Show HN: E-Ink Powered UK Rail Departure Board Using Badger 2040W (opens in new tab)

(pixelpanic.me)

23 pointspixelpanic3602y ago11 comments

Hey HN community,

I've recently embarked on a tinkering project that merges the versatility of the Badger 2040W with the practicality of an E-ink display. Inspired by the UK Rail departure boards, I've created an E-ink version that updates in real-time with departure information.

Would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or similar projects you've come across!

11 comments

bArray2y ago

I really like this idea. Quite often I am checking train times, etc, especially at work.

I really dislike the idea of relying on something like AWS to make it work, though. If I invest into an IoT/hardware project, I want it to still be usable in 10 years time, not e-waste due to the random whims of Amazon.

In theory you could query the national rail feeds directly: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/developers/

I may try it sometime with my ESP8266 watch!

pixelpanic360OP2y ago

You can ditch the AWS part actually. I was originally planned to query the API directly from the Pico W. However the performance was not good.

You can self host the part that on AWS to anywhere else easily, using Lambda is purely because of the free tier thingy.

bArray2y ago

> You can ditch the AWS part actually. I was originally planned to query the API directly from the Pico W. However the performance was not good.

Network or compute? I don't quite understand how making AWS a middle-man helps?

1 more reply

getwiththeprog2y ago

it's very nice. In my city at a tram stop, the tram people had not put in a time board, so a local business put in a large street display with the tram arrival times.

Sometimes you have to do things yourself.

It looks like no traction here this time, but rail fans will loove it. Maybe you can roll up a script so such folks can deploy this real easy like?

Thanks!

pixelpanic360OP2y ago

You man for the AWS?

Yes, I am planning to use Serverless framework in the future so keep an eye on my blog :)

bibanez2y ago

I was looking into this board to experiment with low-power embedded + e-ink displays! Do you recommend it?

pixelpanic360OP2y ago

If you don’t need too much text to show. It’s highly recommended since it’s cheap and really programmable. Get the kit so you are geared up with the AAA battery box.

Keep in mind. For the Bitmap8 fonts I used, at scale=2 setup you can show 28 characters per row and you can have 7 ish rows.

I am planning to get a bigger one in the future and will share once I got it.

popey2y ago

Looks neat. Minor typo s/Pinoromi/Pimoroni/

pixelpanic360OP2y ago

Thanks for spotting!

Updated now.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

11 comments

bArray2y ago

I really like this idea. Quite often I am checking train times, etc, especially at work.

In theory you could query the national rail feeds directly: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/developers/

I may try it sometime with my ESP8266 watch!

pixelpanic360OP2y ago

You can ditch the AWS part actually. I was originally planned to query the API directly from the Pico W. However the performance was not good.

You can self host the part that on AWS to anywhere else easily, using Lambda is purely because of the free tier thingy.

bArray2y ago

> You can ditch the AWS part actually. I was originally planned to query the API directly from the Pico W. However the performance was not good.

Network or compute? I don't quite understand how making AWS a middle-man helps?

1 more reply

getwiththeprog2y ago

it's very nice. In my city at a tram stop, the tram people had not put in a time board, so a local business put in a large street display with the tram arrival times.

Sometimes you have to do things yourself.

It looks like no traction here this time, but rail fans will loove it. Maybe you can roll up a script so such folks can deploy this real easy like?

Thanks!

pixelpanic360OP2y ago

You man for the AWS?

Yes, I am planning to use Serverless framework in the future so keep an eye on my blog :)

bibanez2y ago

I was looking into this board to experiment with low-power embedded + e-ink displays! Do you recommend it?

pixelpanic360OP2y ago

If you don’t need too much text to show. It’s highly recommended since it’s cheap and really programmable. Get the kit so you are geared up with the AAA battery box.

Keep in mind. For the Bitmap8 fonts I used, at scale=2 setup you can show 28 characters per row and you can have 7 ish rows.

I am planning to get a bigger one in the future and will share once I got it.

popey2y ago

Looks neat. Minor typo s/Pinoromi/Pimoroni/

pixelpanic360OP2y ago

Thanks for spotting!

Updated now.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse