xenio / love-box

Waveshare 7.5" e-paper display with Raspberry Pi Zero and Firebase Real Time Database to remotely upload images/text to an e-paper display.

love-box

• A remotely controllable e-paper display using waveshare's 7.5" e-paper display, a Raspberry Pi Zero W, and Firebase's free-tier real-time database
• A gift meant for leaving meaningful notes/messages for someone you love

Repository Structure

/lib

• All waveshare libraries
  • These are taken right from the waveshare/e-paper repo
  • Contains a c shared library and python example for writing to the 7.5" display

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/pic

• Contains pictures and fonts
• Contains a python script to take any picture and resize it to the dimensions necessary for the 7.5" display
  • Also converts the images to .bmp filetypes

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/src

• All source code

/domain

• Contains a class representing Message, which is stored in the firebase real-time database

/repository

• Contains a repository for messages to update/read database values easily

/shell_scripts

• auto_update.sh
  • Called every 24 hours using a cronjob to update raspberry pi with remote code
• update_display.sh
  • Called every 10 minutes using a cronjob to update the display with database contents
• install.sh
  • Installs needed dependencies for the raspberry pi

Other

• change_message.py allows one to change the contents in the real-time database, remotely
• update_display.py updates the display itself with the contents within the database
  • The time stored within the database is compared with the current time
  • If the database was last updated in the previous 10 minutes, then the display is changed
• message_preview.py allows one to preview the message and how it will be displayed given a chosen font

Crontab Entries

• */10 * * * * /home/pi/projects/love-box/shell_scripts/update_display.sh >> /home/pi/logs/update_display_log.txt 2>&1
  • Ran every 10 minutes
• 0 0 * * * /home/pi/projects/love-box/shell_scripts/auto_update.sh >> /home/pi/logs/git_log.txt 2>&1
  • Ran once a day
• Keep in mind that these paths are relative and will have to be adjusted based on where the repository files are stored on the raspberry pi

Part List

• Waveshare E-Paper 7.5" Display
• Simple 7"x5.5" picture frame
• Raspberry Pi Zero W
• 3D printed case to hold raspberry pi and waveshare pi hat
• USB power supply for the pi

Final Results