LEDMatrix

A modular LED matrix display system for sports information using Raspberry Pi and RGB LED matrices.

Hardware Requirements

• Raspberry Pi 3 or newer
• Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet/HAT
• LED Matrix panels (64x32)

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/ChuckBuilds/LEDMatrix.git
cd LEDMatrix

2. Install dependencies:

pip3 install --break-system-packages -r requirements.txt

--break-system-packages allows us to install without a virtual environment

Configuration

1. Copy the example configuration:

cp config/config.example.json config/config.json

2. Edit config/config.json with your preferences

API Keys

For sensitive settings like API keys:

1. Copy the template: cp config/config_secrets.template.json config/config_secrets.json

2. Edit config/config_secrets.json with your API keys via sudo nano config/config_secrets.json

3. Ctrl + X to exit, Y to overwrite, Enter to save

Important: Sound Module Configuration

1. Remove unnecessary services that might interfere with the LED matrix:

sudo apt-get remove bluez bluez-firmware pi-bluetooth triggerhappy pigpio

2. Blacklist the sound module:

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rgb-matrix.conf
blacklist snd_bcm2835
EOF

sudo update-initramfs -u

3. Reboot:

sudo reboot

Performance Optimization

To reduce flickering and improve display quality:

1. Edit /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt:

sudo nano /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt

2. Add isolcpus=3 at the end of the line

3. Add dtparam=audio=off at the end of the line

4. Ctrl + X to exit, Y to save

5. Save and reboot:

sudo reboot

Running the Display

From the project root directory:

sudo python3 display_controller.py

The display will alternate between showing:

• Current time
• Weather information (requires API key configuration)

Development

The project structure is organized as follows:

LEDSportsMatrix/
├── config/                 # Configuration files
│   ├── config.json        # Main configuration
│   └── config_secrets.json# API keys and sensitive data
├── src/                   # Source code
│   ├── display_manager.py # LED matrix display handling
│   ├── clock.py          # Clock display module
│   └── weather.py        # Weather display module
└── display_controller.py  # Main entry point

Project Structure

• src/
  • clock.py - Main clock application
  • config_manager.py - Configuration management
  • display_manager.py - LED matrix display handling
• config/
  • config.json - Configuration settings
  • config_secrets.json - Private settings (not in git)

Fonts

You can add any font to the assets/fonts/ folder but they need to be .ttf and updated in display_manager.py