This is a HUD-like (Heads Up Display, aka Flat Panel Display) clock that gets the current time via WiFi. It is based on an ESP32 controller and uses four common 8×8 dot-matrix display units driven by a MAX7219 chip.
Component List
8×8 dot matrix display unit (MAX7219) × 4
ESP32 microcontroller × 1
1mm thick, 165 x 75mm acrylic board × 1
3D Printed Case
The enclosure is printed without support and is made of acrylic sheet.
The specific values are: W=165mm, H=75mm.
The final shell can be painted with matte black paint. I used a very low reflectivity paint (MUSOU BLACK) and painted all over the top of the unit and the fuselage.
3D print file, download in the project file library.
https://make.quwj.com/project/458
Installing the ESP32 microcontroller
Connect the ESP32 microcontroller to the dot matrix display unit. Install the MAX72XX library into the Arduino IDE.
As an example, my project connects DIN-16, CS-17, CLK-21. the connections in the source code are variable. It can be found in lines 115-117 below.
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#define CLK_PIN 21 // or SCK#define DATA_PIN 16 // or MOSI#define CS_PIN 17 // or SS |
Configure WiFi in the source code. you can also use the SmartConfig smartphone application to do this.
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#define WIFI_SSID "SSID" // your WiFi's SSID#define WIFI_PASS "PASS" // your WiFi's password |
Mount the microcontroller to the outside of the enclosure. Of course, you can use any other microcontroller.
For the clock file, download it from the project file repository.
https://make.quwj.com/project/458
Finish
With the display unit in place and inserted into the acrylic board, the entire project is complete.