Weather Wise Wifi Umbrella Stand

Adafruit Mini Skinny NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip - 60 LED/m

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Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip with all the LEDs lighting in a rainbow pattern.

So thin. So mini. So teeeeeeny-tiny. It's the 'skinny' version of our classic NeoPixel strips!These NeoPixel strips have 60 digitally-addressable pixel Mini LEDs per...

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$99.80

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1 x USB Cable

USB Micro to USB A Cable

1 x Power Supply

5v switching USB Power Supply

1 x Heat Shrink

Clear Heat Shrink Tubing

NeoPIO: Drive lots of LEDs with Raspberry Pi Pico

3 x Silicone Stranded Wire

Silicone Stranded wire - Get 3 colors

Add 3 to Cart

Additional Materials & Tools

Hot glue gun
Heat gun
Soldering Iron & Accessories
Devcon Silicone Glue - available at most hardware stores

I decorated my umbrella stand with a 3d-printed figurine of Totoro, and also a large vinyl sticker. I used an Elegoo Saturn resin printer and a Cricut Maker vinyl cutter to make these.

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Wiring Diagram

My Umbrella stand uses 30 NeoPixels at 60/m, which is just the right amount to go around my glass vase. If your project uses more than around 30 pixels, you'll want to power the pixels directly from the power supply instead of drawing power through the board. With small projects of up to 30 pixels, this simple wiring method works fine.

Pico VBUS to NeoPixel +5v
Pico G to NeoPixel G
Pico GP0 to NeoPixel DIN

We will power our project by plugging a USB cable into the Raspberry Pi Pico, which will power the NeoPixels as well.

If your project has a lot of pixels, check out this guide for wiring tips and tricks:

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Installing CircuitPython

CircuitPython is a derivative of MicroPython designed to simplify experimentation and education on low-cost microcontrollers. It makes it easier than ever to get prototyping by requiring no upfront desktop software downloads. Simply copy and edit files on the CIRCUITPY drive to iterate.

CircuitPython Quickstart

Follow this step-by-step to quickly get CircuitPython working on your board.

Download the latest version of CircuitPython for the Raspberry Pi Pico from circuitpython.org

Click the link above and download the latest UF2 file.

Download and save it to your desktop (or wherever is handy).

Start with your Pico unplugged from USB. Hold down the BOOTSEL button, and while continuing to hold it (don't let go!), plug the Pico into USB. Continue to hold the BOOTSEL button until the RPI-RP2 drive appears!

If the drive does not appear, unplug your Pico and go through the above process again.

A lot of people end up using charge-only USB cables and it is very frustrating! So make sure you have a USB cable you know is good for data sync.

You will see a new disk drive appear called RPI-RP2.

Drag the adafruit_circuitpython_etc.uf2 file to RPI-RP2.

The RPI-RP2 drive will disappear and a new disk drive called CIRCUITPY will appear.

That's it, you're done! :)

Flash Resetting UF2

If your Pico ever gets into a really weird state and doesn't even show up as a disk drive when installing CircuitPython, try installing this 'nuke' UF2 which will do a 'deep clean' on your Flash Memory. You will lose all the files on the board, but at least you'll be able to revive it! After nuking, re-install CircuitPython

flash_nuke.uf2

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WiFi and Adafruit IO Setup

To make our code work, first we need to give our Pico W our WiFi credentials and our personal key to Adafruit IO, Adafruit's free cloud service.

If you are not familiar with Adafruit IO, see this Welcome tutorial to get started.

For this project we're using Adafruit IO to keep track of the time of day so we can automatically turn our stand off at night time.

Adafruit IO is included with your Adafruit shop account, so there's no need to sign up for anything new. This is a free service we provide for our customers to help you make the magic happen.

Once you've got CircuitPython installed on your Pico W, take a look at the CIRCUITPY drive to see what files are on there. You should find a file called settings.toml at the root of your drive. Open this up with a text editor - this is where to add your personal data.

Click on the yellow key icon in the upper right corner.

Copy your Adafruit IO username and password into your settings.toml file using the following format, then save the file back to your CIRCUITPY drive:

aio_username = "username here"
aio_key = "aio key here"

That's it for settings.toml. You can learn more about this file and what it's used for in this guide.

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Code Install & Walkthrough

Once you've finished setting up your Pico W with CircuitPython, you can access the code and necessary libraries by downloading the Project Bundle.

To do this, click on the Download Project Bundle button in the window below. It will download as a zipped folder.

Download Project Bundle

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2023 Liz Clark for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

import os
import ssl
import time
import microcontroller
import board
import wifi
import socketpool
import adafruit_requests
import neopixel
from adafruit_ticks import ticks_ms, ticks_add, ticks_diff
from adafruit_io.adafruit_io import IO_HTTP

# latitude
lat = 38.58
# longitude
long = -121.49
# hours in 24 hour time that the pixels should be off
hours_off = (0, 6)
# color of the pixels when rain is expected
PIXELS_COLOR = (0, 0, 255)

# neopixel setup
NUMPIXELS = 30  # number of neopixels
BRIGHTNESS = 0.5  # A number between 0.0 and 1.0, where 0.0 is off, and 1.0 is max.
PIN = board.GP0

pixels = neopixel.NeoPixel(PIN, NUMPIXELS, brightness=BRIGHTNESS, auto_write=False)

# turn on NeoPixels on boot to check wiring
pixels.fill(PIXELS_COLOR)
pixels.show()

# API request to open-meteo
weather_url = "https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast?"
# pass latitude and longitude
# will return sunrise and sunset times
weather_url += "latitude=%d&longitude=%d&timezone=auto&hourly=rain&forecast_days=1" % (lat, long)

#  connect to SSID
wifi.radio.connect(os.getenv('CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID'), os.getenv('CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD'))

pool = socketpool.SocketPool(wifi.radio)
requests = adafruit_requests.Session(pool, ssl.create_default_context())

pool = socketpool.SocketPool(wifi.radio)

# adafruit IO info
aio_username = os.getenv('aio_username')
aio_key = os.getenv('aio_key')

# io HTTP for getting the time from the internet
io = IO_HTTP(aio_username, aio_key, requests)

def reset_on_error(delay, error):
    print("Error:\n", str(error))
    print("Resetting microcontroller in %d seconds" % delay)
    time.sleep(delay)
    microcontroller.reset()

# function for making http requests with try/except
def get_request(tries, ping):
    for i in range(tries):
        try:
            n = ping
        except Exception as error:
            print(error)
            time.sleep(10)
            if i < tries - 1:
                continue
            raise
        break
    return n

# pylint: disable=broad-except
# function to make a request to open-meteo & time from IO
def rain_check():
    # gets current time
    now = get_request(5, io.receive_time())
    h = now.tm_hour
    time.sleep(1)
    # make the API request
    weather_call = get_request(5, requests.get(weather_url))
    # packs the response into a JSON
    response_as_json = weather_call.json()
    # gets rain forecast
    _chance = response_as_json['hourly']['rain']
    return h, _chance

# ticks time tracker
clock = ticks_ms()

# tracker for initial start-up state
first_run = True

# 15 minutes in milliseconds
time_check = 900000

while True:
    try:
        # every 15 minutes...
        if first_run or ticks_diff(ticks_ms(), clock) > time_check:
            print("pinging Open-Meteo")
            hour, rain_chance = rain_check()
            print("Rain expected: %.2f mm" % rain_chance[hour])
            if hour in hours_off:
                print("sleeping, please don't tell me it's raining")
                color = (0, 0, 0)
            else:
                # if rain is expected. turn pixels blue
                if rain_chance[hour] > 0:
                    print("tut tut, looks like rain")
                    color = PIXELS_COLOR
                # otherwise turn pixels off
                else:
                    print("no rain expected")
                    color = (0, 0, 0)
            if first_run:
                first_run = False
            pixels.fill(color)
            pixels.show()
            # reset clock
            clock = ticks_add(clock, time_check)
    except Exception as e:
        reset_on_error(10, e)

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2023 Liz Clark for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

import os
import ssl
import time
import microcontroller
import board
import wifi
import socketpool
import adafruit_requests
import neopixel
from adafruit_ticks import ticks_ms, ticks_add, ticks_diff
from adafruit_io.adafruit_io import IO_HTTP

# latitude
lat = 38.58
# longitude
long = -121.49
# hours in 24 hour time that the pixels should be off
hours_off = (0, 6)
# color of the pixels when rain is expected
PIXELS_COLOR = (0, 0, 255)

# neopixel setup
NUMPIXELS = 30  # number of neopixels
BRIGHTNESS = 0.5  # A number between 0.0 and 1.0, where 0.0 is off, and 1.0 is max.
PIN = board.GP0

pixels = neopixel.NeoPixel(PIN, NUMPIXELS, brightness=BRIGHTNESS, auto_write=False)

# turn on NeoPixels on boot to check wiring
pixels.fill(PIXELS_COLOR)
pixels.show()

# API request to open-meteo
weather_url = "https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast?"
# pass latitude and longitude
# will return sunrise and sunset times
weather_url += "latitude=%d&longitude=%d&timezone=auto&hourly=rain&forecast_days=1" % (lat, long)

#  connect to SSID
wifi.radio.connect(os.getenv('CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID'), os.getenv('CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD'))

pool = socketpool.SocketPool(wifi.radio)
requests = adafruit_requests.Session(pool, ssl.create_default_context())

pool = socketpool.SocketPool(wifi.radio)

# adafruit IO info
aio_username = os.getenv('aio_username')
aio_key = os.getenv('aio_key')

# io HTTP for getting the time from the internet
io = IO_HTTP(aio_username, aio_key, requests)

def reset_on_error(delay, error):
    print("Error:\n", str(error))
    print("Resetting microcontroller in %d seconds" % delay)
    time.sleep(delay)
    microcontroller.reset()

# function for making http requests with try/except
def get_request(tries, ping):
    for i in range(tries):
        try:
            n = ping
        except Exception as error:
            print(error)
            time.sleep(10)
            if i < tries - 1:
                continue
            raise
        break
    return n

# pylint: disable=broad-except
# function to make a request to open-meteo & time from IO
def rain_check():
    # gets current time
    now = get_request(5, io.receive_time())
    h = now.tm_hour
    time.sleep(1)
    # make the API request
    weather_call = get_request(5, requests.get(weather_url))
    # packs the response into a JSON
    response_as_json = weather_call.json()
    # gets rain forecast
    _chance = response_as_json['hourly']['rain']
    return h, _chance

# ticks time tracker
clock = ticks_ms()

# tracker for initial start-up state
first_run = True

# 15 minutes in milliseconds
time_check = 900000

while True:
    try:
        # every 15 minutes...
        if first_run or ticks_diff(ticks_ms(), clock) > time_check:
            print("pinging Open-Meteo")
            hour, rain_chance = rain_check()
            print("Rain expected: %.2f mm" % rain_chance[hour])
            if hour in hours_off:
                print("sleeping, please don't tell me it's raining")
                color = (0, 0, 0)
            else:
                # if rain is expected. turn pixels blue
                if rain_chance[hour] > 0:
                    print("tut tut, looks like rain")
                    color = PIXELS_COLOR
                # otherwise turn pixels off
                else:
                    print("no rain expected")
                    color = (0, 0, 0)
            if first_run:
                first_run = False
            pixels.fill(color)
            pixels.show()
            # reset clock
            clock = ticks_add(clock, time_check)
    except Exception as e:
        reset_on_error(10, e)

Upload the Code and Libraries to the Pico W

After downloading the Project Bundle, plug your Pico W into the computer's USB port with a known good USB data+power cable. You should see a new flash drive appear in the computer's File Explorer or Finder (depending on your operating system) called CIRCUITPY. Unzip the folder and copy the following items to the Pico W's CIRCUITPY drive.

lib folder
code.py

Your Pico W CIRCUITPY drive should look like this after copying the lib folder and the code.py file:

Add Your settings.toml File

As of CircuitPython 8, there is support for Environment Variables. These Environmental Variables are stored in a settings.toml file. Similar to secrets.py, the settings.toml file separates your sensitive information from your main code.py file. Be sure to add your settings.toml file to your CIRCUITPY drive. You'll need to include your CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID, CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD, aio_username and aio_key in the file.

CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID = "your-wifi-ssid-here"
CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD = "your-wifi-password-here"

aio_username = "your-Adafruit-IO-username-here"
aio_key = "your-Adafruit-IO-key-here"

CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID = "your-wifi-ssid-here"
CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD = "your-wifi-password-here"

aio_username = "your-Adafruit-IO-username-here"
aio_key = "your-Adafruit-IO-key-here"

How the CircuitPython Code Works

At the top of the code, you can define some variables for your location's latitude and longitude, the hour range that you want the NeoPixels to be off and the color of the NeoPixels when rain is predicted.

# latitude
lat = 40.73
# longitude
long = -74.01
# hours in 24 hour time that the pixels should be off
hours_off = (0, 6)
# color of the pixels when rain is expected
PIXELS_COLOR = (0, 0, 255)

# latitude
lat = 40.73
# longitude
long = -74.01
# hours in 24 hour time that the pixels should be off
hours_off = (0, 6)
# color of the pixels when rain is expected
PIXELS_COLOR = (0, 0, 255)

TIP: You can find your latitude and longitude in most phone navigation apps, or by entering your address in Google Maps and right-clicking the “pin.” First number is latitude (northern hemisphere locations are positive, southern are negative), second is latitude (negative is west of the Greenwich prime meridian, positive is east).

1–2 decimal place is sufficient for this task, weather being a regional phenomenon.

NeoPixel Setup

Then, the NeoPixels are setup to use pin GP0 on the Pico W.

# neopixel setup
NUMPIXELS = 30  # number of neopixels
BRIGHTNESS = 0.5  # A number between 0.0 and 1.0, where 0.0 is off, and 1.0 is max.
PIN = board.GP0

pixels = neopixel.NeoPixel(PIN, NUMPIXELS, brightness=BRIGHTNESS, auto_write=False)

# turn on NeoPixels on boot to check wiring
pixels.fill(PIXELS_COLOR)
pixels.show()

# neopixel setup
NUMPIXELS = 30  # number of neopixels
BRIGHTNESS = 0.5  # A number between 0.0 and 1.0, where 0.0 is off, and 1.0 is max.
PIN = board.GP0

pixels = neopixel.NeoPixel(PIN, NUMPIXELS, brightness=BRIGHTNESS, auto_write=False)

# turn on NeoPixels on boot to check wiring
pixels.fill(PIXELS_COLOR)
pixels.show()

Weather Request

The weather_url holds the URL for the Open-Meteo HTTP request. The URL passes your latitude and longitude that was defined earlier in the code to get the hourly rain forecast for your location.

# API request to open-meteo
weather_url = "https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast?"
# pass latitude and longitude
# will return sunrise and sunset times
weather_url += "latitude=%d&longitude=%d&timezone=auto&hourly=rain&forecast_days=1" % (lat, long)

# API request to open-meteo
weather_url = "https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast?"
# pass latitude and longitude
# will return sunrise and sunset times
weather_url += "latitude=%d&longitude=%d&timezone=auto&hourly=rain&forecast_days=1" % (lat, long)

Connect to WiFi

The Pico W connects to your WiFi network by accessing your SSID and SSID password in the settings.toml file with os.getenv(). Additionally, the Pico W connects to Adafruit IO to get the current time.

#  connect to SSID
wifi.radio.connect(os.getenv('CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID'), os.getenv('CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD'))

pool = socketpool.SocketPool(wifi.radio)
requests = adafruit_requests.Session(pool, ssl.create_default_context())

pool = socketpool.SocketPool(wifi.radio)

# adafruit IO info
aio_username = os.getenv('aio_username')
aio_key = os.getenv('aio_key')
location = "America/Los Angeles"

# io HTTP for getting the time from the internet
io = IO_HTTP(aio_username, aio_key, requests)

#  connect to SSID
wifi.radio.connect(os.getenv('CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID'), os.getenv('CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD'))

pool = socketpool.SocketPool(wifi.radio)
requests = adafruit_requests.Session(pool, ssl.create_default_context())

pool = socketpool.SocketPool(wifi.radio)

# adafruit IO info
aio_username = os.getenv('aio_username')
aio_key = os.getenv('aio_key')
location = "America/Los Angeles"

# io HTTP for getting the time from the internet
io = IO_HTTP(aio_username, aio_key, requests)

Error Functions

To handle any errors that come up, two functions are defined. reset_on_error() runs in the event of an error. It prints the error to the REPL and then resets the Pico W to start the code over. get_request() makes an HTTP request and wraps it in a try/except loop so that multiple attempts can be made in the event of an error or timeout.

def reset_on_error(delay, error):
    print("Error:\n", str(error))
    print("Resetting microcontroller in %d seconds" % delay)
    time.sleep(delay)
    microcontroller.reset()

# function for making http requests with try/except
def get_request(tries, ping):
    for i in range(tries):
        try:
            n = ping
        except Exception as error:
            print(error)
            time.sleep(10)
            if i < tries - 1:
                continue
            raise
        break
    return n

def reset_on_error(delay, error):
    print("Error:\n", str(error))
    print("Resetting microcontroller in %d seconds" % delay)
    time.sleep(delay)
    microcontroller.reset()

# function for making http requests with try/except
def get_request(tries, ping):
    for i in range(tries):
        try:
            n = ping
        except Exception as error:
            print(error)
            time.sleep(10)
            if i < tries - 1:
                continue
            raise
        break
    return n

What's the Weather?

The rain_check() function uses the get_request() function to get the time from Adafruit IO and make a request to Open-Meteo with the previously defined weather_url. The function returns the current hour and the rain forecast.

def rain_check():
    # gets current time
    now = get_request(5, io.receive_time())
    h = now.tm_hour
    time.sleep(1)
    # make the API request
    weather_call = get_request(5, requests.get(weather_url))
    # packs the response into a JSON
    response_as_json = weather_call.json()
    # gets rain forecast
    _chance = response_as_json['hourly']['rain']
    return h, _chance

def rain_check():
    # gets current time
    now = get_request(5, io.receive_time())
    h = now.tm_hour
    time.sleep(1)
    # make the API request
    weather_call = get_request(5, requests.get(weather_url))
    # packs the response into a JSON
    response_as_json = weather_call.json()
    # gets rain forecast
    _chance = response_as_json['hourly']['rain']
    return h, _chance

The Loop

In the loop, every 15 minutes the rain_check() function runs to get the rain forecast. If the current time falls in the range of the defined hours_off, then the NeoPixels are turned off. Otherwise, if any rain is expected, the NeoPixels turn on and if no rain is expected they are turned off.