Stopo
Description
I came across a commercial device that displays the next public transport departures for a specific stop. I don't really need something like this, however it looks quite nice and I thought I could easily build something similar myself.
Project summary
In this project, I adapted an existing display for use as a public transport departure tracker. The main focus was on software development and the design of a custom housing.
My responsibilities
CAD design and 3d printing
Programming and testing
Results
My initial idea was to design a custom PCB, but then it occurred to me that I could simply buy an LCD module with an integrated ESP microcontroller. This eliminated the need for PCB design and component selection. The main downside was that the LCD was not quite as visually appealing as some other display technologies, nevertheless it was more than sufficient for this project.
While the display was still on its way, I prepared a detailed list of software requirements, which I then provided to Claude. Since the requirements were already quite well defined, the first version of the software was usable right away. It then took about another half day to implement all the smaller improvements and refinements.
Thanks to Claude, the software development was relatively straightforward, allowing me to focus more of my attention on the mechanical design of the housing. The CAD design required a few iterations because I wanted to make the enclosure as compact as possible. Especially finding the best position for the USB power cable also required some trial-and-error testing.
In the end, I’m very happy with the result. The device is compact, fully functional, and does exactly what I wanted it to do.
Here a small AI generated video: https://youtu.be/zjbZ1dbxt-k
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