Hackers are buzzing with ideas from Pi-powered arcade machines and drones to the home automation and low-cost tablets. 10 coolest uses for the Raspberry Pi article tells that TechRepublic has delved into the Raspbery Pi’s developer forums, and here’s our round-up of the best ideas so far, ranging from the eminently achievable to the massively ambitious. You can use your Raspberry Pi for example as media streamer, arcade machine, tablet computer, robot controller and home automation controller. Rasberry Pi homepage offers also some more interesting projects like Retro games and a retro joystick.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
A Pi Powered Recording Studio
http://hackaday.com/2016/03/13/a-pi-powered-recording-studio/
In the mid-90s, you recorded your band’s demo on a Tascam cassette tape deck. These surprisingly cheap four-track portable studios were just low tech enough to lend an air of authenticity to a band that calls itself, ‘something like Pearl Jam, but with a piano’. These tape decks disappeared a decade later, just like your dreams of being a rock star, replaced with portable digital recording studios.
The Raspberry Pi exists, the Linux audio stack is in much better shape than it was ten years ago, and now it’s possible to build your own standalone recording studio. That’s exactly what [Daniel] is doing for our Raspberry Pi Zero contest, and somewhat predictably he’s calling it the piStudio.
https://hackaday.io/project/9530-pistudio
With this box i tend to bring back the old days of true portable studio. Inspired by my old tascam ministudio porta 02. Yes old i know. it will be able not only to record but have a hdmi monitor to record /edit onboard. instead of saving to cassettes it will store your files on external SATA drive which is mounted on backside.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pi Glasses
https://hackaday.io/project/9765-pi-glasses
Raspberry pi zero powered glasses using Ntsc glasses from adafruit. Hacked into making the cool, stylish, and nerdy pi glasses.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vintage 8mm Camera Now Powered By Raspberry Pi
http://hackaday.com/2016/03/16/vintage-8mm-camera-now-powered-by-raspberry-pi/
If you are a lover of the aesthetic of vintage photography and Instagram’s filters don’t quite cut it for you, then there are plenty of opportunities even in this post-film age to sample the real thing. Plastic lens cameras from the former Soviet Bloc countries or the Pacific rim are still in production, and you can still buy 35mm and 120 roll film to put in them.
You can even still buy 8mm film for your vintage movie camera, but it’s rather pricey. [Claire Wright] is a young film maker who had an old 8mm camera and really wanted that analog film feel to her work, and she and her father solved this problem by using the 8mm camera’s lens in front of a Raspberry Pi camera sensor. Since an 8mm film frame is 4.5mm x 3.3mm and the Pi camera sensor size is 3.76mm x 2.74mm, it’s quite a good fit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tiny Raspberry Pi Shield for High-Quality RF Signals
http://hackaday.com/2016/03/16/tiny-raspberry-pi-shield-for-high-quality-rf-signals/
Among its many tricks, the Raspberry Pi is capable of putting clock signals signal out on its GPIO pins, and that turns out to be just the thing for synthesizing RF signals in the amateur radio bands. What [Zoltan] realized, though, is that the resulting signals are pretty dirty, so he came up with a clever Pi shield for RF signal conditioning that turns a Pi into a quality low-power transmitter.
QRPi
http://rfsparkling.com/qrpi/
QRPi is an RF signal conditioner shield for Raspberry Pi. Sourcing the RaspberryPi generated RF signal from GPIO4.
Right now existing only for the 20m band for 14.0971 MHz Later on will designed for other bands as well (10m in prototype).
In default GPIO4 mode can be used with WsprryPi, SSTV, CW, check manual here: j.mp/tapr-qrpi GPIO4 mode works with RPi 1 B, B+ and RPi 2 as well for WSPR mode.
When using in the experimental GPIO18 mode (solder jumper selectable; SSB USB, LSB, NFM, WFM, AM with qtcsdr and rpitx) it works only with RPi 2 right now (due to CPU demand)
However please be aware that QRPi was engineered and tested for GPIO4 pin, using WSPR modulation!
Tomi Engdahl says:
PiP: Raspberry Pi Portable Slate Computer
https://hackaday.io/project/6478-pip-raspberry-pi-portable-slate-computer
This is PiP, a portable raspberry pi computer. It runs off of batteries and can do anything a linux based pc can do and more!
I decided to undergo making a portable programming device. I wanted something that used as much of the Pi’s outputs and functions but with minimal interface.
The case is a little bigger than a DMG Gameboy, With a Raspberry Pi B+ board inside and has an adafruit 5″ resistive touch screen that runs on USB and connects through HDMI. The battery is an 8000mah portable USB charger that was dissected and mounted inside the case.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile Text Reader With OCR and Text To Speech
http://hackaday.com/2016/03/21/mobile-text-reader-with-ocr-and-text-to-speech/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Art Frame using OpenFrame
http://hackaday.com/2016/03/28/raspberry-pi-art-frame-using-openframe/
Digital picture frames were a fad awhile back, and you can still pick them up at the local big box store. [Ishac Bertran] and [Jonathan Wohl] decided to go open source with digital frames and create the openframe project. The open-source project uses a Raspberry Pi with WiFi and either an HDMI monitor or a monitor that the Pi can drive (e.g., a VGA with an HDMI adapter).
You are probably thinking: Why not just let the Pi display images? The benefit of openframe is you can remotely manage your frames at the openframe.io site. You can push images, websites (like Hackaday.com) or shaders out to any of your frames. You can also draw on public streams of artwork posted by other users.
A frame for Openframe
http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Frame-for-Openframe/
openframe alpha 0.2 is a platform for displaying digital art
http://openframe.io/
Openframe is an open source platform for artists, curators and art enthusiasts to share, discover and display digital art.
Openframe is free. Anyone can set up a frame using an HDMI display and a Raspberry Pi.
Openframe is a collaborative, on-going project. The platform consists of an API, a web app, and software for the RPi that currently supports images, web-based artwork, and shaders. Our goal is to create a system that is accessible and extensible, allowing artists to easily add support for new digital formats.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Slideshow
Interesting Raspberry Pi Projects in New Pi Flavors
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329247&
Since its launch in 2012, the Raspberry Pi has undergone seven revisions over the years with the latest released, the Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi 3), only a few short weeks ago. Each revision brings updated technology and along with it, increased options for unique projects.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi As Speed Camera
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/03/raspberry-pi-as-speed-camera/
[Gregtinkers]’ brother-in-law posted a message on Facebook outlining just that problem, and sadly the local police department lacked the resources to enforce the limit. This set [Gregtinkers] on a path to document the scale of the problem and lend justification to police action, which led him to use OpenCV and the Raspberry Pi camera to make his own speed camera.
The theory of operation is straightforward, the software tracks moving objects along the road in the camera’s field of view, times their traversal, and calculates the resulting speed. The area of the image containing the road is defined by a bounding box, to stop spurious readings from birds or neighbours straying into view.
Car Speed Detector
https://gregtinkers.wordpress.com/2016/03/25/car-speed-detector/
Record the speed of cars passing in front of the Raspberry Pi Picamera
https://github.com/gregtinkers/carspeed.py
This program for the Raspberry Pi determines the speed of cars moving through the Picamera’s field of view. An image of the car and labeled with its speed is saved.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DVB-S From a Raspberry Pi with No Extra Hardware
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/03/dvb-s-from-a-raspberry-pi-with-no-extra-hardware/
One of the more recent seemingly impossible feats of signal synthesis on a Raspberry Pi comes from [Evariste Courjaud, F5OEO]. He’s created a DVB-S digital TV transmitter that produces a usable output direct from a GPIO pin, with none of the external modulators that were a feature of previous efforts required. (It is worth pointing out though that for legal transmission a filter would be necessary.)
DVB is a collection of digital TV standards used in most of the world except China and the Americas. DVB-S is the satellite version of DVB, and differs from its terrestrial counterpart in the modulation scheme it employs
This isn’t the first piece of [F5OEO] software creating useful radio modes from a GPIO pin. He’s also generated SSB, AM, and SSTV from his Pi, something which a lot of us in the amateur radio community have found very useful indeed.
Digital Television Transmitter on Raspberry Pi
https://github.com/F5OEO/rpidatv
RF transmitter for Raspberry Pi
https://github.com/F5OEO/rpitx
Tomi Engdahl says:
Weight Tracking, Wise Cracking IoT Bathroom Scale
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/15/weight-tracking-wise-cracking-iot-bathroom-scale/
For those fighting the battle of the bulge, the forced discipline of fitness bands and activity tracking software might not be enough motivation. Some who are slimming down need a little gentle encouragement to help you lose weight and keep it off. If that sounds like you, then by all means avoid building this weight-tracking IoT scale with an attitude.
Build Your Own Hackable, Weight Tracking, Text Messaging Scale with a Sense of Humor
http://blog.initialstate.com/build-your-own-hackable-weight-tracking-text-messaging-scale-with-a-sense-of-humor/
This is a fun, easy project that combines a Wii balance board, a Raspberry Pi, and an online data analytics platform (https://www.initialstate.com) to create a web-connected scale controlled by a Python script you can hack.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Star Tracking Telescope Mount
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/14/a-star-tracking-telescope-mount/
For [Chris]’ entry into the 2016 Hackaday Prize, he’s giving his old telescope an upgrade. With a Raspberry Pi, a few 3D printed adapters, and a new telescope mount to create a homebrew telescope computer.
The alt-az mount really isn’t the right tool for the astronomical job.
To give this telescope a brain, he’ll be using a Raspberry Pi, GPS, magnetometer, and ostensibly a real-time clock to make sure the build knows where the stars are.
StarPi
A Raspberry Pi based Astrophotography System
https://hackaday.io/project/10181-starpi
A Raspberry Pi system to assist with Astrophotography.The completed system will have a simple to use browser based interface to a Pi camera mounted to the eyepiece of a telescope, Additional sensors will feedback location and the position on a star map. This will also be streamed to Stellarium open source software and both Stellarium and the browser will be able to send GoTo commands to the telescope and if motors are attached will track the target.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altazimuth_mount
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digital Logging Of Analog Instruments
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/16/digital-logging-of-analog-instruments/
a way to convert these old analog gauges to digital using a Raspberry Pi and a bit of computer vision.
this team is using a 3D printed bracket that mounts a Raspberry Pi and camera directly in front of an analog gauge. Combine this contraption with OpenCV, and you have a device that’s just smart enough to look at a needle on a dial, convert that to a number, and save it to a file or send it out over WiFi.
Instrument Digitizer using Computer Vision
A device to create a digital data output for analog sensors and instruments, on temporary and permanent setups.
https://hackaday.io/project/10617-instrument-digitizer-using-computer-vision
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fabscan PI – Open Source web-enabled 3D Scanner
https://hackaday.io/project/5857-fabscan-pi-open-source-web-enabled-3d-scanner
FabScan PI is the next generation of the famous open-source, do-it-yourself 3D laser scanner, which uses a Raspberry PI2.
FabScan Pi is the next generation of the famous open-source, do-it-yourself 3D laser scanner. You can find more information about the current Hardware setup at: http://hci.rwth-aachen.de/fabscan
Software
The new software consists of two parts. The backend and the fronted. The backend does all the magic 3D scanning stuff. While the fronted is used to visualize all the crated data. The backend is written in python an can be easily modified. The fronted is written in Javascript and uses HTML 5 technologies like WebGL and WebSockets.
Hardware
FabScan PI2 uses a Raspberry PI2 with the PI camera module as base system. Additionally a 12 LED ring is added make environment lighting control easier. With this combination the scan results can be drastically increased. There will be a Raspberry PI FabScan HAT available at Watterott electronics soon
Tomi Engdahl says:
pyLCI – Linux Control Interface
A simple control interface for your Linux devices. Great base for your Raspberry Pi projects.
https://hackaday.io/project/10001-pylci-linux-control-interface
pyLCI lets you control and configure a Linux system in headless mode, without having to SSH in, use a command line, change any configuration files directly, or search for suitable UART adapters. It is very easy to install and use, and it’s easy to embed in your new Raspberry Pi / BeagleBone / HTPC project. If you need additional features, you can expand it by adding any functions you need.
And it starts from 5$! Moreover, you can assemble it using a starter kit – it most likely has a 16×2 character LCD and some buttons
Tomi Engdahl says:
Modifying a Raspberry Pi 2 To Fit In Small Places
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/22/modifying-a-raspberry-pi-2-to-fit-in-small-places/
Still can’t get your hands on a Pi Zero? We know. Why not de-solder a few headers from a Raspberry Pi 2 to fit in your next project instead? Using a pair of 2.5″ HDD enclosures, [nodenet] made a mini linux laptop using the Raspberry Pi 2 — It even has a touch screen, and features a 1000mAh battery!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Retro Rotary Raspi Phone Rings Alexa
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/23/retro-rotary-raspi-phone-rings-alexa/
[MisterM] is a man after our own heart. He loves to combine the aesthetic of vintage equipment with the utility of new technologies. His latest venture is AlexaPhone, which marries the nearly instantaneous retrieval and computation power of Amazon’s Alexa voice service with the look and feel of a 1970s rotary phone. Best of all, there’s no need to spin the dial and wait for it to go whirring back around. AlexaPhone is ready to take questions as soon as the handset is lifted.
Questions are transmitted through a salvaged USB VOIP phone plugged into the Pi.
1970s Raspberry Pi Amazon AlexaPhone
http://www.instructables.com/id/1970s-Raspberry-Pi-Amazon-AlexaPhone/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rasberry Pi Zero Plays Every Simpsons Episode Ever at Random
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/08/rasberry-pi-zero-plays-every-simpsons-episode-ever-at-random/
If there’s a better use for Raspberry Pi Zero than a shuffler for episodes of “The Simpsons”, we haven’t heard about it.
Creator [Stephen Coyle] took inspiration from [Will Smith]’s mention of the burning need for such a device on the Tested podcast years back. The gadget is just a Zero with a familiar yellow button – hopefully it’s Pantone 116 C – that randomly selects an episode from the SD card.
As an aside, we feel pretty old after seeing that all 593 episodes can easily fit on a 128GB SD card
The Pi Zero Simpsons Shuffler
http://stephencoyle.net/the-pi-zero-simpsons-shuffler/
The Pi Zero Simpsons Shuffler1 is simple – you press the yellow button, and it plays a random episode of the Simpsons
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Balloon Goes Too High, Goes Boom, But Survives
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/07/raspberry-pi-balloon-goes-too-high-goes-boom-but-survives/
Some people like to get high on a Wednesday afternoon. [Kevin Hubbard] of Black Mesa Labs likes to get really high. Even higher than intended: last month, he flew a helium balloon powered by a Raspberry Pi to 103,000 feet. It was only supposed to go to 90,000, but a fault in the code for the controller meant that it went higher, burst and plunged to the ground. All thanks to an extra hash mark in his code.
HAB1 04.27.2016 Ascent to 31K Meters (103,000 Feet)
https://blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2016/04/30/hab1-ascent-to-104000-feet/
Tomi Engdahl says:
K.I.S.S. Pi Sprinkler – Just Keep the Plants Alive
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/06/k-i-s-s-pi-sprinkler-just-keep-the-plants-alive/
A good first step in a project is knowing what you want to do. [Ben Fino] made it clear that his Raspberry Pi Sprinkler control system for his wife’s garden had one goal: keep the plants alive. The resulting project is doing just that and no more.
The circuitry, and plumbing, is straightforward and explained well in the Instructable. All the electronics consists of is the Pi and a MOSFET to take the 3.3v GPIO to 5v to control a relay. The valve controlling the water requires 28v AC which necessitated the relay to control it. There are also three LEDs: one is for power, one to indicate when the valve is opened, and one is an extra for some future purpose.
The intriguing part is the use of weather data from the web to determine if it’s rained recently. Python scripts provided by [Ben’s] friend [Mark Veillette] use a weather site API to get the rainfall data. The main script is set to run once every 24 hours.
What a great application of the KISS principle: keep it simple, stupid
Raspberry Pi Controlled Irrigation System
http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-Controlled-Irrigation-System/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Powering A Pi From A Battery
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/11/hackaday-prize-entry-powering-a-pi-from-a-battery/
Knocking a microcontroller into sleep mode and waking it up on demand or in intervals is common practice in many low power applications, enabling devices to stay in operation for years on a single coin cell battery. Since there are tons of applications where you might want to do similar things with a Raspberry Pi, [Patrick Van Oosterwijck] created the LiFePO4wered/Pi. The module that snaps on to eight GPIO pins of a Pi, extending it by a long life LiFePO4 battery, a charging regulator, and a proper power management. Obviously, it also makes a great UPS.
LiFePO4wered/Pi
LiFePO4 battery / UPS / power manager for Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.io/project/9461-lifepo4weredpi
Description
* Ever wished you could unplug your Raspberry Pi and move it elsewhere when you were in the middle of something and didn’t want to turn it off?
* Ever wanted to have your Pi run on battery power for a couple of hours?
* Ever wanted to have your Pi sleep most of the time, but wake up to do a short task at regular intervals, all while battery powered?
* Ever wanted your Pi to have a power button that would do a clean shutdown instead of just pulling power, even if you were using it headless?
* Ever had a high-availability application where you wanted your Pi to run through short power outages, and cleanly shut down and come back online when power returned?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, LiFePO4wered/Pi is for you!
Tomi Engdahl says:
VR Telepresence Tank from Raspberry Pi, Google Cardboard, and Xbox Controller
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/12/vr-telepresence-tank-from-raspberry-pi-google-cardboard-and-xbox-controller/
It’s great to see different kinds of hardware and software tossed into a project together, allowing someone to mix things that don’t normally go together into something new. [Freddy Kilo] did just that with a project he calls his VR Robot Tank. It’s a telepresence device that uses a wireless Xbox controller to drive a tracked platform, which is itself headed by a Raspberry Pi.
The Pi has two cameras on a pan-tilt mount, and those cameras are both aimed and viewed via a Google Cardboard-like setup. A healthy dose of free software glues it together, allowing things like video streaming (with U4VL) and steering via the wireless controller (with xboxdrv).
Google Cardboard Xbox 360 controlled Raspberry Pi VR Robot Tank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9gSZwVMybc
Tomi Engdahl says:
Self-Driving Cars Get Tiny
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/16/self-driving-cars-get-tiny/
There’s a car race going on right now, but it’s not on any sort of race track. There’s a number of companies vying to get their prototype on the road first. [Anurag] has already completed the task, however, except his car and road are functional models.
While his car isn’t quite as involved as the Google self driving car, and it doesn’t have to deal with pedestrians and other active obstacles, it does use a computer and various sensors to make decisions about how to drive. A Raspberry Pi 2 takes the wheel in this build, taking input from a Pi camera and an ultrasonic distance sensor. The Pi communicates to another computer over WiFi, where a neural network operates to make decisions about how to drive the car. It also makes decisions based on a database of pictures of the track, so it has a point of reference to go by.
http://anuragmishracse.github.io/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Holoscope – Superresolution Holographic Microscope
https://hackaday.io/project/11621-holoscope-superresolution-holographic-microscope
Subpixel imaging using the Raspberry Pi and an Android Smarthpone. The lightsource is represented by an LCD.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Cluster Build Shows How and What
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/26/raspberry-pi-cluster-build-shows-how-and-what/
Raspberry Pi clusters are a dime a dozen these days. Well, maybe more like £250 for a five-Pi cluster. Anyway, this project is a bit different. It’s exquisitely documented.
[Nick Smith] built a 5-node Pi 3 cluster from scratch, laser-cutting his own acrylic case and tearing down a small network switch to include in the design. It is, he happily admits, a solution looking for a problem. [Smith] did an excellent job of documenting how he designed the case in CAD, prototyped it in wood, and how he put the final cluster together with eye-catching clear acrylic.
DIY 5 Node Cluster of Raspberry Pi 3s
Building a Raspberry Pi 3 cluster for under £100 (£250 including five RPi3s)
http://climbers.net/sbc/diy-raspberry-pi-3-cluster/
Inspired by all the great Raspberry Pi projects out there, I thought I’d try designing & building something simple myself. The launch of the Raspberry Pi 3 in March 2016 got me enthusiastic about building my very own cluster of Pi’s (a “bramble” :;). Along the way I got to play with a 40W laser cutter, and spent more than a few hours learning basic design with the SketchUp and Inkscape applications
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Levels with You
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/27/raspberry-pi-levels-with-you/
He took an internal measurement unit (IMU) and a Raspberry Pi to create a modern take on the spirit level.
The device shows virtual spirit bubbles on an LCD using some Python libraries.
Raspberry Pi Digital Spirit Level
http://ozzmaker.com/raspberry-pi-spirit-level/
Tomi Engdahl says:
TSL2561, BMP180, DS18B20 on a Zero
https://www.hackster.io/ian-zahn/tsl2561-bmp180-ds18b20-on-a-zero-d46366?ref=list&ref_id=2672&offset=14
Using Cayenne and a Pi Zero to monitor fish tank ambient lighting / temperature and room pressure / temperature.
Already had Cayenne on the Zero so I just wired everything up and let ‘er rip. The 18B20 auto detected appropriately and the TSL2561 and BMP180 installed in a couple of clicks. Cayenne really makes getting things up and running very easy.
For those out there that wish to reproduce this dashboard and have the TSL2561, BMP180, and DS18B20, the Cayenne team provides tutorials for their compatible sensors.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AWS IoT and Beehives
https://www.hackster.io/bees/aws-iot-and-beehives-c59fff?ref=list&ref_id=2672&offset=0
Beekeeping and hive management provide an important use case for IoT in agriculture.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling the observation, analysis, and transmission of information in new and exciting ways. Low-cost connected devices that interact with cloud applications extend our reach into what is observable, learned, and actionable in the world.
Nowhere is this more evident than in agriculture, where IoT and data-driven approaches are making farming more efficient and sustainable. Beekeeping and hive management provide an important use case for IoT in agriculture.
AWS IoT is a managed cloud platform that allows you to easily build systems in which billions of devices exchange trillions of messages. AWS IoT can reliably and securely process and route these messages to AWS endpoints and other devices. This whitepaper will demonstrate how to use AWS IoT and low-cost, internet-connected sensors to monitor the hives in a honey bee apiary. More broadly, this paper shows how any IoT system can deliver similar insights with different inputs.
The steps that follow show how AWS IoT can be used to establish secure hive telemetry communications between IoT devices in honey bee colonies and the AWS IoT message broker. The analytical data we receive from these messages can alert us when measurements fall outside of normal, healthy ranges.
Secure Messaging with AWS IoT
The AWS IoT message broker supports MQTT, a lightweight connectivity protocol that uses TCP as a transport protocol.
Secure-MQTT uses X.509 certificates as keys in the same way as other mutually authenticated TLS applications. In this use case, the client (a honey beehive) must be able to authenticate the server (AWS IoT), and the server must be able to authenticate the client.
To establish a Secure-MQTT connection to AWS IoT, the client must have:
A root CA certificate (stored in a file named ca.pem). The AWS IoT service root CA is provided by Symantec. You can download it from here.
The client’s private key (stored in a file named private-key.pem).
A client certificate generated by AWS IoT (stored in a file named certificate.pem).
The root CA is used by the client device to verify the identity of the AWS IoT service. The private key and client certificate represent the identity of the client device and are used to authenticate to AWS IoT.
Raspberry Pi Operating System Configuration
This IoT beehive implementation uses Raspberry Pi A+ client devices running the Raspbian Jessie operating system.
First, install the Mosquitto MQTT client software. This is the client software that will be used to communicate with AWS IoT.
You need Mosquitto version 1.4 or later.
Because this IoT implementation will be using an application written in Python, install the Paho Python client from Eclipse
Typically, an inexpensive USB Wi-Fi dongle is added to provide wireless internet connectivity. The A+ is more than adequate for this AWS IoT beehive application. It also includes a 40-pin extended GPIO for wiring sensors.
You will use two DS18B20 thermometers with long cables to collect temperature readings.
You will use a small wiring breadboard to connect the thermometer sensors to the Raspberry Pi. A Tupperware container can serve as an inexpensive case.
Two kernel modules must be loaded in order to access the temperatures reported by the w1-gpio and w1-therm sensors
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Hat For The Headless Linux System
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/28/hackaday-prize-entry-a-hat-for-the-headless-linux-system/
Connecting a headless Raspberry Pi to a wireless network can be quite a paradoxical situation. To connect it to the network, you need to open an SSH connection to configure the wireless port. But to do so, you need a network connection in the first place. Of course, you can still get command-line access using a USB-to-UART adapter or the Pi’s ethernet port – if present – but [Arsenijs] worked out a much more convenient solution for his Hackaday Prize entry: The pyLCI Linux Control Interface.
His solution is a little LCD-pushbutton-hat that sits on the single board computer’s GPIOs along with a Python application. This allows you to configure all important aspects of a Raspberry Pi – or any other Linux SBC – from a tidily organized click-and-scroll menu.
pyLCI – Linux Control Interface
A simple control interface for your Linux devices. Great base for your Raspberry Pi projects.
https://hackaday.io/project/10001-pylci-linux-control-interface
pyLCI lets you control and configure a Linux system in headless mode, without having to SSH in, use a command line, change any configuration files directly, or search for suitable UART adapters. It is very easy to install and use, and it’s easy to embed in your new Raspberry Pi / BeagleBone / HTPC project. If you need additional features, you can expand it by adding any functions you need.
And it starts from 5$! Moreover, you can assemble it using a starter kit – it likely has a 16×2 character LCD and some buttons.
Why? I had a lot of problems with controlling my Raspberry Pi devices – connecting them to networks is often a catch-22. I hate web-interfaces when all I need is no more than a simple menu with some buttons to navigate it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Flypi – cheap microscope/experimental setup
https://hackaday.io/project/5059-flypi-cheap-microscopeexperimental-setup
Pi + Picamera + M12 lens + Arduino microscope/experimental setup for diagnostics and scientific experiments!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Glowboard Plotter
https://hackaday.io/project/11868-glowboard-plotter
The Glowboard Plotter plots images using 64 UV LEDs attached in a line moved over a 120cmx60cm glow-in-the-dark sheet by a stepper.
The Glowboard Plotter was built with a piece of 120cm x 60cm Glow-In-The-Dark sheet, a stepper, 64 UV Leds controlled by a MAX7219 attached to a raspberry pi. The Leds are attached to a wooden bar which moves over the sheet. A little webserver is used to receive images and controls the Leds and the stepper so that images are plotted.
The biggest problem is that the glowboard is quite noisy. This is caused by the very simple python program, doing the calculation of the images and controlling of the steppers. So, every time the LEDs are updated, the stepper movement is stopped for a short period of time.
To fix this, the movement of the stepper has to be controlled by a separate process, which is capable of realtime processing. The easiest way to do this would be to let an arduino control the movements of the stepper, and give our python program running on the raspberry pi feedback about its position.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Raspberry Pi Project
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/23/hackaday-prize-entry-a-raspberry-pi-project/
Tomi Engdahl says:
AutoFan – Machine Vision Based Control of Air Flow
https://hackaday.io/project/12384-autofan-machine-vision-based-control-of-air-flow
A prototype for automatically controlling the direction of air flow using face detection.
AutoFan is a prototype for controlling the direction of air flow of a fan based on face detection. It uses a low-cost camera (e.g. a webcam), a Raspberry Pi 2, a face recognition algorithm and two servo motors controlling the lamellae of a custom-made fan. By inferring the position of a face from the camera images the servo motor angles are adjusted to point the airflow into (or away) from the face.
The lamellae of the fan are controlled by a Raspberry Pi 2, which also takes care of the algorithms for face detection and the estimation of the relative position of the head. The software framework is written in Python making use of libraries such as OpenCV (e.g. by using a haar-cascade classifier for face detection) or multiprocessing (e.g. for making efficient use of the Raspberry’s four CPU cores).
All design files and the corresponding code can be found in my GitHub repository.
https://github.com/hgmeyer/AutoFan
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Launches ‘Project Bloks’ Toys To Teach Kids To Code
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/06/27/1950252/google-launches-project-bloks-toys-to-teach-kids-to-code
Google has launched a hardware project dubbed ‘Project Bloks’ to help teach kids how to code. There are three components to the learning experience: Brain Board, Base Boards, and Pucks. The Brain Board features a processing unit that is based off of Raspberry Pi Zero, which controls and provides power to the rest of the connected components. It does also interact with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices. The Base Boards are connective units that let users design instruction flows.
https://projectbloks.withgoogle.com/
Google Research Blog:
Google announces Project Bloks, a new open hardware platform to make coding physical for kids, still in development — Posted by Steve Vranakis and Jayme Goldstein, Executive Creative Director and Project Lead, Google Creative Lab — At Google, we’re passionate about empowering children to create and explore with technology.
Project Bloks: Making code physical for kids
https://research.googleblog.com/2016/06/project-bloks-making-code-physical-for.html
At Google, we’re passionate about empowering children to create and explore with technology. We believe that when children learn to code, they’re not just learning how to program a computer—they’re learning a new language for creative expression and are developing computational thinking: a skillset for solving problems of all kinds. In fact, it’s a skillset whose importance is being recognised around the world—from President Obama’s CS4All program to the inclusion of Computer Science in the UK National Curriculum. We’ve long supported and advocated the furthering of CS education through programs and platforms such as Blockly, Scratch Blocks, CS First and Made w/ Code. Today, we’re happy to announce Project Bloks, a research collaboration between Google, Paulo Blikstein (Stanford University) and IDEO with the goal of creating an open hardware platform that researchers, developers and designers can use to build physical coding experiences. As a first step, we’ve created a system for tangible programming and built a working prototype with it. We’re sharing our progress before conducting more research over the summer to inform what comes next.
Introducing Project Bloks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuRTS35ouTs
Google launches ‘Project Bloks’ toys to teach kids to code
http://thenextweb.com/google/2016/06/27/google-launches-project-bloks-toys-teach-kids-code/#gref
Google wants to help teach kids how to code, so now it’s launching a hardware platform for kids (and curious) adults to learn the principles of code. It’s called Project Bloks.
There are three components to the experience.
The Brain Board houses a processing unit based off of Raspberry Pi Zero, both controlling and providing power to the rest of the connected units. It can also interact with WiFi and Bluetooth devices.
Meanwhile, the ‘Base Boards’ are connective units that let you design instruction flows.
Tomi Engdahl says:
It may not be a full-sized vehicle but Zheng Wang’s Self Driving RC Car does everything Google’s can (except for parallel parking) only on a smaller scale. Of course, this project takes advantage of the Raspberry Pi as well and uses a PiCam and an ultrasonic sensor for collision avoidance. OpenCV controls the vehicles steering, Haar-cascade classifiers are used for stoplight/stop sign detection and an Arduino handles the RC, which gives instructions to the car based on the data collected. To see a complete build walkthrough with more in-depth information head here (https://zhengludwig.wordpress.com/projects/self-driving-rc-car/).
Source: http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329968&page_number=4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi heating controller
https://hackaday.io/project/10295-raspberry-pi-heating-controller
Domestic boiler regulation without huge
cabling and outlying sensors
System specification
- Domestic boiler (goal, wood) with two hot water loops.
One for boiler constant temperature and second for radiators.
- Raspberry Pi and PiFace interface as control equipment
with some more HW.
MAIN IDEA
To use all building radiators status for regulation without huge
cabling and outlying sensors.
Information of rooms temperature is pick up from temp difference
between input and otput of room radiator.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Zero Becomes Mighty Miniature Minecraft Machine
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/02/raspberry-pi-zero-becomes-mighty-miniature-minecraft-machine/
In a clever bit of miniaturization, [JediJeremy] has nearly completed a gyro-mouse controller for a Raspberry Pi Zero! Ultimately this will be a wearable Linux-watch but along the way he had some fun with the interface.
Using the MPU6040 gyroscope/accelerometer card from a quadcopter, [JediJeremy] spent a week writing the driver to allow it to function as a mouse. Strapping an Adafruit 1.5″ PAL/NTSC LCD screen and its driver board to the Zero with rubber bands makes this one of the smallest functional computer and screen combos we’ve seen. Simply tilt the whole thing about to direct the cursor.
http://unorthodox-engineers.blogspot.fi/2016/06/pi-manipulator-build-part-1.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Pi Robot Without a Hat
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/06/a-pi-robot-without-a-hat/
Daughter boards for microcontroller systems, whether they are shields, hats, feathers, capes, or whatever, are a convenient way to add sensors and controllers. Well, most of the time they are until challenges arise trying to stack multiple boards.
The alternative is to unstack the stack and use external boards.
I used a servo controller and two motor controllers from Pololu. They are still available and I’m using them on a rebuild, this time using the Raspberry Pi as the brain. USB isn’t the only option, though. A quick search found boards at Adafruit, Robotshop, and Sparkfun that use I2C.
This approach has challenges and benefits. A stack of daughter boards makes a neat package, where external boards makes a tangle of wires. Random sizes can make mounting a challenge. Providing power can also be a hassle
On the other hand, external boards can offload processing from your main processor. Once a command is sent, these boards handle all the details including refresh requirements.
I am using an 18-channel board from the Pololu Maestro Servo Controller family of boards that control from 6 to 24 servos using a single board. You might find the Adafruit 16 channel I2C board a useful alternative. For motor control I turned to the Pololu Simple Motor Controller family using one that will handle 18 amps.
A test program, cross compiled from my desktop, moves the robot forward, pivots left than right, and then reverses. The pan / tilt moves and the LED flashes.
Comment:
Personally I rarely find myself able to justify the premium for shields or whatever people want to call them. Unless the form factor for whatever reason is absolutely critical or they are dirt cheap. Neither seems to be a common case for me
Tomi Engdahl says:
Making A Networked 32X32 LED Panel Case
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/06/making-a-networked-32×32-led-panel-case/
[Adam Haile] of [Maniacal Labs] is at it again, whipping up some LED weirdness. This project is smaller than most of his work, though: he has made a nice case that holds a 32X32 LED matrix screen, the controller, and a Raspberry Pi.
Jumbo1K: 32×32 LED Networked Display
http://maniacallabs.com/2016/06/28/jumbo1k-32×32-led-networked-display/
It’s a 7.5″ square, 32×32 resolution, 6mm LED spacing, panel that would normally be used for digital signage. Though it is a “dumb” display that requires CPU intensive multiplexing (it’s supposed to be driven by an FPGA or ASIC), with the right tools it can be way easier to use than building
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digital Opponent In An Analog Package
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/08/digital-opponent-in-an-analog-package/
Unsatisfied with the present options for chess computers and preferring the feel of a real board and pieces, [Max Dobres] decided that his best option would be to build his own.
A small LCD screen and four buttons also connect to the Arduino for configuring options a number of options, computer difficulty, and play styles, while a Raspberry Pi acts as the main computer.
The Raspberry Pi is using ChessBoard 2.05 as a rule set with consideration for special moves (such as en passant and castling).
The chess program Stockfish is the actual engine; be sure to adjust the skill of the AI, as it defaults to an ELO of 2600!
He has recently updated his design and done away with the need for the Arduino in the process which — especially if you use the Pi Zero — drops the cost of this project significantly.
Arduino & Rasperry PI Chess Computer
http://chess.fortherapy.co.uk/home/
Design for easy to build one system Chess Computer
http://chess.fortherapy.co.uk/home/a-wooden-chess-computer/design-ideas-for-easy-to-build-beaglebone-black-chess-computer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Beautiful Raspberry Pi Laptop Inspired By Psion
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/08/beautiful-raspberry-pi-laptop-inspired-by-psion/
The RasPSION features the Raspberry Pi 7″ display as well as a Bluetooth keyboard, 5V battery pack and the Pi camera. What makes it special is its laser cut case, and in particular its pivoting hinge mechanism.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi project
A Raspberry Pi-based project with a Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.io/project/12122-raspberry-pi-project
I’m using a Raspberry Pi in this project. This project also includes a Raspberry Pi to achieve something that a Raspberry Pi is a perfect fit for. Specifically, I’m using some Raspberry Pi software with Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi accessories. I’m also using a Raspberry Pi for some auxiliary functions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Security System
Rpi B+ and Webcam security system with motion, dvr, and remote access.
https://hackaday.io/project/4542-raspberry-pi-security-system
Turning a raspberry pi b+, a webcam (Tecknet 1080p) and 1TB hard drive into a DVR home security system with remote access. I plan to add more cameras in the future along with sensors wired to each doorway.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Cheap Robotic Microscope
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/26/hackaday-prize-entry-a-cheap-robotic-microscope/
The microscope is one of the most useful instruments for the biological sciences, but they are expensive. Lucky for us, a factory in China can turn out webcams and plastic lenses and sell them for pennies. That’s the idea behind Flypi – a cheap microscope for scientific experiments and diagnostics that’s based on the ever-popular Raspberry Pi.
Flypi is designed to be a simple scientific tool and educational device. With that comes the challenges of being very cheap and very capable. It’s based around a Raspberry Pi and the Pi camera, with the relevant software for taking snapshots, recording movies, and controlling a few different modules that extend the capabilities of this machine.
Flypi – cheap microscope/experimental setup
https://hackaday.io/project/5059-flypi-cheap-microscopeexperimental-setup
Pi + Picamera + M12 lens + Arduino microscope/experimental setup for diagnostics and scientific experiments!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mycodo | Environmental Regulation System
Bringing industrial automation and regulation to everyone.
https://hackaday.io/project/11997-mycodo-environmental-regulation-system
Since the dawn of humankind, we’ve battled against and sought to tame nature.
This understanding led to increased productivity in all aspects of life. Industrial automation and regulation allowed control of the exact variables to produce the tastiest fruits, the largest mushroom flushes, the most exquisite cheeses, the most amazing beers and wines, and other products.
This is what I want to make accessible to the average person, and enable them to be their own producers. Mycodo is currently being used around the world, by regular people, to automate in ways that were once only possible with industrial control systems.
Originally developed for cultivating gourmet mushrooms, Mycodo has since broadened its use to various other applications and now runs on the popular and inexpensive Raspberry Pi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: An Oven Of Raspberry Pis
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/13/hackaday-prize-entry-an-oven-of-raspberry-pis/
When the Raspberry Pi was introduced, the world was given a very cheap, usable Linux computer. Cheap is good, and it enables one kind of project that was previously fairly expensive. This, of course, is cluster computing, and now we can imagine an Aronofsky-esque Beowulf cluster in our apartment.
This Hackaday Prize entry is for a 100-board cluster of Raspberry Pis running Hadoop. Has something like this been done before? Most certainly. The trick is getting it right, being able to physically scale the cluster, and putting the right software on it.
For the software, the team behind this box of Raspberries is turning to Hadoop. Yahoo recently built a Hadoop cluster with 32,000 nodes used for deep learning and other very computationally intensive tasks.
Hadoop on a 100 Board Raspberry Pi Cluster
https://hackaday.io/project/11132-hadoop-on-a-100-board-raspberry-pi-cluster
Little Price, Big Data! We have developed multi-board Pi clusters and have gotten Hadoop to run. Now we need see what it will do!
The goal of this Hackaday project is to use the Raspberry Pi 2 board in a way that we have never seen done before and will have definite applicability in the education of anybody in our society, from children through adults. If we can put these PicoClusters (PicoCluster is the name of our partner company that started this hardware project) together to handle large amounts of data at high data speeds then we have what we need; something we can put on the market in varying sizes and locations knowing that with smaller configurations we can meet the needs of smaller remote cities, but that we can also scale up to as much processing power as is needed. This is a gamble on our part in that we would normally rely on industry-standard hardware/software, likely in a cloud deployment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3.3V Is Not Enough for This Raspberry Pi Zero
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/14/3-3v-is-not-enough-for-this-raspberry-pi-zero/
A Raspberry Pi Zero is down to a price and size where it’s just begging to be integrated into your projects. Unless, that is, if your project involves a lot of 5 V equipment. Then it’s just begging to be fried.
[David Brown] solved this problem by breaking out pins with level converters.
Raspberry Pi Zero Breakout
https://hackaday.io/project/11222-raspberry-pi-zero-breakout
A break out board for the Raspberry Pi Zero for use with 5v signalling, and featuring a full size USB-A socket
This board was developed for use in my Direct UV Printer, but may be useful to other projects. It consists of x3 Texas Instruments TXS0108E voltage level converters for 5V signalling and full size USB-A for WIFI dongle etc.
Both cards include an EEPROM following the Raspberry Pi HAT conventions to allow specification of the pin INPUT / OUTPUT configuration. And the single USB socket broken out to a full size powered USB-A socket via POGO pins.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Greenhouse Pi
https://hackaday.io/project/12762-greenhouse-pi
Solar powered Raspberry Pi measuring greenhouse environmental data and driving some actors
After building a greenhouse in my garden i came across the need to measure temperature, to check humidity and to run some fans in there: As near the roof it tends to always be warmer than near the ground and it gets warm very quickly when the sun is shining – but it cools down quickly when no sun (of course one could get a weather station for cheap money but i could only manually read the results and it would be no challenge…) i got an idea: Use my Raspberry, equip it with sensors and control parameters with some actors (fans). As there is no general power available i decided to run the Raspi on solar power….
The basic idea is to build a solar power source for the Raspberry Pi located in a greenhouse , to connect the PI to sensors, connect it via WiFi, log all data to a RethinkDB database and built an application to view the data and influence some actors connected to the Pi (fans) to controll temperature and humditiy in the greenhouse. The software will be built not based on polling principle but on change feeds (as provided by RethinkDB) to trigger actions by other components (e.g. a Refresh of data shown). The communication will be based on Tornado / WebSockets.
Source Code will be located here (not yet available):
https://github.com/awirthmueller/GreenhousePi
Tomi Engdahl says:
Capacitive Imaging With A Raspberry Pi Touch Screen
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/18/capacitive-imaging-with-a-raspberry-pi-touch-screen/
We use touch screens all the time these days, and though we all know they support multiple touch events it is easy for us to take them for granted and forget that they are a rather accomplished sensor array in their own right.
[Optismon] has long held an interest in capacitive touch screen sensors, and has recently turned his attention to the official Raspberry Pi 7-inch touchscreen display. He set out to read its raw capacitance values, and ended up with a fully functional 2D capacitive imaging device able to sense hidden nails and woodwork in his drywall.
Raspberry Pi 7 inch touchscreen display hacking
http://optisimon.com/raspberrypi/touch/ft5406/2016/07/13/raspberry-pi-7-inch-touchscreen-hacking/
Tomi Engdahl says:
One Man, A Raspberry Pi, and a Formerly Hand Powered Loom
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/20/one-man-a-raspberry-pi-and-a-formerly-hand-powered-loom/
[Fred Hoefler] was challenged to finally do something with that Raspberry Pi he wouldn’t keep quiet about. So he built a machine assist loom for the hand weaver. Many older weavers simply can’t enjoy their art anymore due to the physical strain caused by the repetitive task. Since he had a Pi looking for a purpose, he also had his project.
His biggest requirement was cost. There are lots of assistive looms on the market, but the starting price for those is around ten thousand dollars.
The motive parts are simple cheap 12V geared motors off Amazon. He powered them using his own motor driver circuits. They get their commands from the Pi, running Python. To control the loom one can either type in commands into the shell or use the keyboard.
https://www.photographic-perspectives.com/tag/powered-loom/