E-Paper Weather Display
This project is a network-connected weather dashboard built on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and a large-format 7.5″ tri-color e-paper display. It provides a clean, always-visible weather interface that shows current conditions, forecast data, and custom-rendered icons pulled live from OpenWeatherMap.
Unlike traditional LCD dashboards, the e-paper screen consumes power only when updating. This makes it ideal for a static, information-focused display that runs quietly and can be wall-mounted like a printed panel — but fully dynamic.
⚙ Hardware Architecture
Controller
- Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
- Wi-Fi enabled
- Headless operation
Display
- 7.5″ tri-color e-paper panel
- High contrast, paper-like readability
- No backlight, wide viewing angle
- Power draw primarily during refresh
🧠 Software Architecture
The system is built in Python and designed for reliable, unattended operation. The display output is rendered as a full-frame image buffer before refresh to keep layout stable and minimize ghosting.
1) Weather Data Integration
- OpenWeatherMap API (current conditions + forecast)
- Metric units
- API failure handling with retry logic
2) Display Engine
- Multi-page layout system
- Custom icon rendering
- Pressure trend
- Full-frame composition before refresh
3) Data Logging
- Scheduled script pulls weather data
- Inserts structured readings into MySQL
- Historical storage for analytics (compatible with dashboards such as Grafana)
📄 Display Pages
The system supports multiple pages, including:
- Current weather summary
- Extended forecast
- Pressure trend visualization
- Environmental metrics
E-paper is ideal for always-on dashboards with low refresh needs. It stays readable in bright rooms, looks like a printed page, and only consumes significant power during updates.
✅ Design Goals
- Clean, distraction-free information display
- Reliable unattended operation
- Structured code with version baselines
- MySQL-backed historical data
- Network-resilient operation
- Minimal system overhead
📌 Project Status
- Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W: Stable
- Weather API integration: Operational
- Multi-page display system: Verified
- MySQL logging: Active
- Cron scheduling: Running
- Layout integrity baseline: Locked
This project represents a balance between embedded systems reliability, clean data visualization, minimalist interface design, and long-term maintainability.