Today I found a great project on Instructables which I want to share with you today. It’s a small digital signage device that gets connected through USB and can display lovely pixel emoji. It has been done by maker Chén Liàng (陳亮), from Hong Kong.
In this article, I am giving a brief overview of the requires steps and parts that you are going to need as well as the software needed to build this USB-powered emoji sign, but for the full tutorial in all its glory, you should definitely visit the project site on Instructables for all the details.
Required parts
In order to build this sign, you won’t need a lot of things and the items you need are not that expensive so it makes for a nice maker project to do on your own.
- 1x ESP8266 dev board (WeMos D1 Mini Pro used here) – $7.99
- 1x Arduino Adafruit NeoMatrix 8×8 RGB LED chip – $38.99
- 1x Micro USB flexible metal tube cable as stand – $9.99
https://twitter.com/moononournation/status/1092446495075328000
Software requirements
Next to the hardware parts, you’ll also need some bits and bytes that come in the form of standard repositories and libraries.
- Arduino IDE
- Arduino ESP8266 support
- Arduino WiFiManager
- Arduino WebSockets
- Adafruit_NeoPixel
- Project source code on GitHub
What’s left to be done?
To get all the remaining steps in detail you should see the full tutorial by Chén Liàng but here are the steps in a nutshell. You can also see these last steps in detail in the video below.
- Connect the device
- Do the Wi-Fi setup (initial only)
- Connect to SSID “esp-emoji”
- Configure Wi-Fi
- Select the access point and save
- Restart and auto-connect
- Load browser with “esp-emoji.local”
- Choose your favorite emoji and load it up on the display
I am trying to use your emoji to make 8×8 LED Matrix gadgets pic.twitter.com/ndWba11zHz
— 陳亮手痕定律 (@moononournation) March 29, 2019
I think this is a great DIY project and I want to make my own emoji sign as well now. I’ll check some online stores and local retailers for the best prices on compatible parts first though. This emoji signage will be great fun while attending conferences or meetings.
It’s a cute way of expressing your feelings or just displaying funny icons. What do you think? Check the video below as well and leave him a thumbs-up if you like it. I think this is a great job done!
YouTube: IoT Emoji Sign
Photo credit: All material shown is owned by Chén Liàng (陳亮).
Source: 陳亮 – IoT Emoji Sign
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