\u00a0<\/p>\n
In my previous post, I outlined some improvements I wanted to implement for the track display project using the Yamaha R-N602. This time, I\u2019ve tackled two key enhancements: supporting non-ASCII characters and displaying the time when the receiver is off. Here\u2019s how it came together.<\/p>\n
I enjoy a wide range of music, some of which isn\u2019t in English. This often means track titles, artist names, and album titles include characters the LCD display doesn\u2019t render correctly. The R-N602 provides these details as UTF-8 encoded JSON but my LCD display can\u2019t handle non-ASCII characters. Since I couldn\u2019t find an Arduino library to convert UTF-8 to ASCII, I decided to write my own solution.<\/p>\n
The implementation is straightforward. I created helper lambda functions to assist the processDetails function. A small map translates specific UTF-8 characters to their ASCII equivalents\u2014for example, the character \u00e8 becomes e. The map is intentionally kept short to optimize performance as it\u2019s searched linearly. So some characters aren\u2019t mapped.<\/p>\n
Two lambda helpers complete the setup:<\/p>\n
This approach allowed me to seamlessly replace strncpy calls in processDetails with my helper function. Now, a track title like Florence sur les Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es appears as Florence sur les Champs-Elysees on the display. While this transformation sacrifices accents, it significantly improves readability\u2014though a French speaker might disagree!<\/p>\n
I also added functionality to display the current time, day, and date when the R-N602 is turned off. This feature uses two Arduino pins which my LCD display shield exposes.<\/p>\n
With these additions, the project doubles as a clock.<\/p>\n
For simplicity, the time is fetched from an NTP server since the Arduino doesn\u2019t have a real-time clock module. Accuracy isn\u2019t perfect\u2014it can drift by up to 30 seconds\u2014but it\u2019s sufficient for this use case.<\/p>\n
Initially, I tried using an existing Arduino library to handle the time, but I encountered issues with the day() function, which appeared unavailable probably due to a misconfiguration in my setup. Rather than spending more time troubleshooting (I\u2019ve already dealt with my fair share of library issues), I opted to reuse some lambda functions from a previous project. Functional programming really shines here: self-contained, global-free functions are easy to repurpose with minimal effort.<\/p>\n
While working on these features, I also fixed a few bugs. The most significant was a scrolling issue: the last two characters of a scrolling text string weren\u2019t displaying due to a -1 where there should have been a +1. A small fix, but it made a big difference in usability.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it for now. These enhancements have made the track display project much more functional and user-friendly. If you\u2019re interested, the updated code is available here: yamaha-song.ino.zip<\/a>.<\/p>\n I hope this inspires some ideas for your own projects! If you\u2019ve got questions or suggestions, feel free to share in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 In my previous post, I outlined some improvements I wanted to implement for the track display project using the Yamaha R-N602. This time, I\u2019ve tackled two key enhancements: supporting non-ASCII characters and displaying the time when the receiver is off. Here\u2019s how it came together. Handling Non-ASCII Characters I enjoy a wide range of … <\/p>\n