Why?
With the latest craze in the world of cryptocurrency and, as coin hodlers ourselves, we wanted to have a tiny desktop display cycling through the current prices of different coins.
Although we can certainly find the same information using apps and websites (for free!), we discovered that having a dedicated device on our desks displaying the data constantly minimized the time we spent on tracking it. Not to mention that building the device is a great excuse to work on a ESP8266-powered, internet-connected, DIY electronics project for any Maker out there! (bro/sis, do you even IoT?)
What?
The main goal is to have a dedicated, inexpensive, device that would help us avoid repeatedly checking websites, apps, email, writing scripts, etc., in order to monitor the ups and downs of coin prices.
In terms of what's required, we challenged ourselves to use the minimum number of parts, and require no special tools/skills such as soldering.
Where?
As we're not the only hodlers out there with a knack for electronic DIY gadgets, we're documenting the parts list and build instructions on this project page for anyone to use. To make it even easier for those wanting to give the project a try, we'll have a kit available on our site (ACROBOTIC Industries) when we're done with the design.
As with all our projects, the software is free and Open Source!
How?
The hardware
To build a price tracker for cryptocurrency we simply needed two pieces of hardware: an internet-capable microcontroller to gather the data, and a screen to display it, we tried to find the best solution considering ease of use and cost.
OLED display
Given our main goal of having a device with a small form factor that could sit on our desks, the first choice was to use a 0.96" OLED screen to display the price data.
Not only are these displays small (and bright!), but they're very easy to control over i2c merely having to connect 4 wires to our microcontroller or single-board computer: 2 for power and ground, and 2 for the data and clock lines.
ESP8266 microcontroller (SoC)
What can we say about the ESP8266 that hasn't been said about the wheel, sliced bread, or the iPhone... we love it! It's the most convenient, inexpensive way to have a microcontroller running code while connected to a Wi-Fi network.
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Im also keen to checkout once guthub is up.