project brainstorming and computer-aided design

The assignment for this week was to model a possible final project idea, whether that in be in 2D, 3D, raster, vector, etc.

I spent several hours trying to brainstorm what I wanted to make. I just moved into a new apartment and decorating has been top of mind; initially I was thinking about making some sort of wearable, but I decided to shift my focus to things that would be a unique and interesting addition to a living space.

I'd like to make an LED map of the New York City subway: the subway arrivals and departures would show in real-time via blinking LED lights. The MTA API is widely used by developers already, so I'd fetch the data from there and relay it to my board via WiFi.

Having something in your living room that has hundreds and hundreds of constantly blinking LED lights sounds a bit stressful, so I need to make sure this is something pleasant to have in a living space. I sketched the board so that it resembles the subway entrance sign, but I'm not sure if I really like the idea, so I'll likely change this.

I love maps and public transit, and as someone in both course 6 and 11, I figured this would be a fun merging of my two academic disciplines. I don't have much electronics experience though so we'll see how this goes, but for now, here are some things I envision that I'd need:

A large circuit board

Approx 500 LEDs (472 stations on 25 routes)

MTA API and wifi connectivity

Microcontroller

LED driver

Wooden stand

Power supply, cable

The main part of my project doesn't involve much CAD, but I want to build something to serve as a mount or display frame for the board. I'm hoping to make this map fairly large, maybe 18 x 24" ish.

LED maps are not a new thing — I've seen a couple of different versions of them before, but I've always wanted to make one of my own.

At this point, I don't really know what the board or mount for this will look like, but I want to stay consistent with the style of the current NYC subway map design, though I also really love the 1972 Massimo Vignelli NYC Subway map.