I thought it would be fun to build a project around the hit arcade game, Space Invaders. I added a little more challenge to it by using a screen that only has 128x64 pixels, less than half the resolution of the original game. The final result is something that looks, sounds, and even feels like the original game, but a whole lot smaller.Full walkthru of code, and assembly instructions are provided on my YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5S1LC5TFiM& .

Raspberry Pi 4 NAS out of an old power amplifierStory:I had played around with the NAS feature of my router in the past, but quickly reached its limits. Since then, I was looking for a NAS solution for my whole family. Best to build it myself. I already had a few Raspberry Pis at home and when the PI 4B came out, this was the perfect moment to get this project started.Around the same time, a power amp at my school broke. Since I am involved in sound engineering there, it was no problem to get hold of it. So, I had a case in which all components would fit.This project is divided into two parts.In part 1 we take care of the hardware, i.e. the cabling of the individual devices and especially also the installation in the power amp case.In part 2 we will install the operating system and set up the NAS.If you are only interested in the software part and setting up the NAS with Ubuntu Server, you can jump straight to the second part.Attention! Working on mains voltage is life threatening and should only be done by qualified personnel. Some steps shown here should only be done if you know exactly what you are doing. Furthermore, a multiple socket, as shown here, should never be used for permanent installations.Specs:Raspberry Pi 48 GB DDR3 SDRAMGigabit Ethernet4 TB RAID 1 StorageWhat you need:Note: For a pure Raspberry Pi 4 NAS without amp case, we only need those articles in bold.Raspberry Pi 4B (I recommend the 8GB RAM version, as it is not much more expensive compared to other NAS solutions)Power supply (PSU) for the Pi (5V, 3A, 45W, UBS-C, surge- and overload protection)Micro SD card (32GB)Active cooling case for the PiUSB 3 Hub (This turned out later)Active USB-SATA adapterHard drives (4TB WD red)Power supply for the case fans (24V, 4.5A)2 relay board (to switch the two case fans and the fan on the Raspberry Pi)Ethernet feedthrough (To connect an Ethernet cable to the case, as it would be with a real server)Ethernet patch cable (20cm)Switch (250V, 10A, for the Case)Fuse (4.5A)MC 7805 (Fixed voltage regulator)Capacitors (2200μF, 10 μF, 100nF – more details later)Diode (1N4001)Jumper cablesPart 1 - The enclosure (not important for the NAS itself)Mounting the devices:After opening the 19" case, and removing the actual PCB, I was also able to unscrew the front panel and get access to the fans. Of course, these had to be cleaned first. I decided to further disassemble the front panel and spray paint it completely black. In order for the paint to hold better, I had to sand it down a bit.Then I had to think about the actual allocation of the devices in the case. This was only possible to a limited extent before, because I didn’t have any specifications of the power supplies for the USB-SATA adapters. I had originally wanted to take a black multi-socket, but the plugs there were arranged at an 45° angle, so that the power supplies would then have been too high and would no longer have fit into the housing. Therefore, I had to search for a multi-socket with straight plugs.Now that I knew what should go where, I could start attaching the parts. The Ethernet feed through I could simply attach to the place of a previous speakOn port, for this I only had to drill two holes for the screws. For the relay, the 24 V power supply and the Raspberry Pi, I marked the holes and punched them so I could drill them with a 2.5 and 3mm drill bit. I was able to immediately screw the 24V power supply to the bottom of the case. But since the relay module was not insulated at the bottom side of the PCB, I had to mount it on spacers and attach a small plastic sheet.I had long been wondering how I would mount the Raspberry Pi. In the end, the best solution was to mark the four holes of the base plate, with a scriber on the bottom of the amp, and then screw the Raspberry Pi case to the power amp case with longer screws. Since the fans were clean again in the meantime, I could screw them into the case as well.In order not to damage the hard drives during assembling the NAS, I took two old ones to mark the proportions. Then the hard drives were fixed with metal brackets. To allow air to get under the hard drives and reduce vibrations at the same time, I packed rubber spacers between both, the metal brackets and the case bottom.After all the important components were fixed, I could start the wiring.AC wiring:I decided to use the screw terminals on the 24V power supply to be able to connect the multisocket there. So I had to remove the plug, and strip the three stranded wires. I crimped ferrules onto the stripped ends and then screwed them (L2, N2, PE2) to the AC input side of the terminal block on the 24V power supply.From the incoming mains cable, I was able to connect the neutral conductor (N1) directly to the power supply, using a wire end ferrule.The phase (L1), I first connected to a 4.5A fuse. In my case, I was able to insulate the solder joints of the fuse holder well with heat shrink tubing and electrical tape.Then L1 was looped to the switch (250V, 10 A). There I used insulated cable lugs to be able to plug and unplug the switch easily. Next, the phase was pulled back to the power supply. Since I have an illuminated switch, I also had to connect the neutral (N3) to the switch.Because only two cable ends fit on the terminal strip of the 24V PSU, this neutral conductor (N3) had to be connected with a terminal plug.I also screwed the protective conductor (PE2) of the multiple socket to the terminal strip of the power supply.In order to be able to connect the protective conductor of the mains cable and the power supply (PE3) and the incoming cable (PE1) with the housing, I have sanded down an unpainted area again and screwed both protective conductors using a toothed ring.After an isolation test, I was able to plug it in for the first test. Fortunately, nothing blew up in my face, nothing exploded, and everything behaved as it should.... except the switch… Wiring this power switch was a bit difficult, as it had an LED that was supposed to indicate if the switch was set to on or off.... but it was not quite clear in which positions what happened. So it took me a few tries before I knew the correct wiring, as the manufacturer did not include instructions.DC wiring:This seems complicated because there are many cables, but it is relatively simple.To reduce a few cables and to be able to connect the fans well, I soldered a board to which I can plug both fans on one side and the 24V is connected on the other side. GND goes directly to the power supply and +24V are switched via relay 1. As it turned out later, the fans vibrated very strongly at 24V. At 20V, however, they ran quietly. Therefore I soldered a 85 Ohm power resistor in front of each fan. From the fan of the Raspberry Pi you can also plug GND directly to a GPIO. I connected the +5V with a jumper cable to relay 2 and led it back again, so I didn't have to cut and solder a cable. This would make the fan more replaceable.To switch the relay, we need to connect +5V (VCC) and GND (GND) from the Raspberry Pi as power supply to the relay module. We also need GPIO 04 (IN1) and GPIO 17 (IN2) to switch the relays. The jumper has to be set between VCC and RVCC. Now the relay would theoretically already work, but the Raspi would not be galvanically separated from the relay module.To achieve this by using the optocouplers on the PCB, the jumper must be removed and a voltage of +5V must be connected to RVCC and GND.Since I don't have a 5V voltage source in the case, I built myself a voltage converter with a fixed voltage regulator with the following schematic:On the in pin of the MC7805 +24V are applied. Also an electrolytic capacitor is connected between +24V and GND. The middle pin (GND) is also connected to GND and the Out pin is connected to RVCC on the relay board. Between the out pin and GND an electrolytic capacitor with 10μF and a ceramic capacitor with 100nF are connected. To protect the MC7805 from a too high voltage at the out pin, a 1N4001 diode is connected between In and Out. The capacitors smooth the voltage. The GND of the circuit is connected to GND on the relay board.Because 19V drops at the fixed voltage regulator, it can get very hot. Therefore I took an old heat sink, which was previously installed in the power amp, and attached the MC7805 to it. I used a fixed voltage regulator instead of a DC/DC converter, because I had one at home. In addition, the 5V are only needed for the switching operations of the relay. Therefore the heat sink is theoretically not necessary. But since I might need the 5V output for other stuff and it does look good, I decided to use it.Now all that's left to do is plug in the power supplies, connect the hard drives to the Pi, and create a connection with the 20cm patch cable between the Pi and the Ethernet feedthrough.At this point it is important to add that it turned out later that you need an additional active USB hub between the Raspberry Pi and the active SATA USB adapters. When setting up the NAS, I struggled almost continuously with one of the disks being kicked out. sudo dmesg always returned errors that looked like this:over current change #54. There were other errors, but they were software related. After weeks of trying and researching I found someone with the same problem. His hard drives were also thrown out, although he also used active SATA USB adapters. Indeed. With an active USB hub I didn't get these error messages anymore. Interesting to know is that the active USB hub drew only 0.2A(DC) in IDLE and almost 1A(DC) in use. From this I conclude that the active adapters could not supply enough current. Now that the Raspberry Pi has been expanded with more USB3 ports, I'm also thinking of moving the operating system to an SSD, as these are more durable than SD cards.Of course, good cable management is important, so that cables do not unplug themselves and that it is easier to upgrade later.To stop dust that would be sucked in by the fans, I sandwiched a strip of filter floss for servers between the chassis and the fans.After flashing the Micro SD card (See Part 2) I was able to insert it into the Raspberry Pi and then attach the black painted front panel as well as the lid.About switching the fans: Since the fans do not support PWM out of the box, it would be an idea to control the fans with MosFets instead of just a relay, to control their speed proportional to the temperature.Also, mac587 had suggested on hackster, where I had presented the project a few months ago, to use an ATX power supply as power source. So you could save the voltage converter and run fans with only 12V.Now we continue in part 2, since we have already done everything that has to do with hardware.Part 2 - SoftwareInstall operating systemTo get the operating system onto the SD card, we use the Pi imager.There we select Choose OS -> Other general purpose OS -> Ubuntu -> Ubuntu Server 20.XX.x LTS (RPi 3/4/400).And then choose your SD card.Then press "Write" The process took me about 6 minutes.Get the IP of the RaspberryAfter the SD card is in the Pi and it is turned on, it should appear on your router's user interface after a few seconds.At my Fritz!Box you can find the IP under Home Tetworks -> Mesh -> Other connected or registered home network devices.There you should give the device a static IP, so that you don't have any problems later when mounting e.g. in fstab.Access the Pi via SSHTo get access to the Raspberry Pi via SSH, we open a terminal on the PC and type:ssh ubuntu@ubuntu or?ssh ubuntu@"IP_of_your_pi". the default password is ubuntu but the password should be urgently replaced with a strong password, otherwise an attacker will have access to all data stored on the NAS.After that you will be logged out and have to log in again with your new password.First steps on a new OSHints and tipsUse tab in terminal for auto-complete.Exit nano with Ctrl+x and confirm changes with y.Select a text section in nano: Alt+A+M and then move with the arrow keys. Ctrl+arrow key then selects the whole paragraph at once.Cut selected text in nano: Ctrl+KUpdate the Raspberry Pisudo apt-get update sudo at-get full-upgrade If errors occur here, just rebooting will help.Make SSH more secureNote: Since the NAS will only be accessible from the home network anyway, this is not absolutely necessary. This measure helps to make attacks on port 22 useless, but with a portscan you can also find out the actually used port. Therefore, a strong password is more important for every user. More help would be provided by fail2ban and access via certificate.For this we need to change the default SSH port and disable root login. This is done in the SSH configuration file under /etc/ssh/sshd_config:sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config Here we have to remove the "#" in line #Port 22 and change "22" to any other port (e.g. 2846).Also, in the line #PermitRootLogin prohibit-password, the "#" should be removed and "prohibit-password" should be replaced by " no".This should look like this:Port 2846 #AddressFamily any #ListenAddress 0.0.0.0 #ListenAddress :: ? #HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key [...] ? # Authentication: ? #LoginGraceTime 2m PermitRootLogin no ?To make the changes take effect immediately, we restart ssh:sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart Allow selected port in the firewallSince we changed the default port of SSH, sudo ufw allow OpenSSH won't work anymore. Therefore, we need to use the following command to allow the newly selected port:sudo ufw allow 1636 Now the port must be specified when logging in via SSH:ssh ubuntu@ubuntu -p 2846 Change hostnameSince I have installed several Ubuntu servers and want to recognize my NAS better in the home network afterwards, the hostname will be changed. Note: After that the RPi is no longer reachable via ssh under ssh ubuntu@ubuntu -p 2846 but under ssh ubuntu@rpi-nas -p 2846.With hostnamectl we can display the current hostname:$ hostnamectl Static hostname: ubuntu Icon name: computer Machine ID: e5e5d4e8666c456488d91bc2735712d0 Boot ID: 1fdeecd84e8f48c499c520978bc60358 Operating System: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS Kernel: Linux 5.4.0-1029-raspi Architecture: arm64 With the set-hostname option we can set a new hostname:sudo hostnamectl set-hostname rpi-nas Then we have to add the line 127.0.0.1 rpi-nas to the /etc/hosts file:sudo nano /etc/hosts It should then look something like this:127.0.0.1 rpi-nas # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet The last thing to do is to change a value in the cloud.cfg file:sudo nano /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg Search here for preserve_hostname: and change the value to trueTo make sure everything worked, we run hostnamectl again.$ hostnamectl Static hostname: rpi-nas Icon name: computer Machine ID: e5e5d4e8666c456488d91bc2735712d0 Boot ID: 1fdeecd84e8f48c499c520978bc60358 Operating System: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS Kernel: Linux 5.4.0-1029-raspi Architecture: arm64 Add non-root userThe last thing we do is to add a default, non-root user, which we will work with from now on.To do this:sudo adduser config Add the user to the sudo group:sudo usermod -a -G sudo config Now we switch to the new user and run a command that requires root right to make sure everything worked:sudo su - config sudo apt-get update Python scripts to cool the NASCooling the Raspberry PiFirst, you need to install some packages:sudo apt-get install python3-pip sudo pip3 install Rpi.GPIO pip3 install gpiozero pip3 install pigpio sudo apt-get install rpi.gpio-common sudo apt-get install python3-rpi.gpio Then the group gpio must be created, the current user (config) must be added and the group must get rights for the GPIOs:sudo groupadd gpio # Add the group sudo usermod -a -G gpio $USER # Add the current user to the new group sudo grep gpio /etc/group # Assure that everything is working sudo chown root:gpio /dev/gpiomem # Change the gpio owner to root sudo chmod g+rw /dev/gpiomem # Add read and write permissions Alternatively, the current user may also own gpiomem:sudo chown root:$USER /dev/gpiomem Now we create another folder where the python scripts will be placed, and also the python script itself. The code that needs to be inserted is found on GitHub:mkdir code cd code mkdir python cd python nano cooling_pi.py # now paste the code from GitHub sudo chmod u+x cooling_pi.py # Make the script executable To ensure that the Pi is reliably cooled after each reboot, we add the following line to the crontab. To log any errors that occur, we also create a log file:cd log/ touch cron_user.log crontab -e @reboot python3 /home/config/code/python/cooling_pi.py > /home/config/log/cron_user.log 2>&1 # Insert this line. Cooling the HDDsTo be able to read out the temperatures of the hard disks, hddtemp must be installed:sudo apt-get install hddtemp The following line can be used to read out the temperature for a hard disk:for i in /dev/sdX ; do sudo hddtemp sata:$i; done For the script we create a new folder for shell scripts in the directory./code. There we will create a script for each disk (code on GitHub) Since the readout requires root rights, but the python script is executed by a non-root user, the owner of the shell scripts must be changed to root, as well as the file rights must be adjusted.cd code/ mkdir shell cd shell/ nano sda_temp.sh # For HDD1 nano sdb_temp.sh # For HDD2 sudo chown root:root sda_temp.sh sdb_temp.sh # Change the owner sudo chmod 755 sda_temp.sh sdb_temp.sh # Assign the relevant file permissions sudo visudo # To avoid the need to enter a password, insert those two lines config ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /home/config/code/shell/sda_temp.sh config ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /home/config/code/shell/sdb_temp.sh Now we create the python script and add it to the crontab.cd code/python/ nano cooling_hdd.py # now paste the code from GitHub sudo chmod u+x cooling_hdd.py # Make the script executable crontab -e @reboot python3 /home/config/code/python/cooling_hdd.py > /home/config/log/cron_user.log 2>&1 # Insert this line. Create Software RaidNow it finally comes to create the raid using mdadm.First, let's display the available disks to check that everything is working fine.sudo lshw -short H/W path Device Class Description =============================================== system Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.4 /0 bus Motherboard /0/1 processor cpu /0/2 processor cpu /0/3 processor cpu /0/4 processor cpu /0/5 memory 7811MiB System memory # 8 GB RAM /0/0 bridge Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries /0/0/0 bus VL805 USB 3.0 Host Controller /0/0/0/0 usb1 bus xHCI Host Controller /0/0/0/0/1 bus USB2.0 Hub /0/0/0/1 usb2 bus xHCI Host Controller /0/0/0/1/1 storage ASM105x /0/0/0/1/2 storage ASM105x /0/6 scsi0 storage /0/6/0.0.0 /dev/sda disk 4TB ASM105x # HDD1 /0/6/0.0.0/1 /dev/sda1 volume 3726GiB EXT4 volume /0/7 scsi1 storage /0/7/0.0.0 /dev/sdb disk 4TB ASM105x # HDD2 /0/7/0.0.0/1 /dev/sdb1 volume 3726GiB EXT4 volume /1 wlan0 network Wireless interface /2 eth0 network Ethernet interface If the hard disks are not partitioned yet, we will do that first. Note that for disks larger than 2TB, GPT must be used instead of MBR as the partition table, since MBR can only handle partitions < 2TB and the disk will otherwise contain several small partitions instead of one large one.To create a partition using the entire hard disk, you can simply enter 0% 100%. Otherwise the start and end block must be specified.sudo parted /dev/sda mklabel gpt # Create partition table sudo parted -a optimal -- /dev/sda mkpart primary 0% 100% sudo parted /dev/sda set 1 raid on # Mark partition as RAID Of course must be repeated for the second drive (sdb).Now the RAID can be created. We create a RAID1, so the disks are mirrored.sudo mdadm --create /dev/md0 --auto md --level=1 --raid-devices=2 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1 The question "Continue creating array?" must be answered with "y".Now we create an ext4 partition on the raid array and mount it.sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/md0 sudo mkdir /mnt/nas sudo nano /etc/fstab /dev/md0 /mnt/nas ext4 defaults 0 2 # Insert this line sudo mount -a The last thing to do is to update mdadm.conf and initramfs. The second one takes a while.sudo su -c "/usr/share/mdadm/mkconf > /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf“ sudo update-initramfs -u -k all Whether everything went well can be checked with these two commands:cat /proc/mdstat Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] md0 : active raid1 sdb[1] sda[0] 3906886464 blocks super 1.2 [2/2] [UU] [>....................] resync = 1.9% (75295680/3906886464) finish=3092.5min speed=20649K/sec bitmap: 30/30 pages [120KB], 65536KB chunk Here you can also see if a hard disk is failed or synchronized.sudo mdadm --detail /dev/md0 /dev/md0: Version : 1.2 Creation Time : Wed Feb 3 09:26:57 2021 Raid Level : raid1 Array Size : 3906886464 (3725.90 GiB 4000.65 GB) Used Dev Size : 3906886464 (3725.90 GiB 4000.65 GB) Raid Devices : 2 Total Devices : 2 Persistence : Superblock is persistent Intent Bitmap : Internal Update Time : Wed Feb 3 10:31:45 2021 State : clean, resyncing Active Devices : 2 Working Devices : 2 Failed Devices : 0 Spare Devices : 0 Consistency Policy : bitmap Resync Status : 1% complete Name : ubuntu:0 (local to host ubuntu) UUID : ab3d8d90:b05e8253:5f8e750d:7ae67fea Events : 1235 Number Major Minor RaidDevice State 0 8 0 0 active sync /dev/sda 1 8 16 1 active sync /dev/sdb Block UASIn the beginning, I often had problems with my hard drives being kicked out. On the one hand, this was due to the lack of a USB hub, but on the other hand, it was also due to UAS. That is why we will block it. In addition, we deactivate the sleep mode of the hard drives, so that they do not switch off at some point and are then no longer accessible.lsusb -t # check, if your adapter uses UAS: /: Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 5000M |__ Port 2: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=uas, 5000M # <- UAS sudo lsusb Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub Bus 004 Device 002: ID 174c:55aa ASMedia Technology Inc. Name: ASM1051E SATA 6Gb/s bridge, ASM1053E SATA 6Gb/s bridge, ASM1153 SATA 3Gb/s bridge, ASM1153E SATA 6Gb/s bridge sudo nano /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt usb-storage.quirks=174c:55aa:u # Insert this line. sudo update-initramfs -u # Update initramfs so that the changes take effect. sudo hdparm -S0 /dev/sda #Disable sleep Setup SambaCreate userssudo apt-get install samba samba-common # install samba I have created a total of 7 users on my end. The distribution as follows: User1, User2, User3, User4 for all family members. In addition, I have set up a public share (family). This is where files and photos are stored to which everyone has access. Then there is a share User2Work. This share is for the business data of user 2, which is also mounted only on the business laptop.There is also the user nas. This is generally used for writing, because otherwise conflicts with user rights could arise, for example, if User1 wants to change a file created by User2.With the first command a normal Ubuntu user named User1 is created. However, since this user does not need a home directory, nor does he need to log in to the NAS via ssh as we do, we disable this with the options --no-create-home and --disabled-login. Also questions about residence, department, etc. can be skipped. The second command sets a (strong!) password for this user. Note that anyone who has this password can also have access to all files stored under this user.sudo adduser --no-create-home --disabled-login --shell /bin/false user1 sudo smbpasswd -a user1 These steps are now repeated for all 7 users.Create folders for the usersOf course, no folder is created for nas, since this user is only used for writing. Besides that, a separate folder is created for each of the other 6 users.In order for nas to be used for writing, this user must also be specified as the owner at the end.cd /mnt/nas/ sudo mkdir shares cd shares/ sudo mkdir {user1,user2,user2work,user3,user4,family} sudo chown -R nas: /mnt/nas/shares/ Set up sharesTo do this, we edit the smb.conf file.For the normal users, the example of user1 can be used. Make sure that everywhere user1 (also in the path to the folder) is aligned with the real name.The example from the family can be used for all public shares.Just add it at the end of the file.In addition, the line map to guest = bad user must be changed to map to guest = never, so that Windows10 users can also use the share without errors. Otherwise "network errors" might occur.sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf ? # user1 [user1] # The name of the share. comment = User1 # This comment appears e.g. in Explorer. path = /mnt/nas/shares/user # This is the folder for all files of User1. write list = user1 valid users = user1 force user = nas read only = no browsable = yes ? # family [family] comment = Family path = /mnt/nas/shares/family write list = user1,user2,user3,user4 # Enter all users who should have access here. valid users = family,user1,user2,user3,user4 # In addition, of course, family must be added here. force user = nas read only = no browsable = yes Note at this point: Whoever has the ubuntu or config passwords also has access to all files stored on the entire NAS.Last stepThe last thing to do is to restart Samba and allow it in the firewallsudo service smbd restart sudo allow smb on ufw Now the NAS is completely set up and working.It can now be mounted under Windows or Linux//192.168.178.54/user1/documents /home/user1/Documents cifs credentials=/home/user1/.credentials/smbcredentials,users,uid=1000,gid=1000,forceuid,forcegid 0 0 and used normally like a hard disk.Keep in mind, however, that a Raid1 storage is not a fully permanent backup solution and that regular backups must be made to different locations.

Hand Gesture Controller for RoboticThe hand gesture controller makes it possible to control applications using hand tilt angle values. Actually, the hand gesture controller uses an accelerometer, it is possible to use it wherever tilt is provided and control projects. For example, controlling with head movements other than hand movements. It also allows you to do this control wirelessly. Let's take a look at the video on how it works.How It Works?The Hand Gesture Controller includes an accelerometer and it detects the motion by comparing the acceleration on any axis with set thresholds.The accelerometer can measure the static acceleration of gravity in tilt-sensing projects. The hand gesture controller acts as a transmitter, so a receiver circuit is required.The hand gesture controller contains three main hardware:1) nRF24L01 Transceiver Module2) ADXL335 Accelerometer3) Arduino Pro Mini ATmega328 3.3V 8 MHz MicrocontrollerTransceiver - Accelerometer - MicrocontrollernRF24L01 Transceiver Module- The nRF24L01 + transceiver module allows two or more Arduino boards to communicate with each other wirelessly and remotely.- A transmitter and a receiver circuit are required to provide communication. - An address (array of bytes) is created for two nRF24L01 modules to communicate. It communicates over this address and transfers data. - A popular library called RF24 is used to interface with the nRF24L01 transceiver module. RF24 Arduino Library for nRF24L01+ Module - https://github.com/nRF24/RF24ADXL335 Accelerometer- At the heart of the Hand Gesture Controller is a low-power three-axis accelerometer ADXL335. - It can measure the static acceleration due to gravity in tilt-sensing applications.The program works as follows,- The X, Y and Z values provided by the ADXL335 sensor are read by the program and transmitted to the Receiver via the nRF24L01 module. - The receiver compares these values with the min and max threshold values defined in the program. - If the values satisfy the condition specified in the program, the function is executed.For example,- When the sensor outputs 1.65 (0g) volts on the x-axis (i.e. xAxis=511), the "stop" condition is executed and the DC motors remain in the "LOW" state.- When the sensor outputs 3.3 (+3g) volts on the x-axis (i.e. xAxis=1023), the "turn to one side" condition is executed and the DC motors go into the "HIGH" state.- When the sensor outputs 0 (0g) volts on the x-axis (i.e. xAxis=0), the "turn to other side" condition is executed and the DC motors go into the "HIGH" state.- For more detail about ADXL335 - https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/ADXL335.pdfArduino Pro Mini - Arduino Pro Mini was developed for applications and installations where space is premium and projects are made as permanent set ups.- The Pro Mini does not have a built-in USB input, so a serial converter (FTDI) is used to upload the source code. It is an easy process.Prototype (Printed Circuit Board)A printed circuit board was designed to turn the project into a useful prototype. Printed circuit boards are plates with conductive paths on the surface for mounting electronic circuit components. PCB manufacturers provide service to turn your projects into professional prototypes.To get the PCBs, simply upload the shared "Gerber file" to PCBWay and create an order. High-quality PCBs will arrive in a few days depending on the shipping address.Required Components and SolderingThe hand gesture controller needs a few components. Easy solderable components. Place and solder components according to shared reference designator.- Self-locking On / Off Switch- 2P SMD Connector- 100uF / 10uF Capacitor- Resistor- Female Header- LED- 3.7v Lipo BatteryTransmitter Source CodeArduino Pro Mini 3.3V version is used in the project, so make sure to set the power jumper on the FTDI module to 3.3V! Upload the shared Transmitter source code using the FTDI module. Before the source code is uploaded, the board selection should be determined according to the Arduino Pro Mini version (3.3v) used.https://github.com/MertArduino/How-To-Make-DIY-Arduino-Gesture-Control-Robot-At-Home/blob/master/GestureTransmitterCode/GestureTransmitterCode.inoReceiver Circuit and Source CodeThe hand gesture controller acts as a transmitter, so a receiver circuit is required. You can get the necessary and source code for the Receiver (DC motor and Servo motor control) from the link.https://github.com/MertArduino/How-To-Make-DIY-Arduino-Gesture-Control-Robot-At-Home/blob/master/GestureReceiverCode/GestureReceiverCode.inoWhat About Everything Else?If you want to know more about Gesture Tank Control in the project:- Project Video https://youtu.be/64NS91KmK84- Source Code https://github.com/MertArduino/How-To-Make-DIY-Arduino-Gesture-Control-Robot-At-HomeIf you want to know more about Robotic Hand:- InMoov Open-Source 3D Parts and Assembly http://inmoov.fr/hand-and-forarm/

Marble RobotA 76-year-old grandfather who enjoys working with his own CNC machine. Maybe I'm the oldest participant!I have made many marble machines from before, but I decided to make them because there is no example of combination with an arm robot.Marble movement: Marbles carried to the slope stand roll on the slope,It is divided into 3 holes by the separator below.When a marble enters any of the holes, the photo sensor notifies the control unit of the hole number. Then the arm robot starts to move and picks up the marbles and carries them to the slope stand.Rather than explain in the text, if you look at the YouTube image, you'll be satisfied.Marble Robot Raspberry pi Pico Circuitby CNC-Paradise

This is my third attempt at making a LED cube.First version was your simple 4x4x4 LED cube, using the 5mm LED leads to connect them in a matrix. Powered by an barebone ATMega328P and Arduino software, there was a lot of wires, and code was really annoying to write. This project established my soldering skills, and passion for all things LED related.Fast forward, the second attempt introduced WS2182b LEDS, with PCBs as the layers and connecting columns. The baseboard was made on a veroboard, connected to a Arduino Nano. Although looking slick, baseboard being a veroboard didn't look that good. It was also pretty difficult to assemble; you had to hold the columns and layers together while soldering to connect them. WS2812b LEDs are great, as you only need 3 wires (power, gnd and signal) to daisy chain LEDs together, making the circuit fairly simple. The layers wind the signal in a snake pattern, meaning example code for WS2812B LED strips (which are really common) could be used without much effort.Finally the third version. It was envisioned that this would be a 10x10x10 cube (1000 LEDs). As such, the design was made using alternating brass (conductive) and polymide (non-conductive) 2mm-long hex standoffs to add more layers when necessary. Thickness was added to improve the durability of the layers. Only limiting factor is the power supply; we require 5V 5A per column of 10 layers. That's enough power to charge a decent sized laptop. Plus, each layer increases the overall cost.Project files are at the GitLab link. Software is not yet finished, still deciding what features to work on.License for hardware and software is MIT.

Welcome!This project which I call the C.C.H (Central Command Hub) is an Arduino & Raspberry Pi powered A.I System. It is private and completely customizable. This A.I can't listen in on your private conversations and sell your gossip to it's buyers on the dark web because it's completely offline. The only things that are connect to the internet this project are the Raspberry Pi (Wifi) and in a future update, a WIFI module to have the A.I turn things on remotely using IOT. Since these things don't have any onboard mic's, they can't listen in on you. Now you can speak easy knowing your A.I respects your privacy :)How Does the A.I system work?The A.I system works by using a Movi Shield which allows you to program your own custom commands and responses for those commands.What's the Raspberry Pi used for? The Raspberry Pi is currently being used as a convenient onboard computer and it's also used to play Sound FXs when the Arduino tells it to. In the future, I hope to have the Arduino tell the Raspberry Pi to open certain tabs such as YouTube, the news, ect.. I also hope to add a Vison system so it can recognize objects and people. Want to build your own?Just hop over to the tutorial I created here. Code and STLs can be found on my Thingiverse page.This A.I is still in it's beginning phase so there's a whole lot more updates to come. So stay tuned and feel free to improve upon it. Here's a demo of the Systems Check Subroutine (Which has since been updated):

Idea ??After working on various projects on different domains, I planned to make a fun project, and I decided to make a rock-paper-scissors game :)In this project, we will make an interactive game and play against the computer which is powered by AI to make decisions. AI uses the Camera connected to the Raspberry Pi to recognize what moves the user made with the hand, classify them into the best category(label) rock, paper, or scissors. Once the computer makes its move, the stepper motor connected to the Raspberry Pi points towards the direction based on its move.Rules which has to be considered for this game:Rock blunts the scissorPaper covers the rockScissors cut paperThe winner will be decided based on the above three conditions.Let's see a quick demo of the project here.Getting Started ??I've used a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ which has great enhancements and is More Powerful than the earlier Raspberry Pi 3 Model B.Raspberry Pi 3 B+ is integrated with the 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core processor, dual-band wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.2/BLE, faster Ethernet, and Power-over-Ethernet support (with separate PoE HAT).Specifications:Broadcom BCM2837B0, Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.4GHz1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM2.4GHz and 5GHz IEEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.2, BLEGigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0 (maximum throughput of 300 Mbps)The extended 40-pin GPIO headerFull-size HDMI4 USB 2.0 portsCSI camera port for connecting a Raspberry Pi cameraDSI display port for connecting a Raspberry Pi touchscreen display4-pole stereo output and composite video portMicro SD port for loading your operating system and storing data5V/2.5A DC power inputPower-over-Ethernet (PoE) support (requires separate PoE HAT)We use an SG-90 servo motor, a high torque motor that can handle the load up to 2.5kg (1cm).A USB camera to make the game interactive with the image processingThese are the overall components used for this project.Some Jumper cables are used to wire the stepper motor and Raspberry Pi.Burn Raspbian to the SD card ??Raspbian is the Linux distribution of choice running on the Raspberry Pi. In this guide, we will be using the Lite version, but the Desktop version (which comes with a graphical environment) can be used as well.Download Etcher and install it.Connect an SD card reader with the SD card inside.Open Etcher and select from your hard drive the Raspberry Pi .img or .zip file you wish to write to the SD card.Select the SD card you wish to write your image to.Review your selections and click 'Flash!' to begin writing data to the SD card.Connect the device to your networkEnable SSH access by adding empty file ssh, again placed at the root of the boot volume on your SD card.Insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi. It will boot in roughly 20 seconds. You should now have SSH access to your Raspberry Pi. By default, its hostname will be raspberrypi.local. On your computer, open a terminal window and type the following:ssh pi@raspberrypi.local The default password is raspberryHere I've used a separate monitor to interface with the Raspberry Pi.Collecting the Dataset ???The first step in this project is data collection. The System has to identify the hand gesture and recognize the action and make its move accordingly.We install several libraries to the Raspberry Pi using the pip install <package_name> command.sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get install libjpeg-dev libtiff5-dev libjasper-dev libpng12-dev pip install opencv pip install numpy pip install scikit-learn pip install scikit-image pip install h5py pip install Keras pip install tensorflow pip install Werkzeug pip install Keras-Applications pip install Keras-Preprocessing pip install keras-squeezenet pip install astor pip install tensorboard pip install tensorflow-estimator pip install mock pip install grpcio pip install absl-py pip install gast pip install joblib pip install Markdown pip install protobuf pip install PyYAML pip install six If you face any issues with the OpenCVpackage, I strongly recommend installing these packages.sudo apt-get install libhdf5-dev sudo apt-get install libhdf5-serial-dev sudo apt-get install libatlas-base-dev sudo apt-get install libjasper-dev sudo apt-get install libqtgui4 sudo apt-get install libqt4-test We have installed all the required dependencies for this project. The Data-set is made by collections and arrangements of the images under the appropriate label.Here we create the data set images for the label rock, paper, and scissor using the following snippet.roi = frame[100:500, 100:500] save_path = os.path.join(img_class_path, '{}.jpg'.format(count + 1)) cv2.imwrite(save_path, roi) The image is captured for each label (rock, paper, scissor, and None).Capturing RockCapturing PaperDesigning a NN & Training the Model ????The Core of this project is an image classifier that classifies one of three categories. To make this Classifier, we use the pre-trained CNN (Convolutional Network) called SqueezeNet.Here we use Keras and TensorFlow to generate the SqueezeNet model which can identify the gesture. The images which we generated in the previous step are used to train the model. The model is trained using the Dataset generated for no of Epochs (Cycles) mentioned.The model is configured with the hyperparameters as shown below.model = Sequential([ SqueezeNet(input_shape=(227, 227, 3), include_top=False), Dropout(0.5), Convolution2D(NUM_CLASSES, (1, 1), padding='valid'), Activation('relu'), GlobalAveragePooling2D(), Activation('softmax') ]) While the model is training, you can find the loss and accuracy of the model for each Epoch, and the accuracy increases at some point in time after a few Epochs.Model TrainingIt roughly took 2 hours to generate the model with the highest accuracy after 10 epoch.If you face any memory allocation errors, do the following steps (Thanks to Adrian)To increase your swap space, open up /etc/dphys-swapfile and then edit the CONF_SWAPSIZE variable:# CONF_SWAPSIZE=100 CONF_SWAPSIZE=1024 Notice that I am increasing the swap from 100MB to 1024MB.From there, restart the swap service:$ sudo /etc/init.d/dphys-swapfile stop $ sudo /etc/init.d/dphys-swapfile start Note: Increasing swap size is a great way to burn out your memory card, so be sure to revert this change and restart the swap service when you’re done. You can read more about large sizes corrupting memory cards here.Testing the Model ?Once the model is generated, It produces the output file "rock-paper-scissors-model.h5". This file is used as the source to test whether the system can identify different hand gestures and able to differentiate the actions.The model is loaded in the python script as followsmodel = load_model("rock-paper-scissors-model.h5") The camera reads the test image and transform the required color model, and then resize the image to 227 x 227 pixel (Same size used for model generation). The images which were used for training the model can be used to test the generated model.img = cv2.imread(filepath) img = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2RGB) img = cv2.resize(img, (227, 227)) Once the model is loaded and the image is acquired by the camera, the model predicts the captured image using the SqueezeNet model loaded, and makes the prediction for the user's movements.pred = model.predict(np.array([img])) move_code = np.argmax(pred[0]) move_name = mapper(move_code) print("Predicted: {}".format(move_name)) Run the test.py script to test the model with various test images.python3 test.py <testimage> Testing - PaperTesting - RockTesting - ScissorsNow the model is ready to detect and understand the hand gestures.Rock-Paper-Scissors gameThe Game uses a random number generation function to decide the computer's move. It follows the above-said rules to determine the winner. The game is designed with two modes: Normal Mode and Intelligent mode, where intelligent mode counterattack the user's movement, i.e Computer wins all the moves against the user.cap = cv2.VideoCapture(0) # To capture image from the Camera Now let's make the game in Normal mode where the system/ Raspberry Pi takes the picture of the hand and analyzes and identifies the hand gesture. Then using a random number generator, the computer move is played. The winner is chosen based on the rules and then displayed on the screen.Start the game using the following command.python3 play.py Computer GameServo Motor Integration ??At last, add the servo motor to this project. Servo motor is GPIO pin 17 of the Raspberry Pi, which has the PWM function to control the angle of rotation.The Servo Motor used in this project is SG-90. It can make rotations clockwise and anti-clockwise up to 180 °The Connections are given as follows.Servo Motor ---> Raspberry PiVcc ---> +5VGND ---> GNDSignal ---> GPIO17The libraries such as RPi.GPIO and time are used in this project.import RPi.GPIO as GPIO import time The GPIO pin is then configured to PWM using the following linesservoPIN = 17 GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM) GPIO.setup(servoPIN, GPIO.OUT) GPIO Pin 17 is configured to use as a PWM at the frequency of 50Hz. The Angle of the servo motor is achieved by setting the duty cycle (Ton & Toff) of the PWMduty = angle/18 + 2 GPIO.output(servoPIN, True) p.ChangeDutyCycle(duty) time.sleep(1) GPIO.output(servoPIN, False) p.ChangeDutyCycle(0) This will produce the desired step angle for every pulse, which would give the desired angle of rotation.Now I have taken the chart and sliced it into three sections, rock, paper, and scissors. The Servo motor is fixed to the center of the chart. The pointer/flap is connected to the shaft of the servo motor. This shaft points to the computer's move according to the logic computed in the script.Working of the Project ??And now, it's playtime. Let's see the working of the project.Working VideoIf you faced any issues in building this project, feel free to ask me. Please do suggest new projects that you want me to do next.Give a thumbs up if it really helped you and do follow my channel for interesting projects. :)Share this video if you like.Follow me onBlog - https://rahulthelonelyprogrammer.blogspot.in/Github - https://github.com/Rahul24-06Happy to have you subscribed: https://www.youtube.com/c/rahulkhanna24june?sub_confirmation=1Thanks for reading!

With this device you can easily execute difficult shortcuts with the press of a button.It uses Circuitpython in addition with the Adafruit HID library to detect the press of a button andexecute a pre-programmed shortcut.These Macro Keys are very helpful in the life of a student. You can save a lot of time, bacause instead of looking up the difficult shortcutsof school programs every time you can just look them up once and use them in the macro.Since I made this device one week ago I used it daily.Also, if you need more buttons you can add them and change the code a bit.

Instead of using a mobile or web application, I decided to develop a brand-new device to track and display cryptocurrency data with Raspberry Pi Pico. Since I am a huge Star Wars fan, I thought it would be hilarious and intriguing if the one who brings me news about the balance of the cryptocurrency coins happened to be Darth Vader - the chosen one :) Thus, I designed this apparatus which presents data on these five coins:BitcoinEthereumBinance CoinRipple (XRP)TetherFirst of all, to elicit information on cryptocurrency coins concurrently, I decided to use the CoinGecko API V3 because it does not require account credentials or an authentification key. Though it is free, the CoinGecko API provides data in JSON for cryptocurrency coins profusely. After managing to get cryptocurrency data, I developed a web application in PHP, named Cryptocurrency Tracker, running on Raspberry Pi to obtain data from the API, process it, and print a JSON data packet containing these parameters for each requested coin:namecurrent pricetotal volumeprice change in 24 hourspercentage change in USD in 24 hoursThen, I used a Raspberry Pi Pico to get cryptocurrency data of the requested coins elicited by the PHP web application and display each coin's information with an ST7789 IPS screen. Since the Raspberry Pi Pico is not eligible for WiFi connectivity, I added an ESP8266 ESP-01 to my device to assist the Raspberry Pi Pico in obtaining information from the web application.Finally, I added a COM-09032 analog joystick and a button to control the interface of the device.After completing wiring on a breadboard and testing the code, I designed my Darth Vader-shaped PCB to complete my project. It became a stylish and intriguing addition to my workplace as an effective apparatus to track real-time cryptocurrency data :)In addition to presenting information, the device can be adjusted to notify the user under these two circumstances:price depletionprice surgeStep 1: Designing and soldering the Darth Vader Cryptocurrency Tracker PCBBefore prototyping my PCB design, I tested all connections and wiring with the Raspberry Pi Pico on the breadboard.Then, I designed the Darth Vader Cryptocurrency Tracker PCB by using KiCad. I attached the Gerber file of the PCB below, so if you want, you can order this PCB from PCBWay to create a stylish and felicitous apparatus to monitor real-time cryptocurrency data and get notified when there is a change in coin prices - surge or depletion - inspired by Anakin Skywalker :)First of all, by utilizing a soldering iron, I attached headers (female), COM-09032 analog joystick, buzzer, 5mm common anode RGB LED, 6x6 pushbutton, and 220Ω resistors.Component list on the PCB:Pico1 (Headers for Raspberry Pi Pico)ESP1 (Headers for ESP8266 ESP-01)S1 (Headers for ST7789 IPS Screen)U1 (COM-09032 Analog Joystick)BZ1 (Buzzer)D1 (5mm Common Anode RGB LED)K1 (6x6 Pushbutton)R1, R2, R3 (220Ω Resistor)J1 (External Battery)Step 2: Setting up a LAMP web server on Raspberry PiIf you are a novice in programming with Raspberry Pi, you can inspect well-explained instructions and tutorials on the official Raspberry Pi website.To go to the official Raspberry Pi setting up tutorial, click here.? Open a terminal window by selecting Accessories > Terminal from the menu.? Install the apache2 package by typing the following command into the terminal and pressing Enter:sudo apt-get install apache2 -y? To test the server, open Chromium by selecting Internet > Chromium Web Browser from the menu and enter http://localhost.? If you want, you can use the IP address of your Raspberry Pi as well.hostname -I? Install the php package with the following command:? Do not forget to update the Pi.sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install php -y?To be able to obtain information from the CoinGecko API V3, install the php-curl package:sudo apt-get install php-curl? Then, restart the apache server to be able to use the installed packages on the localhost:sudo service apache2 restartStep 3: Developing the Cryptocurrency Tracker web application in PHP to obtain data from the CoinGecko APII decided to use the CoinGecko API V3 in this project due to the fact that it does not require account credentials or an authentification key to send real-time cryptocurrency data. Although making requests to the CoinGecko API without account credentials returns limited information on coins, the incoming data is yet more than enough to display and interpret any given coin's status clearly.? The CoinGecko API uses coin names (IDs) to collate real-time cryptocurrency data and returns the collected data in JSON:https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/markets?vs_currency=usd<ids=bitcoinThe web application consists of one file - index.php. You can download the web application below to install it on your Raspberry Pi - Cryptocurrency_Tracker.zip.?? index.php? Define the cryptocurrency_tracker class and its functions.? In the display_currency function, make an HTTP Get request to the CoinGecko API V3 to obtain real-time data of any given coin, such as Bitcoin.? Get the incoming data by using json_decode and file_get_contents functions.? Create the query array with the required parameters:namepricetotal_volumeprice_change_24hpercent_change_usd_24? Insert the recently created query array into the currencies object with the given coin's name.private function display_currency($cryptocurrency){ # Make an HTTP Get request to the CoinGecko API V3 to collate data on the requested coin. $data = json_decode(file_get_contents("https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/markets?vs_currency=usd&ids=".$cryptocurrency, TRUE)); # Create the query array with the requested data: $query = array( "name" => $data[0]->name, "price" => $data[0]->current_price, "total_volume" => $data[0]->total_volume, "price_change_24h" => $data[0]->price_change_24h, "percent_change_usd_24" => $data[0]->price_change_percentage_24h ); // Assign objects for each given coin: $this->currencies[$cryptocurrency] = $query; } ? In the print_cryptocurrencies function, print the currencies object in JSON (json_encode) after inserting data for each coin in the given coin name (ID) list:bitcoinethereumbinancecoinrippletetherpublic function print_cryptocurrencies($cryptocurrencies){ foreach($cryptocurrencies as $coin){ $this->display_currency($coin); } echo(json_encode($this->currencies)); } ? Define the coin class object and the coin name (ID) list.$coin = new cryptocurrency_tracker(); # Get data on this list of cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, XRP, Tether $coin->print_cryptocurrencies(array("bitcoin", "ethereum", "binancecoin", "ripple", "tether")); Step 3.1: Setting up the web application on Raspberry Pi? First of all, extract the Cryptocurrency_Tracker.zip folder and move the application folder (Cryptocurrency_Tracker) to the apache server (/var/www/html) by using the terminal since the apache server is a protected location.sudo mv /home/pi/Downloads/Cryptocurrency_Tracker /var/www/html/? Go to the web application:http://localhost/Cryptocurrency_Tracker/Step 4: Programming the ESP-01 to print the response from the web application by serial communicationInstead of setting up and configuring the ESP8266 ESP-01 via serial with AT commands when connected to the Raspberry Pi Pico, I decided to program the ESP-01 with an ESP-01 USB UART adapter (programmer). In that way, the ESP-01 connects WiFi, obtains information from the web application, and prints the incoming data in JSON by serial communication automatically.Depending on the UART adapter model you have, you may need to solder jumper wires to activate the programming mode on the ESP-01.After connecting the ESP-01 to my computer successfully via the adapter, I used the Arduino IDE to program it.To obtain information from my web application explained in previous steps, I modified the BasicHTTPClient example in the ESP8266HTTPClient.If you do not know how to set up ESP8266 and its examples on the Arduino IDE, follow these instructions.? Wait for the WiFi connection.? Create the WiFi and HTTP clients.? Attempt to connect to the PHP web application.? If the connection is successful, get the server response header.? Print the response from the web application every fifteen seconds.if ((WiFiMulti.run() == WL_CONNECTED)) { // If successful, create the WiFi and HTTP clients: WiFiClient client; HTTPClient http; // HTTP Connection:// Change it with the IPAddress of your Raspberry Pi.if (http.begin(client, "http://192.168.1.20/Cryptocurrency_Tracker/")) { // Start the connection and send the HTTP header:int httpCode = http.GET(); // httpCode will be negative on errorif (httpCode > 0) { // HTTP header has been send and the server response header has been handled:if (httpCode == HTTP_CODE_OK || httpCode == HTTP_CODE_MOVED_PERMANENTLY) { String payload = http.getString(); Serial.println(payload); } } else { Serial.printf("[HTTP] GET... failed, error: %s\n", http.errorToString(httpCode).c_str()); } After uploading the modified BasicHTTPClient, the ESP-01 connects to the web application and prints the response (real-time JSON data) by serial communication every fifteen seconds.Step 5: Setting up the Raspberry Pi PicoIn this step, I will show you how to set up the Raspberry Pi Pico and install MicroPython.? First of all, download the latest Thonny IDE from thonny.org, compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. If you want to use a Raspberry Pi to program the Pico, Thonny is already installed on Raspberry Pi OS.If you have never used MicroPython on your Raspberry Pi Pico, you will need to add the MicroPython firmware.? Find the BOOTSEL button on your Raspberry Pi Pico.? Press the BOOTSEL button and hold it while you connect the other end of the micro USB cable to your computer.? This puts the Raspberry Pi Pico into USB mass storage device mode.? Then, in the bottom right-hand corner of the Thonny window, click on the Python version and choose ‘MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico)’:? When the dialog box pops up, click the Install button to copy the latest version of the MicroPython firmware to the Raspberry Pi Pico.? Wait for the installation to complete and click Close.Now, when you plug the Raspberry Pi Pico into your computer without pressing the BOOTSEL button, Thonny should recognize the board and firmware automatically.Step 6: Programming the Raspberry Pi PicoIn this project, the Raspberry Pi Pico requires four code files to monitor real-time cryptocurrency data, including libraries and fonts:bitcoin_tracker.pyst7789py.py (library)vga1_16x16.py (font)vga1_bold_16x32.py (font)When saving files to the Raspberry Pi Pico, click the Save button and choose the Raspberry Pi Pico option on Thonny.After saving all files, you should see the folder like this:If you want to run the code automatically when plugged, save the bitcoin_tracker.py file as the main.py file.In this step, I will discuss the bitcoin_tracker.py file. You can find more information on the library and fonts in the following step.? Include the required modules and libraries:from machine import Pin, PWM, ADC, SPI, UART from time import sleep import st7789py as st7789 import vga1_16x16 as normal import vga1_bold_16x32 as bold import json ? Define the cryptocurrency_tracker class and its functions.? In the __init__ function, define the UART settings for the ESP-01, the SPI settings for the ST7789 display, the RGB LED and buzzer settings, and the menu options.class cryptocurrency_tracker:def __init__(self, sck=10, mosi=11, res=12, dc=13, width=240, height=240): # Define the UART settings:# RX and TX are swapped, meaning Pico TX goes to ESP-01 RX and vice versa.self.uart0 = UART(0, rx=Pin(17), tx=Pin(16), baudrate=115200, rxbuf=1024, timeout=2000) self.coin_data = 0# Define the ST7789 display settings: spi = SPI(1, baudrate=40000000, polarity=1) self.display = st7789.ST7789(spi, width, height, reset=Pin(res, Pin.OUT), dc=Pin(dc, Pin.OUT)) # Define the RGB LED settings:self.red = PWM(Pin(22)) self.green = PWM(Pin(21)) self.blue = PWM(Pin(20)) self.red.freq(1000) self.green.freq(1000) self.blue.freq(1000) # Define the buzzer:self.buzzer = PWM(Pin(15)) self.buzzer.freq(450) # Define the controls:self.joystick_x = ADC(Pin(26)) self.joystick_y = ADC(Pin(27)) self.joystick_sw = Pin(19, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_UP) self.exit_button = Pin(14, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_DOWN) # Define menu options and list:self.menu_list = ["Bitcoin", "Ethereum", "Binance Coin", "XRP", "Tether"] self.menu_options = [False, False, False, False, False] self.activated = False self.x = 0 ... ? In the fetch_information_from_esp function, obtain, check, and decode the incoming JSON data (json.loads) printed by the ESP8266 ESP-01 via serial communication.... def fetch_information_from_esp(self): incoming = bytes() while self.uart0.any() > 0: incoming += self.uart0.readline() # Check the incoming data before decoding: if (len(incoming) and incoming.decode("utf-8")): incoming = incoming.decode("utf-8") if (incoming.find("[HTTP]") < 0 and incoming.endswith("}}\r\n")): self.coin_data = json.loads(incoming) ... ? In the interface function, display the interface with coins (menu options):BitcoinEthereumBinance CoinXRPTether? In the adjust_color function, change the color of the RGB LED.... def adjust_color(self, red_x, green_x, blue_x): self.red.duty_u16(red_x) self.green.duty_u16(green_x) self.blue.duty_u16(blue_x) ... ? In the read_controls function, read the analog joystick and the exit button values.... def read_controls(self): self.JX = self.joystick_x.read_u16() self.JY = self.joystick_y.read_u16() self.JSW = self.joystick_sw.value() self.EX = self.exit_button.value() ... ? In the change_menu_options function, select a coin (menu option) to activate according to the Y-axis of the analog joystick.... def change_menu_options(self): if (self.JY > 35000): self.x-=1if(self.JY < 9000): self.x+=1if(self.x > 5): self.x = 1if(self.x < 0): self.x = 5# Activate menu options:if(self.x == 1): self.menu_options = [True, False, False, False, False] if(self.x == 2): self.menu_options = [False, True, False, False, False] if(self.x == 3): self.menu_options = [False, False, True, False, False] if(self.x == 4): self.menu_options = [False, False, False, True, False] if(self.x == 5): self.menu_options = [False, False, False, False, True] ... ? In the activate_menu_option function, after being selected, if a coin (menu option) is activated by pressing the joystick button (SW):? Display real-time data (parameters) of the activated coin (menu option) from the PHP web application, transferred by the ESP-01 via serial communication:namepricetotal_volumeprice_change_24hpercent_change_usd_24? Depending on the price_change_24h value, detect if there is a price depletion or surge to notify the user via the buzzer.? Turn off the buzzer if the X-axis of the analog joystick is higher than 40000.? If there is no incoming JSON data, print Refresh for all parameters.? If the Exit button is pressed, return to the interface.... def activate_menu_option(self, i, r, g, b, row, coin_name, s_bac, i_col=st7789.color565(243,208,296), i_bac=st7789.color565(165,40,44), o_col=st7789.color565(31,32,32)): if(self.menu_options[i] == True): self.display.text(bold, self.menu_list[i], 30, row, color=i_col, background=i_bac) self.adjust_color(r, g, b) if (self.JSW == False): self.display.fill(s_bac) self.activated = Truewhile self.activated: self.read_controls() # Get information from the PHP web application:self.fetch_information_from_esp() # Print information from the web application:if not (self.coin_data == 0): self.display.text(bold, self.coin_data[coin_name]["name"], 30, 20, color=o_col, background=s_bac) self.display.text(normal, str(self.coin_data[coin_name]["price"]), 30, 100, color=o_col, background=s_bac) self.display.text(normal, str(self.coin_data[coin_name]["total_volume"]), 30, 135, color=o_col, background=s_bac) self.display.text(normal, str(self.coin_data[coin_name]["price_change_24h"]), 30, 170, color=o_col, background=s_bac) self.display.text(normal, str(self.coin_data[coin_name]["percent_change_usd_24"]), 30, 205, color=o_col, background=s_bac) # Activate the buzzer:if(self.coin_data[coin_name]["price_change_24h"] < 0): self.buzzer.duty_u16(1000) else: self.display.text(bold, "Refresh", 30, 20, color=o_col, background=s_bac) self.display.text(normal, "Refresh", 30, 90, color=o_col, background=s_bac) self.display.text(normal, "Refresh", 30, 125, color=o_col, background=s_bac) self.display.text(normal, "Refresh", 30, 160, color=o_col, background=s_bac) self.display.text(normal, "Refresh", 30, 205, color=o_col, background=s_bac) # Deactivate the buzzer:if(self.JX > 40000): self.buzzer.duty_u16(0) # Exit:if self.EX: self.activated = Falseself.display.fill(st7789.color565(32,32,32)) self.buzzer.duty_u16(0) ? Define the coin class object and set up all menu options.coin = cryptocurrency_tracker() coin.display.fill(st7789.color565(32,32,32)) coin.adjust_color(65025, 65025, 65025) while True: # Initiate: coin.read_controls() coin.interface() coin.change_menu_options() # Menu Options: coin.activate_menu_option(0, r=0, g=65025, b=0, row=20, coin_name="bitcoin", s_bac=st7789.color565(209,205,218)) coin.activate_menu_option(1, r=0, g=0, b=65025, row=60, coin_name="ethereum", s_bac=st7789.color565(243,208,296)) coin.activate_menu_option(2, r=65025, g=0, b=0, row=100, coin_name="binancecoin", s_bac=st7789.color565(174,225,205)) coin.activate_menu_option(3, r=65025, g=0, b=65025, row=140, coin_name="ripple", s_bac=st7789.color565(26, 219, 97)) coin.activate_menu_option(4, r=65025, g=65025, b=0, row=180, coin_name="tether", s_bac=st7789.color565(94,176,229)) Step 6.1: Displaying texts with the ST7789 IPS screenTo print texts with the ST7789 IPS Screen, I used this driver for MicroPython.? First of all, I added this library to the Raspberry Pi Pico as the st7789py.py file.? Then, I saved two different fonts (vga1_16x16 and vga1_bold_16x32) to the Raspberry Pi Pico to display headers and parameters separately.Connections and Adjustments# Connections: # Raspberry Pi Pico # ST7789 SPI 240*240 Display # GP10 --------------------------- SCL # GP11 --------------------------- SDA # GP12 --------------------------- RES # GP13 --------------------------- DC # ESP8266 ESP-01 # GP17 (RX) ---------------------- TX # GP16 (TX) ---------------------- RX # COM-09032 Analog Joystick # GP27 --------------------------- VRX # GP26 --------------------------- VRY # GP19 --------------------------- SW # 5mm RGB Common Anode # GP22 --------------------------- R # GP21 --------------------------- G # GP20 --------------------------- B # Buzzer # GP15 --------------------------- + # Exit Button # GP14 --------------------------- S As shown above, I designed my PCB connections according to the pinout of the Raspberry Pi Pico. If you do not know the Raspberry Pi Pico pinout diagram and specifications:After completing and uploading the code, I attached all required components to the board via headers - Raspberry Pi Pico, ESP8266 ESP-01, and ST7789 IPS screen.Unfortunately, even though Raspberry Pi Pico works at 3.3V, the current provided by Pico is not enough for ESP-01 to run while collecting information from a web application precisely. Thus, I added a connector (J1) to my PCB design to supply the ESP-01 with an external battery (3.3V).Modes and Features???? The device shows five different coins (menu options) on the interface to display real-time cryptocurrency data of:BitcoinEthereumBinance CoinXRPTether???? The device allows the user to select between coins to display information via the analog joystick:Y-axis (> 35000) -> Go UpY-axis (< 9000) -> Go DownSW -> Activate???? While selecting a coin on the interface with the Y-axis of the analog joystick, the device turns the RGB LED to a different color for each coin as its color code:Bitcoin -> PurpleEthereum -> YellowBinance Coin -> CyanXRP -> GreenTether -> Blue???? The device also shows the same color code as the background when displaying data for each coin.???? After activating any coins by pressing the joystick button (SW) to display real-time data, the device lets the user return to the interface by pressing the Exit button.?? Coins (Menu Options)???? If the Bitcoin option is selected and activated, the device displays its real-time data (parameters) from the PHP web application, transferred by the ESP8266 ESP-01 via serial communication:namecurrent pricetotal volumeprice change in 24 hourspercentage change in USD in 24 hours???? Depending on the price change value in 24 hours, the device can detect if there is a price surge or depletion to notify the user via the buzzer. By default, the device is set for detecting the price depletion in 24 hours:price_change_24h < 0???? The device turns off the buzzer if the X-axis of the analog joystick is higher than 40000.???? If the ESP-01 is not sending accurate data, the device prints Refresh for each parameter until obtaining the correct information.???? If the Ethereum option is selected and activated, the device displays its real-time data (parameters) from the PHP web application, transferred by the ESP8266 ESP-01 via serial communication:namecurrent pricetotal volumeprice change in 24 hourspercentage change in USD in 24 hours???? Depending on the price change value in 24 hours, the device can detect if there is a price surge or depletion to notify the user via the buzzer. By default, the device is set for detecting the price depletion in 24 hours:price_change_24h < 0???? The device turns off the buzzer if the X-axis of the analog joystick is higher than 40000.???? If the ESP-01 is not sending accurate data, the device prints Refresh for each parameter until obtaining the correct information.???? If the Binance Coin option is selected and activated, the device displays its real-time data (parameters) from the PHP web application, transferred by the ESP8266 ESP-01 via serial communication:namecurrent pricetotal volumeprice change in 24 hourspercentage change in USD in 24 hours???? Depending on the price change value in 24 hours, the device can detect if there is a price surge or depletion to notify the user via the buzzer. By default, the device is set for detecting the price depletion in 24 hours:price_change_24h < 0???? The device turns off the buzzer if the X-axis of the analog joystick is higher than 40000.???? If the ESP-01 is not sending accurate data, the device prints Refresh for each parameter until obtaining the correct information.???? If the XRP option is selected and activated, the device displays its real-time data (parameters) from the PHP web application, transferred by the ESP8266 ESP-01 via serial communication:namecurrent pricetotal volumeprice change in 24 hourspercentage change in USD in 24 hours???? Depending on the price change value in 24 hours, the device can detect if there is a price surge or depletion to notify the user via the buzzer. By default, the device is set for detecting the price depletion in 24 hours:price_change_24h < 0???? The device turns off the buzzer if the X-axis of the analog joystick is higher than 40000.???? If the ESP-01 is not sending accurate data, the device prints Refresh for each parameter until obtaining the correct information.???? If the Tether option is selected and activated, the device displays its real-time data (parameters) from the PHP web application, transferred by the ESP8266 ESP-01 via serial communication:namecurrent pricetotal volumeprice change in 24 hourspercentage change in USD in 24 hours???? Depending on the price change value in 24 hours, the device can detect if there is a price surge or depletion to notify the user via the buzzer. By default, the device is set for detecting the price depletion in 24 hours:price_change_24h < 0???? The device turns off the buzzer if the X-axis of the analog joystick is higher than 40000.???? If the ESP-01 is not sending accurate data, the device prints Refresh for each parameter until obtaining the correct information.Videos and ConclusionAfter completing all steps above, I placed the device on my desk by utilizing a plastic easel as a fitting and stylish decoration for my workplace. It works impeccably :)SchematicsCode Files and Downloads

Hey everyone what's up!So this is my RecalBox based handheld gaming console aka the PALPiIts name is PALPi because it uses a composite PAL Display.When I was little I love playing games like Pokemon, contra, super Mario, Final Fantasy, and other games mostly on Gameboy advance and that game console that we hooked up with our CRT TVs to run great old stuff.Well, nowadays we can just download the retro game ROM and open it up in an emulator and play that game on our laptop and mobile devices,but as a maker, I wanted to do something different,so I prepared this handheld retro gaming console setup which is powered by a Raspberry pi zero, the OS that I'm using here is the Recalbox os.It's a decent Emulator OS that also comes with few preloaded games.This whole setup is powered by an IP5306 IC which is a 5V 2A Constant Boost IC. It's used in a power bank circuit which is ideal for powering a Raspberry Pi zero.I'm using a 4.3-inch display in this setup which is pretty huge if compared with a regular Gameboy screen so this setup size will be around 135mm x 140mm.On the front side, there's a display and buttons and on the bottom side, raspberry pi zero along with a boost converter circuit and a Li-Ion Cell will be placed.This Setup is a combination of PCB and 3D Printed Body which will be connected together via screws through the given mounting holes in the PCB.Schematic For Basic GPIO WiringThis is the schematic that we have to use for GPIO Buttons.For Build Process, You can check out the Project Page which is this- https://www.instructables.com/PALPi-Retro-Game-Console/

My project uses a Raspberry Pi PICO to make a infrared remote controlled shutter release for a 35mm film camera. This is the equivalent of a simple remote shutter button you might use on a dslr camera, or even a remote trigger button that came with your tripod to use with a smart phone.Now for old film cameras you have a couple of options to take a picture without being behind the camera. You could use a manual shutter release cable, but the longest one I could seem to find online was around a meter long, and in my opinion getting further back and taking a photo makes for a much nicer shot!I wanted to be able to stand far away from the camera and make it take a picture with a simple remote to give full control over when the picture would be taken, unlike using a timer this system gives you more freedom for when you would like the picture taken.My idea was to make an electrical circuit driven by the PICO and activated by an infrared remote controller I had laying around my house to take a picture with an old film camera.HOW IT WORKSThe basic operation of it is you point the remote at an infrared receiver, press a button, the circuit turns on and moves a small servo motor that pushes the shutter button on the camera.There is a small delay of 5 seconds when the circuit is turned on in order to hide the remote in your pocket or somewhere else before the servo motor moves and takes a picture. The circuit is also turned off using the same remote button if your using a standard power on off remote which sends 2 separate signal codes.The PCB is powered by a simple USB connection into a 5V power bank, the one I used had a capacity of 10,000mah and I found it didn't move off 100% after shooting 1 roll of film which is 24 pictures. So in simple terms, it has all day battery life! given a reasonably sized power bank.I also wanted it to be portable as well so I used a power bank as a 5V power supply and had planned for the finished product to mounted to a tripod easily.The range is up to 9 meters or 30 feet away from the receiver when your using the remote, I did find the acrylic sheet limited this range though.I had a lot of fun creating this project, and hopefully other people enjoy it too.

Raspberry Pi Pico based programmable gamepad.Steps to create:1.PCB Designing a. Download the source from https://github.com/aviralverma-8877/raspberrypi-pico-gamepad b. You will find the eagle board and schema files under PCB_design directory. c. You can also download the Gerber files in the same directory as Pico Gamepad.zip. d. Upload the Gerber zip to the PCB Way for manufacturing. e. Once you will receive the PCB you can proceed to the next step.2.Components a. 12x12x7.3mm Momentary Tact Tactile Push Button b. Push Button e. Raspberry Pi Pico f. Generic D1286464 OLED Display g. Joystick Module PS2 h. 10 kohm resistor 3. Assembly a. The PCB you will receive from PCB way will have all the components marked on the silkscreen with the corresponding GPIOs they are connected to. b. Make sure you position the components correctly and solder them well. c. To cross verify you can use a multimeter to test the connectivity. d. Once fully assembled, the PCB should look like the one mentioned in the project images.4.Programming a. Connect the raspberry pi pico to a PC. b. If the raspberry pi pico is new you can skip the next step. c. Download the flash_nuke.uf2 file from raspberry pi pico official website, and flash the Pico with the same. d. Download the circuit python from the Adafruit website and flash it onto the raspberry pi pico. e. Once circuit python is flashed, you will find the circuit python drive under This PC or My Computer. f. Copy and replace the entire content of Pico Gamepad directory from the project git page onto the circuit python drive. g. Once replaced, you will see the display on the OLED screen.5.Functionality a. By pressing the mode button, you can switch between Gamepad -> Mouse -> Media Controller. b. OLED display will also show the currently active mode. c. In the gamepad mode, all the buttons are assigned to their corresponding functionality. d. In mouse mode, you can use the joystick to control the pointer and use the start and select button for right and left-click. e. In the media controller mode, you can use the gamepad to control various functions such as volume control, next/previous track, play, and pause, etc. f. Keys can be reprogrammed by editing the buttons.py file.6.Code Analysis The whole project is available at GitHub. You can either clone or download it from there. The micro python code is available under Pico Gamepad directory. Circuit python is built to target beginners and young programmers, so the code for our raspberry pi pico is very simple and easy to understand. The entry point for the code is code.py. code.py The code.py will import all the libraries and components of the project, create their objects and initialize them with appropriate values. For controlling mouse + gamepad +media, we are using Adafruit's HID library. Initialize them:and then move the pointer to the center.After this, we are creating the object of button.py, which is the main engine of the project.First by importing it:Then by initializing it:We are also setting the text of the OLED display to Welcome just for the user to see the welcome message.Then the main method "record()" is called, which will start an infinite loop to listen to the button presses.button.pyThe constructor of the button.py will set all the button GPIOs, set their directions to pulled up, set the joystick, and set the OLED Display.show_text() method is used to display text on the OLED display. The font size is set to 1.This method will first fill the screen with black, show it on display, then Type the text with the default OLED color, and then show it on display.range_map() method is used to calculate the pixel to be moved, based on the joystick movement. This method is used for both mouse and gamepad movement.The record() method is the method with an infinite loop where all the functions related to the gamepad + mouse + media are defined.In the loop, we are checking using if conditions, which button is pressed, and what functions need to be performed. For example:if the button UP is pressed, Then we will check in which mode currently the user is in.If mode==1, means the user is in gamepad mode, then the gamepad button 1 is pressed by calling gp.press_button(1) (where gp is the object of gamepad).if mode==0, means the user is in media mode, then the button press will increase the volume.if mode==2 means the user is in mouse mode, in that mode only start and select buttons are assigned to the left and right-click.Finally at last, for a joystick, we are checking the mode for mouse or gamepad, and accordingly setting the movement by calling and determining the range_map() method.The mode is altered by pressing the mode button, between mode = 0,1,2Since the whole source code will be saved on the MCU flash memory, we have kept the variable size and comments to be minimum, to save memory.7.3D PrintingIf you own a 3D printer then you can print the gamepad base by downloading the Pico Gamepad Bottom.stl under 3D Prints directory.You can use 4 M.2 screws to fit the gamepad PCB to the 3D printed base.