeven board:

The PiLeven is an Arduino-compatible board based on the Arduino Uno, but with a few changes. Obviously it's a bit of a strange shape! The PiLeven fits right on top of a Raspberry Pi (either model B or B+) using the Raspberry Pi expansion headers.

The PiLeven also has a high-current switchmode power supply, so you can plug in anything from 7V to 18Vdc using the standard 2.1mm jack. The PiLeven can power the Raspberry Pi, so you don't need a regulated 5V USB connection anymore.

Serial communications on the PiLeven is linked through to the Raspberry Pi, so your Pi can upload new sketches straight to the PiLeven or send/receive data and commands. We've included level shifters so the 3.3V Pi can talk safely to the 5V PiLeven. And you can plug standard Arduino shields right into the PiLeven, giving your Raspberry Pi access to the huge range of shields already available. For more information about the PiLeven, including our tutorials - and to order yours today, visit the PiLeven webpage.

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