Make a Raspberry Pi text scroller using the Unicorn HAT

31 May 2015


I blogged previously about my Scratch project in this month's Magpi. I also have a Python project in this issue, which creates a text scroller for the Raspberry Pi's Unicorn HAT. You can use it to display any message, and I imagine it could be a useful building block for anyone needing to display output from a robot, Twitter or any other data-based project.

The Unicorn HAT text scroller

The Unicorn HAT text scroller

To get started with this project, download the June 2015 issue of The Magpi and read the tutorial there. This project requires two programs, one to make the font (which runs once only) and another to scroll messages (which you use each time you display a message). If you're having trouble getting them working, or just want to spare your fingers, you can download the font maker and download the scroller program. These are both text files - you can copy and paste from them, or you can download them and rename them from .txt to .py before loading into Python.

For this project, you'll need a Unicorn HAT and a diffuser layer from Pimoroni. The Unicorn HAT (pictured below) provides an 8x8 matrix of RGB LEDs that you can control the colour and brightness of. In my project, I've used some simple code to apply different red/purple shades across the message. I got my Unicorn HAT at the Raspberry Pi Third Birthday Party and my starting point for the project was to see how I could use the Unicorn HAT to output information from the Raspberry Pi, rather than purely as a colourful special effect.

The Unicorn HAT

The Unicorn HAT

The Magpi is published monthly and is the official magazine of the Raspberry Pi. It's available to download for free as a PDF, so get your copy now!

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Learn to make a multiple choice quiz in Scratch


The June 2015 issue of The Magpi, just published, includes a tutorial I've written, showing how to make a multiple choice quiz using Scratch. It also shows you how to import list data into Scratch. That means you can make games with a huge number of questions, without having to set each one up with a Scratch block. You don't even have to type them all in. My game is a capital cities geography quiz, using data from Wikipedia.

Screenshot of the Capital City Quiz

Screenshot of the Capital City Quiz

If you're struggling to get it working, you can download the Raspberry Pi file Scratch file. You can also play the game and tinker with its code on the Scratch website.

UPDATE (2019): You can now download the PDF for this project here, under The MagPi's Creative Commons licence.

The Magpi is the official magazine of the Raspberry Pi. It can be downloaded as a free PDF each month, but you can support the Raspberry Pi Foundation by subscribing. Get your copy now!

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Three new photo galleries uploaded

29 May 2015


I've added three new photo galleries to my website, including photos from Tokyo, New York and South Africa. I've also updated my London photo gallery with some more recent shots.

Here are some samples from the galleries. Click them to go through to the full galleries. You can browse the full gallery here.

Photo of the face of the Statue of Liberty

Photo of the face of the Statue of Liberty

Lego sculpture called 'Computer', by Nathan Sawaya

A Lego sculpture called 'Computer', by Nathan Sawaya, shown in London


A lioness in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

A lioness in the Kruger National Park, South Africa


A giant Gundam Robot in Tokyo

A giant Gundam Robot in Tokyo


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