**Update**

Summary

The 7Seg display for Raspberry Pi is a simple kit for people of all ages.  It serves well as both an introduction to soldering, and an introduction to using the GPIO on the Raspberry Pi.  It enables you to output numbers to a display on top of your Pi, this could be used to display anything, from the number of emails in your inbox, to using it as a digital dice.  The kit includes all of the components, and the PCB (Circuit Board), necessary to communicate with and drive the 7Seg display.  It also has a small form factor, which fits neatly across the bottom of the Raspberry Pi.  The displays will be available in green or red LEDs, which we will confirm in an email after the project's completion.  There will also be a good selection of  comprehensive tutorials available at http://7seg.co.uk.

Concept

The idea first came about when I was thinking about a new project.  I wanted to be able to display my score from a game which I was playing on the Pi onto a 7-Seg display.  I started using a breadboard to do this, but I soon ended up with a rather large setup.  The 7Seg for Raspberry Pi makes this amazingly simple and compact, so anyone, no matter how inexperienced can easily and neatly output numbers to an LED display.

Is It Suitable For Me?

The 7Seg for Raspberry Pi has been designed from the ground up to be accessible to people of all ages and abilities.  The kit uses high quility components, and uses gold plated PCBs to help make soldering easy.  All you need to get started is the kit, a soldering iron, a length of solder, and a Raspberry Pi.

Will any soldering Iron be OK?

YES! This kit uses components suitable for anyone to solder.  Here are some suitable soldering irons:

Draper Soldering Iron Kit

Silverline Soldering Iron (Iron only)

Instructions

What Goes Where

We are currently working on a neat, and easy to follow instruction set.  This will be available on-line before you receive your kits.  These will guide you through the soldering process, and some example projects.  

Using 7Seg

The 7Seg should be compatible with any program on the Raspberry Pi which can access the GPIO.  This means you can use absolutely anything, from Scratch, to a simple script with a web interface.  Again, we will try to make as many mini tutorials as possible, but as with anything, we are sure that the community will come up with loads more ideas.  Please take a look at a few tutorials we already have up over at http://7seg.co.uk

Photos

Design

The design uses the 40110 driver IC to simplify communication with the 7Seg.  It also has several jumpers, which under the recommended setup would be closed.  However, when removed, this enables the user to change the GPIOs which control the display.  The design has evolved though several iterations, and we are currently awaiting the next batch.

Uses

Despite its apparent simplicity, there are tons of uses for something like the 7Seg.  Here are just some of the ones which I have managed to think up:

• Dice
  
• Game score display
  
• Email notifier
  
• Count down timer
  

Timeline

After receipt of the money from Indiegogo, we hope to have the circuit boards produced, and received in approximately 3 weeks.  During this time, I will order and receive the individual components, which I will then package in preparation for the arrival of the circuit boards.  Once all of the parts have arrived, I will complete the packaging and send the 7Segs

About Me

Well, I am a 16 year old student, who is currently studying Further Maths, Physics and Electronics at A-Level.  Out of school, I have been interested in electronics for many years, I have many small projects and a few larger ones including the toroCam (http://torocam.com).  I have also backed many projects on other crowd funding websites such as Kickstarter, which I think gives me a good insight into what backers want, and how to keep everyone up to date.

Shipping

Free shipping within the UK is included on all reward levels.  Outside of the UK we are happy to accept other backers, however I would appreciate it if you would please contact me first, in order to arrange the potential extra surcharge for shipping.  In most cases I am sure this will be very small, and I will endeavour to help you!

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