Smart LED Marquee

Want the latest weather, time, news headlines, and octoprint status? For week 7 of my learning to CAD journey I've decided to work on my version of a smart LED marquee. The inspiration for this project came from one of my very first prints. Qrome's fantastic ESP8266 Wemos Clock News Weather Scrolling Marquee project. I just wanted to try my hand at modelling my own version.

Bill of materials:

You're looking at about 150 grams of filament or roughly $2.50 - $3 in material to print. You will also need to purchase a wemos d1 mini (or clone) and a MAX7219 LED matrix. All in you should be at about $15-20 for the entire project. However, you could bring that price down considerably if you're willing to wait for shipping and purchase the components from a direct outlet like AliExpress.

Wemos D1 mini:
https://www.amazon.com/Organizer-ESP8266-Internet-Development-Compatible/dp/B081PX9YFV/

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255799860326931.html

MAX7219 LED matrix:
https://www.amazon.com/NOYITO-MAX7219-Display-Suitable-Microcontroller/dp/B07VXL96ND/

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800945325764.html?

Print instructions:

Printing of the parts is pretty simple. Just print them in the orientation provided. No supports needed. You will need to think about the transparency of the filament you're using for the front diffuser plate though. I would imagine any lighter colored filament should work just fine.

Supports: No

Infill: 10%

Resolution: .20 (though .10 may look a little better for the front diffuser plate.)

Assembly instructions:

So this part is a little more in depth but fear not. It's a really simple process and great for someone (me) who is just learning to solder. Trust me, if I can assemble this, anyone can. That being said, this guide may not cover all use case scenarios but should give you a fully functional smart LED marquee and a great place to start.

Like a band aid, let's just rip it off and get over the painful part. Wiring and soldering the project is pretty simple and really only requires you to solder five wires. In the gallery I've included a simple wiring diagram and photo of my final (don't judge me) soldering job. I used female jumper wires to connect to the LED matrix and nipped the ends off to solder to the wemos d1 mini.

Now that the soldering iron has heated up let's solder some wires. The only pins on the wemos that we need to solder are the 5V, GND, D5, D6, D7. If you're using female jumper wires like me just pick out five different colors and solder them to the wemos. 

Congrats! You just got through the hardest part of this project. Now place the female side of the wire on the pin and slowly bend them toward the back of the LED matrix. Optionally you could unsolder the headers and solder your wires directly to the LED matrix. 

Once everything is together just place the LED matrix through the front of the body and slide the wemos into the provided mount. Then place the back plate on and the front diffuser plate on and you're ready to flash some code.

Flashing Qrome's original marquee scroller code:

Instead of me walking you through installing the code I'll defer to a couple of great resources which come from Qrome's original post. Option one is directly from Qrome's github page which you can find at https://github.com/Qrome/marquee-scroller. He's done a great job documenting the process and is where you will find the files you need to download.

For those who would rather watch a video, Chris, over at Chris's basement has also created a fantastic video walking your through the entire process and would highly recommend his video if you're considering this project.. 

Notes:

Enjoy! If you like this print please share your makes and consider rating this model. While you're at it be sure to head over to Qrome's original post and give him some love. Also please be mindful of the license associated with this model. While I'm open to anyone who wants to print and sell this model Qrome's original license does not allow for commercial use. Therefore I have also adopted his license for this project.