Check Traffic on an IKEA Clock Using Arduino and 1Sheeld

For those of us who live in the Bay Area, LA or New York, we are all too familiar with traffic on our daily commutes. As a result, we are often faced with the decision of whether we should leave the office at 5 o’clock or simply wait a bit to avoid the congestion.

To lessen that dilemma, Integreight embedded engineer Eslam Ali is using an Arduino and 1Sheeld to display traffic levels on a hacked IKEA clock, pulling status reports from Google. It illuminates red when things are at a standstill and green when things are moving.

Sure, you could simply check on your computer, but doing so autonomously is even cooler.

To accomplish this, Ali employed an inexpensive transparent clock, a 9V battery, and 12 RGB LEDs. An Arduino Uno serves as the brain, while a 1Sheeld accesses the Internet via his smartphone.

Sound like something you’d want in your office? You can check out Ali’s blog post, his Reddit thread, as well as a demo below!