Devlog #10 of the Badgeware Tufty Weatherstation

In this devlog I:

• added some more effective error handling
• moved a bunch of functions out of __init__.py into their own files to make the code cleaner
• add an attribution screen (pictured) to be legally compliant with copyright

Devlog #9 of the Badgeware Tufty Weatherstation

In this devlog I:

• stripped down the fork of the badgeware web emulator to onl have the badge screen and console log
• then added content to the homepage talking about the app
• added a new page with installation instructions for users unfamiliar with the badgeware tufty
• in that tutorial page i made a tool that generates options.json configurations where you can set temperature unit and pick out coordinates on a map

Devlog #8 of the Badgeware Tufty Weatherstation

In this devlog I:

• forked the badgeware web simulator with permission
• modified the backend slightly to “work on my machine”
• also modified the actual badge code to use badgeware libraries instead of micropython libraries to let it work on the emulator
• added a github action to automatically update whats on the simulator repo when a new weatherstation release comes out

things i’ve yet to add:

• automatic time zone setting in the simulator: will add that by overriding secrets.py somehow
• reskinning the whole site to be a weatherstation homepage

Devlog #7 of the Badgeware Tufty Weatherstation

In this devlog I:

• Made it that the A button allows refetching weather data
• Automatically refresh weather data every 10 minutes
• Have a text display that shows when the weather was last updated (respecting TIMEZONE setting in secrets.py)
• Fixed some issues so now most of the time you can plug and replug the multisensor stick. Doesn’t work very reliably though due to issues where the cable is half-connected yet the badge is trying to read from the sensor.

Devlog #6 of the Badgeware Tufty Weatherstation

In this devlog I:

• removed unused functions that were replaced by native 3.0 functions
• made it so that the app works without internet so you can just use it as a sensor

Devlog #5 of the Badgeware Tufty Weatherstation

Stuff added since the last devlog:

• Updated firmware version: While I was working on a side project Pimoroni made new firmware versions so I ported it from 2.0.2 to 3.0.2 though I’m pretty sure it works with 3.0.0 3.0.1
• Along with that I changed some functions to native ones like word wrapping and centering text that came with 3.0
• I added a temperature icon to the internet weather, and added precipitation and wind direction both with icons (pictured)
• I modified someone else’s screenshot code to work on windows and have a few extra features, which is how the screenshot attached was taken.
• Added comment boxes generated by one of my side projects, https://commentboxgenerator.lemonsite.uk/
• Write a readme and roadmap

Things that have yet to be added (from the roadmap)

• Offline support
• internet is optional just like sensor
• Update weather every 1 hour or on request- Some basic forecast information (e.g. weather icons per day of the week) in another screen
• Web editor for options.json through Flask or Bun (preferrably something self contained though)
• Badge diagnostics page (e.g. storage space, RAM, battery)
• Fork badgeware web simulator to work with weatherstation by adding proxy

Devlog #4 of Comment Box Generator

Comment Box Generator is a super lightweight site for making unicode boxes to put in comments in your code that are centred, for example:

# ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
# ▓              EXAMPLE               ▓
# ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓

(which looks centred if you are using a monospace font)

This is probably the last devlog for this project, meaning all these changes are finishing touches. For example:

• Loads more box options - there are now 9 of them
• Started using Liberation Mono to make appearance consistent between OSs instead of relying on the default monospace font
• Some SEO: Meta tags have been added to the HTML and I put the site on Google Search Console so hopefully soon people will find this site naturally
• Simple favicon
• A copy button to the output plus wrapping it in a container
• A proper README + CONTRIBUTING.md
• A dialog fade/zoom in and out animation. Cross-browser quirks are INSANELY annoying, took 19 Qwen prompts to sort that one out

Will be shipping it soon!

Devlog #3 of Comment Box Generator

Comment Box Generator is a super lightweight site for making unicode
boxes to put in comments in your code that are centred, for example:

/*
╔════════════════════════════════════╗
║              EXAMPLE               ║
╚════════════════════════════════════╝
*/

(trust me this looks normal in a code editor)

It’s made with Bun on the backend, so it builds and hosts fast. When
distributed, it loads super fast as it’s only 50KB minified. This is
done by removing all whitespace in HTML, CSS and JS and removing
unnecessary glyphs in the one font that’s bundled, Stack Sans.

Things that have been added since the previous devlog:

• Unicode box symbols: this is far more reliable than using just one
  character like = because there are far fewer of those that work with
  centred box comments. Now you define eight characters for each box
  preset, for each side and corner.
• Proper CSS! and Dark mode with that too.
• Minifying fonts in the Bun build script
• Forcing multiline for languages like HTML where there are no single
  line comments
• Removed RobotoMono and instead used the browser’s default monospace
  font as that was causing issues with the unicode box approach
• Colour scheme options and Github, Hack Club Stardance links and an
  info dialog in the top right

Things yet to come:

• A proper README
• More box options
• SEO (I want people to organically find this site after all)
• A favicon
• A copy button for the output, plus generally styling that up

Updated the README to have clear instructions on how to install the app before shipping

Fixed some bugs that were mentioned earlier, I’m pretty sure it’s ready to ship now! I’ve added f-droid metadata to the project, however I tried to add it there but they haven’t got back to me.

Also made this cool banner image which is attached:

Devlog #2 of Comment Box Generator

Comment Box Generator is a small site that lets you generate comment boxes with text inside for various programming languages:

# ======================================
# =              like so               =
# ======================================

(which is centred when you are using a monospace font)

In this devlog I’ve rewritten the “backend” in Bun so in package.json there are several scripts for various purposes:

• Build: just bun run build.js which minifies whats in src/ and puts it out to dist/
• Deploy: Builds and hosts the project
• VPS: This runs vps.sh which is primarily just meant for me to run on my VPS (hosted at https://commentboxgenerator.lemonsite.uk/ ). It kills whatever process is on the port used by CBG (always 3054), builds the project and deploys. It uses nohup to log to a file and to run in the background. It then restarts nginx.
• Dev: This just runs a development server: unminified and with hot reload straight from src/

On the frontend I’ve added the option to use different languages’ comment syntax, to use single line or multiline comments, and to change what symbol is used for the box.

Things that are coming soon:

• Styling (as you can tell not much attention has been paid to that yet)
• Forcing multiline for languages that don’t support single line comments like HTML

Was trying to write one of those centred box comments in one of my projects, like:

# ======================================
# =          HELPER FUNCTIONS          =
# ======================================

(which is centred in monospace font)
But I couldn’t find any tool online that could centre a box comment online, so I’m making one myself.

Here’s just a minimal prototype for Python, but I will be updating and making it look nicer; and most importantly adding new features like other language support and custom box characters.

Devlog #4 of the Badgeware Tufty Weatherstation

Stuff added in this devlog:

• Indicator to show how many pages there are and which one you’re on
• 16 weather icons that map to the WMO codes that openmeteo gives
• Temperature display (that respects units set in options.json)

Potentially next I’ll code a precipitation levels display, and maybe some charts that show temperature and precipitation throughout the day when you press B.

Devlog #3 of the Badgeware Tufty Weatherstation

The Badgeware Tufty is this cool conference badge from Pimoroni that is programmable with MicroPython. I’ve been making a Weather Station app for it, which can use a Pimoroni multisensor kit to show temperature, humidity and air pressure, but soon it will be able to fetch weather data around the world from the internet.

In the previous devlogs I added the multisensor screen. Now I’ve started working on the weather from the internet part. So far it gets coordinates from options.json, and can show the suburb/neighbourhood and the city from Openstreetmap Nominatim. You can also optionally set a nickname for a location.

Next up I’ll actually be putting the weather info in.
That’ll involve getting data from Openmeteo, drawing a bunch of pixel art icons for each (~80) weather codes and rendering out the data.

Added an option to use Fahrenheit or Kelvin instead of Celsius by editing options.json on the computer

I’m making a weather app for the Badgeware Tufty, a cool badge wearable that’s programmable with MicroPython!

First step that I’ve done for my app is coding a screen that shows the temperature, humidity and air pressure sensed from the multisensor strip that comes with the Badgeware Tufty STEM kit. I’ve made 30 pixel art icons so far that scale with the values.

Next up I’ll be adding the option to grab weather data from the internet using Openmeteo API for the weather data and Openstreetmap nominatim to get a place name. The locations would have to be configured through a JSON config file on the computer as the 5 buttons on the Tufty aren’t really enough for this kind of input. Maybe there could be some web UI to pick coordinates off a map and update the config file?

Added a custom range feature to my RNG WearOS app, so users can now pick a range between 1-100 for random numbers. The reason I didn’t make it fully custom, allowing any number is because support for custom input in WearOS is limited, so I settled for using 2 Pickers.

However, just while writing this devlog, I realised that if the first number was bigger than the second number, the app crashes! Fortunately I’ve realised this before shipping.

RNG for WearOS

I’ve started working on my first WearOS and my first Android app in general. It’s a pretty small utility app that lets users generate random numbers, by flipping a coin, rolling a die or using a custom range. It’s made in Android Studio using Jetpack Compose, so the UI looks native to WearOS.

So far I’ve made a coin flip and a dice roll, next up is a custom range mode, and possibly options to customise the die and coin icons.