Simple Script for Turning Pis into Google Calendar Displays | #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi
Matt Webb has a simple bash script and walkthrough for turning a Raspberry Pi Zero (in his example) into the brains driving a bunch of “Google Calendar displays” he has installed in various places – for at-a-glance reminders and prompts of upcoming events. (It is interesting to consider how our lives have become focused around events and online calendars.)
I have Pi-powered Google Calendar displays all over the place – I wrote a script to make it easy to make more of them (or other similiar displays that just use a web browser).
The install script sets a cron job to launch a fullscreen Chromium window in kiosk mode at boot, disabling screen timeout. Configurables set during install:
- Hide cursor (good for non-interactive displays)
- Clear browser cache at boot
- Refresh page at specified minute interval
- Delay browser launch (allow extra time for boot and/or network connectivity)
Do not use under any circumstances where not being able to leave the browser is a priority, as this is in no way prevented. Built for and tested on Raspbian Stretch running on a Pi Zero.
If you need to modify anything after installation Matt has simple instructions for that too – read more here.
Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!