Project | Italian Word Clock

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Software setup
10/13/2024 at 20:20 • 0 comments
Start with a fresh installation of raspbian OS, with internet access (either via ethernet or setup the wifi connection when you flash the SD card).

During the installation, create a sudo user called clockPi'.

Make sure that you run
```
sudo raspi-config
```
and select the appropriate time zone !

Keep the time synchronised:

Install the NTP service to keep the time synchronized via web. In this implementation there is no NTC module, so we will have to rely on the web for that.
Run in a terminal
```
sudo apt-get install ntp
```
then configure it (for servers in Italy)
```
sudo nano /etc/ntp.conf
```
and write inside
```
server ntp1.inrim.it iburst
server ntp2.inrim.it iburst
server time.inrim.it iburst
```
then save and exit. Restart the service with
```
sudo service ntp restart
```
and you should be good. Check the status with
```
sudo service ntp status 
```
Dowload the scripts from github:

Create a folder to host the scripts called "wordClock"
```
cd
mkdir wordClock 
```
download the scripts in the Scripts folder at https://github.com/esenes/Word-clock, and copy them inside the wordClock folder in the raspberry pi.

Install the Adafruit-Blinka library:

First of all you need to get the Adafruit-Blinka library
```
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y upgrade
sudo apt-get install python3-pip

sudo apt install --upgrade python3-setuptools

sudo apt-get install python3-full
```
then reboot the raspberry pi.

Create a virtual environment for the python script to run:

Move inside the script folder
```
cd 
cd ./wordClock
```
and create a virtual environment called "env"
```
python3 -m venv env --system-site-packages
```
once it's done, activate the environment and install the neopixel libraries
```
source ./env/bin/activate
```
Install the libraries for the neopixel LED strips:
```
pip install rpi_ws281x 
pip install adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel 
```
And as last touch go to disable the audio on pin 18 if that's what you will be using. Go to /boot/firmware/config.txt and set dtparam=audio=off

Test that everything runs:
```
/bin/bash /home/clockPi/wordClock/run_clock.sh
```
The clock should light up and visualize the time

Enable the script to run at startup:

Go edit the rc.local file
```
sudo nano /etc/rc.local
```
and add this line before the exit 0
```
/bin/bash /home/clockPi/wordClock/run_clock.sh &
```
It's all set

You can reboot the pi and see what happens
```
sudo reboot 
```

Italian Word Clock

Software setup