Revisiting an old idea

Several years I embarked on a project to create a "snow globe" that would display my local ski hills snow conditions in real time to build the stoke. I wanted a device that I could place in a room that would automatically update to show new snowfall and base conditions in a visual way. The idea being: you wake up and before you start your morning routine it would be ablaze in color letting you know that it was a powder day and you could plan your day accordingly. 

I managed to create a working prototype out of a raspberry pi zero, python code, and some basic electrical components and thus the Snow Scraper was born!

Fast forward several years, I've decided to revisit the project. With the advent of the 3D printer and the progression of my skills and knowledge I've set out to create a revised version of the Snow Scraper with the following goals in mind:

• The ability to select your mountain of choice from a preconfigured list of major ski hills in western Canada
• An upgraded interface to allow the user to configure their Wi-Fi information and local mountain on the device.
• Stable and simple interface and design
• A sleek new 3d-printed enclosure
• Upgrade the screen to display: mountain name, new snow in the past 12 hours, new snow in the past 7 days, and the alpine snow base.

I am hoping to create a solid working version that I can not only sell to the public in a completed form, but also a DIY version that people could create on their own as a hobby project. 

I plan to blog the creative process as I go, laying out detailed instructions on how to create your own including a list of materials I have used, python source code for the programs, and 3d models for printing the enclosure.

At this point I have created a working prototype that works with my local ski hill Sun Peaks. My future plans include the addition of many other mountains in western Canada. I will do another update shortly depicting where I am at so far and how I have got there.

Stay tuned!