MicroPython Clocks and Watches

A comprehensive educational resource for designing and building clocks and watches using MicroPython, AI, and low-cost components. This project combines low-cost hands-on electronics to make teaching computational thinking principles fun!

🌟 Features

• Comprehensive Tutorials: Step-by-step guides from basic setup to advanced projects including basic setup for students with no prior Python coding experience
• Multiple Clock Kits: 15+ different clock implementations including OLED, LED, NeoPixel, and e-paper displays
• MicroPython Code: Well-documented examples for various clock and watch platforms
• AI Integration: Use generative AI prompts to create custom clock designs
• Interactive Simulations: Browser-based microsimulations for learning concepts

🚀 Getting Started

Suggested Setup

• Raspberry Pi Pico/Pico W or compatible microcontroller
• Basic electronic components (displays, real-time clocks, breadboards)
• Thonny IDE for development

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/dmccreary/clocks-and-watches.git
   cd clocks-and-watches

2. Visit the documentation

   📖 View Full Documentation

3. Choose your first project

   • Simple TM1637 LED Clock - Great for beginners
   • Large OLED Clock - Popular choice
   • NeoPixel Binary Clock - For the adventurous

🎯 Project Structure

Here are some of the main folders in the site:

├── docs/          # Documentation source files
├── docs/
│   ├── setup/     # Get your environment setup
│   ├── lessons/   # Tutorial code examples
│   ├── prompts/   # Sample prompts to generate code
│   ├── sims/      # MicroSimulators of clock and watch components
├── src/           # MicroPython source code
│   ├── kits/      # Individual clock project implementations
│   └── lib/       # Shared libraries and utilities
├── slides/        # Presentation materials
└── fonts/         # Custom fonts for displays

🛠️ Hardware Kits

Kit	Difficulty	Features
TM1637 LED	⭐	4-digit display, simple wiring
OLED SSD1306	⭐⭐	I2C interface, custom fonts
NeoPixel Clock	⭐⭐⭐	RGB LEDs, creative layouts
E-Paper Display	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Ultra-low power, always-on

🎓 Educational Content

• Course Description: Complete curriculum overview
• Setup Guide: Hardware and software installation
• Interactive Simulations: Learn concepts in your browser
• AI Prompts: Generate custom designs with ChatGPT

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our contribution guidelines for details.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📚 Resources

• Documentation: https://dmccreary.github.io/clocks-and-watches
• MicroPython: micropython.org
• Raspberry Pi Pico: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-pico/

📄 License

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. See the license.md file for details.

👤 Author

Dan McCreary - Educational Technology Consultant

• Website: dmccreary.github.io/dmccreary
• GitHub: @dmccreary

🙏 Acknowledgments

• The MicroPython community for excellent documentation
• Students and educators who have tested these projects
• Contributors to the open-source hardware and software ecosystem

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⭐ Star this repository if you find it helpful for learning MicroPython and electronics!