Tools Hack Daily: June 2018

Saturday, June 30, 2018

We’re Celebrating Canada Day with a sale – use code OCanada at checkout #AdafruitSale #OCanada #CanadaDaySale

Here at Adafruit, we are big fans of all the members of our international community, including our neighbors to the north! In their honor, we are celebrating Canada Day with an Adafruit sale. Canada Day celebrates an important milestone on Canada’s road to independence, specifically when it became its own kingdom, with the British Empire being relegated to a Dominion role.

CircuitPython on Linux and Raspberry Pi @adafruit @Raspberry_Pi #RaspberryPi

Blinkapi 853
We’re always looking for ways to make making easier – whether that’s making breakout boards for hard-to-solder sensors or writing libraries to simplify motor control. Our new favorite way to program microcontrollers is CircuitPython.

Piwiring 853

But…sometimes you want to do more than a microcontroller can do. Like HDMI video output, or camera capture, or serving up a website, or just something that takes more memory and computing than a microcontroller board can do…

Breadboard 853

The next obvious step is to bring CircuitPython back to ‘desktop Python’. We’ve got tons of projects, libraries and example code for CircuitPython on microcontrollers, and thanks to the flexibility and power of Python its pretty easy to get it working with micro-computers like Raspberry Pi or other ‘Linux with GPIO pins available’ single board computers.

Bmetest

We’ve started out with demonstrating that you can wire up a popular BME280 temperature/humidity/pressure sensor, to a Raspberry Pi and within a 3 minutes: using pip to install the CircuitPython support library and BME280 CircuitPython driver, then running our example code. You can now unlock our massive number of drivers and libraries — right now, there’s 85 of them! while still enjoying the power and flexibility of Linux and Raspberry Pi

Check out the guide at https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpython-on-raspberrypi-linux

Architecturally Upgraded Cuckoo Clock

via Yanko Design

For ages now, the cuckoo has resided in a traditional bungalow made of wood with a gable roof, probably a chimney, and ornamentation around like trees, rocks, or the rare waterfall, but not anymore. Aptly titled the “Cuckoo Block”, Guido Zimmermann gives the bird a space upgrade, with beautifully contemporary brutalist apartment buildings.

With its concrete makeover, these new clocks fit well into urban homes, because they too are urban homes. Taking inspiration from Brutalist and Bauhaus architecture, the Cuckoo Blocks series feature miniature versions of the Glenkerry House and the La Flaine ski resort, aside from Zimmermann’s own creations. Just like the original cuckoo clocks of Black Forest, Germany, these houses too come with stunning levels of detail, from painted details of apartments through the windows, to even satellite dishes near balconies… and yes, there’s obviously a mechanical cuckoo too!

Harold Feinstein Exhibition at Galerie Thierry Bigaignon Features Works from 1964 to 1988 #celebratephotography

A little bit of NYC in Paris through August 31. From Galerie Thierry Bigaignon via Aesthetica:

Though his muse has always been Coney Island, where he was born in 1931, Harold Feinstein turned his lens, as of the 60s, to the streets, offices and restaurants of Manhattan, establishing himself as ‘one of the most accomplished recorders of the exhilarating American experience’ as the New York Times called him back in 2015. But even more striking in this new selection by the Parisian gallery is the omnipresence of bodies and the remarkable way Feinstein captures the movement, seeing the streets before him as a ballet of grace and beauty.

His black and white photography freezes the New Yorkers’ everyday life like no other, highlighting the humanity of these immortalized characters. Harold Feinstein himself used to describe his images as “a small sampling of [his] photographic journey bearing witness of the beauty and mystery of this human life.”

Read more and see more from Andy Dunn on vimeo

Photofooter

We #celebratephotography here at Adafruit every Saturday. From photographers of all levels to projects you have made or those that inspire you to make, we’re on it! Got a tip? Well, send it in!

If you’re interested in making your own project and need some gear, we’ve got you covered. Be sure to check out our Raspberry Pi accessories and our DIY cameras.

Muro Box: The Music Robot Box

via Engadget

Outside horror movies, music boxes are pretty cool, but their big flaw is that they can only play a few bars of one song. This inflexibility wasn’t so much of an issue a century ago, but in the era of Spotify, it’s not great. That’s why Taiwanese company Tevofy Technology has sought to update the music box for the modern age, in the form of the Music Robot Box, or Muro Box.

Traditional music boxes have a cylinder of pins that, as they turn, pluck the tines of a steel comb that, as they vibrate, make a sound. The principles are similar to that of hammers hitting piano strings, although you’re limited by the size of the cylinder and the notes the comb has been cut to play. The difference between that and Muro is that the cylinder has been replaced with several computer-controlled rings.

Each ring has a different number of pins and can spin around at various speeds, meaning that Muro can play up to 4 beats per second. Plus you’re not limited by the size of the cylinder, since the wheels can spin around to play pretty much anything you want to listen to. And unlike projects like the XOXX Composer, Muro actually uses a real steel comb rather than outputting to a synthesizer.

#3DPrinted Canon Lens Cap Holder #celebratephotography

From MattJRex on Thingiverse:

Strap mounted Canon Lens cap holder, making a Nikon derivative soon.

I welcome any feedback you might have on how I can make this design better in anyway! i.e. I might try to integrate an SD Card holder into it as well.

Photofooter

We #celebratephotography here at Adafruit every Saturday. From photographers of all levels to projects you have made or those that inspire you to make, we’re on it! Got a tip? Well, send it in!

If you’re interested in making your own project and need some gear, we’ve got you covered. Be sure to check out our Raspberry Pi accessories and our DIY cameras.

Friday, June 29, 2018

Muro Box: The Music Robot Box

via Engadget

Outside horror movies, music boxes are pretty cool, but their big flaw is that they can only play a few bars of one song. This inflexibility wasn’t so much of an issue a century ago, but in the era of Spotify, it’s not great. That’s why Taiwanese company Tevofy Technology has sought to update the music box for the modern age, in the form of the Music Robot Box, or Muro Box.

Traditional music boxes have a cylinder of pins that, as they turn, pluck the tines of a steel comb that, as they vibrate, make a sound. The principles are similar to that of hammers hitting piano strings, although you’re limited by the size of the cylinder and the notes the comb has been cut to play. The difference between that and Muro is that the cylinder has been replaced with several computer-controlled rings.

Each ring has a different number of pins and can spin around at various speeds, meaning that Muro can play up to 4 beats per second. Plus you’re not limited by the size of the cylinder, since the wheels can spin around to play pretty much anything you want to listen to. And unlike projects like the XOXX Composer, Muro actually uses a real steel comb rather than outputting to a synthesizer.

Engineering Books for Kids! #SaturdayMorningCartoons

via Fatherly

Toys that purport to teach STEM skills are all the rage, but plopping a box in front of a child is just as likely to teach them how to lose a bunch of toy pieces as it is to generate invention ideas for kids. If you really want to encourage a builder’s mindset, start with kids mechanic books and engineering books, where you control the message. It may not guarantee that they get straight As in physics or finally design hoverboards, but it will ensure that when the subject arises they can say, “I read a book (or 9) about that once.”

The Godmother of maker women was World War 2’s Rosie “We Can Do It!” The Riveter, whom the title character of this book is lucky enough to have as a great-great aunt. Rosie (the younger) is too shy to talk about her passion for inventing, but is motivated by a timely visit from Rosie (the elder) to pursue her dreams, attempt to build a flying machine, and start wearing a polka-dotted scarf around her head.

See more books here!

Alert Co-Workers That the Restroom is Unavailable with the Occu-pi! | #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

Pretty simple – and clever – project affixing a magnet to the tip of a sliding bolt to trigger a magnetic switch to trigger actions on the Pi – in this instance to alert co-workers that the bathroom is unavailable at the moment.

It’s not often that one is presented with an opportunity to innovate in the bathroom space, but just such an occasion arose earlier this year when the Hirepurpose team moved offices and our bathroom capacity was suddenly, tragically reduced by half.

Our previous office had long been plagued by unreasonably long bathroom lines. At several high-demand periods throughout the day we’d be forced to wait three, four, five people deep while complaining bitterly to each other until our turn to use the facilities arrived. With even fewer bathrooms in our new office concern about timely access was naturally high.

Believing there may be a technological solution to this problem, we decided to do what all good engineers do: find a way to make more efficient use of our limited resources. We figured that if we could find a way to better coordinate bathroom access and advertise availability we could avoid spikes in usage that make annoying lines. We needed a sensor that could determine and broadcast the bathroom’s availability.

This turned out to be not quite as straightforward as we originally thought. There is one notable wrinkle: it’s not enough to know the door is closed, you need to know if the bathroom is actually in use – that is, locked from the inside. After considering and discarding a variety of “creative” solutions (no thank you, motion sensors and facial recognition), we landed on a straightforward and reliable approach.

Check out the GitHub repo here or the full article here on Medium.

Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!

NEW PRODUCT – PureAudio Array Microphone Kit for Raspberry Pi 3

The Andrea Superbeam Array-PA Microphone is a far-field, 2-microphone array with stereo output and superior quality and performance, designed for hearing and recognizing voices even in noisy environments. We tested it here in the Adafruit factory, and it did a great job picking up our voice commands even when the machines were all running.

The microphone is designed to work with the matching PureAudio voice command software. You install the software on your Pi 3 and plug in the microphone. The software comes with a range of commands that it will recognize, and you can tie that to automation commands you want it to run.

Note that you cannot define your own ‘trigger phrase’ or voice commands! You can only use the ones that come with the software. That said, you get quite a few useful words in the vocabulary, and unlike most voice software, the recognition is all done on-device so no Internet connectivity is needed.

Features:

Small size for unobtrusive mounting on a monitor or optional tripod
A stereo array microphone
A high fidelity USB external digital sound card providing stereo input and output 3.5mm jacks
A free download of the Beam forming noise reduction filter software along with the voice trigger phrase “Hello Blue Genie” that enables your Raspberry Pi 3 to be controlled by far field voice commands.
Free voice command starter vocabulary

Andrea’s PureAudio USB-PA Digital Audio Adapter is a high fidelity external sound card device with stereo input and output. With the adapter, you’ll be able to dip your maker toes in beam forming, noise reduction and echo cancellation.

In stock and shipping now!

Honda’s Asimo robot bows out – let’s give it new life @Honda @Asimo #Robots

New Products 6/27/2018 Featuring Adafruit Feather M4 Express! (Video)

CineFrame made with Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

Pretty neat project via Charlene Atlas. The code can be found on GitHub.

Bitcoin-Powered Coffee Machine #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

This automated coffee machine accepts payment via bit-coin. Simply scan the make a payment via your bitcoin wallet and a the coffee starts to brew. Shared by Ricardo Reis on Hackster.io. Via Hackster.io:

In an interview with Brazilian news outlet Portal do Bitcoin, Reis revealed how he got the setup to work. He used a Raspberry Pi to power the coffee machine programmed using the PHP programing language. The machine doesn’t use Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN), but Reis wants to create one use the network soon. He currently has a website where you can pay for mock coffee and other products to let him test the LN.

Although Reis developed this device, he admits he’s not fully involved with the cryptocurrency market. Rather, he considers himself a Bitcoin enthusiast that uses “the flagship cryptocurrency as an investment since 2016.” He doesn’t have any plans to take his creation to the masses. Instead, he used it as an opportunity to learn more about the technology itself.

Learn more!

A Look at that @Drake ‘Mechanical Puppet’ from @Sprite’s 2010 ‏’Spark’ Commercial | #puppets #drizzy #robot

Pia the Robot #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

via Pohukai on thingiverse

After seeing Alonso Martinez’s Mira robot on You-Tube, I had to have one but couldn’t find it anywhere. So, I designed my own version of it and will be uploading STLs and make the software that I’ve written for it available either here or github.

In a nutshell, it is two concentric shells with 3 servos to control x, y and z axis. It runs on a raspberry pi zero w, a pi camera and a PWM board from Adafruit. Internal parts are held in place without screws; just 3D printed blocks and 1/4″, strong magnets.

See more!

Pia the Robot #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

via Pohukai on thingiverse

After seeing Alonso Martinez’s Mira robot on You-Tube, I had to have one but couldn’t find it anywhere. So, I designed my own version of it and will be uploading STLs and make the software that I’ve written for it available either here or github.

In a nutshell, it is two concentric shells with 3 servos to control x, y and z axis. It runs on a raspberry pi zero w, a pi camera and a PWM board from Adafruit. Internal parts are held in place without screws; just 3D printed blocks and 1/4″, strong magnets.

See more!

Pi Zero Portable Terminal @Raspberry_Pi #PiDay #RaspberryPi

from Joseph Wezensky via hackster.io

I was wanting a really portable serial terminal that I could use “in the field” to reprogram ESP8266 modules running MicroPython. Unfortunately there is a definite lack of simple, serial terminal devices to be found on the market, so I decided to build my own.

After some consideration and research, I figured the most economical route would be to use a Raspberry Pi Zero, because of it’s small size and low cost. It has a large community and ecosystem as well, with many options for a display that would work for such a small device.

Taking inspiration from this project https://n-o-d-e.net/zeroterminal.html I decided to use an inexpensive Bluetooth slide-out keyboard case, for the basis of my device. In my search I found that keyboards for the iPhone 4/4se were rather easy to find so I decided to go that route.

So using TinkerCAD, I produced a 3D printed case that would hold all the components and then fit into the case like a phone. Here is the model that I created… https://www.tinkercad.com/things/4x8bYmt6Dwo.

The construction of the device was pretty straightforward, the LCD and Pi go in first, and then all of the other components.

Wii U Gamepad Pi 3 Build #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

via banjokazooie on sudomod

This first one comes from forum member banjokazooie, and is a Raspberry Pi 3 crammed into a Wii U gamepad using a 6.5″ hdmi screen. A few people in the forums have talked about doing something with the Wii U controller (including myself), but this is the first one I’ve seen taken to completion, and it came out great!

See more!

Raspberry Pi OTD: Tweeting from the @Raspberry_Pi blog archive @raspberrypi_otd @ben_nuttall

Screen Shot 2018 06 26 at 11 33 11 AM

We’re loving this Twitter Account that tweets old pi projects from the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s blog archives. Great work all around from Ben Nuttall!

Check out Github here for more details!

How to Build a Competition-Ready Raspberry Pi Robot @Raspberry_Pi #PiDay #RaspberryPi

via RaspberryPi.org

Before you can strap chainsaws and flamethrowers to your robot, you need to learn some basics. Sorry.

As part of our mission to put digital making into the hands of people across the globe, the Raspberry Pi Foundation creates free project tutorials for hardware builds, Scratch projects, Python games, and more. And to get you started with robot building, we’ve put together a series of buggy-centric projects

Begin with our Build a robot buggy project, where you’ll put together a simple buggy using motors, a Raspberry Pi 3, and a few other vital ingredients. From there, move on to the Remotely control your buggy tutorial to learn how to command your robot using an Android phone, a Google AIY Projects Voice Kit, or a home-brew controller. Lastly, train your robot to think for itself using our new Build a line-following robotproject.

Golang with Feather and Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi #FeatherFriday

Thanks to Bill for sending us this tip! Bill writes:

I’ve been purchasing items from Adafruit for a while now, and I’ve begun to put some of them to use, in particular the FeatherWing 8×16 display and the alphanumeric display and the MCP23017. It’s all good gear. I’ve combined learning how to use those parts on a Raspberry Pi (the 3 B+, the latest) by learning and using the Go language and the Gobot framework.

While I’ve been using some of the core Gobot functions to manipulate the I2C bus, a lot of the code for working with those two devices I’ve written on my own. Here’s an example if you care to look: https://arcanesciencelab.wordpress.com/2018/06/24/golang-on-the-raspberry-pi-part-4/

I know you’ve written and posted a lot of code for these devices already on Github, and I’ve even looked in a bit and reused a smidge in my own work. But your code is written in C/C++ and Python, and I’ve been wanting to dig into Golang for some time. So all of my work is obviously in Golang.

Check out Bill’s full right up on Arcane Science Lab and GitHub and see more on vimeo!

Golang with Feather and Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi #FeatherFriday

Thanks to Bill for sending us this tip! Bill writes:

I’ve been purchasing items from Adafruit for a while now, and I’ve begun to put some of them to use, in particular the FeatherWing 8×16 display and the alphanumeric display and the MCP23017. It’s all good gear. I’ve combined learning how to use those parts on a Raspberry Pi (the 3 B+, the latest) by learning and using the Go language and the Gobot framework.

While I’ve been using some of the core Gobot functions to manipulate the I2C bus, a lot of the code for working with those two devices I’ve written on my own. Here’s an example if you care to look: https://arcanesciencelab.wordpress.com/2018/06/24/golang-on-the-raspberry-pi-part-4/

I know you’ve written and posted a lot of code for these devices already on Github, and I’ve even looked in a bit and reused a smidge in my own work. But your code is written in C/C++ and Python, and I’ve been wanting to dig into Golang for some time. So all of my work is obviously in Golang.

Check out Bill’s full right up on Arcane Science Lab and GitHub and see more on vimeo!

Golang with Feather and Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi #FeatherFriday

Thanks to Bill for sending us this tip! Bill writes:

I’ve been purchasing items from Adafruit for a while now, and I’ve begun to put some of them to use, in particular the FeatherWing 8×16 display and the alphanumeric display and the MCP23017. It’s all good gear. I’ve combined learning how to use those parts on a Raspberry Pi (the 3 B+, the latest) by learning and using the Go language and the Gobot framework.

While I’ve been using some of the core Gobot functions to manipulate the I2C bus, a lot of the code for working with those two devices I’ve written on my own. Here’s an example if you care to look: https://arcanesciencelab.wordpress.com/2018/06/24/golang-on-the-raspberry-pi-part-4/

I know you’ve written and posted a lot of code for these devices already on Github, and I’ve even looked in a bit and reused a smidge in my own work. But your code is written in C/C++ and Python, and I’ve been wanting to dig into Golang for some time. So all of my work is obviously in Golang.

Check out Bill’s full right up on Arcane Science Lab and GitHub and see more on vimeo!

World’s Smartest Home? Made with Blockchain Chores & Kids Crypto @Raspberry_Pi #PiDay #RaspberryPi

from Matt Farley via hackster.io

People talk about “Smart Homes” — but I have created what I believe is the “World’s Smartest.” The (fun) videos below are a demonstration of my custom home automation (a private/in development Alexa Skill named Jarvis), which features an innovative implementation of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency to manage our kid’s chores and entertainment.

The videos also show integrated real-time vehicle tracking, alarm surveillance, DASH buttons, TV control, house-wide music, smart fitness coaching, mobile phone notifications, wifi colored lights, homework scoring, thermostats, sprinklers, power monitoring, motion and vibration sensors, and Echo dots in every room.

See more videos and a full breakdown of the project here!

How to: raspi-io on ArchLinux @Raspberry_Pi #PiDay #RaspberryPi @WebReflection

1 91ev9vNr7562GF C6So12w

Great post from Andrea Giammarchi up on Medium.

Even if the Raspberry Pi is officially supported since about ever, installing raspi-io is one of the most unpleasant development experience ever, due its indirect gpio dependency, so I’ve thought that having a quick recap of what’s needed would help (at least me in the future).

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Generative Music System artefatto::cinque #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

From Nicola Pisanti:

Generative music system running on a raspberry pi controlling some micro televisions by powering them on/off with relays.

Both the noise of the televisions and the clicks of the relays were used as musical and visual element, together with some synthesized sound amplified by a cheap speaker. The composition used both probabilistic beats and markov-chains generated melodies, each cycle lasting about 7 minutes.

Generative Music System artefatto::cinque #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

From Nicola Pisanti:

Generative music system running on a raspberry pi controlling some micro televisions by powering them on/off with relays.

Both the noise of the televisions and the clicks of the relays were used as musical and visual element, together with some synthesized sound amplified by a cheap speaker. The composition used both probabilistic beats and markov-chains generated melodies, each cycle lasting about 7 minutes.

Generative Music System artefatto::cinque #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

From Nicola Pisanti:

Generative music system running on a raspberry pi controlling some micro televisions by powering them on/off with relays.

Both the noise of the televisions and the clicks of the relays were used as musical and visual element, together with some synthesized sound amplified by a cheap speaker. The composition used both probabilistic beats and markov-chains generated melodies, each cycle lasting about 7 minutes.

A Truly Headless Setup for your Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

Shared by Brian Lough on YouTube:

This video I’ll show you how to setup your Pi without the need to connect it to a keyboard or monitor.

A headless setup for a PI is setting it up without a graphical desktop interface, where you normally interact with it from a different computer. This is especially useful for applications that have their own web interfaces such as Octoprint or Node-Red.

Learn more!

Raspi Zero Handheld Console #3DThursday #3DPrinting #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

Shared by calli on Thingiverse:

I designed this as intemediate project for my bar-top arcade. However it turned out much more work than I expected. So I like to share for you to learn and remix.

I used Blender for that, mostly because I am fluent with it and wanted to try if I can and wether I would hit some roadblocks. It was close

WORK IN PROGRESS! Please don’t complain!

The construction uses MANY Boolean Modifiers. On slow machines it can take some time to re-calculate.

Work in progress! There are issues, especially on the game pad holder, check twice with your game pad

You will need most likely have to edit something depending on the actual hardware you use (starting at switches, connectors etc.)

Download the files and learn more

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!

Raspi Zero Handheld Console #3DThursday #3DPrinting #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

Shared by calli on Thingiverse:

I designed this as intemediate project for my bar-top arcade. However it turned out much more work than I expected. So I like to share for you to learn and remix.

I used Blender for that, mostly because I am fluent with it and wanted to try if I can and wether I would hit some roadblocks. It was close

WORK IN PROGRESS! Please don’t complain!

The construction uses MANY Boolean Modifiers. On slow machines it can take some time to re-calculate.

Work in progress! There are issues, especially on the game pad holder, check twice with your game pad

You will need most likely have to edit something depending on the actual hardware you use (starting at switches, connectors etc.)

Download the files and learn more