Thursday, April 30, 2020

Pix-a-Sketch – A Virtual Etch-a-Sketch on an LED Matrix @Raspberry_Pi #PiDay #RaspberryPi

Excellent project + tutorial from Arduino “having11” Guy up on Hackster.io.

This project was created as a throwback to a much simpler toy, the Etch-a-Sketch, but instead of moving a tiny stylus to wipe aluminum particles off of a glass surface, this one plots pixels onto an RGB matrix.

Pix-a-Sketch – A Virtual Etch-a-Sketch on an LED Matrix @Raspberry_Pi #PiDay #RaspberryPi

Excellent project + tutorial from Arduino “having11” Guy up on Hackster.io.

This project was created as a throwback to a much simpler toy, the Etch-a-Sketch, but instead of moving a tiny stylus to wipe aluminum particles off of a glass surface, this one plots pixels onto an RGB matrix.

This Retro Radio Plays Internet Radio #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

Gorg build from roka on vimeo:

Internet radio based on a Raspberry Pi in an old school radio.

RetroPie 4.6 Released With Raspberry Pi 4 Support! Its Amazing!! #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi #Gaming #Emulator

YouTuber ETA PRIME goes through some of the updates to RetroPie and the much anticipated Pi 4 support. They test out a few games and review the performance:

The Awesome RetroPie team just released RetroPie Version 4.6 and it supports the Raspberry Pi 4!
In this video we take a looks at the changes and test out some higher-end Emulators like Dreamcast using Redream, PSP using PPSSPP, and N64 using Mupen64 Next!
Spoiler Alert these emulators run amazingly with the new release of RetroPie for The Raspberry Pi 4!

See more!

Automatic Smart Plant Pot #3DPrinting #3DThursday

DIY_Machines shared this project on Thingiverse!

Sometimes when we go away from home for a few days or are really busy the house plants (unfairly) suffer because they are not watered when they need it. This is my solution.

All the electronics, pumps and water reservoir are contained inside the pot to keep it looking smart. Each pot (if you make more than one) can also be set to the needs of different types of plants.

Download files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3537287

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!

SMD Component Magazines #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Shared by robin7331 on Thingiverse:

You’re making your own PCBs at home?
At one point you’ll end up having a box full of components strips.

To organize these I created these little magazines.
They’ll boost your placement productivity and keep your shop organized.

Download the files and learn more

Car Headrest Bag Hooks #3Dprinting #3DThursday

muzz64 shared this project on Thingiverse!

The Car Headrest Bag Hooks design is similar to some commercially available… but unlike other designs this is made in a way that this cannot be accidentally detached / unhooked from the heat rest posts due to the way it assembles.

Headrest Bag Hooks are a great solution for your own use but will also be appreciated by many people as a practical gift for everyday use. And, they look great printed in any color or even multiple colors.

Download files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3719476

Maqueen micro:bit AA battery holder #3Dprinting #3DThursday

mala04 shared this project on Thingiverse!

A smart AA battery holder for Maqueen robot. It allows to improve capacity by replacing original AAA batteries pack with a new one using AA batteries (>3x more capacity).

Advice: use four M3*15 standoff spacers with screws to replace original double sided tape.

Download files here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4225910

Raspberry Pi 4 case (40mm fan) #3DThursday #3DPrinting

If you are doing any heavy lifting with your Pi 4 it’ll probably get hot. Print this fan for extra cool factor. Shared by John_Sinclair on Thingiverse:

Custom designed Raspberry Pi Case for the new Pi 4.

Printed with 3 perimeters & No Top or bottom layers to leave infill visible. Fan is designed to be a friction fit in the lid so no fixings / glue are needed.

Download the files and learn more

The Basics of Arduino: Reading Voltage #ADC

Have you ever wanted to get the value of a voltage? You can use a microcontroller’s analog input to read discrete values rather than the 0s and 1s from a digital input. DevicePlus has a great tutorial that explains this concept in detail.

Arduino supports analog inputs to read these various voltages. Analog inputs enable you to read the state of electronic components that change gradually. For example, you can use volume to adjust brightness or loudness or a temperature sensor to get the current temperature.

Actual voltage is not an exact value such as 1V or 5V, but an irrational number, in which numerical values continue forever after the decimal point, such as 5.01342…V. These values cannot be directly handled by a computer. In electronic circuits, therefore, analog values are converted to digital values using a mechanism called AD converter so that the value can be handled by a computer. Arduino also has an AD converter by default, which can read analog voltages and convert them into digital values.

See the full tutorial on DevicePlus.

3D Printing LED Strip Lighting Mounts for a 3D Printer #3Dthursday #3Dprinter

Many people wish to light their 3D printer frame, to see better or for photography. MSRaynsford posts:

After sorting out a sturdy camera mount for my timelapse videos I needed to sort out the lighting to go with it. I was using a large lamp wedged in front of the printer and then diffused with a sheet of paper, the trouble is every time I went near the machine it would blind me. I had some cool white 24V LED strips that could connect directly to the PSU in the printer and be mounted on the framework. I printed some mounts that angle the strips in towards the print, these were done in two parts; the 45 degree angle to point the lights in black to match the framework and a white light cover to hold the strips in place and diffuse the light some more. (stl here)

See the blog here.

Malolo’s screw-less / snap fit customizable Raspberry Pi 4 Case & Stands #3DThursday #3DPrinting

These cases are shaping up nicely, shared by Malolo on Thingiverse:

Since I did not yet print this thing the pictures only consist of a few renders. If you want to see how it will look printed please have a look at the
Raspberry Pi 3 version
. It’s the identical case but with a few differences due to the different board layout of the Raspberry Pi 3 .

If you want to use the Customizer script you have to download the Customizer.zip file separately from the “Thing Files” tab since it is not included in the zip file form the “Download all Files” button.

Download the files and learn more

Malolo’s screw-less / snap fit customizable Raspberry Pi 4 Case & Stands #3DThursday #3DPrinting

These cases are shaping up nicely, shared by Malolo on Thingiverse:

Since I did not yet print this thing the pictures only consist of a few renders. If you want to see how it will look printed please have a look at the
Raspberry Pi 3 version
. It’s the identical case but with a few differences due to the different board layout of the Raspberry Pi 3 .

If you want to use the Customizer script you have to download the Customizer.zip file separately from the “Thing Files” tab since it is not included in the zip file form the “Download all Files” button.

Download the files and learn more

Solenoid Steamengine #3Dprinting #3DThursday

The_M3chanic shared this project on Thingiverse!

The coil winding fits well to operation on a 18650 LiIo 3.7V
If you want to have it fancier, use a stepdown controller and operate the machine with 2 18650 LiIo (Attention only use protected cells)
My coil run @ 0.6A at 3.7V so the machine runs fast. (Avoid overheating the coil).
There are some adjustments to make to the “ignition timing”, but that makes the machine so interesting.

Download files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3507489

Foldable Tablet / Phone Stand – No Screws! #3Dprinting #3DThursday

Mike-vom-Mars shared this project on Thingiverse!

Foldable tablet & phone holder that allows five different tilting positions. This holder requires no screws, simply print and plug together. Very stable, space saving and portable.

Download files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3513800

wind-up Bathtub Boat V5 #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Make bath-time an adventure. Shared by GreenDot on Thingiverse:

I would like to introduce to you the 5th version of my wind-up boat.

After the 4th version i got a lot of feedack on Facebook, which I have implemented as well as possible.

As you can see there is a much larger wind-up weel. The boat can now be wind up easily even with wet hands. The button has also become a little bit thicker to offers more grip.

The sharp edges on all components were rounded. I also set the screws in a way that the heads are up. No more sharp threads on the top.

Next, I’ve added a rigid rudder, which means the boat is no longer drifting to the right side any more. That works quite well. – better than expected.

Download the files and learn more

servo robotic claw #3DPrinting #3DThursday

cynahsy shared this project on Thingiverse!

I made the claw of the claw machine myself.
The drive used a servo motor. (FS90R)
Create source code using arduino.

Download files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4249843

3D Hangouts – Slim CLUE #3DPrining #3DThursday

Get Adafruit Parts from DigiKey
https://www.digikey.com/en/supplier-centers/a/adafruit

Learn Guide: Slim Clue Case
https://learn.adafruit.com/clue-slim-case

Adafruit CLUE
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4500

Get Adafruit CLUEfrom Digikey
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/adafruit-industries-llc/4500/1528-4500-ND/11594501

CircuitPython Downloads: https://circuitpython.org/
https://www.youtube.com/adafruit/live #3DHangouts

3D Parts Library on GitHub
https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CAD_Parts

Timelapse Tuesday:
3D Printable MASK – Remix by DOMI1L
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4303176
https://youtu.be/bRD90M3oBBk

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!

DIY Thermal Imaging Camera #3DPrinting #3DThursday #adafruit #arduino

Build a mini thermal imaging camera with Adafruit PyBadge and MLX90640 breakout. See the temperature of surfaces around you! Capture and store images for data analysis.

Learn Guide: PyBadge Thermal Camera Case

Adafruit PyBadge
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4200

MLX90640 Breakout
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4469

Learn Guide: MLX90640 PyBadge Thermal Camera
https://learn.adafruit.com/mlx90640-thermal-image-recording

Slim CLUE Case #3DThursday #3DPrinting

In this project we’re making a slim case for the Adafruit Clue!

Guide: https://learn.adafruit.com/clue-slim-case

It features a removable bottom piece so you can access the edge connector were you can connect alligator clips!

Adafruit Top Secret! (Video April 29, 2020) #AdafruitTopSecret #CircuitPython #Adafruit #FromTheVault @Adafruit

A secret look ahead
from Adafruit in New York!

Broadcast April 29, 2020

Adafruit broadcasts the weekly ASK an ENGINEER video show and this is the segment (from the vault) on items or concept products that may/might/could be introduced into the Adafruit store in the future (or not)! It’s not out yet, so please don’t ask questions or ask when it’ll be available.

You may keep an eye on the Adafruit new products list to see what has been put in the store or that may be coming soon.

Check out the latest video above!

Check out the Adafruit store for all the great products that are available and for coming soon products, you can sign up to be notified when they are in stock. https://www.adafruit.com/

Join us on Discord for news, help, and community!
https://adafru.it/discord/

Best of Made in NYC Featuring Hand-Soldered #Adafruit #PiOLEDs @Adafruit

This is a Best of Made in NYC post, today’s post goes back to:
Made in NYC 3/13/2019 Featuring Hand-Soldered #Adafruit #PiOLEDs @Adafruit

Prototyping a new product (0:03)

Stencil machine kneading solder paste (0:40)

WiFi Feathers in the selective solder machine (1:16)
https://www.adafruit.com/product/3010

Hand-soldering screens on the PiOLED (1:47)
https://www.adafruit.com/product/3527

3D printed prototype part (2:08)

DIY boat with CPX and MakeCode (2:23)

Empire State Building sunset (2:45)

See more Made in NYC!

#3DPrinted Face Mask #Timelapse #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Every week we’ll 3D print designs from the community and showcase slicer settings, use cases and of course, Time-lapses!

3D Printable MASK
Remix by DOMI1L
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4303176
CR10S Pro
Grey PLA
08hrs 22mins
X:248 Y:180 Z:60mm
.2mm layer / .4mm nozzle
10% Infill / 1mm retract
200C / 70C
1g
50mm/s

Printable Quick Grip Trigger Clamp (Functional) #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Arron_mollet22 shares:

This is a fully functional Quick Grip Trigger Clamp. C-Clamps have become very popular prints but the clamp allows quick single hand adjustments. This design was created with fusion 360 and printed on a Prusa i3 MK3.

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3577523

Can Lid #3DThursday #3DPrinting

ProfKit shares:

Simple rotatable lid for soda / beer can.
Made this to prevent bugs flying into my drinks.

I printed this in PETG, but you can also print in PLA if you want.

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4303926

Polisher #3DThursday #3DPrinting

reitter_m shares:

I typically polish up to five parts at once. First polish the parts 12-24h with the F12 carbide. The time depends on the geometry and the size of your parts. Increase the number of granulation. For extermely smooth surfaces I polished my parts at least 6 hours with each granulation. The last step is to polish the parts with the F800 for 12-24h. Of course, the longer the parts are in the polisher the smoother they are – but if you polish them too long you will lose all the details of your parts and sharp edges will become round. Depending on the size and the number of parts inside the drum I used between 500g and 1kg of polishing sand.

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3666116

Mask Clip #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Inale shares:

allows you to make a protective mask without sewing, without using a needle, thread or sewing machine. It therefore makes it possible to frequently renew the fabric of its mask!

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4317827

Lounger (Print-in-place) #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Ferjerez shares:

This is a ‘experiment’ with Print-In-Place models. a Lounger.

Printing tips:
Separations are 0.3-0.5 mms. That should work with most of printers.
Included 123D file for easy remixing of this model

Have fun!

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4221165

Giant Seven Segment Display #3DThursday #3DPrinting

ModernHobbyist shares:

I designed these giant seven segment displays to use as a YouTube subscription counter that I mounted on my wall.

The base of the digit and the detail piece are both printed in black PLA and the main portion of the seven segment display that lights up is printed on white PLA.

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4216665

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

NZXT S340 Mac Pro Lattice Front Plate #3DThursday #3DPrinting

rymopar shares:

A custom front panel replacement for the NZXT S340 case.

Update: added modified top and bottom meshes that have the original style opening for air intake. marked as the *_open.stl files

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4211371

Glasses defoggyfier #3DThursday #3DPrinting

KrwawyHegemon shares:

This thing helps me to see thru the glasses wen wearing textile face mask.
It fits me, my wife and maybe you.

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4303905/files

ASK AN ENGINEER 4/29/2020 LIVE! @adafruit #adafruit #AskAnEngineer #newyorkstrong #americaworkstogether

ASK AN ENGINEER 4/29/2020 LIVE! (video). What is “Ask an engineer”? From the electronics enthusiast to the professional community – “Ask an Engineer” has a little bit of everything for everyone. If you’re a beginner, or a seasoned engineer – stop in and see what we’re up to! We have demos of projects and products we’re working on, we answer your engineering and electronics questions and we have a trivia question + give away each week.

http://www.adafruit.com/ask

RetroPie 4.6 released with Raspberry Pi 4 support #Gaming #RaspberryPi @Raspberry_Pi @RetroPieProject

RetroPie is pleased to announce RetroPie 4.6 with beta support for the Raspberry Pi 4.

It’s been some time since we last updated our pre-built images. However development has been ongoing in the background, and a lot of changes have been made since the last release. Note that we update RetroPie constantly, and you can update your system at any time. We wanted to wait until we were happy with the Raspberry Pi 4 support before putting out some new images though, but RetroPie has been working on the Raspberry Pi 4 for some time for those wanting to manually install or try a weekly development image.

You can see what emulators are available for supported platforms thanks to a new stats module included in RetroPie.

RetroPie 4.6 has moved to Raspbian Buster as a base operating system for pre-built Raspberry Pi images. Raspbian Stretch is no longer supported by Raspberry Pi Trading Ltd. They will continue to support Stretch for a while longer, but will likely stop updating binaries for it later this year.

The Raspberry Pi 4 image is marked as beta for now – primarily as there are still some things to improve on, but most packages run well. Please feel free to try it and report any issues to the RetroPie forum. If you are running a weekly Buster development build, you can just update within RetroPie-Setup – no need to start from a new image.

You can download a 4.6 image from https://retropie.org.uk/download/. For first installs please follow their Installation Instructions.

A distributed music synthesizer using WiFi #Synth #WiFi

alles is a many-speaker distributed mesh synthesizer that responds to control signals over WiFi. Each synth supports up to 10 additive sine, saw, pulse/square, noise and triangle oscillators, a Karplus-Strong string implementation, and a full FM stage including support for DX7 patches. They’re cheap to make ($7 for the microcontroller, $6 for the amplifier, speakers from $0.50 up depending on quality). And very easy to put together with hookup wire or only a few soldering points.

The synthesizers form a mesh and listen to UDP multicast messages. The original idea was to install a bunch of them throughout a space and make a distributed / spatial version of an Alles Machine / AMY additive synthesizer where each speaker represents up to 10 partials, all controlled as a group or individually from a laptop or phone or etc. But you can just treat them as dozens / hundreds of individual synthesizers and do whatever you want with them. It’s pretty fun!

Parts include ESP32 dev boards, speakers, and the Adafruit I2S mono amplifier.

See GitHub for complete instructions and code.

UTi165 Thermal Fever Scanner Camera

This video camera takes photos of temperatures! This camera is specifically tuned to work in the 30˚C~45˚C / 86˚F~113˚ F range with 0.5˚C / 1˚ F accuracy, so it's excellent for human temperature & fever detection. In fact, this thermal camera is often used by companies/airports/hotels/malls to do a first-pass fever check: If any person has a temperature of over 99˚F an alarm goes off so you can do a secondary check with an accurate handheld temperature meter.

You may have seen thermal 'FLIR' cameras used to find air leaks in homes, but those cameras have a very wide temperature range, so they're not as accurate in the narrow range used for fever-scanning. This camera is designed specifically for that purpose!

There's a color 2.8" 320x240 TFT screen which gives real-time temperature readings from an interpolated 160x120 thermal resolution, with hot-spot temperatures labeled. You can also set temperature ranges for alerts, F or C units, color palettes, etc. There's a built-in li-poly battery so it's fully portable. You can recharge it over USB.

We like these fever scanners because:

The UTi165K version covered in this guide has real-time data transmission to a computer for analysis over USB. It also features three viewing modes: Thermal (infrared image), Digital (regular camera), and Fusion (a blend of the two). We also carry the UTi165H, which has only a thermal viewing mode and no USB output.

You can also capture images and measurements and transfer them to your computer via USB type C or SD Card.

Making a Star Trek TOS Type 2 Bio Computer with sound #StarTrek #Props @therpf

From the Adafruit Forums, Jeff Kaler demonstrates a Star Trek the original series (TOS) medical computer (video above). The Type 2 Bio Computer would analyze samples with lights and sound and this is a very faithful recreation. Jeff writes:

The electronics are an Arduino Mega, (an Adafruit) Music Maker Shield, and (an Adafruit) TLC5947 (24-channel 12-bit PWM LED driver).

See the forum post here.

Also see Jeff’s Star Trek TOS Type 4A Computer Replica, video below. lovely!

Show off your builds in the Adafruit Forums, on Twitter, hashtag #Adafruit @Adafruit, on the Adafruit Discord server, and on the Adafruit Show and Tell show Wednesdays.

Keeping The Bob Ross Dream Alive | Featuring Nic Hankins

Keeping the Dream Alive is a new web special from the Bob Ross company that honors the memory of Bob Ross. The Bob Ross youtube channel shared this video – its incredibly relaxing to watch!

For information about the Bob Ross Teacher Certification Program:
go to https://www.bobross.com, send an email to info@bobross.com or call 1-800-BOB-ROSS (1-800-262-7677).

See more!

Best of Made in NYC Featuring a #RadioBonnet Tester #Adafruit @Adafruit

This is a Best of Made in NYC post, today’s post goes back to:
Made in NYC 1/16/2019 Featuring a #RadioBonnet Tester #Adafruit @Adafruit

Radio Bonnet tester (0:03)

Afternoon glow inside the PnP (0:37)

Beginnings of a Grand Central controlled robotic xylophone (0:46)

Grand Central boards in selective solder machine (0:55)

3D printing timelapse (1:05)

3D printed lamp using Bluefruit M0 Feather (1:21)

Andy’s desk of electronics (1:31)

DIY cellphone using FONA (1:37)

Stills of a solder paste tub being opened (1:51)

Winter sunset (2:04)

Make a Binary Watch! #WearableWednesday #3DPrinting

Slick build from APTechnologies on Instructables:

I recently got introduced to the concept of binary watches and started doing some research to see if I could build one for myself. However, I was unable to find an existing design that was both functional and stylish at the same time. So, I decided to create my own design completely from scratch!

Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!

Make a Binary Watch! #WearableWednesday #3DPrinting

Slick build from APTechnologies on Instructables:

I recently got introduced to the concept of binary watches and started doing some research to see if I could build one for myself. However, I was unable to find an existing design that was both functional and stylish at the same time. So, I decided to create my own design completely from scratch!

Thursday, April 30, 2020

A secret look ahead from Adafruit in New York!

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

A secret look ahead
from Adafruit in New York!