Tools Hack Daily

Friday, June 3, 2022

A macro keyboard with a large LCD display #MicroPython #PiDay @Raspberry_Pi @instructables

The MacroPad is a Raspberry Pi Pico-based MicroPython macro keyboard. It features a SD card that can hold multiple macro sets for each program you load on the card.

Each text file can map a caption, color, and series of key strokes to one key. It also contains the macro set name and global color for the keys. You can press the dedicated button to select the macro set held on the SD card and alter the key/screen brightness.

The case is 3D printed.

Read more and see the build instructions on Instructables.

Paul Rickards plotter prints #Art @paulrickards

Paul Rickards does Pen Plotter Designs and sells them in his online shop. If you are not familiar with plotters:

A PEN PLOTTER is an early output device that uses pen and ink to draw directly to paper under computer control. It was the only choice for high quality, color output from a computer from the beginning of the 1950’s through the late 1980’s.

Many were used to create engineering designs, architectural renderings, circuit diagrams, and business presentations. A few found their way into curious computer programmers who used them to design clever designs from programs written on a computer. What they created were the early beginnings of computer based art.

Paul owns over 20 different types of vintage pen plotters. He chooses the plotter that suits the design based on the design, paper type, paper size, plotter speed, and pen types.

The floppy plots are very compelling – you can read more on Twitter and see in Paul’s online shop. There is so much more in the shop here.

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Pocket-Sized Cyberdeck Programs Pico Projects #PiDay #Python #Cyberdeck @TomsHardware @ChrisRemboldt @Raspberry_Pi

Chris Remboldt demonstrates a beta build of a portable Python practice Cyberdeck rig. It uses a Pimoroni Hyperpixel display on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W in a flirc case. Input by Solder Party with their new BB Q20 keyboard/mouse.

See the build on Twitter, a PDF build guide, and an article on Tom’s Hardware.

Beta build of my portable #python practice #cyberdeck rig. @pimoroni #Hyperpixel display on a #raspberrypi Zero 2 W in a @flirc case. Input by @solderparty with their awesome new BB Q20 keyboard/mouse. Held together with indoor/outdoor 2 sided tape. To do: USB hub for Pico coding pic.twitter.com/QyBAXi663x

— Chris Remboldt (@ChrisRemboldt) May 26, 2022

CUBOTino Autonomous: Small, 3D Printed, Rubik’s Cube Robot #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

Save your fingies and brainspace for bigger puzzles, let the CUBOTIno solve your Rubik’s cubes. Fun project from AndreaFavero on Instructables:

By excluding the self solving Rubik’s cubes, and the robots requiring modified cubes for gripping, this is one of the smallest Rubik’s cube robot I’ve seen so far.

The name of this robot is CUBOTino: Apart from the obvious CUbe+roBOT, “ino” is the italian prefix standing for small….. a “small” touch recalling my origins and the very small robot dimensions.

Credits to Mr. Kociemba, for his solver, and the python version he has made available to the comunity.

Learn more!

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!

A Compaq LTE 286 Re-Fitted with Raspberry Pi @Raspberry_Pi #PiDay #RaspberryPi

The Compaq LTE 286 is a blocky laptop from the 80’s that is a classic as it gets. Some people aren’t too keen on gutting vintage computers, but not everybody. Here’s more from Dmitry Bryant:

A while ago a came across an old Compaq LTE 286 laptop. When they were first released around 1989, these PCs were somewhat groundbreaking because they were the first to be compact enough to resemble the “notebook” form factor that we take for granted today. Unfortunately this particular unit was pretty much beyond repair, and my attempts to restore it to a functional state were fruitless.

However, I realized that I could do the next best thing: remove the guts of the laptop and replace it with a Raspberry Pi! Who needs a “modern” Raspberry Pi-powered computer, when we can put one in a 30-year-old case?

See project!

Raspberry Pi Zero W Personal Temperature Controller #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

Read the temperature from your location instead of your device’s location with this build from xxxx on Instructables:

I wanted to be able to detect the surrounding temperature where I am sitting at and use that to control a space heater to warm my surrounding to the desired temperature level. My goal was to have to do a minimum amount of work and at a reasonable cost. Also, I want to be able to see and control things from my mobile phone. The approach I took was to use a Raspberry Pi Zero programmed with Python as the temperature controller and and an off-the-shelf AC power relay to switch the space heater on and off.

Raspberry Pi as Offboard Display Adapter @Raspberry_Pi #PiDay #RaspberryPi

Here’s a useful project from [Gunnar Wolf] via Hackaday:

The humble USB-C port has brought us so many advantages over its USB ancestors, one of which is as a handy display output for laptops. Simply add an inexpensive adapter and you can hook up everything from a mobile phone upwards to an HDMI display or projector. There’s a snag though, merely having USB-C is not enough as the device has to support the display feature. It’s a problem [Gunnar Wolf] had to face with a Lenovo ARM laptop, and his solution is unexpected. Instead of an adapter, he’s used a Raspberry Pi 3 and some software tricks.

The obvious route to an off-board Pi mirroring onboard video is to use VNC, which he tried but found wanting due to lagginess. As a user of the Wayland compositor he found he could instead use wf-recorder and send its output to a stream, and thus capture his screen in a way that the Pi could read over the network. It’s not quite as convenient a solution as a pure-hardware adapter, but at least it allowed him to share the screen.

See more!