Make your own WeatherMan
Dismantle the cassette player to create as
much space as you can inside. Retain any
parts you want to reuse. You may need to trim down
the case inside to make the components fit nicely.01
03 Use Raspbian Buster and adapted Python scripts to retrieve weather data from Dark
Sky, display info on the Unicorn HAT, and (optionally)
jiggle the headphones. Scripts and a ReadMe are on
GitHub at magpi.cc/ghweatherman.02
You may need new bolts or a tiny magnet to
make the cassette tape door close properly
once you’ve tinkered inside. When you’re satisfied
that it works well, hot-glue the cassette player
case and door.ornamental piece sitting on his desk speaker,
hiding a useful IoT (Internet of Things) device until
it bursts into life.
Martin thought the tape player seemed a bit
naked without the iconic eighties headphones,
so he looked for ways to incorporate them into
the build. He drilled out the original jack plug and
fittings and joined them together using a 2 mm
threaded rod. With a small nut on each end of
the rod and a servo connector at the bottom, the
headphones now respond whenever the weather
is about to change. Their servo-controlled jiggling
always makes Martin smile, even if it’s to alert him
rain is on the way.
Helpfully, a Raspberry Pi
Unicorn HAT is precisely
the same size as the
cassette player’s
display window
Diagram showing the
relatively simple setup
involved in creating the
WeatherMan projectWeatherMan magpi.cc 11PROJECT SHOWCASE