HariFun

My parts come out smaller than modeled also. Did you ever figure out how to correct the scaling issue?

Hey Lea!That's an excellent idea about putting a physical switch to control timezone offset.I'll have to look into that.

Jiri, as always, beautiful project! What are the specifications of the solder paste that you use? Does it really contain solder and not just flux? The solder paste I am familiar with are all gray colored. Thank you.

Hi Derick!Good day and thanks.This project uses an LED matrix and although you could get a matrix as tall as a skyscraper, you will run into two issues: (1) price. The larger the matrix, the more expensive it will cost. (2) resolution. The larger the matrix the more dots there will be per inch. The code is designed to draw the digits a certain # of dots tall, so to accommodate larger matrix you will need to adjust the code to drawl taller digits.As far as purchasing matrix unless you live in Shenzhen, AliExpress and eBay would be my recommendation.If you are willing to give up the animation effect. You could build a seven segment display out of LED strips. Being a wood working workshop, I think that'd make a nice group project for the class. Here's a starting point...https://www.evil…

Hi Derick!Good day and thanks.This project uses an LED matrix and although you could get a matrix as tall as a skyscraper, you will run into two issues: (1) price. The larger the matrix, the more expensive it will cost. (2) resolution. The larger the matrix the more dots there will be per inch. The code is designed to draw the digits a certain # of dots tall, so to accommodate larger matrix you will need to adjust the code to drawl taller digits.As far as purchasing matrix unless you live in Shenzhen, AliExpress and eBay would be my recommendation.If you are willing to give up the animation effect. You could build a seven segment display out of LED strips. Being a wood working workshop, I think that'd make a nice group project for the class. Here's a starting point...https://www.evilmadscientist.com/2009/giant-seven-segment-displays/

Abet, my code versions do not support daylight savings time. All I did for mine is to manually change the timezone offset twice every year using the double-reset and connecting to it using a PC/phone. Once that is changed, I can't think of any reason how it would revert by itself. :-( Are you sure it's not just running behind because it cannot connect to the time server? I've seen that happen before, but that was solved by connecting to google time server which has been reliable for me.

Hi Abet,To be honest, I don't know. I would presume the NodeMCU has protection diodes such that either power inputs won't try to go the wrong way, but I do not know for sure.

Yeah, that would be nice, but I'm unaware of a generic way to do that. That's why I put the timezone offset in the WiFi Manager interface. Are you saying you've already pressed reset twice about a second apart so the display would go into setup mode again, then use your phone/pc to connect to MorphClk access point and the IP address shown on display? That's how I adjusted mine a few weeks ago.

Hi Alberto! Great to hear that you got it working! Good job! I don't know why I didn't think of it, but yes, you could power the NodeMCU using the same power supply that powers the matrix. If your matrix comes with a cable that is meant to power two displays, you could use the unused cable branch to power the NodeMCU, otherwise you'd have splice your own cable. Either way you just need to connect the 5V to vIn of the NodeMCU.Credit: http://henrysbench.capnfatz.com/henrys-bench/arduino-projects-tips-and-more/powering-the-esp-12e-nodemcu-development-board/

Hi Abet. Did you tell your phone/pc to connect to access point MorphClk instead of your usual home access point?Only after you do that you'd be able to find and connect to 192.168.4.1

Glad you like the project too.I have not done it but in theory it should work with the Wemos. Check links that reference in step 4 of the instructable. Those authors talk about how to use the display with other esps.

Hi Eduardo, Two completely different morphing routine switched every hour is totally doable. You should make that! Others have made improvements to this clock too.

gur, the easiest fix would be to hardcode the time offset in the code (NTPClient.cpp) and ignore the time offset that is set from the user interface. Search the code for zoneOffset and set it to (5*60 + 30)*60;

majanssen, I think that is an excellent idea! I have not tried it yet, but I agree with you that it should work.http://henrysbench.capnfatz.com/henrys-bench/arduino-projects-tips-and-more/powering-the-esp-12e-nodemcu-development-board/

Stan, in digit.cpp you can see that all boiled down to calling the display library to draw a pixel, line, and filled rectangle.When you instantiate a digit you could pass in the equivalent of the display object for your matrix, and call the appropriate routine to draw a pixel, line, and filled rectangle. The rest of the code should not care about which display is being used.

In theory, yes, but a standard Uno does not have a way to talk to the Internet to get the current time, so you will need to change the code that gets time from the time server to however you decide to provide time to the Uno (wifi module add-on, or real time clock module add-on)

I relied on the matrix library to draw to my display. If you could find the proper library to drive your display, it should be straightforward to replace the drawing routine and retain the rest of the sketch. Without the proper graphics library, you will have to figure out how to "talk" to the matrix.

Andrew, thank you very much for sharing your helpful tips!

Hi Karl! Glad you were able to get the upload issue resolved. Others have trouble with their display or nodeMCU being not exactly the same models that I used.

I agree that the display is sometimes too bright, sunset/sunrise changes with time of year, so dimming after 20:00 and bright at 6:00 is probably a feature that could be easily added.

I agree that the display is sometimes too bright. Dimming after 20:00 and bright at 6:00 is a good idea!But there is no option to do that at this time. Sorry...

DarkHours, I love the minimalist approach! I sure will print one for my clock.Thank you for sharing!

Anyone know where we can get the source code for this cube? I'm interested in modifying the code to write my own effects. Thanks!

Yes, that used to happen if the ESP could not reach time server when it does its hourly time sync. However, that bug was fixed by:1 using a more reliable time server, 2. keeping error_getTime variable so when we cannot get time, we keep trying.This is the code version that's been reliably running for me.https://github.com/hwiguna/HariFun_166_Morphing_Clock/tree/Shared/Latest/MorphingClock

Lucas, this is GREAT!I was able to follow your instructable despite zero CAM experience. Speaking of that, how do I tell CAM so it follows a closed shape instead of jumping all over the place and cut individual lines (presumably in the order I drew them in the sketch).Thank you!

We made 24 of these easy spiders!

Beautifully made! Thanks for sharing Vincent!

Jarosin69, yes, that was a bug that was found and fixed by Gius-8 in Shared branch.The time server I picked was not as reliable as google's time server, he also made the retry sooner when it fails to get epoch.I've now merged it to master branch too. Could you please try redownloading source from github and reupload it to the NodeMCU?Sorry for the frustration. I should have merged the fix to master sooner.

Hi PerryC4!Sorry you ran into that WiFi issue. :-(I was unable to duplicate this problem until user SteveR254 kindly sent me a NodeMCU with this issue.What seems to happen is that some NodeMCU boards are unable to effectively multitask between WiFi and driving the matrix. All is fine with WiFi sample code because WiFi was all that it had to do. The matrix is also fine. But when code needs to do WiFi AND matrix updating at the same time the WiFi fails :-(The experimental version decreases the time spent updating the matrix to allow more time for WiFi. Matrix is not as bright but WiFi now has more time to do its job while still updating the matrix.

eburman, yes, WifiManager stores the wifi credentials in an area of memory of the ESP that acts like a flash drive. It does not get erased as you upload new programs.

Awesome!And I like the improved wiring photo! Do you mind if I include it in the Instructable?

Hmm, that is an odd one. Not even two colons?I can only think of two reasons (both unlikely) for completely blank screen:1. No power to the matrix. Please check the power that is plugged directly to the matrix (not the ESP).2. Signal is not getting from ESP to the matrix. Please check all wires from ESP to matrix.Also, try pressing the reset button on the ESP after everything is powered.Finally, you can see debug messages on Arduino IDE serial window and maybe that would tell us how far in the boot process it got. Good luck!

Hi Spodgy,I have not tried the code on an ESP32. I don't know if the ESP8266WiFi library is compatible with the ESP32 or not. Even if that library is not compatible, it should be possible to modify the code to use ESP32 libraries.

That is a much better way to set timezone than the way I did it. I will check out your code when I get back from my trip. Thank you for sharing!

Yes, unfortunately, it appears that you are still not getting reliable wifi connection. The MorphClk syncs with time server every hour. I thought I've fixed the issue with it using the wrong time offset when it cannot connect, but it appears to be still a problem. Unfortunately, I won't be able to look into this until I return from my business trip. If you're impatient, you can see the github branches and history to see how I tried to fix it in NTPClient.cpp. Sorry...

First, congratulations to those of you who recently posted your success!Second, just FYI, I am currently on a business trip and will not be able to respond to Instructable posts as quick as I normally could. I will be back in a week and will try to catch up. Sorry...

No, that is not normal. It should remember all settings once you set them.The debug output reports that it tries to connect to your home wifi, but could not so it setup the ESP AP to let it configure it even it already have the parameters saved.I suspect this is the same bug that WiFi is getting interrupted too much.These two numbers worked for me, but maybe you need to increase refresh even higher for your ESP board :-(#define refreshRate 0.025 // higher allows more time for WiFi, but makes the display dimmer. Originally 0.002#define persistenceMicroSeconds 280 // Higher = brighter. Originally 70

kd6not, thanks for sharing that parameter. It'd be useful for others to know that at least it worked for one ESP board out there. :-)My theory is that when the ESP is setup as an access point (during setup), it requires more WiFi processing, so I had to set refresh pretty infrequently (larger value of 0.025). But once it is setup and the ESP only has to connect to home wifi, it has more time to update the matrix so your value of 0.010 works. Just a theory. Glad you got yours working and brighter. Thanks for sharing your success.

Congratulations BillM73 !Thank you for sharing your success. Enjoy the clock! :-)

refreshRate is how often the matrix would be refreshed. The number is in seconds, that's why it is such a small number.This is how often an interrupt is fired. I suspect if the interrupt fires too often the WiFi routines get confused.Faster refresh (smaller number) of course is better, but doing it too often is what appears to break WiFi on some boards.persistenceMicroSeconds is how long a pattern is held still before we replace it with another. If this number is low, then the display would be very dim because as we decrease the refreshRate above, the matrix will be "on" less and less.So, I increased persistenceMicroSeconds so eventhough we do not update it very frequently, each time it does, we hold the pattern for longer period of time.Again, if we hold it too long, then we'…

refreshRate is how often the matrix would be refreshed. The number is in seconds, that's why it is such a small number.This is how often an interrupt is fired. I suspect if the interrupt fires too often the WiFi routines get confused.Faster refresh (smaller number) of course is better, but doing it too often is what appears to break WiFi on some boards.persistenceMicroSeconds is how long a pattern is held still before we replace it with another. If this number is low, then the display would be very dim because as we decrease the refreshRate above, the matrix will be "on" less and less.So, I increased persistenceMicroSeconds so eventhough we do not update it very frequently, each time it does, we hold the pattern for longer period of time.Again, if we hold it too long, then we'll end up taking too much of the ESP's time to draw the matrix and the WiFi got sad :-(I don't know why this only seem to be a problem with some ESP. TrungH32 said that he/she was able to make it brighter by playing with the param. Hopefullly he/she will share the magic numbers.

Oh that's wonderful!Could you tell me the parameters you used to make it 2x brighter?I will take a look at adding date. No promises though :-)

CharlyBoy, that's great!Thank you for doing that and sharing!

It looks like something is wrong with the storage. Let's try resetting it.In NTPClient.cpp uncomment this line:wifiManager.resetSettings(); // Uncomment this to reset saved WiFi credentials. Comment it back after you run once.Upload and run the above, save the timezone, then comment the above line and reupload.Also make sure that SPIFF is set to 1M instead of 3M. This is in the tools menu.

That's wonderful! Good detective work!I wonder what the repeater does that the ESP-12E does not like.time.nist.gov is in USA. whereas time.google.com probably resolve to a closer server in Spain.

That's strange..It sounds like it is not saving timezone.Could you please open Serial Monitor in the Arduino IDE, then press reset on the ESP and tell me what it thinks the timezone is set to?

Wow, that sure looks like all is well but the time server is not responding.May I ask where in the world you are located?When you ping time.google.com how quickly does it respond?Maybe we need to increase the timeout?

Hmm, I wonder if they no longer sell the ESP-12.Interrupting WiFi less by lowering the refresh rate is the only way I have been able to fix it on the ESP-12E. You can try playing with those two variables, maybe you could find a brighter balance. Just leave the serial monitor open and you should see that it could not setup AP or get time when the refresh rate is too high and wifi stops working :-( Good luck!

I don't know why it does not work for you.If you'd like to help debug, please open serial monitor, press reset on the ESP and post what it says. Hopefully it would show us where it is failing.

Niko1971 and kd6not,I've just made two quick adjustments:1. Use more available time server (time.google.com). I suspect the reason it is stuck on the two colons is because it could not reach the time server.2. Fixed the midnight showing as 00 when non-military time is chosen.Another thing I noticed is that sometimes instead of MorphClk, the ESP's Access point is named ESPxxxxx, If that happens, go ahead connect to it with your phone anyway. The WiFiManager should still allow you to configure the clock.https://github.com/hwiguna/HariFun_166_Morphing_Cl...

I suspect that you cannot reach the time server from where you are.Some other makers reported they have better luck with time.google.com.Search for:const char* ntpServerName = "time.nist.gov";and replace it with:const char* ntpServerName = "time.google.com";Good luck!

Yes, you need a separate 2Amp power supply to power the display -- USB is only to power the ESP.The best way to debug is by opening the Serial Monitor in Arduino IDE, make sure it is set to 9600 baud, then pressing reset on the ESP.If you see gibberish, that's probably incorrect baud rate on serial monitor, or bad compile option. Try both the ESP12 and ESP-12E. Make sure SPIFFS is set to 1M.You SHOULD see progress messages from the ESP as it starts up, and where it got stuck.If the message says that wifi is setup ok, but you still cannot see wifi access point please try this branch. I discover that the display refresh rate is too fast and it interrupts the WiFi too much. This branch is my attempt to fix thathttps://github.com/hwiguna/HariFun_166_Morphing_Cl...

That is an error in WiFiManager library:https://github.com/tzapu/WiFiManager/issues/650I didn't run into this. Have you tried updating WiFiManager library?There is also a hotfix branch of the WiFiManager:https://github.com/tzapu/WiFiManager/tree/hotfixesGood luck!

Yay! That's great!Yes, please tear it apart and play with the code. I'm certain it could be much improved. The 00 instead of 12 for midnight bug has been there forever. Maybe you could help me fix it? :-)

I was messing with that branch again earlier today, not sure if you got the latest or not. You might want to try getting this branch again. MorphClk.ino should have this:#define refreshRate 0.025 // higher allows more time for WiFi, but makes the display dimmer. Originally 0.002#define persistenceMicroSeconds 280 // Higher = brighter. Originally 70If it still does not show MorphClk AP, last resort is to enter it in NTPClient.cpp//== PREFERENCES == (Fill these appropriately if you could not connect to the ESP via your phone)char homeWifiName[] = ""; // PREFERENCE: The name of the home WiFi access point that you normally connect to.char homeWifiPassword[] = ""; // PREFERENCE: The password to the home WiFi access point that you normally connect to.char timezone[5] = &qu…

I was messing with that branch again earlier today, not sure if you got the latest or not. You might want to try getting this branch again. MorphClk.ino should have this:#define refreshRate 0.025 // higher allows more time for WiFi, but makes the display dimmer. Originally 0.002#define persistenceMicroSeconds 280 // Higher = brighter. Originally 70If it still does not show MorphClk AP, last resort is to enter it in NTPClient.cpp//== PREFERENCES == (Fill these appropriately if you could not connect to the ESP via your phone)char homeWifiName[] = ""; // PREFERENCE: The name of the home WiFi access point that you normally connect to.char homeWifiPassword[] = ""; // PREFERENCE: The password to the home WiFi access point that you normally connect to.char timezone[5] = "-5"; // PREFERENCE: TimeZone offset. Go to https://www.timeanddate.com/time/map to find your timezone offsetchar military[3] = "N"; // PREFERENCE: 24 hour mode? Y/N

Thanks to SteveR254, I've been able to duplicate the issue that some of you were having with some NodeMCU versions. This is the narrower version that appears to be based on ESP-12E rather than ESP-12. I had to set the board to NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-12E Module) otherwise although the upload would succeed, serial monitor would show garbage even at the correct baud rate.I was not successful in figuring out why this ESP is having WiFi issues, out of desperation, I started commenting out the matrix code and lo and behold it started working! Eventually, I deduced that the interrupt routine that is updating the matrix is interfering with WiFi.I decreased the refresh rate of the matrix (so it is less frequent), therefore giving more time for WiFi. That made the WiFi work (both as client and AP), b…

Thanks to SteveR254, I've been able to duplicate the issue that some of you were having with some NodeMCU versions. This is the narrower version that appears to be based on ESP-12E rather than ESP-12. I had to set the board to NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-12E Module) otherwise although the upload would succeed, serial monitor would show garbage even at the correct baud rate.I was not successful in figuring out why this ESP is having WiFi issues, out of desperation, I started commenting out the matrix code and lo and behold it started working! Eventually, I deduced that the interrupt routine that is updating the matrix is interfering with WiFi.I decreased the refresh rate of the matrix (so it is less frequent), therefore giving more time for WiFi. That made the WiFi work (both as client and AP), but the display became very dim.So, I increased the length of time the display is enabled. That broke the WiFi again!So I had to decrease that parameter. Eventually, I found a decent balance.If you want to try it it is in this branch:https://github.com/hwiguna/HariFun_166_Morphing_Cl...

In theory, you should be able to do so. The PxMatrix library uses Adafruit GFX library, so I think if you could figure out how to wire it up and you don't run out of memory, it should work. If you get it to work, I'd love to include your code to step 14 where I share other mods that other users have created.

Woohoo! That's great! Love seeing people enjoying the clock.Did I forget to connect the ground pins?If you like, there is an "I made this" button where you could post your build. If you do mods and would like to share, I've added step 14 just to share mods that people have made. Let me know and I can add yours there if you like.Thanks for sharing your successful build! That makes me happy.

I love the idea of a clock floating in space. Well done! Voted!

I wonder if it is timing out, or maybe it I'm trying to get time before the ESP is ready. I do not have time to check right now, but I will look into that. Thank you for the feedback.