Process

Data: Our team used If This Then That triggers and actions to gather the necessary data. Luckily, IFTTT supplies a trigger through ESPN that fires every time there is an in-game score change for whichever team you specify. When the trigger fires, it sends score data to an event in the Spark Cloud. The device subscribes to this device and updates the display.

Hardware: Working with the Neopixel ring posed a few new challenges to the team. The Neopixel ring was fairly easy to connect to the Spark as we just needed to connect it to power, ground and an input. A 470 ohm resistor was placed between the Spark Core and the the data input for the Neopixel ring and a 1000 uF capacitor was placed between the 5V power and ground. These components were placed in the circuit in order to protect the LEDs in the ring from voltage spikes and high current, respectively. Once the Neopixel ring was connected, the team concentrated on writing the proper code to control the LEDs correctly. In order to show the score ratio of the user’s favorite team to its opponent, a colorWipe was used to turn the proportion of the ring for the score of the user’s team red and the remainder to white.

Bill of Materials

1 - Neopixel Ring - 24 x WS2812 5050 RGB LED w/ Integrated Drivers

1 - 1000 uF 16V Capacitor

1 - 470 ohm Resistor

1 - Spark Core

Fritzing Diagram