imochoa / pimvg

Using the Raspberry Pi to check Munich's public transport system

PiMVG

These modules let you track the departure times of Munich's public transport system. The output can either be to the console, to a 4d7s display or to an 8d7s display:

Using the Raspberry Pi to check Munich's public transport system with a common anode 4 digit 7 segment display (4d7s display)

Using the Raspberry Pi to check Munich's public transport system with a MAX7219 8 digit 7 segment display (8d7s display)

For information on how to build one yourself, follow the guide on Instructables (coming soon...)

Software Setup

Install rmoriz/mvg-live

These scripts use the Command Line Interface (CLI) from rmoritz's project rmoriz/mvg-live to get the information from the mvg and filters it.

As per his README.md file, to install his rubygem you need to run:

gem install mvg-live

If you get an error that says 'mkmf.rb can't find header files for ruby' try doing what it says on this stackoverflow page, i.e. run this command in the bash shell:

sudo apt-get install ruby`ruby -e 'puts RUBY_VERSION[/\d+\.\d+/]'`-dev

You can check if it was correctly installed by runningn mvg hauptbahnhof in the terminal. If you got a timetable, you're all set.

(For the 8d7s display) enable SPI and Install rm-hull/luma.led_matrix

First, run: sudo raspi-config and make sure that SPI is enabled on your Raspberry Pi

Another package is required if you want to use the 8d7s displays with the MAX7219 chip; rm-hull/luma.led_matrix

Installing it is pretty straightforward, first you need to clone it into your Raspberry Pi

git clone https://github.com/rm-hull/luma.led_matrix

Then open a terminal, go to that directory and run

sudo python setup.py install

Open a python interactive shell and try to import it:

import luma

If you didn't get any errors, you're good to go.

Hardware Setup

Follow the guide on the (Instructables)[https://www.instructables.com/id/PiMVG/] page

How to use it

The py_mvg_cli.py python module can be run directly from the bash shell and uses the other modules. Make sure it's executable on your raspberry Pi. If you're not sure, just run chmod +x pi_mvg_cli.py

The -h argument prints out the help for the command line interface:

./pi_mvg_cli.py -h
usage: pi_mvg_cli.py [-h] [--display_digits DISPLAY_DIGITS] --station STATION
                     [--line [LINE]] [--dest [DEST]] [--min_t MIN_T]
                     [--max_t MAX_T] [--screen_timeout SCREEN_TIMEOUT]
                     [--update_interval UPDATE_INTERVAL]

MVG inputs

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --display_digits DISPLAY_DIGITS
                        Number of digits suported by the display. 0 (DEFAULT)
                        = Print to console, 4 = 4d7s display, anything else =
                        combination of 8d7s displays
  --station STATION     Station to check
  --line [LINE]         Public transport type. The recognized values are: [u]
                        Ubahn, [s] Sbahn, [tram] Tram & [bus] Bus
  --dest [DEST]         Final stop of the lines
  --min_t MIN_T         Minimum departure time
  --max_t MAX_T         Maximum departure time
  --screen_timeout SCREEN_TIMEOUT
                        Minutes to display the results, negative values = no
                        limit
  --update_interval UPDATE_INTERVAL
                        Seconds that pass between updates of the departure
                        times

So some example commands would be:

• if display_digits is <=0 it will print to the console:

`./pi_mvg_cli.py --station Olympiazentrum --line u --display_digits 0 --screen_timeout 1

• if display_digits is ==4 it will print to the 4d7s display:

./pi_mvg_cli.py --station Olympiazentrum --line u --display_digits 4 --screen_timeout 1

• if display_digits is anything else, it will print to the 8d7s display:

./pi_mvg_cli.py --station Olympiazentrum --line u --display_digits 8 --screen_timeout 1