

Show HN: I Built a GitHub Activity Display with an Arduino and LED Matrix - doctoboggan
http://jack.minardi.org/projects/displaying-realtime-github-activity-on-a-full-color-led-matrix/

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doctoboggan
Let me know if anyone has any questions, this was a fun project to tackle. The
electric imp was interesting to work with, however the cost of the Imp +
breakout board was more than a raspberry pi + wifi dongle. The Pi also does
much more than just wifi, and I don't have to program it in squirrel.

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aray
I was gonna ask about that. Also could you just drive the TiM with the rPi?

I have a TiM board lying around and this looks like a great project to throw
up for decoration and motivation. Thanks!

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doctoboggan
The TiM board needs very precise timing to control, I do not think this would
be possible with a Raspberry Pi.

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kfury
Though there's no Neopixel library at the level of the current one for
Arduino, you could drive the whole system off of the Imp.

Mozilla built two RGB LED tickers, driven by an Imp, and installed them on
their blimp:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz3fEYFDl2o](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz3fEYFDl2o)

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thebiglebrewski
Hey, great work! This is awesome! If you're looking to display weather and
stock information too, you might want to check out my project here:
[https://github.com/zachfeldman/digi-lcd-
server](https://github.com/zachfeldman/digi-lcd-server).

Isn't hardware fun!?1

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doctoboggan
Thanks! Yeah, I love working with hardware. I will definitely check out your
project.

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ChikkaChiChi
I've got a similar art project I'm working on for my company. I plan on
setting up a light array where each light represents a user currently on our
website and the color/activity represents an action or location.

It's all part of my desire to make our server room 'feel' more interactive
than it is right now. Thanks to co-location I've got three big glass windows
and only one physical rack on location :)

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brickcap
Nice work. I don't know much about hardware programming but if I manage to
recreate it I am going to use it on Christmas :) How much did it cost you?

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doctoboggan
Well I actually got everything for free, so $0 ;)

But if you need to purchase everything here are the prices:

* Arduino: $25

* TiM Board: $45

* Electric Imp + Breakout: $42

Total: $112

Yikes, that more than I expected... This is why you need to make friends with
people who give away hardware!

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createaccount0
Alternative: 10 inch Android tablet for 70$.

