Introduction: Desktop COVID19 Tracker With Clock! Raspberry Pi Powered Tracker

About: A Computer Science and Engineering student and a Hobbyist. love to make robots,electric devices,diy things and Programming them by Myself. My youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/fussebatti Follow me on gi…

We know that we can die anytime, even I can die while writing this post, after all, I me, you, we all are mortals. The whole world shook because of COVID19 pandemic. We know how to prevent this, but hey! we know how to pray and why to pray, do we do it daily? No!! Actually, we forget the root cause of why we should do things. So, we know that an hygienic lifestyle can save us yet we don't do it properly. Consider the case of my younger brother, he wants to go out and play even in this time. I had to do something to consistently inform everyone about the latest cases of COVID19. So, I made a digial desk display that shows the latest cases of COVID19 in real time. As this has a clock then I can put it in a place where everyone gathers or comes. They'll see the numbers add up, which will trigger awareness in them and hopefully everyone will be conscious.
Also as I am a maker and hobbyist, this turned out to be a good project to work on in this lock-down session.

Step 1: Parts I Have Used:

  • Raspberry Pi 3 Model B (booted using sd card)
  • Raspberry Pi UPS module (optional)
  • 7 inch HDMI LCD Screen
  • HDMI to HDMI cable (this comes with the screen)
  • USB cables
  • 5v 2A power adapter (to power the pi)
  • PVC sheet [wooden color] (to make the body)

Step 2: Setup Raspberry Pi:

I guess you have set the pi up perfectly, unless you haven't -

  1. get an SD card - more than 8 GB
  2. download latest raspbian iso file from here.
  3. Burn the SD card using etcher

(Note that people can say a about other software which requires you to do some setup thingy but etcher is super easy to use and simple but effective too.)

Just plug your SD card to pc, run etcher, you'll see the SD card is automatically selected by etcher, then click to select the downloaded iso file or image, then burn it. After successful writing and processing unplug SD card and connect it to your pi, power it and VOILA!! It's alive.

Step 3: Circuit Diagram:

Connect everythingup and power up the raspbery pi, it is just connecting, nothing else.

You'll see the pi booting.

Step 4: The Body:

I cut a PVC sheet to according to the display size, then added it using screws. After that I wired everything up. At last added another sheet at back to support it from falling (blue sheet). If everything is okay, you should see the pi booting (last picture)

Step 5: The Software (Source Code):

The program is written in python3. For GUI (Graphical User Interface) I used PyQt5, and to extract realtime COVID19 data I used COVID19Py library. Thanks to the guys who made the API available for us [[Kudos COVID19Py team]]. See doc in pypi.

That's pretty much it, now open up Terminal on raspberry pi and install libraries (copy each one of them and paste on rpi terminal).

Ignore $ sign while copying

$ pip3 install pyqt5

$ pip3 install requests
$ pip3 install covid19py

That's it, now download the code from here, I've provided the code below:

"""* Realtime Covid19 International and Local Tracker With Clock *"""
""" ************** Stay Home Stay Safe. Live, let Live ************* """

""" author: ashraf minhaj mail: ashraf_minhaj@yahoo.com site: ashrafminhajfb.blogspot.com """

#import necessary libraries import PyQt5 #QT GUI Library for python3 from PyQt5.QtCore import Qt, QTimer #timer to update from PyQt5.QtWidgets import * #import everything from PyQt5.QtGui import QFont #for fonts import sys #necessary for QT applications #import os import COVID19Py #covid19 information -api import datetime #you know what this is for

class CoronaTracker(QWidget): """main class that contains everything""" def __init__(self): """initialize things""" super().__init__() self.covid = COVID19Py.COVID19() #initialize self.timer = QTimer() #initialize self.timer.timeout.connect(self.update) #if timer reaches threshold - call update self.ui() #user interface

def ui(self): """User Interface section""" self.setWindowTitle("Covid19 International and Local Tracker") #self.setWindowFlags(Qt.CustomizeWindowHint) #hide title bar self.setStyleSheet("Background-color: black") self.setFixedSize(640, 480) #as per my display (x, y) /rpi resolution

#main label self.banner_label = QLabel(self) self.banner_label.setGeometry(50, 5, 560, 50) #(x_origin, y_origin, till_x, till_y) self.banner_label.setText("CORONA Pandemic - COVID19 TRACKER") self.banner_label.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 20)) self.banner_label.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

"""________________________worlds latest data_______________________________________""" #world label self.w = QLabel(self) self.w.setGeometry(200, 55, 400, 40) self.w.setText("World at a Glance") self.w.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.w.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: blue; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

#worldwide confirmed cases self.w_cases = QLabel(self) self.w_cases.setGeometry(5, 90, 100, 40) self.w_cases.setText("Cases:") self.w_cases.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.w_cases.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: orange; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """) #cases number self.w_cases_num = QLabel(self) self.w_cases_num.setGeometry(110, 90, 100, 40) self.w_cases_num.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.w_cases_num.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

#worldwide deaths self.w_death = QLabel(self) self.w_death.setGeometry(350, 90, 100, 40) self.w_death.setText("Deaths:") self.w_death.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.w_death.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: red; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """) #death number self.w_death_num = QLabel(self) self.w_death_num.setGeometry(460, 90, 100, 40) self.w_death_num.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.w_death_num.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

#worldwide cured self.w_cured = QLabel(self) self.w_cured.setGeometry(5, 140, 100, 40) self.w_cured.setText("Cured:") self.w_cured.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.w_cured.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: cyan; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

#worldwide cured number self.w_cured_num = QLabel(self) self.w_cured_num.setGeometry(110, 140, 100, 40) self.w_cured_num.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.w_cured_num.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

"""_______________________Local-By country Code________________________________""" #local - Country self.c = QLabel(self) self.c.setGeometry(170, 200, 400, 40) self.c.setText("My Country: Bangladesh") self.c.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.c.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """) #local confirm cases self.c_cases = QLabel(self) self.c_cases.setGeometry(5, 240, 400, 40) self.c_cases.setText("Cases:") self.c_cases.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.c_cases.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: orange; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """) #local cases number self.c_cases_num = QLabel(self) self.c_cases_num.setGeometry(110, 240, 100, 40) self.c_cases_num.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.c_cases_num.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

#local deaths self.c_death = QLabel(self) self.c_death.setGeometry(350, 240, 100, 40) self.c_death.setText("Deaths:") self.c_death.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.c_death.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: red; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

#local deaths number self.c_death_num = QLabel(self) self.c_death_num.setGeometry(460, 240, 100, 40) self.c_death_num.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.c_death_num.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """) #local cured self.c_cured = QLabel(self) self.c_cured.setGeometry(5, 280, 100, 40) self.c_cured.setText("Cured:") self.c_cured.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.c_cured.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: cyan; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """) #local cured number self.c_cured_num = QLabel(self) self.c_cured_num.setGeometry(110, 280, 100, 40) self.c_cured_num.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 18)) self.c_cured_num.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

"""_______________________Time, Date, Clock________________________________""" #clock self.clock = QLabel(self) self.clock.setGeometry(115, 340, 400, 70) self.clock.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 60)) self.clock.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """) #label for weekday self.weekday = QLabel(self) self.weekday.setGeometry(5, 360, 110, 20) self.weekday.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 13)) self.weekday.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """) #date label self.date = QLabel(self) self.date.setGeometry(510, 360, 110, 20) #self.clock.setText("22:49:00") self.date.setFont(QFont('SansSerif', 13)) self.date.setStyleSheet(""" background-color: black; color: white; border-style: outset; border-width: 1px """)

#check the timer if not self.timer.isActive(): #if timer is stopped (reached threshold) #After 1 second (approx.) or 1000ms

try: """try to get data, else run the code anyway""" self.latest = self.covid.getLatest() #gte covid19 latest data

#get latest data by country code 'BD'-Bangladesh, 'IN'-India etc self.local = self.covid.getLocationByCountryCode('BD', timelines=False) #print(self.local) #print(self.latest)

except: """couldn't get data""" print("Internet Error!!")

pass #ignore, run anyway

self.timer.start(1000) #start the timer self.show() #show our User Interface

def update(self): """update labels with information"""

"""_________________Extract ad Update Time and Date Information________________""" #set up clock and date time (update values) #get and update values #to know more read python datetime documentation

self.dt = datetime.datetime.now() #get datetime data self.clock.setText(self.dt.strftime('%X')) self.weekday.setText(self.dt.strftime('%A')) self.date.setText(self.dt.strftime('%x')) """__________________________update covid19 data______________________________""" #worldwide latest data self.w_cases_num.setText(str(self.latest['confirmed'])) self.w_death_num.setText(str(self.latest['deaths'])) self.w_cured_num.setText(str(self.latest['recovered'])) #local latest data self.c_cured_num.setText(str(self.local[0]['latest']['recovered'])) self.c_death_num.setText(str(self.local[0]['latest']['deaths'])) self.c_cases_num.setText(str(self.local[0]['latest']['confirmed']))

print("updating")

return

def main(): app = QApplication(sys.argv) win = CoronaTracker() #instantiate sys.exit(app.exec()) #run the application if __name__ == '__main__': main()

Step 6: Finish Up:

After testing the code I put it in desk and dedicated a power source for it. So that it can work while charging. By using the ups this can run even in load-shedding also, this gives ur pi SD card a suitable protection too.

No matter how or who we are, we have to die. Let's not think about yourself, think about the world. We can only live forever through our deeds, let it be that way.

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