DIY Digital Picture Frame Combines Reddit’s Showerthoughts and Earthporn: Yuks & Awe

Posted on 28/02/2016 by Lambert Varias

For his first Raspberry Pi project, Redditor tvm78 used the tiny computer to turn an old monitor into a digital picture frame. But instead of loading pictures of their family, tvm78 decided to stay connected with their online community. The picture frame gets images from the subreddit r/Earthporn and texts from r/Showerthoughts.

Tvm78 hasn’t shared their build log yet, but if you want to test it out head to Redditor paultjeb’s online version of the picture frame:

Keep in mind that r/Showerthoughts is not an infinite fountain of wisdom or comedy, so half the time you’ll get inane or corny thoughts. But as other Redditors have said, you’re free to get the text from other subreddits, such as r/nocontext, or maybe even other websites. I’m sure there are a ton of Twitter and Instagram accounts that would work well together.

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[via Hack A Day]

’70s Intercom Raspberry Pi Multi-room Audio Mod: Home Reautomation

Posted on 01/02/2016 by Lambert Varias

Imgur member cpostier’s house has a Nutone 2090, a 1960s to 1970s home intercom system that doubles as a multi-room AM/FM radio. Cpostier wasn’t interested in its primary function, but he wanted to update the system’s audio capabilities. A Raspberry Pi and a PiTFT let him convert the master station from this…

…into this:

The Pi is running Kodi and a weather app on top of Raspbian. Cpostier also replaced the master station’s wires and outlet, added an amplifier and changed the speakers in both the master station and the remote stations.

Here’s cpostier’s full build log:

Intercom Project

I’m sure the speakers won’t impress anyone, but since they cost $15 (USD) per pair I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole project cost cpostier less than a single Sonos or Bose speaker.

[via Hack A Day]

Adafruit PiGRRL 2 Raspberry Pi Gaming Handheld: Make Boy

Posted on 22/01/2016 by Lambert Varias

Adafruit made it easier to turn the Raspberry Pi into a retro gaming handheld by designing 3D printable cases. Now they’re simplifying the process by designing an internal component: a custom PCB for the gamepad.

Adafruit says its custom circuit board cuts the PiGRRL 2’s build time in half because with it you don’t need to wire the buttons. Just a (relatively) quick soldering and you’re good.

But the new handheld template isn’t just easier to build, it’s more powerful and versatile too. Unlike its predecessors, the PiGRRL 2 is based on the Raspberry Pi 2 and has four face buttons as well as L and R buttons at the back for SNES gaming.

Adafruit says it will release a DIY PiGRRL 2 kit, but for now you can check out the list of parts and files on its website.

[via Gadgetify]

DIY Raspberry Pi LED Matrix Display: PiXels

Posted on 20/12/2015 by Lambert Varias

Need a cheap display for your Raspberry Pi? Or perhaps you’re building a Times Square for ants? Then check out this guide by Adafruit’s Tony Dicola.

The project is based around Adafruit’s RGB Matrix HAT for the Raspberry Pi, which makes it easy to power and output to daisy chained LED matrices. Tony says a Pi 2 can handle up to 12 32×32 LED matrices at once. Because of how the image is output, the matrices can be put together only as a rectangle. Further, the display’s aspect ratio needs to be as close as possible to the Pi’s output to reduce distortion. You can also program it so that the matrices show only a portion of the Pi’s output.

Head to Adafruit’s website for the complete guide.

DIY Raspberry Pi Light Painter: DotStar Pi Painter

Posted on 14/12/2015 by Lambert Varias

Experienced makers looking for a flash of inspiration for their next project should check out the latest guide from Adafruit’s Philip Burgess. He shows us how to make the DotStar Pi, a large light painter made with the Raspberry Pi and Adafruit’s DotStar LED strip.

Philip says this light painter has practically no size limit, but he suggests that you stick to a 1m to 1.5m (3.3ft. to 5ft.) long strip. A longer strip means you’ll need more power, and it’ll be harder to hold and transport too. In addition, while the sheer size and resolution of the DotStar Pi’s resulting images make even simple patterns a sight to behold, you might have to go through a lot of hardware and software troubleshooting before you can kick off your light show.

Perhaps you can start with a short test strip before building the Death Star II of light painting brushes. But once you’ve got it down – and practiced shooting with a friend! – the results are more than worth your troubles:

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How cool is that? Head to Adafruit’s website for the guide. Or if you’re not feeling up to the DIY challenge, there’s always the $349 Pixelstick.

Raspberry Pi Zero Costs Just $5: Maker’s Spark

Posted on 27/11/2015 by Lambert Varias

Earlier this year we checked out C.H.I.P., a single-board computer that costs only $12 (USD). But that seems like a rich man’s toy now compared to Raspberry Pi Foundation’s surprise reveal: the Raspberry Pi Zero.

Compared to the first Raspberry Pi, the Zero is about half the size but is 40% to 60% more powerful. It has a single core 1GHz CPU, 512MB RAM and a microSD slot. So far so good, but of course compromises were made to achieve its small size and low price. For starters, its GPIO headers are unpopulated. It also has only a mini-HDMI and a micro-USB port. Check out Element 14’s chart for a detailed comparison of all Raspberry Pi models.

Clearly the Zero does not make C.H.I.P. or other single board computers obsolete – for example, C.H.I.P. has 4GB of onboard storage and has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built-in – but its size and price makes it the best option for certain tasks.

Aside from being easier to buy and hide, the Zero is also highly power efficient. According to The Raspberry Pi Guy, it draws only 80mA of current when idle and 160mA when at full load.

Here’s Element 14’s sample project with the Zero, a retro gaming system with a CRT TV as its monitor.

Even though the Zero costs only $5, you will most likely need a mini-HDMI-to-HDMI adapter and a micro-USB-to-USB adapter to connect it to displays and other peripherals. That’s why Element 14 chose to include both adapters with the Zero in a $23 bundle.

[via The Next Web]

Raspberry Pi Launches Zero, the $5 Computer

Posted on 26/11/2015 by Alexandru Chiuariu

One cannot help but wonder how much lower can computer prices get. While all models of Raspberry Pi are instantly checked off the list of gamers and video editors, programmers may find them very interesting, particularly if they are just getting into coding. Raspberry Pi Zero represents an even more appealing option in this sense, since it only costs $5.

Raspberry Pi computers are meant to be used in schools and developing countries for teaching programming. Given their dimensions and components, it’s understandable that these don’t offer crazy performance, but for programming it’s more than enough. Needless to say, since the first Raspberry Pi was launched, people have found various uses for it.

The above image is a great way of advertising the newly launched Raspberry Pi Zero, as the $5 banknote reflects the price of the device, and it’s also used for size comparison.

“Of all the things we do at Raspberry Pi, driving down the cost of computer hardware remains one of the most important. Even in the developed world, a programmable computer is a luxury item for a lot of people, and every extra dollar that we ask someone to spend decreases the chance that they’ll choose to get involved,” stated Eben Upton, the founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, in a post on the company’s official blog. Might as well check out that post for a complete list of components, and a short assesment of Raspberry Pi Zero’s capabilities.

As Upton explained, even though the previous models were cheap, not everybody could have access to them: “The original Raspberry Pi Model B and its successors put a programmable computer within reach of anyone with $20-35 to spend. Since 2012, millions of people have used a Raspberry Pi to get their first experience of programming, but we still meet people for whom cost remains a barrier to entry. At the start of this year, we began work on an even cheaper Raspberry Pi to help these people take the plunge.”

Raspberry Pi will offer Pi Zero for free on the cover of their own magazine, as Upton revealed: “One more thing: because the only thing better than a $5 computer is a free computer, we are giving away a free Raspberry Pi Zero on the front of each copy of the December issue of The MagPi, which arrives in UK stores today. Russell, Rob and the team have been killing themselves putting this together, and we’re very pleased with how it’s turned out. The issue is jam-packed with everything you need to know about Zero, including a heap of project ideas, and an interview with Mike Stimson, who designed the board.”

Unfortunately, the magazine is out of stock on the company’s newly revamped Swag Store, and just in case you can’t buy it yourself, you’ll have to wait until Raspberry Pi Zero makes it to the shelves of retailers. Until then, you can check Amazon for various Raspberry Pi kits and parts.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Raspberry Pi 2 with a free edition of Windows 10, or the Raspberry Pi Model A+ mini PC.

Polycade Wall-mounted Arcade Machine: Worth a Thousand Games

Posted on 19/11/2015 by Lambert Varias

I’ve seen arcade machines in all sorts of sizes and forms, but the Polycade is the first wall-mounted one I’ve seen. It has enough room for two player controls, a separate 4-way joystick and two buttons for classic systems and a 28″ LED TV. But because it’s wall-mounted it’s only a third of the size of standard arcade machines.

The Polycade was designed by Tyler and Dylan Bushnell – sons of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell – along with their friend Charles Carden. The cabinet is 30″ wide, 52″ tall and sticks out 17″ off the wall. Like many modern arcade machines, it’s powered by the Raspberry Pi and runs RetroPie, so you can play games not just with MAME but from other classic systems as well. It comes in white, black, red, blue, brown or orange, and you can also have vinyl graphics applied to the cabinet.

The Polycade crew claims that the machine’s parts are “as easy to swap out as possible… even for the non-technically inclined person”, although they didn’t go into detail about its repairability.

Pledge at least $1350 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a fully assembled Polycade as a reward. You can also pledge at least $600 to get everything but the cabinet. Check out Polycade’s Instagram page for more photos and videos of the machine.

[via Damn Geeky]

Pixel Vision Retro Portable Game System: Game Boy Advance SR

Posted on 17/11/2015 by Lambert Varias

A few months ago we checked out Love Hultén’s PE358, a retro handheld inspired by the Game Boy Advance SP. It seems like that got a lot of people’s attention, because Love is now offering the Pixel Vision, a limited edition production version of the PE358.

Unlike the PE358, the Pixel Vision hides the display cable and has a speaker grill. Inside the walnut case is a Raspberry Pi A+ running RetroArch, a custom made DAC chip, an 8GB flash drive for storage and a 3.5″ LCD display. Love used software to add barrel distortion and a soft shader to the video output, making it look like it’s coming from a CRT monitor.

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The Pixel Vision can play games from the Atari 800, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, NES, SNES, Sega Master System, Intellivision, Sega Genesis, SNES and Game Boy Advance. That said, it doesn’t have X,Y, L and R buttons.

Pledge at least ~$460 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive one of only 500 Pixel Vision units as a reward. You can also pledge ~$800 to get one of only 20 Pixel Vision Pearl units, which have a matte black panels, solid brass buttons and d-pad and an inlay on the lid made from Mother of pearl veneer.

They’re extremely expensive, but I think the video above shows how much work Love puts in to make just one of these systems.

Live Time Closed Captioning System: Spellcaster

Posted on 11/11/2015 by Lambert Varias

Last year we featured Captioning on Glass, an application that uses Google Glass and an Android device to translate speech to text in real time. Now a group of teenagers claim they can provide us with a device that has the same capabilities.

Frants Innovators’ Live Time Closed Captioning System (LTCCS) is an augmented reality system powered by the Raspberry Pi. Its display is designed to be mounted on eyeglasses, while the Pi and the rest of the components are in a pocketable case.

The company claims that they’ve already made the display and that their software works, but they’re still refining their system: “What we still have to do is perfect it. Ideally, we want to make a system that works in any situation. Obviously making it work in absolutely any situation is impossible, but what is possible is making it work well enough that you never encounter the situation in which it doesn’t.”

You can pledge at least $650 (USD) on Indiegogo to receive an LTCCS as a reward, though I suggest you wait until Frants Innovators can present more concrete proof of their product.