Uploaded February 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this part, I'm going to build the hardware and software for the game timer and countdown display, which will be one of the main functions of the "master" control device of the portable escape room in a box I'm building. I try out three different display types - a 4 digit, 7-segment display, a 64x8 LED matrix, and a 128x64 LCD display, but can't decide which is more suitable so decide to keep them all in for now, and write code for the code that will allow me to switch between them.
In doing so, I realise that I'm going to have to upgrade from an Arduino UNO to an ESP32, and also I take a suprisingly long time to program what sounds like a relatively simple countdown function....
Timings
---
00:00:00-00:05:13 Objectives for this part
00:05:13-00:44:44 Software coding for the countdown displays
00:44:44-01:06:38 Wiring the display hardware
Created with the generous support of my amazing Patreon donors. You can find more details about all my escape room tech projects at patreon.com/playfultech
In this part, I'm going to build the hardware and software for the game timer and countdown display, which will be one of the main functions of the "master" control device of the portable escape room in a box I'm building. I try out three different display types - a 4 digit, 7-segment display, a 64x8 LED matrix, and a 128x64 LCD display, but can't decide which is more suitable so decide to keep them all in for now, and write code for the code that will allow me to switch between them.
In doing so, I realise that I'm going to have to upgrade from an Arduino UNO to an ESP32, and also I take a suprisingly long time to program what sounds like a relatively simple countdown function....
Timings
---
00:00:00-00:05:13 Objectives for this part
00:05:13-00:44:44 Software coding for the countdown displays
00:44:44-01:06:38 Wiring the display hardware
Created with the generous support of my amazing Patreon donors. You can find more details about all my escape room tech projects at patreon.com/playfultech
