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Interstate 75 Flight Display

This MicroPython project displays nearby flight information (fetched from the Flight Finder Service API) on an Interstate 75 W powered LED display (64x32 RGB LED matrix).

Inspired by: https://blog.colinwaddell.com/articles/flight-tracker

Setup

Follow Pimoroni's guide: https://learn.pimoroni.com/article/getting-started-with-interstate-75

(be sure to utilise the "... with filesystem" firmware)

This example was tested on Interstate 75 firmware version 0.0.5.

Once connected to the I75 device:

  • Copy the flight_display.py file onto the device (optionally rename it to main.py to run on boot)

  • Set API_URL in flight_display.py

  • Set the config options towards the top of flight_display.py, including the location LATITUDE, LONGITUDE and RADIUS

  • Optionally adjust the quiet time settings in flight_display.py (show nothing on the display between these times)

    • Be sure to set UTC_OFFSET to correctly calculate quiet time based on your timezone

  • Note the line color_order=Interstate75.COLOR_ORDER_GRB in flight_display.py - this was required for the specific panel tested, but you may need to change it back to COLOR_ORDER_RGB or another value depending on your panel

  • Create a secrets.py file containing:

    WIFI_SSID = ""
WIFI_PASSWORD = ""
FLIGHT_FINDER_API_KEY = ""

Run the flight_display.py script to start displaying flights

Emulator

This emulator allows testing of the flight_display.py Micropython code without needing to connect to the actual Interstate75 hardware.

python3 emulator.py
emulator

Test Flight Data

The emulator loads test data from test_flight_data.json. Create and edit this file to test different scenarios:

{
  "found": true,
  "distance_km": 5.2,
  "flight": {
    "number": "BA123",
    "aircraft": {
      "model": "Airbus A320-232"
    },
    "route": {
      "origin_iata": "LHR",
      "destination_iata": "CDG"
    }
  }
}

If nothing is displayed / the emulator quits, check the "quiet time" settings in flight_display.py to ensure the current time is outside of the configured quiet period.
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