Guzunty Pi – Open Source CPLD board for the Raspberry Pi

 Electronics, Input and Output, interfacing, Raspberry Pi Hardware, Review  65 Responses »
Mar 282013
 
Guzunty Pi - Open Source CPLD board for the Raspberry Pi

The Guzunty Pi board is an open source Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) add-on for the Raspberry Pi. Derek Campbell is behind this project, and has clearly spent a lot of time and effort putting it all together. He describes it… “a CPLD is like several large breadboards laid out on your desk, full of every combination of logic devices you are ever going to need. It is waiting to be told what to do. It doesn’t need a host of jumper wires like a breadboard would. It can be reprogrammed again and again (even […more…]

How to make your own Raspberry Pi flag-waving demo

 Electronics, Input and Output, interfacing, Raspberry Pi Hardware  36 Responses »
Mar 112013
 
How to make your own Raspberry Pi flag-waving demo

After the recent call for items for the demo table over at Raspberry Pi HQ, I thought I’d send over a flag-waving set. It’s not a product for sale, but it’s one of the most eye-catching and memorable Raspberry Pi demos I’ve made. People mention it more than any of the others when I don’t take it along to Jams. There’s a video, at the end of the page, showing three Pis all waving flags together (based on three different drive systems). Making the flag So I set about making a flag. It’s pretty easy. […more…]

Controlled shutdown duration test of Pi model A with 2 cell lipo

 Electronics, Input and Output, interfacing, python programming, raspberry pi, Raspberry Pi Hardware  126 Responses »
Mar 052013
 
Controlled shutdown duration test of Pi model A with 2 cell lipo

Lithium polymer batteries are light and powerful, but they can’t be run completely flat or they are ruined. I’ve been using them for several years to fly model planes, so I have plenty of them around. I’ve also been using them at Raspberry Jam meetings to power some of my Pi demos. I thought it would be fun to make a circuit so the Pi could monitor its own battery voltage. I used an analog to digital converter (mcp3002) and had the Pi check the battery voltage every minute and shut down when the battery […more…]

Using a Wii controller with your Raspberry Pi, Gertboard, Bluetooth and Python

 Electronics, Gertboard, Input and Output, interfacing, python programming, Raspberry Pi Hardware  37 Responses »
Feb 122013
 
Using a Wii controller with your Raspberry Pi, Gertboard, Bluetooth and Python

Matt Hawkins from Raspberry Pi Spy has done the leg-work enabling Pi users to use a Wii controller – along with a Bluetooth USB dongle to send inputs to the Raspberry Pi. It uses a Python library called “CWiid” (I imagine this is pronounced “seaweed”). This is awesome because the Wii controller has 11 different digital inputs. When you consider combinations of inputs, that gives you a lot of extra possible “input commands” to play with. Theoretically*, with 11 buttons, there are 55 different 2-button combinations (11C2). That should be enough for most uses. If […more…]

HDMI to VGA converter part 2 – VGA projector

 Electronics, raspberry pi, Raspberry Pi Hardware, Review  8 Responses »
Feb 032013
 
HDMI to VGA converter part 2 - VGA projector

This is part 2 of my review of the HDMI/VGA 1080 Ultimate HD Video Converter. It covers comparison of VGA and HDMI in the GUI; use of an old 1024 x 768 VGA monitor with the Pi; using a VGA projector to show a video; trying out an MHL adaptor with a phone and VGA monitor. If you haven’t seen part one yet, you can find that here. To complete the review, I set myself the following tasks… see if I can get it to go full-screen in GUI by tweaking settings do some side […more…]

RasPi RepRap 3d printing on the Raspberry Pi

 Electronics, interfacing, Raspberry Pi Hardware  9 Responses »
Feb 012013
 

Alex Gibson, co-host of the Oxford Jam impressed us all with his RepRap 3d printer controlled by a Raspberry Pi. I hadn’t seen one of these up close and personal before. I’d really like one now, but I have a feeling it requires a large investment in time to build, calibrate and use. Check out the 4 minute video. Most impressive indeed! :) Background Alex told us he’d joined the Thames Valley build group, which is a bunch of people who get together to help each other make RepRaps. The reel of poly-lactic acid (PLA) […more…]

fantastic sounding raspberry pi solenoid sequencer

 Electronics, Input and Output, interfacing, python programming, Raspberry Pi Hardware  4 Responses »
Jan 302013
 
fantastic sounding raspberry pi solenoid sequencer

I went along to the Oxford Raspberry Jam last night at RS HQ. There were several impressive demos. But this one was definitely the best sounding of the lot. Peter Andrew has put together a solenoid sequencer (a bit like a drum machine) which is driven by a python script on a raspberry pi. He’s also written an android app to program the beat with his Nexus 7 tablet. Solenoids are pulsed to make them strike a tin can, a jar lid, a small glass jar and a saucepan lid. The saucepan lid sounds wonderful. […more…]

How to make a RasPi into a NoSPi

 Electronics, Input and Output, interfacing, Raspberry Pi Hardware  8 Responses »
Jan 282013
 
How to make a RasPi into a NoSPi

I’ve been doing some prototyping of a new Pi related hardware project I’m working on. I’m not ready to let on what it is yet, but it involves a potentiometer. The pot in question is one of those that you need a small screwdriver to turn. So here’s what happened. I left the screwdriver standing in the pot like this… …and it fell, shorting something out. Not sure exactly what, but it may have bounced on a pin carrying 12V for a motor. What I do know for sure is that an ic chip that […more…]

Using a Darlington Array as an inverter for reverse polarity RGB leds

 Electronics, Input and Output, interfacing, raspberry pi  2 Responses »
Dec 142012
 
Using a Darlington Array as an inverter for reverse polarity RGB leds

RGB LED RIP :( Last week, I was wiring up a demo with a three colour RGB LED, and accidentally wired the pin for the red component straight to 3V3 (plugged it into the wrong port). It went “crackle” and then turned black. Ooops. Now it’s a GB LED, the red’s a gonner. :( “Dammit. I wanted to shoot a video with the Quick2Wire Interface running the RGB LED. It’s 7pm and if I order some they won’t be here for two days.” “Oh I know. I’ve got an RGB LED in an old Christmas […more…]

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