LiveScore

LiveScore for AWTRIX NG (Ulanzi TC002)

Version 2.4 · by Hank_the_Tank / Claude · for the 52×16 panel of the Ulanzi TC002

The live score of your favourite football team, with both teams' kits on either side and a bar that fills up with the match time. Every goal gets a celebration: fireworks, confetti and a stadium jingle. The referee's whistle marks kick-off, half-time and full time. The data comes from ESPN's public scoreboard API, so you don't need an API key or an account.

The app only joins the rotation while your team is playing. On all other days it stays out of the way.

┌──────────┬────────────────────┬──────────┐
│   ▄██▄   │                    │   ▄██▄   │
│ ████████ │      2  :  1       │ ████████ │  ← home kit · score · away kit
│   ████   │                    │   ████   │
│   ████   │  ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▭▭▭▭▭▭  │   ████   │  ← match time (22 cells = 90 min)
└──────────┴────────────────────┴──────────┘

Features

• Hidden until kick-off. The app looks up your team's next match in all competitions (league, cups, European games). It skips its turn in the rotation until the match is live.
• Big score in the middle. It uses 6×10 px block digits. Double-digit scores switch to a narrow form, so they still fit between the kits.
• Both kits. The home team is always on the left and the away team on the right.
  • The opponent wears its ESPN team colours.
  • Your team uses its ESPN colours, or your own colours and one of 12 patterns: plain, stripes, hoops, checker, sash, halves, quarters, chest band, centre stripe, contrast sleeves, chevron or fade.
  • Colours that are too dark to see on the LEDs are lightened automatically.
• Match time bar in the bottom row:
  • green while the match is on, moving smoothly between updates
  • amber at half-time
  • orange in extra time and penalties
  • grey after the final whistle
• Animated. The kits fly in from the sides and the score drops into place. While the app is on screen, a shine sweeps across the kits and digits. The colon and the tip of the match bar pulse while the match is live.
• Goal celebration for your team.
  • A flash, and your kit jumps.
  • A big rainbow GOAL! pops in letter by letter.
  • Three fireworks burst in your team's colours, followed by confetti across the whole panel.
  • The new digit drops in, bounces and glows in your kit colour before it turns back to the score colour.
  • A synthesized stadium jingle plays: timpani, fanfare and a roaring crowd.
• Goal for the opponent. A dimmed GOAL in their colours and a sad trombone. No fireworks.
• Referee whistles. One whistle at kick-off and after the break, two at half-time, three at full time.
• Jumps in. On every goal and at kick-off the app comes to the front of the rotation. You can switch this off.
• Goal scorer banner. After the celebration, a TV-style banner slides up from the bottom: the minute in a box in the scoring team's colour, the scorer next to it (e.g. 89' · M. Merino), with (pen) or (o.g.) where it applies. Long names scroll. If ESPN has not named the scorer yet, the app asks again a few times; without a name it shows the team.
• Card banner. Yellow and red cards get a banner too: the minute in the box in the team's colour, the player next to it (e.g. 66' · P. Treu). Above the minute the referee holds up the card: it slides up from behind the box, springs into place and bobs gently while a shine runs across it. A red card brings the app to the front. A yellow card waits until the app is next on screen (if that is within 3 minutes), so the rotation is not interrupted for every booking.
• Background. A subtle gradient behind kits and score - navy, anthracite, grass, bordeaux or petrol - so dark kit colours don't vanish into black. Pure black is still available.
• Goal announcement. After the jingle, the clock calls out "Goal! Goal! Goal! Dortmund!" with its built-in offline voice (English). Choose all goals or only your team's goals.
• Final score. After the final whistle, the result stays in the rotation for 15 minutes. Then the app hides again and waits for the next match.
• Light on the network. The app checks the fixtures every 30 minutes. From two minutes before kick-off it checks the score every 30 s. Press the middle button while the app is on screen to update right away.

Requirements

• An Ulanzi TC002 running AWTRIX NG firmware 1.1.6 or newer (tested on 1.1.6). The jingle and whistles use the TC002's built-in synthesizer. On older firmware the display works, but sounds and the announcement may stay silent.
• A 52×16 display. The layout is written for it and is not meant for 32×8 clocks.
• No icons are needed. The kits and digits are drawn in code.

Installation

1. Open the AWTRIX web interface in a browser, using the clock's IP address or http://awtrixng-xxxxxx.local.
2. Go to the Scripts tab and create a new script called LiveScore.
3. Paste the contents of LiveScore_share.ax and press Save.
4. Open the Apps tab, click the gear on the LiveScore row and enter your team's ESPN ID (see below).

As long as your team isn't playing, you won't see the app. That is intended. If the panel shows a red ERR:, the error message is shown next to the script in the Scripts tab. Please include it in your feedback.

Finding your team's ESPN ID

Search for your team on espn.com and open its club page. The ID is the number in the address:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/club/_/id/124/borussia-dortmund → 124

A few examples: Bayern Munich 132 · Borussia Dortmund 124 · Real Madrid 86 · Barcelona 83 · Liverpool 364 · Arsenal 359 · Manchester City 382.

Settings

All settings are on the Apps tab, behind the gear on the LiveScore row. Saving restarts the app.

Good to know

• ESPN coverage. The app only knows matches that ESPN lists. Top leagues, second divisions, cups and European competitions are covered well. Lower leagues and friendlies may show up late or not at all.
• Some clubs have no colours on ESPN. VfL Osnabrück, for example, is listed as black on black. Turn ESPN colours for my team off and pick your own colours.
• The minute is approximate. ESPN updates its match clock every few seconds to minutes. Between updates the bar keeps moving on its own and corrects itself at the next update.
• Postponed or cancelled matches are skipped automatically. So is a match that never kicks off within four hours of its planned start.
• The app sends the user agent curl/8.7.1, because ESPN rejects some others with 403 Forbidden.

Changelog

• 2.4 – Banner for yellow and red cards with minute and player, with an animated yellow or red card held up above the minute. New Background setting with five subtle gradients (default grass), so dark kits stand out. The live update now reads the match details in the same request.
• 2.3 – Goal scorer banner with minute and name after every goal (idea from Denn´s DJ). The app stays on the panel a little longer after a goal so the banner can be seen.
• 2.2 – Cleaner digit 1: a short flag and a full-width stem without a foot, only as wide as it needs to be. Values with a 1 no longer drop to the narrow digit form as early.
• 2.1 – Eight new kit patterns: sash, halves, quarters, chest band, centre stripe, contrast sleeves, chevron and fade. Safer goal detection: a jump of more than two goals at once (e.g. a stale ESPN answer) is treated as a resync, not a celebration.
• 2.0 – Animations: kits fly in, shine sweep, pulsing live indicators. Goal celebration with GOAL!, fireworks, confetti and a synthesized stadium jingle; sad trombone for the opponent. Referee whistles at kick-off, half-time and full time. The Goal announcement setting is now Sound with the new option effects.
• 1.1 – Spoken goal announcement (needs firmware 1.1.6). Short ESPN names like "D Dresden" are read as "Dresden".
• 1.0 – First release.