Hi Tony,
I wanted to share that, after some time and effort, I used your clock and time set example to create a fully functional, adjustable clock! It was quite a journey, but thanks to your guidance, I learned much along the way. I spent plenty of time diving into documentation, and asking CoPilot and Claude questions as I worked on it.
Your code provided a goal and framework for me to work towards, and I truly appreciate it. I’ve attached my file here for you and anyone else who might find it interesting.
Best regards,
David
# Pimoroni Explorer Demo
# Analog/ Digital clock - Tony Goodhew, Leicester UK - 6 Nov 2024
# Time Adjust - Tony Goodhew, Leicester UK - 23 Dec 2024
# Modified - David Warner, Detroit MI, US - 17 Mar 2025
# Uses the Multi-Sensor Stick (BME280 + LTR559 + LSM6DS3)
from explorer import display, i2c, button_a, button_b, button_c, button_z, button_x, button_y, YELLOW
from breakout_bme280 import BreakoutBME280
from breakout_ltr559 import BreakoutLTR559
import math, time, sys
# get display dimensions in pixels
WIDTH, HEIGHT = display.get_bounds() # explorer display is 320*240
back_lt = 1.0 # backlight variable for cl_set_disp function (range is 0.0 to 1.0)
# set pen rgb (red, green, blue) colors
BLACK = display.create_pen(0, 0, 0)
WHITE = display.create_pen(253, 240, 213) # pure white is (255,255,255)
RED = display.create_pen(193, 18, 31) # pure red is (255,0,0)
BLUE = display.create_pen(37, 87, 115) # pure blue is (0,0,255)
# create lists for days and months
days = ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday", "Sunday"]
months = ["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Jun", "Jul", "Aug", "Sep", "Oct", "Nov", "Dec"]
# create clock center, radius, and number placement delta values
cx, cy, l = 212, 132, 105 # clock face center x, y, and radius
dx, dy = 12, 12 # clock face numbers x and y delta position value
# get current time and date: default epoch = (1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1)
year, month, day, h, m, s, wd, _ = time.localtime()
# is multi-sensor stick present? if not exit with message
try:
bme = BreakoutBME280(i2c, address=0x76)
ltr = BreakoutLTR559(i2c)
except RuntimeError:
display.set_layer(0)
display.set_pen(RED)
display.clear()
display.set_pen(WHITE)
display.text("Multi-Sensor", 60, 95, 320, 3)
display.text("Stick missing", 60, 125, 320, 3)
display.update()
sys.exit()
# function to clear layers, set backlighting, and update display
def cl_set_disp(bl): # backlight value is passed to function when called
display.set_backlight(bl)
display.set_layer(0)
display.set_pen(BLACK)
display.clear()
display.set_layer(1)
display.set_pen(BLACK)
display.clear()
display.update()
# function to clear layers, but not update display
def clean():
display.set_layer(0)
display.set_pen(BLACK)
display.clear()
display.set_layer(1)
display.set_pen(BLACK)
display.clear()
# function for hour and minute hands
def hand(ang, long):
ang = ang-90
ls = long/13 # was originally "long/10" for wider hands at pivot
x0 = int(round(long * math.cos(math.radians(ang))))+cx
y0 = int(round(long * math.sin(math.radians(ang))))+cy
x1 = int(round(ls * math.cos(math.radians(ang+90))))+cx # + x width coordinate perpindicular to hand length
y1 = int(round(ls * math.sin(math.radians(ang+90))))+cy # + y width coordinate perpindicular to hand length
x2 = int(round(ls * math.cos(math.radians(ang-90))))+cx # - x width coordinate perpindicular to hand length
y2 = int(round(ls * math.sin(math.radians(ang-90))))+cy # - y width coordinate perpindicular to hand length
display.triangle(x0,y0,x1,y1,x2,y2)
display.circle(cx,cy,int(ls))
# function to set time manually
def set_time():
# button assignment: x = ^, y = v, z = >, c = <, a = set
maxx = [12,31,2100,"",24,59] # maximum values [mo, day, year, "space", hrs, min]
minn = [1,1,2025,"",1,0] # minimum values [mo, day, year, "space", hrs, min]
val = [1,1,2025,"",12,30] # initial selection [mo, day, year, "space", hrs, min]
def show_vals(cur,val):
for i in range(6):
display.set_pen(WHITE)
# display labels: (string, x, y, wordwrap, scale, angle, spacing)
display.text("Month", 30, yt, 140, 2, 90)
display.text("Day", 75, yt, 140, 2, 90)
display.text("Year", 138, yt, 140, 2, 90)
display.text("Hour 1 - 24", 213, yt, 140, 2, 90)
display.text("Minute", 262, yt, 140, 2, 90)
xx = 21 + i * 45 # x-axis position for val display
display.set_pen(RED)
if cur == i:
display.set_pen(YELLOW)
display.text(str(val[i]),xx,yy,200,2)
p = 0
yt = 106 # yt is for label display hight on display
yy = 76 # yy is for val display hight on display
show_vals(p,val)
display.update()
while button_a.value() == 1: # halt loop with "set" button'A'
# draw icons on screen for buttons
clean() # clear layers but do not update display
display.set_pen(WHITE)
display.circle(18, 44, 5) # "set" dot, display.rectangle(x, y, r)
display.text("Set", 35, 38, 100, 2) # "set" text, display.text(text, x, y, wordwrap, scale)
display.triangle(303, 38, 293, 51, 313, 51) # "up" arrow, display.triangle(x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3)
display.triangle(303, 127, 293, 114, 313, 114) # "down" arrow, display.triangle(x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3)
display.triangle(12, 195, 28, 205, 28, 185) # "previous" arrow, display.triangle(x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3)
display.triangle(311, 195, 295, 205, 295, 185) # "next" arrow, display.triangle(x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3)
if button_x.value() == 0:
time.sleep(0.2) # delay for pseudo button debounce
val[p] = val[p] +1
if val[p] > maxx[p]:
val[p] = maxx[p]
elif button_y.value() == 0:
time.sleep(0.2) # delay for pseudo button debounce
val[p] = val[p] - 1
if val[p] < minn[p]:
val[p] = minn[p]
elif button_z.value() == 0:
time.sleep(0.2) # delay for pseudo button debounce
p = p + 1
if p > 5:
p = 0
elif button_c.value() == 0: # Note: eliminate 'c' button for 4 button displays
time.sleep(0.2) # delay for pseudo button debounce
p = p - 1
if p < 0:
p = 5
show_vals(p,val)
display.update()
time.sleep(0.1)
cl_set_disp(back_lt) # clear display and set backlight
mo_set = val[0]
day_set = val[1]
yr_set = val[2]
# val[3] is a space which is a string and will not work with machine.RTC()
h_set = val[4]
m_set = val[5]
# update real time clock (rtc) with user entered values
rtc = machine.RTC() # create real time clock object
# set rtc time (yr, mo, day, weekday, h, m, s, sub-seconds)
rtc.datetime((yr_set, mo_set, day_set, 0, h_set, m_set, 0, 0))
current_time = rtc.datetime() # read the updated current time
# function to draw clock face and titles
def dr_clk_face():
display.set_pen(BLUE) # create large blue circle
display.circle(cx,cy,l)
display.update()
display.set_pen(WHITE) # create white marks on ring every 6 degrees
for angle in range(0,360,6):
xx = int(round(l * math.cos(math.radians(angle))))
yy = int(round(l * math.sin(math.radians(angle))))
display.line(cx,cy,cx+xx,cy+yy)
display.set_pen(BLACK) # overlay black circle on blue circle for 8 pixel thick blue ring effect
display.circle(cx,cy,l-8)
display.set_pen(WHITE) # overlay long white lines every 30 deg to correspond with clock facenumbers
for angle in range(0,360,30):
xx = int(round(l * math.cos(math.radians(angle))))
yy = int(round(l * math.sin(math.radians(angle))))
display.line(cx,cy,cx+xx,cy+yy)
display.set_pen(WHITE) # sensor titles in white
display.text("Ambient Light",5,80,300,1)
display.text("Rel Humidity",5,120,300,1)
display.text("Temperature",5,160,310,1)
display.text("Air Pressure",5,200,300,1)
# test if year is current, if not call set_time()
if year <= 2024: # test if year is less than 2024
set_time()
# call function to clear display layers, set backlighting, update display
cl_set_disp(back_lt) # backlight set to 1.0
# call function to draw clock face and sensor titles
dr_clk_face()
# =============== main loop ================
while True:
# draw time set button for manual time set
display.circle(312, 200, 3) # "set" dot, display.rectangle(x, y, r)
display.text("Set",305,210,320,1) # "set" text
# goto time setting routine upon button 'Z' input
while button_z.value() == 0:
time.sleep(0.3) # delay for pseudo button debounce
set_time() # call set_time function
dr_clk_face() # call draw clock face upon return from set time function
# draw face numbers
display.set_pen(BLACK)
display.circle(cx,cy,93) # clear centre of clock face
display.set_pen(WHITE)
display.text("9",118 +dx,108 +dy,320,3) # dx = 12 pixel x delta
display.text("3",268 +dx,108 +dy,320,3) # dy = 10 pixel y delta
display.text("10",128 +dx,70 +dy,320,3) # TODO, low priority: delta was for quick clock face move during tests, remove when done
display.text("2",258 +dx,70 +dy,320,3)
display.text("1",230 +dx,45 +dy,320,3)
display.text("11",160 +dx,45 +dy,320,3)
display.text("12",193 +dx,37 +dy,320,3)
display.text("6",193 +dx,186 +dy,320,3)
display.text("7",156 +dx,176 +dy,320,3)
display.text("5",230 +dx,176 +dy,320,3)
display.text("4",258 +dx,150 +dy,320,3)
display.text("8",130 +dx,150 +dy,320,3)
# draw hands
mang = int((m + s/60)* 6) # angle of minute hand
hang = int((h + m/60 )* 30) # angle of hour hand
display.set_pen(BLUE)
hand(mang,90)
display.set_pen(RED)
hand(hang,65)
lens = 93 # length of second hand
sang = 6 * s - 90 # angle of second hand
xs = int(round(lens * math.cos(math.radians(sang))))
ys = int(round(lens * math.sin(math.radians(sang))))
display.set_pen(WHITE)
display.line(cx,cy,cx+xs,cy+ys)
display.circle(cx,cy,3)
# convert 24 hours to 12 hours with am/pm "time of day" (tod) labels
tod = "AM" # start with am
if h >= 12: # check if hours are greater than 12
tod = "PM" # if true time of day is pm
h -= 12 # if true subtract 12 hours
if h == 0: # check for zero, ie noon or midnight
h = 12 # if true add 12 hours
# assemble digital time
ss = f"{s:02}" # f-string formats value to two digits and,
ms = f"{m:02}" # adding a leading zero if needed
hs = f"{h:02}"
dt = f"{hs}:{ms}:{ss}" # concatenate hr, min, and sec with colons(:) in-between
# clear text areas on display
display.set_pen(BLACK)
display.rectangle(5,10,170,18) # time area
display.rectangle(5,50,90,18) # date area
display.rectangle(5,90,101,18) # lux area
display.rectangle(5,130,80,18) # humidity
display.rectangle(5,170,105,28) # temperature
display.rectangle(5,210,115,18) # pressure
# write digital time and tod
display.set_pen(BLUE)
display.text(dt,5,10,320,3)
display.text(tod,125,10,320,3)
# read the sensors and convert to us measures
prox, a, b, c, d, e, lux = ltr.get_reading()
temperature, pressure, humidity = bme.read()
temp_f = round(((temperature*1.8)+32),1) # convert temp to °F, round to 1 place
pressure_inhg = round((pressure*0.0002952998),2) # convert press to inHg, round to 2 places
# display sensor readings
display.set_pen(RED)
display.text(str(int(lux))+" lx",5,90,320,3) # display lux, integers only
display.text(str(int(humidity)) +" %", 5,130,320,3) # display humidity, integers only
display.text(str(temp_f)+" °F",5,170,320,3) # display temperature
display.text(str(pressure_inhg)+" in",5,210,320,3) # display pressure
# update time and date values
year, month, day, h, m, s, wd, _ = time.localtime()
display.set_pen(WHITE)
display.text(days[wd],5,40,320,1) # wd is weekday (ie., monday, tuesday, ...)
display.set_pen(BLUE)
display.text(str(day)+" "+months[month-1],5,50,320,3) # [month-1] make time month value equal list[0]
display.update()
time.sleep(0.1)
