Tag Archives: Raspberry Pi

GoBox Raspberry Pi Robot Subscription Kit: Maker 1

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Dexter Industries makes educational electronics and robotics kits for all levels of experience. With its new GoBox subscription service, the company aims to be more involved in the progress of robotics newbies, particularly children.

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The heart of GoBox is the GoPiGo, an open source robotic car based on the diminutive Raspberry Pi computing platform.

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When you subscribe to GoBox, each month you’ll receive a new sensor for the GoPiGo and a “mission” – a lesson in the form of a story or a roleplaying scenario that involves using the new sensor. The mission and its steps will be comprehensively laid out in a document and supplemented by video guides.

Pledge at least $269 (USD) on Kickstarter to subscribe to GoBox and receive a GoBox as rewards. There are also more affordable reward tiers for those who already have a GoBox.

[via GeekDad]

The $15 Raspberry Pi-compatible Computer: Orange Pi

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I don’t know how much fruits cost these days, but in terms of single board computers, oranges apparently now beat raspberries. The $15 (USD) Orange Pi is not only cheaper than the Raspberry Pi, in some ways it’s more capable too.

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The Orange Pi has an ARM-Cortex A7 quad-core 1.6GHz CPU and an ARM Mali 400 600Mhz GPU, allowing it to support 4K video output, which you can’t say of any Raspberry Pi model. It also has a 40-pin header similar to the one on the Raspberry Pi B+, 1GB RAM, three USB 2.0 ports, a USB OTG port, an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, a CSI connector, a microphone, 3.5mm audio out and an IR receiver.

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You can order an Orange Pi from AliExpress for $15 plus shipping. The store also has higher end variants that have onboard storage and a Wi-Fi chip for $35+.

[via Geek]

Raspberry Pi-based PDP-8/1 Replica: PiDP-8

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Released in 1965, the PDP-8 was the first successful commercial minicomputer, making it a coveted piece of computing history. In other words, it’s rare and expensive. So to celebrate the PDP-8’s 50th anniversary, Oscar aka Obsolescence Guaranteed opted to make an affordable replica using a Raspberry Pi and the SIMH emulator.

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Oscar’s PiDP-8 is based on the PDP-8/I. Oscar painstakingly recreated the labels and logos on the acrylic front panel based on a photo of the computer. The 92 LEDs and 26 switches also accurately reflect the (virtual) PDP-8’s CPU states. He didn’t bother recreating the computer’s tape and disk drives, since he wanted to keep costs down and because that would be insane.

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Oscar already sold a batch of PiDP-8 kits last June. He’ll make more again for release this October and is taking orders on his website. Prices start at $135 (USD). But if you want, you can refer to Oscar’s build log and hardware schematics for a full DIY job. Aside from the small profit, for his efforts Oscar is currently one of the 10 finalists in the 2015 Hack A Day Prize, which could net him $100,000 and much more.

[via Hack A Day]

Love Hulten’s PE358 & Battlecade: Game Boy & Game Twins

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Retro gadget maker Love Hulten recently showed off two of his latest creations, both of which are gaming systems. The PE358 is a Nintendo emulator inspired by the Game Boy Advance SP, while the Battlecade is a kickass two-player arcade machine inspired by the likes of Battleship.

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The PE358 measures about 3.1″x 3.1″x 1.5″ and is based on a Raspberry Pi A+. The Battlecade on the other hand has two 12″ LCD screens back-to-back, a compartment to store the joysticks and power adapter and neatly folds into a suitcase. Both devices have walnut wood cases.

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Sadly, Love isn’t selling the machines, though even if he were, I wouldn’t be able to afford them anyway. Nintendo should hire this guy already.

[via Uncrate]

 

Mycroft Open Source Personal Assistant: Maker Street

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Like 3D printers, electronic door locks and PCs on sticks, it seeems like everyone’s making personal assistant devices these days. One of the latest electronic PAs is Mycroft, and it stands out from the rest by having open source technology.

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Like its competitors, Mycroft is operated using voice commands. It can play music, search online for answers to your questions, control smart appliances and much more. Mycroft’s open source software and hardware should make it a lot easier for developers and engineers to add to or enhance its functions. The fact that it’s powered by a Raspberry Pi 2 and an Arduino microcontroller should greatly help its versatility as well.

Pledge at least $99 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a base Mycroft unit, or at least $129 to get the expandable version. The latter allows for easy access to the Raspberry Pi 2’s ports for mods and hacks.

[via Geeky Gadgets]

Deal: Save 93% on the Raspberry Pi Hacker Bundle

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Want to build and program a tiny and inexpensive computer that can fit in the palm of your hand? Rasperry Pi is the way to go. But where do you begin? Simple. This bundle of online training for Raspberry Pi will impart every bit of knowledge you need to get up and running, and to build all sorts of cool stuff using the platform.

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For just $39(USD), you’ll get five courses which cover everything from the basics of Raspberry Pi to designing and building your own hardware projects, programming in Python, and even building your own Pi-powered robot to do your bidding.

There are over $625 worth of courses in the Raspberry Pi Hacker Bundle, so this is a great deal, and you can grab it right now over at the Technabob Shop.

Raspberry Pi Retro Console with Two Halves: Game Boy SPlit

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Inspired by Adafruit’s PiGRRL, Thingiverse member Jooxoe3i made his own Raspberry Pi retro console. But he wanted to make it as small as possible, so he came up with a two-part build.

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The upper half of the console contains the Raspberry Pi and the PiTFT 2.4″ screen, while the lower half is the USB controller. Jooxoe3i’s split console also lets him use other USB controllers with it. Which is just as well, because it must be a bit awkward to hold the two halves together while playing.

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Head to Jooxoe3i’s Thingiverse page to get his 3D files for his retro console’s cases.

[via Geeky Gadgets]

DIY Necktie Wi-Fi Hotspot: TieFi

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We all know that mobile devices often put us into bubbles of isolation. As a Father’s Day treat, ad agency Grip Limited thought of a cheeky way to force children to get closer to their dads. It’s the TieFi, a wearable Wi-Fi hotspot.

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Grip Limited’s TieFi crammed a Raspberry Pi 2, a Raspberry Pi Wi-Fi adapter, a nano USB wireless range extender and a battery pack into a necktie to turn fathers – or anyone really – into a walking Wi-Fi hotspot. The low-power transmitter means users need to remain within 10 feet of its wearer to connect, encouraging kids to stay in the same room as Dad.

Skip to 1:40 for the bit about TieFi:

Drag your kids to your workshop and head to the TieFi website to find out how you can make one. Or, you know, use your phone as a hotspot.

[via Digital Trends]

DIY Raspberry Pi Photo Booth: Say Fruit!

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Last year, TMW Unlimited Lab Tech Lead Roo Williams was asked to come up with a better way to take profile photos of new employees. At the time, someone from Human Resources simply used a compact camera to take a shot of the newbies. Roo decided to make a low cost, remote-controlled and mobile photo booth that allowed employees to inspect and re-take their pictures if they want to before submitting them to HR.

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Roo used a Raspberry Pi and the Pi’s camera module to power what he calls the Pi-Booth. He wired a relay module that controlled two lamps to the Pi to make a flash. He also removed the camera module’s lens and made a 3D adapter so he could attach different kinds of lenses to the camera. He also added a display to serve as the Pi-Booth’s viewfinder.

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Roo installed the components in a case that he made out of a combination of 3D printed and laser cut parts. The front plate is frosted to give the flash a soft glow.

To control the Pi-Booth Roo wrote a Python application that uses Flask and Flask-SocketIO. Roo and his colleagues simply go to a website on their computer or mobile device to operate the booth.

Roo says the Pi-Booth can also be reprogrammed to send pictures to other websites. He can even add simple photo editing features to make it more fun to use. Head to Roo’s Github page for more on his project.

[via Hack A Day]

DIY Game Boy Emulator has 19″ Screen: Game Boy XXL

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In the past months we’ve seen retro video game consoles based on the Raspberry Pi stuffed in ever shrinking Game Boy (or Game Boy–inspired) cases. So it’s refreshing to see the opposite for once: a huge Game Boy replica with a 19″ screen. You don’t need a magnifier for this big fella.

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Hack A Day community member Raz calls his creation the Game Boy XXL. It’s made of MDF and has mechanical buttons. Like many Raspberry Pi consoles, it’s loaded with RetroPie, which means it can play more than just Game Boy titles. Raz made it in his spare time for Nintendoom, a major chiptune festival in Belgium.

The eye-catching system works well and looks good, considering Raz had to rush this one in time for the festival. But he says he’s already working on an improved version and will paint it in the original Game Boy color.

[via Hack A Day]