Smart Clock That Reacts to Your Smart Home in Real-Time - $5

🕐 Smart Clock Display System - Event-Driven MAX7219

🏆One of the first event-driven MAX7219 display systems featuring an intelligent priority queue for conflict-free smart-home rendering.

🏆Unlike traditional Arduino polling-based displays, this system uses true event-driven rendering with priority-based display ownership.

🏆Transform cheap MAX7219 LED matrix into an intelligent event-driven smart clock — $5 hardware, premium features.

📖 Overview

This project converts basic MAX7219 LED Matrix modules into a smart display system with:

📋 Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Hardware Requirements
• Software Stack

Installation

• Hardware Setup
• Tasmota Configuration
• Home Assistant Setup
• InstallationHardware SetupTasmota ConfigurationHome Assistant Setup
• Priority System
• Automations
• Scripts
• Advanced Commands
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing
• License

🎯 Overview

An intelligent LED matrix display system that seamlessly integrates with your smart home to show:

• ⏰ Real-time clock (12/24 hour format)
• 🌡️ Temperature and humidity
• 📅 Date display
• 🔔 Alexa Timer/Alarm notifications
• 💡 Smart home device status updates
• 📝 Custom text messages

Perfect for: Living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens - any space where you want real-time smart home notifications

🎥 Demo

Real-time event-driven display showing smart home notifications

🛠️ Hardware Requirements

Required Components

Component

Specification

Price (approx)

LED Matrix

MAX7219 8x8 modules (1-32)

$3-8

Microcontroller

ESP8266 or ESP32

$4-6

Power Supply

5V/2A USB adapter

$2-3

Wiring

Jumper wires

$1

Total Cost: ~$10-20 (vs $50+ commercial solutions)Total power consumption: ~1-2W (suitable for 24/7 operation)

🎯 Quick Start

System Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    SMART CLOCK SYSTEM                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
        ┌─────────────────────┼─────────────────────┐
        │                     │                     │
        ▼                     ▼                     ▼
   ┌────────┐          ┌──────────┐         ┌───────────┐
   │ Alexa  │          │   Home   │         │  Manual   │
   │ Timer/ │          │ Assistant│         │  Control  │
   │ Alarm  │          │ Devices  │         │ (Scripts) │
   └────┬───┘          └─────┬────┘         └─────┬─────┘
        │                    │                    │
        └────────────────────┼────────────────────┘
                             │
                    ┌────────▼────────┐
                    │  Priority Queue │
                    │  ┌───────────┐  │
                    │  │timer_alarm│  │  ← Highest
                    │  ├───────────┤  │
                    │  │ unified   │  │  ← Medium
                    │  ├───────────┤  │
                    │  │   idle    │  │  ← Lowest
                    │  └───────────┘  │
                    └────────┬────────┘
                             │
                    ┌────────▼────────┐
                    │   MQTT Broker   │
                    └────────┬────────┘
                             │
                    ┌────────▼────────┐
                    │    Tasmota      │
                    │   (ESP8266)     │
                    └────────┬────────┘
                             │
                    ┌────────▼────────┐
                    │   MAX7219 LED   │
                    │   Matrix 8x8    │
                    └─────────────────┘

✨ Features

Core Features

• Event-Driven Architecture: Reacts to any smart home state change
• Intelligent Priority System: Manages display content based on importance
• Auto-Brightness Control: Adjusts brightness based on sunrise/sunset
• Manual Override: Full manual control when needed
• Multi-Device Monitoring: Tracks 30+ smart home devices
• Alexa Integration: Displays timer and alarm notifications
• Idle Rotation: Auto-rotates between clock, temperature, and date

Display Capabilities

• Scrolling text for long messages
• Pixel-level control
• Custom positioning (X/Y coordinates)
• Multiple font support (if compiled with UTF8_LATIN1)
• Adjustable scroll speed
• Blink rate control
• Display rotation (normal/upside-down)