NOTE: For those looking for a "Network Time Protocol" (NTP) clock with many features, you may want to take a look at astlouys "Pico-RGB-Matrix" repository...

Pico Green Clock

Firmware Version 10.10 released 28-DEC-2024

NEW WITH FIRMWARE 10.10:

• Add new feature to select the hour / minute separator colon (:) character to change modes between constant/1s flash/15s pattern/12s bar operating modes.
• Tweak the web page update buttons text to indicate the different update actions.

NEW WITH FIRMWARE 10.01:

• Correct the flash_config structure in the Pico-W NTP Client code. Now matches the one in the main code.
• Add more bytes to the alarm structure. This may cause the 10.01 first install to wipe out all flash alarm and WiFi data.
• Correct the light ADC initialisation after a firmware 10.00 release voltage reading fix caused more problems than it solves.
• Add in a new feature to temporarily disable all alarms for a 4 hour window by pressing any two buttons together. This doesn't affect any settings.
• Add in the ability for all of the alarms to drive jingles, a different set of beeps or use the onboard buzzer if the passive Piezo one is fitted. These are controlled on the web page. The default beeps mode has alarm 1 as 1, 2 as 2, 3 as 3, etc. The cascading of multiple alarms has been removed.
• Add in support for local reminder, event and WiFi config files that can be pulled in when built without appearing in the git sources.
• Tweak daylight savings region web control drop down so that it's now populated correctly rather than having a print out of the region and drop down to change.
• Add periodic print out of the Pico-W WiFi connection status and IP address to the UART oand USB serial consoles (this will work with putty or other USB COM port). This is to help identify a clock when building the source code isn't an option. Serial baud rate is 921600.

NEW WITH FIRMWARE 10.00:

• Add hostname to the flash configuration to identify multiple clocks on a DHCP server.
• Add web page to control the clock settings. This can change many things. Accessed as http://hostname or IP/index.shtml
• Reduce the display minimum dim level by altering the display PWM frequency.
• Add a step dimmer on the lower button to switch between auto dimming and 5 levels of manual modes.
• Add a web control to set a local level for the minimum light level for maximum dimming. This can vary between clocks. Value stored in flash.
• Add a web control to swap the operation of the set key from short press to set clock to short press to set the alarms.
• Fix triggering of afternoon alarms when in 12hr display mode.

NEW WITH FIRMWARE 9.02 and 9.03:

• Fix the problem with Wi-Fi connection (CYW43 initialization) with new Pico's SDK library.
• Add Spanish language support. Thanks to George A. Theall ("gatheall" on GitHub) for the translation work !
• Add basic German language support. Thanks to Frank Seidel for the translation !
• Add Czech language support. Thanks to KaeroDot for the excellent work !
• Improve "middle-dot blinking" algorithm (see User Guide for details). Thanks to Frank Seidel for the suggestion and code modification.
• Increase string length for Calendar Events up to 50 characters.
• Fix dates encoded in CalendarEventsGeneric.cpp (examples of Calendar Events).

NOTE: I went through a system crash before the release of version 9.02 and lost a few weeks of work. Also, I had less time for testing / quality control before Firmare Version 9.02 release. Please kindly let me know if you find "undocumented features" in the code (read: "bugs").

NOTE: Source code still shows 9.02. You may check near line 1257... If Spanish month names are there, it means you have Version 9.03. Also, be aware that posted ".uf2" versions are still 9.02 (without Spanish support). You'll have to rebuild executables to get Spanish language support for now.

Firmware Highlights:

• User Guide updated to cover current Firmware Version.

• Support for Network Time Protocol ("NTP"). When using a PicoW, the Green Clock will re-synchronize itself from a time reference server over Internet.

• Add a function to "set-and-save" Wi-Fi credentials to PicoW's flash memory for NTP Wi-Fi access.

• Count-down timer alarm will now ring periodically for 30 minutes or until user presses the top button, whichever happens first.

• Improve clock precision independently of real-time IC and NTP by better synchronization of callback period time.

• Modify algorithm of the "Chime Hour Count" so that it is less "aggressive" than the original version (thanks to Ewan Harrow for his collaboration).

• Add auto detection of microcontroller type (Pico or PicoW).

• Add an option so that Hourly Chime corresponds to the 12-hour format current value (needs to be turned On in the code).

• Change clock display brightness algorithm. It is now driven by a PWM signal from the Pico.

• Auto Brightness is now smoother and provides hundreds of different levels (Note: if ambient light is dark, clock display becomes VERY dim).

• Add a half-hour "Light Chime".

• Add automatic detection of USB CDC connection with an external terminal emulator program (for developers' support).

• Add "snowflakes pixel animation" (remote control required).

• Add Timezone clock parameter allowing proper handling of Summer Time for some countries.

• Timezone is also required for proper NTP handling when adjusting the clock with a time reference from the Internet.

• Automatic handling of "Daylight Saving Time" / "Summer Time - Winter Time" / "Spring Forward - Fall-Back". Should cover most countries of the world.

• Implement two circular buffers for inter-core communications (core 1 is used for DHT22 support).

• Transfer code for DHT22 support to Pico's second core (core 1).

• Green Clock configuration is now saved to Pico's flash memory and automatically retrieved after a reboot / power-up.

• Nine (9) alarms are now supported with the possibility to configure each of them for as many days-of-week as desired.

• Different sound for each alarm if a passive buzzer has been installed by user or different "train of sounds" if using the integrated active buzzer.

• "QUICK-START" compile time option to skip some device tests during power-up sequence.

• Add a "System Idle-Time Monitor" to get an idea of current system load (remote control required).

• Sound queue allows for different sounds to play "jingles" if user installed a passive buzzer.

• Sound queue allows for easy support of different sound duration and different "trains of sounds" if using the integrated active buzzer.

• Add a sound queue for active buzzer (integrated in Green Clock) and also for an optional passive buzzer to optimize its support.

• On and Off time (run-time parameters) added for Hourly Chime to make the clock silent during the night.

• Double dots blinking in sequence on the display to know "how deep we are" in the current minute.

• Add more levels of brightness (for display LEDs) with an hysteresis.

• Implement 5 X 7 character set with variable width to allow scrolling of text on clock display (date scrolling uses it for day-of-week and month).

• "Calendar Events" may be configured at compile time. They will scroll on clock display every 30 minutes (for a 24-hour period) during the target date.

• Sequential test of LED matrix (and optional devices if added by user) during power-up sequence.

• Support for those languages:

• Czech - Thanks to KaeroDot for the excellent work on this feature !

• English

• French

• German (basic traslation) - Thanks to Frank Seidel for the translation work !

• Spanish - Thanks to George A. Theall for his translation work !

• NOTE: When a translation is not available for the target language, the English text / message will be used instead.

• DHT22 device support code (DHT22 is an option that must be installed by user).

• BME280 device support code (BME280 is an option that must be installed by user).

• VS1838b infrared sensor support code (VS1838b is an option that must be installed by user).

• Passive buzzer support code (passive buzzer is an option that must be installed by user).

This project provides Firmware for the "Pico Green Clock" product from Waveshare (The clock is available directly from Waveshare website, or from Amazon). It is based on a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller.

Waveshare provides a basic Firmware (Version 1.00) for the Pico Green Clock. Current project provides many enhancements and functionalities to the clock. You may refer to the User Guide of the most recent Firmware Version (included in this repository) to see the detailed list of changes / enhancements.

Please take note that I'm not a Waveshare employee. This firmware is provided "as is" to help users develop their own code.

Building from source

Note: The file "pico_sdk_import.cmake" is not included in the repository. I suggest that you make a symbolic link in your project directory: "ln -s /home/pi/pico/pico-sdk/external/pico_sdk_import.cmake" (assuming that you used the recommended directory names) This way, as soon as you update your SDK, rebuilding your project will automatically use the latest version.

1. Follow the instructions for setting up the Pico build environment from https://datasheets.raspberrypi.com/pico/getting-started-with-pico.pdf
2. In the pico c root directory you want to install the Pico-Green-Clock source from github by running the following commands.

$ git clone git@github.com:astlouys/Pico-Green-Clock.git

3. Verify that the directories are the following:

$ ls
Pico-Green-Clock        pico-examples           pico-sdk

4. Now lets build

$ cd Pico-Green-Clock/
$ mkdir build
$ cd build/
$ export PICO_SDK_PATH=../../pico-sdk
$ cmake ..
$ make -j4
$ ls
CMakeCache.txt                  Pico-Clock-Green.dis            Pico-Clock-Green.uf2            pico-sdk
CMakeFiles                      Pico-Clock-Green.elf            cmake_install.cmake             pioasm
Makefile                        Pico-Clock-Green.elf.map        elf2uf2
Pico-Clock-Green.bin            Pico-Clock-Green.hex            generated

You now have an executable "uf2" that you can transfer to the Pico`s flash memory to run the Pico-Green-Clock.

Building on Windows

Version 10.00 and onwards have been built using the Pico C build environment. Version 10.10 is built using an old version of build environment based on a manual toolchain installation described at https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/b/blog/posts/working-with-the-raspberry-pi-pico-with-windows-and-c-c. This has the following settings to make it work Using Visual Studio Code and to build and run Build Tools for Visual Studio installed for C++ build tools GIT, Python and CMAKE have all been installed and added to the path Pico SDK cloned and built to a known directory Using CMAKE extension, configure environment with PICO_SDK_PATH configured to the directory where the 1.5.1 SDK has been cloned to OpenOCD has been installed as described at https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/b/blog/posts/debugging-the-raspberry-pi-pico-on-windows-10

When runnning with the Visual Studio Code Raspberry Pi Pico Extension, the SDK is updated to 2.1.0 and things have been cleaned up. My environment still has GIT, Python and CMAKE installed and added to the path. CMAKE may not be necessary. The following code can be removed from the CMakeLists.txt file target_include_directories section

        ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/.. # for our common lwipopts
        ${PICO_SDK_PATH}/src/rp2_common/pico_cyw43_arch/include # for the WiFi hardware

These are automatically included with the new Pico extension's set(sdkVersion 2.0.0) entry added by crjeder.