Back in 2020 I talked about my Raspberry Pi powered Christmas Tree. Today’s blog delves into what I’ve done this year.

Previously, I decided that setting up a web server on which family members could change the light patterns on the tree was too boring. At the time, I was thinking of extending the sample Python code – much as I did with the OpenCV frontend – with a simple Python-based web server.

Last year I got myself a Raspberry Pi-powered Christmas Tree. It has eleven LEDs, and you can program the Pi to switch them on and off.

Naturally, doing all that takes time, and last year I just didn’t have very much. I just downloaded the sample project and set it up with a random flashing pattern.

It amused me, anyway.

This year I wanted to get a little more sophisticated. I decided that it should be interactive. My first thought was a web server where people could connect using their phones and change the LED patterns. Then I thought better of it. Because of COVID we have no guests, rendering it far less interesting. Also, setting up a web server is hardly very exciting.