Ships Lamp Wind Speed Gauge

Our MicroPython project turns a strip of NeoPixel LEDs into a “ship’s lamp” style wind speed gauge. It connects to an MQTT broker to receive real-time wind speed data and translates it into a flickering, color-coded light.

The light simulates an oil lamp by staying “steady” for a random period and then “flickering” for a short time by rapidly dimming and brightening – the flicker speed changes acording to the wind speed. The full code and details are available on Github as part of the ever growing Open Gauges Project.

Features

• Real-time Data: Connects to an MQTT broker to subscribe to a wind speed topic.
• Weather Map Gradient: Displays wind speed using an intuitive “weather map” color gradient:
  • 0 mph: Off (Black)
  • 1-10 mph: Solid Green
  • 10-20 mph: Fades from Green → Yellow
  • 20-30 mph: Fades from Yellow → Orange
  • 30-40 mph: Fades from Orange → Red
  • 40+ mph: Solid Red
• Realistic Flicker Effect: The light doesn’t just stay solid; it cycles between a “steady” phase (10-60s) and a “flicker” phase (5-15s) to simulate a real lamp.
• Asynchronous & Resilient: Built using uasyncio and mqtt_as. The mqtt_as library automatically handles and recovers from WiFi or MQTT broker disconnections, re-subscribing to topics as needed.
• Hardware Watchdog: Uses the Pico’s built-in machine.WDT (Watchdog Timer) to automatically reboot the device only if the main code loop freezes, ensuring high reliability. (This replaces the old 60-minute timer).
• Status LEDs: Provides a heartbeat flash on one LED and a WiFi status indicator on another.

Hardware Requirements

• Raspberry Pi Pico W: (or any Pico with a WiFi-capable board).
• NeoPixel LED Strip: The code is configured for a strip, but can be any WS812B/NeoPixel compatible LEDs.
• Power Supply: A sufficient power supply for your LED strip (a strip of 60 LEDs can draw several amps at full brightness).
• A Ships Lamp (old or new).

Default Pinout (Pico W)

• NeoPixel Data: GP15
• Blue LED (Heartbeat): blue_led (defined in config.py, often the onboard LED).
• WiFi LED: wifi_led (defined in config.py).

Software & Dependencies

This project relies on a few key MicroPython libraries that you must have on your Pico:

1. neopixel.py: The standard Adafruit NeoPixel library for MicroPython.
2. mqtt_as.py: A robust, asynchronous MQTT client. You can find it here.
3. config.py: A file you must create to hold your credentials and pin definitions.

Configuration

You must create a config.py file in the root of your Pico’s filesystem. This file should contain:

1. Your WiFi and MQTT broker credentials.
2. Definitions for your wifi_led and blue_led.

The mqtt_as library expects the config.py to contain a config dictionary.

Example config.py:

# config.py
from machine import Pin

# --- WiFi Configuration ---
config['wifi_led'] = Pin("WL_GPIO0", Pin.OUT) # Onboard LED on Pico W
config['ssid'] = 'YOUR_WIFI_SSID'
config['wifi_pw'] = 'YOUR_WWIFI_PASSWORD'

# --- MQTT Configuration ---
# This example is for the open broker mqtt.cetools.org
config['server'] = 'mqtt.cetools.org'
config['port'] = 1884
config['client_id'] = 'pico_ships_lamp' # Or any unique ID

# --- Optional: For Secured Brokers ---
# If your broker requires a username and password, add these lines:
# config['user'] = 'YOUR_MQTT_USER'
# config['password'] = 'YOUR_MQTT_PASSWORD'

# --- Other Hardware ---
# This is for the heartbeat LED
blue_led = Pin(10, Pin.OUT) # Example: an external LED on GP10

Running the Project

1. Upload main.py, neopixel.py, mqtt_as.py, and your config.py to your Raspberry Pi Pico.
2. Reset the device.
3. The device will automatically connect to your WiFi and MQTT broker.
4. It will subscribe to the topic personal/ucfnaps/downhamweather/windSpeed_mph.
5. As messages are published to that topic, the ship’s lamp will spring to life!

Customizing

• LED Count: Change the numpix variable at the top of main.py to match your strip.
• Data Pin: Change the 15 in pixels = Neopixel(numpix, 0, 15, "GRB") to match your data pin.
• MQTT Topic: Change the a topic name in the conn_han function to subscribe to your own data source.