Raspberry Pi Simple Status Monitor
Introduction
Adding a status monitor to any Raspberry Pi project can be very useful to give at a real-time glance status of how the CPU is performing in terms of usage, temperature and RAM use, and vital connectivity information. If overclocking is your thing, then this can prove extremely valuable to see what impact your settings have on the Pi and make adjustments accordingly.
The TIMI-130 display, together with the Pi Adapter, is a perfect choice for this project due to its ease of use and simplicity in code needed to get this up and running.
A Python library is provided to make coding experience effortless.
Requirements
To proceed with the project, the following are required.
Hardware
- Raspberry Pi Model 5 (other models should also work)
- TIMI-130
- Pi Adapter
- Mates Programmer
- Micro SD Card (for Raspberry Pi OS)
Software
- Raspberry Pi OS
- Python3 (built into Raspberry Pi OS)
- Mates Studio
Graphics Design
When you start Mates Studio, you will be prompted to select your product.
Step 1: Click on TIMI-130, and a graphical representation of the TIMI-130 will appear on the right-hand panel.
Step 2: Click twice on the image of the TIMI-130 to rotate the display by 180 degrees.
Step 3: Click on CONFIRM and then select the Commander Environment.
Step 4: The Commander environment will now open.
Step 5: Click on the '+' to browse the page library.
Then select Status and Resource Monitor from the Notifications tab, and click on CONFIRM.
Step 6: Change the Baud rate from 9600 to 115200 by clicking on the Tools and Configuration button and selecting 115200.
Step 7: Next, select the com port for the Mates Programmer by clicking in the COM panel and selecting the correct port from the drop-down menu.
Step 8: Finally, click on the Upload button to upload the Status Monitor to the TIMI-30.
The Status Monitor will now display on the TIMI-130.
The USB lead and Mates Programmer can now be removed from the Pi Adapter. The Pi Adapter switch can now be set to HOST, ready to receive commands from the Pi.
Setting Up the Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi setup
Set up the Raspberry Pi by visiting https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/ and following the instructions for installing the OS.
An Internet connection is required to install Python libraries and to Git Clone the Project files.
The Pi OS will need to be configured to enable SSH and enable the Serial port (UART) that we will use to talk to the TIMI-130.
Using Python Virtual Environment
All recent Raspberry Pi Desktop OS are pre-loaded with Python 3.
Newer versions of Raspberry Pi OS strictly recommends using a virtual environment to manage packages and avoid system packages from breaking. Create a virtual environment on the project folder before installing the needed libraries with the code below.
Activate the virtual environment by typing
Installing the Python Libraries
Certain packages are required to run the project. We can install the required packages using pip.
First off, we need to install the Mates Controller library by running the following command:
This is used when interacting with Commander and Architect projects.
The psutil and uptime packages are also required and can be installed by running:
Clone the Python code from Github by running the following command:
Alternatively, the Python code can be downloaded from the GitHub repository BreadBoardMates/RPi-Status-Monitor
The Python Code
import time
import sys
import psutil
import socket
import fcntl
import struct
import uptime
from gpiozero import CPUTemperature
from rpi_mates.controller import RPiMatesController as MatesController
from mates.constants import *
def up():
t = uptime.uptime()
days = 0
hours = 0
min = 0
out = ''
while t > 86400:
t -= 86400
days += 1
while t > 3600:
t -= 3600
hours += 1
while t > 60:
t -= 60
min += 1
out += str(days) + 'd '
out += str(hours) + 'h '
out += str(min) + 'm'
return out
def get_interface_ipaddress(network):
s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
try:
return socket.inet_ntoa(fcntl.ioctl(s.fileno(), 0x8915,
struct.pack('256s',
network[:15].encode('utf-8')))[20:24]) # SIOCGIFADDR
except OSError:
return '0.0.0.0'
def get_rpi_model():
model = "Unknown Raspberry Pi Model"
try:
with open("/proc/cpuinfo", "r") as f:
for line in f:
if line.startswith("Model"):
model = line.split(":")[1].strip()
break
except FileNotFoundError:
model="Could not determine Raspberry Pi model (no /proc/cpuinfo found)"
except Exception as e:
model = f"An error occured: (e)"
return model
if __name__ == '__main__':
rpi_model = get_rpi_model()
if "Pi 5" in rpi_model:
mates = MatesController('/dev/ttyAMA0')
else:
mates = MatesController('/dev/serial0')
mates.begin(115200)
print("===========================")
print(rpi_model, ": TIMI-130 Status Monitor")
print("Press CTRL + C to exit.")
gtime = up()
lastCpuUse = 0
lastTemp = 0
lastlTemp = 0
lastRamUse = 0
lastWIPaddr = '0.0.0.0'
lastEIPaddr = '0.0.0.0'
mates.updateTextArea(5, gtime, True)
cpu = CPUTemperature()
lastlTemp = int(cpu.temperature * 10)
IPinterval = 0
while True:
cpu = CPUTemperature()
gcpu = int(cpu.temperature)
lcpu = int(cpu.temperature * 10)
cpuuse = int(psutil.cpu_percent())
ramuse = int(psutil.virtual_memory().percent)
if cpuuse < lastCpuUse:
lastCpuUse = lastCpuUse - (1 + (lastCpuUse - cpuuse > 9))
if cpuuse > lastCpuUse:
lastCpuUse = lastCpuUse + 1 + (cpuuse - lastCpuUse > 9)
if gcpu < lastTemp:
lastTemp = lastTemp - (1 + (lastTemp - gcpu > 9))
if gcpu > lastTemp:
lastTemp = lastTemp + 1 + (gcpu - lastTemp > 9)
if lcpu < lastlTemp:
lastlTemp = lastlTemp - 1
if lcpu > lastlTemp:
lastlTemp = lastlTemp + 1
if ramuse < lastRamUse:
lastRamUse = lastRamUse - (1 + (lastRamUse - ramuse > 9))
if ramuse > lastRamUse:
lastRamUse = lastRamUse + 1 + (ramuse - lastRamUse > 9)
if gcpu != lastTemp:
mates.setWidgetValueByIndex(MatesWidget.MATES_MEDIA_GAUGE_B,0, lastTemp)
if lcpu != lastlTemp:
mates.setLedDigitsShortValue(0, lastlTemp)
if cpuuse != lastCpuUse:
mates.setWidgetValueByIndex(MatesWidget.MATES_MEDIA_GAUGE_B,1, lastCpuUse)
mates.setLedDigitsShortValue(1, lastCpuUse)
if ramuse != lastRamUse:
mates.setWidgetValueByIndex(MatesWidget.MATES_MEDIA_GAUGE_B,2, lastRamUse)
mates.setLedDigitsShortValue(2, lastRamUse)
if IPinterval > 20:
tempIPaddr = get_interface_ipaddress('eth0')
if tempIPaddr != lastEIPaddr:
mates.updateTextArea(1, tempIPaddr, True)
lastEIPaddr = tempIPaddr
tempIPaddr = get_interface_ipaddress('wlan0')
if tempIPaddr != lastWIPaddr:
mates.updateTextArea(3, tempIPaddr, True)
lastWIPaddr = tempIPaddr
IPinterval = 0
IPinterval = IPinterval + 1
time.sleep(0.060)
tempTime = up()
if tempTime != gtime:
mates.updateTextArea(5, tempTime, True)
gtime = tempTime
time.sleep(0.040)
The Python code below use the function get_rpi_model() to read the cpu information and check the raspberry pi model. This will be use in creating Mates Controller instance with the serial port of the detected raspberry pi model and a start it at 115200 baud.
rpi_model = get_rpi_model()
if "Pi 5" in rpi_model:
mates = MatesController('/dev/ttyAMA0')
else:
mates = MatesController('/dev/serial0')
mates.begin(115200)
A set of variables are then created which will be set after each time the various states are updated. This enables the main loop to compare the status that has just read with its last state and then update the corresponding widget only if it has changed in value.
lastCpuUse = 0
lastTemp = 0
lastlTemp = 0
lastRamUse = 0
lastWIPaddr = '0.0.0.0'
lastEIPaddr = '0.0.0.0'
Every iteration of the loop will update the widgets on the display if needed using the following simple commands.
mates.setWidgetValueByIndex(MatesWidget.MATES_MEDIA_GAUGE_B,0, lastTemp)
mates.setLedDigitsShortValue(0, lastlTemp)
mates.setWidgetValueByIndex(MatesWidget.MATES_MEDIA_GAUGE_B,1, lastCpuUse)
mates.setLedDigitsShortValue(1, lastCpuUse)
mates.setWidgetValueByIndex(MatesWidget.MATES_MEDIA_GAUGE_B,2, lastRamUse)
mates.setLedDigitsShortValue(2, lastRamUse)
mates.updateTextArea(1, tempIPaddr, True)
mates.updateTextArea(3, tempIPaddr, True)
mates.updateTextArea(5, tempTime, True)
Running the Project
Step 1: The Pi Adapter will need to be attached to the Pi GPIO Header and the TIMI-130 attached to the adapter, as shown below.
As the TIMI-130 needs to be configured for the Status Monitor, the switch on the Pi adapter needs to be set to PROG.
Step 2: Next, attach the Mates Programmer to the Pi Adapter.
Connect a USB cable to the Mates Programmer and to a PC USB port. The TIMI-130 is now ready for the Status Monitor project to be installed.
Mates Studio will be required to configure the TIMI-130, and you can download it from here https://4dsystems.com.au/products/mates-studio/
Step 3: Run the app by moving to the RPi-Status-Monitor folder:
Then run the application by running the following command:
The TIMI-130 should first reset to an off-screen and then start showing the status of CPU use, CPU temp and RAM use along with connected IP address and uptime.
If you would like the Status Monitor to run as a background task, simply add '&' to the command.
Enjoy Your Shiny Raspberry Pi Monitor
This project can be simply altered or improved to get the desired look by creating a new page in Mates Studio and changing the Python code to match with any new widgets used. The only limit is imagination.
Downloadable Resources
Here are the links to the software applications, libraries and completed project files.