Kategorie: Reviews

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He was inspired to create the project by two prominent YouTubers. “Michael Reeves made a video using a Bop It as an alternative interface to Hawaii’s nuclear alert system. This inspired me to use a Bop It, or similar device, as an input for something it was not designed for,” he says.

“Another creator, Technoblade, has an old video where he beat Minecraft hardcore, the most challenging difficulty, with a steering wheel. I was watching this a while back and then the idea of playing Minecraft with a Bop It just came to me.”

Buttons to Pico to USB

To turn his Bop It XT into a controller, Seth first took the case apart and removed the existing PCB, replacing it with a Raspberry Pi Pico. All of the Bop It’s controls link to simple momentary push-buttons, which meant he could simply wire these to digital GPIO inputs on Pico.

When an internal push-button is pressed, it triggers Pico to send the corresponding keyboard command over USB. “Pico can act as a USB device, meaning, as far as the computer running Minecraft knows, it is a normal keyboard,” he tells us.

In addition to the button inputs, he installed an accelerometer in the Bop It. This connects to Pico over I2C. “[Pico] reads the acceleration vector, does some simple vector math, and uses that to send mouse commands over USB,” explains Seth. “The fact that Pico can so easily be programmed to act as a keyboard and mouse at the same time made this project possible.”

Develop and debounce

The project took Seth two days to develop. “The first day I opened the Bop It, analysed how the inputs interface with the control board, wired the circuit, and wrote a basic program to make sure my wiring was correct,” he recalls.

“The next day, I wrote the main control program. I then played Minecraft with it and made minor changes over the next few days when I had a few hours free.”

The most challenging element for Seth was the programming as, although an accomplished Python coder, he was using CircuitPython for the first time. “That said, it made the USB functionality surprisingly easy.”

The trickiest part of the program was the debounce timers he had to code for each button, to ensure they only trigger once each time they’re pressed. “This was especially important for the buttons that moved in the hotbar and the right-click button that is used for eating and placing blocks,” he notes. “The Bop It made this difficult as some of the buttons are challenging to quickly press, meaning the code would toggle them multiple times as though they were being held down. If I increased the timer too much, it would limit the frequency I could press them. I was able to get all the timers to work, but it did take some fiddling.”

The end result works surprisingly well for playing Minecraft, as demonstrated in his YouTube video – particularly the tilt control for movement, Wii Remote style. Not bad for a project he describes as being “made as a joke from the start.”

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01 Get the files

First, download the install files from the Ren’Py website. You will need the .bz2 version for Raspberry Pi. When it has downloaded, double-click to open the archive and extract it to a suitable place such as your home directory. You will also need to download and extract Raspberry Pi support files from the Additional Downloads section. Once this is all in place, you will find a file in the directory you have extracted called renpy.sh. Double-click this file and select ‘Execute’. After a few seconds, you will see the Ren’Py Launcher open.

02 Tutorial time

Ren’Py includes a getting started tutorial, which is probably the best place to begin. By selecting the Tutorial project from the launcher, you will be introduced to Ren’Py’s features by Eileen. She will show you how to start a new project and the ways to set colours and screen sizes. There are also sections in the tutorial to cover adding your images, text, and sound to your pages. It then goes on to creating interactions and transitions to make your game engaging for your audience. Have a look at the Choices and Python section to see how scripting is used to ask questions and branch to different options.

03 Let’s make a game

Going back to the Ren’Py Launcher, start a new project with the ‘Create New Project’ link on the left-hand side. You will then be asked where you want to save your project and what it should be named.  Next, choose what screen resolution you want your production to use and the colour scheme that you would like. After a short pause for processing, your project will be created and listed with the tutorial in the Projects section in the Launcher.

04 Let’s get scripting

Start scripting the game by selecting the ‘script.rpy’ option under Edit File in the Launcher. It will ask you to select the editor you want to use and then open the script. From there you can make changes to the default script. When you want to test your changes, select your project and Launch Project, then select ‘Start’ from the list on the left of the window that opens. If you make changes to your script, you can then press SHIFT+R to reload your script and start the game again. If you need further help, select the Documentation link at the bottom left of the Launcher window, or check out the forums at magpi.cc/renpyforum. 

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“It started in 2019 when I really wanted to 3D-print a full-sized retro or a terminal style of computer,” says Kevin. “When I was looking all over the web, I was surprised that this sort of thing didn’t exist. I saw lots of mini 3D printable retro computers and they were really good, but I wanted a full-size one that I could use for everyday tasks. Since this didn’t exist, I had to make one.”

Raspberry Pi was the obvious choice for the hardware to power his dream of recreating the look and feel of a 1980s computer. “I needed a desktop OS to make my retro computer very functional,” he explains, “[and] Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive and very capable computer.”

Kevin has previously designed two retro computer cases. The first, Callisto J-29, “was very rough around the edges” while the second one, Europa, “was too heavily inspired by the original Macintosh.” For Callisto II he wanted to top these first designs and “make something that was very easy to print and assemble, but still looked great.” He wasn’t prepared to compromise on computing power either – hence his choice of Raspberry Pi.

Tricky curves

Despite his experience with 3D printing to date, Kevin says the trickiest part of the design was modelling the curves, as he’d not done this before. He persevered, knowing the curves would set his design apart from others. It was also a challenge to find a true 4:3 LCD screen that was inexpensive and readily available, he says, but rarer still to find a retro computer that used the 16:9 aspect ratio of modern displays. He was eventually able to source an 8-inch Pimoroni display to give Callisto that all-important 1980s look.

Callisto’s design is inspired by several real retro computers such as the ADM-3A, Zenith Z-89, and Hazeltine 1500, but with no 3D-printable, full-size retro computers available online for comparison, Kevin was on his own when it came to working out the dimensions and 3D design.

Easy ethos

Kevin tried to use readily available parts from online retailers for most of the project. “Not only did I want this to be super-easy to print and put together, I wanted it to be easy to find the parts [and be] something you could put together for an easy weekend project (assuming you spent the previous week printing all the parts),” he says. You don’t even need glue as all the parts have been designed to snap together, but you should ensure all the electronics have room to breathe, he cautions.

The project cost roughly $250 and involved printing six parts on a Prusa Mini 3D printer that each took a day to print. When sourcing a suitably tactile 60% mechanical keyboard, Kevin suggests choosing one that has blue switches. “These give the loudest clicks,” he says.

Kevin stuck with Raspberry Pi OS, but part of Raspberry Pi’s appeal is that you can load games and emulators to make it look and run however you want, he says. RetroPie is an obvious choice here. For more ideas on mimicking Callisto’s retro looks with retro programs, take a look at Retro Computing in The MagPi issue 88.

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Award-Winning Makes

A good project can change the world for the better. And we like to think the projects we cover in The MagPi make a difference. Discovering the projects that have won awards is a great way to pick your next make. There are lots of awards and medals for influential makes. These are the builds and ideas that have garnered gongs, won medals and influenced the rest of us. 

Incredible projects like Callisto II

We love this retro-themed computer built around Raspberry Pi. Callisto II’s full mechanical keyboard, 3D-printed shell and a 4:3in LCD give it the feel of a classic terminal. But it’s an ultra-modern Raspberry Pi on the inside. Discover this and many more projects in this month’s edition of The MagPi magazine.

Build the ultimate home server with Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi is a low-powered computer that is easy to connect to your network. It’s powerful too, which makes it the ultimate device for a home server. In this first part of a new series, PJ Evans walks us through the kit and software needed to put Raspberry Pi at the heart of your home.

Stream arcade games from Steam

Look at this fantastic arcade cabinet built by KG Orphanides. We’re sure you’ll agree it’s pretty amazing. KG has covered the build process for this arcade machine and this month we’re looking at a quirky way to play games. Stream them from a Steam PC to your Raspberry Pi-powered arcade cabinet. It’s a way to play the most demanding games, and you can stream some games legally (without having to use emulation software). 

Make games with Raspberry Pi

Mark Vanstone has been making video games since the 1990s and was responsible for the ArcVenture series. This month we asked Mark to come up with ways to quickly make games for Raspberry Pi. From Scratch, through PICO-8, Pygame and AppGameKit. This feature shows you how to make adventure games, shooters, maze games and more. 

The biggest Raspberry Pi products tested

Every month we look at the biggest Raspberry Pi products around and put them through their paces. This pi-top [4] Robotics Kit clicked with us this month. It uses an innovative rivet system to enable a variety of different builds. From wheeled robots to desktop assistants.

Pick up your copy of The MagPi magazine #108

The MagPi magazine is available as a free digital download, or you can purchase a print edition from the Raspberry Pi Press store.

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Save 37% off the cover price with a subscription to The MagPi magazine. Try three issues for just £5, then pay £25 every six issues. You’ll save money and get a regular supply of in-depth reviews, features, guides and other PC enthusiast goodness delivered directly to your door every month.

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01: Print

This project uses a custom 3D-printed camera chassis that works using the exact parts listed. It will fit the classic Raspberry Pi Camera Module, the buttons, and the screen, as well as a Raspberry Pi Zero to power it all.

02: Download and install

The creator, Pierre Muth, has done some great programming and image processing for this build so that the dithering of the black and white pixels looks more coherent on the final printed photo. You’ll need to download the code to make it work this well.

03:  Assemble

Once you’re done testing, carefully squeeze everything into the chassis and give it a charge. You’re now ready to go out and take some weird and wonderful photos.

Materials

• Nano Thermal Receipt Printer – TTL Serial

• Sharp Memory LCD LS027B7DH01A

• Raspberry Pi Camera Module

• 6 × buttons

• 3D-printed case

• 5 A 3 A voltage regulator

• 2S 7.2 V battery

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It requires a really simple set of hardware to oversee your plants – namely a Raspberry Pi and a Camera Module. With it, you can track the growth using the camera, and you can easily add extra sensors to try to help automate the growing.

“Everyone is welcome to join #growlab,” Alex says on the site. “Whether you’re participating in the time-lapse contest, or just wanting to connect with others and grow your own. You’ll be able to get started for under 30 dollars, less if you already own a Raspberry Pi and a Camera Module.”

You can find out more at growlab.dev, which has plenty of info on how to get started with both the tech and the seeds.

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01: Prototype

As you’re making a lot of parts from scratch, prototyping with cardboard or paper on each step is a great way to make sure your patterns and cuts and modifications will work in real life. Remember: gluing stuff back together ranges from ‘a big pain’ to ‘impossible’.

02: Test

As with most projects, you should probably get your Raspberry Pi and custom software up and running before installing it. Testing as you go is always a great way to fix mistakes before you seal something into a case.

03: Wear

If you plan to wear it for a costume or at an event, do a trial run around your home during a normal day. You’ll quickly learn the best way to wear it without either damaging it or other things around your home, and find out how dexterous you still are.

Materials

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You’d be forgiven for wondering what all these new terms are, but read on and you’ll not only learn what they mean, you’ll become a Raspberry Pi genius in the process!

Identify your Raspberry Pi hardware

With a range of Raspberry Pi computers to choose from, the first step to becoming a Raspberry Pi genius is to understand the differences between each model, as each has its own strengths depending on your project. You should identify your model of Raspberry Pi before checking for help and advice.

If you want to know the precise version and revision of your Raspberry Pi, check the printed text on the board.

See the Raspberry Pi product page for more information on each version sold.

Fix Raspberry Pi boot problems

This is one of the most frequently asked questions! If your Raspberry Pi refuses to boot, there are a couple of things to try.

First the good news. Your new Raspberry Pi is almost certainly not broken. Every Raspberry Pi is tested before it leaves the factory, so you can be confident that your Raspberry Pi has booted successfully at least once. While it is technically possible that your Raspberry Pi has a hardware fault, the chances are extremely slim. It’s almost certainly a problem you can fix. Try these things in order:

You might be booting but not getting video output. First, check that your cables are connected properly. Take them all out and reconnect them. Try a different HDMI cable if you have one.

Try a different power supply. It’s best to use an official power supply if you are in doubt – see Power Supply & Cables on Raspberry Pi’s product page.

Take out the microSD card and use Raspberry Pi Imager to flash a new installation of Raspberry Pi OS to it (see magpi.cc/imager).

Try a different microSD card. Make sure your SD card is fit-for-purpose, and not a fake. Some SD cards are unsuitable; if your card fails, it may be a good idea to try a different type. Get your microSD cards from a trusted source like The Pi Hut.

Raspberry Pi has full instructions for setting up your Raspberry Pi, but if it still will  not boot, you will find a great post packed with advice on Raspberry Pi’s forum.

Understand LED warning flash codes

Every Raspberry Pi has LED lights on the board. The LED lights are a visual indicator of what Raspberry Pi is doing. The on-board red LED indicates that your Raspberry Pi is on, signifying power (PWR). This will flash if the voltage drops too low too, so check your power supply if this happens.

The on-board green LED, labelled ACT, indicates microSD card activity and flashes during a read or write, but on Raspberry Pi Zero this indicates power and usually flashes a lot during boot. There are LED lights within the Ethernet ports too – the green LNK LED will be on when an Ethernet cable is connected, and flashing indicates network activity. The 100/1000 LED will be yellow if gigabit networking is working, otherwise it will be off.

If Raspberry Pi fails to boot, in many cases an LED will be flashed a specific number of times to indicate what happened. Usually, the pattern will repeat after a two-second gap. See this page for more info.

This is just a few of the things you can learn in the latest issue to help you become a Raspberry Pi Genius. Download The MagPi #107 and head to page 32 for much more.

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“My wife was getting tired of having to turn her plant and I needed a project to work on for my ‘Introduction to Making’ class [at MIT],” he recalls. The bud of an idea formed and, after about a month of finessing his make, the Plant Rotator was the very practical and ingenious result.

Innovate to rotate

The concept is simple but clever and uses sensors to monitor how much sun the plant has been subject to before rotating the 3D-printed plate that it sits on at regular intervals. “The device uses a sunlight sensor and records sunlight levels every minute,” says Yohei. “Once the accumulated sunlight counter reaches a certain threshold, the device rotates the plant 90 degrees and resets the counter and repeats the same steps. If there’s a lot of sunshine, it might take an hour for the plant to rotate; if there’s multiple rainy days in a row, it might take a couple of days.”

Yohei’s six-step Instructable guide covers how he connected his Raspberry Pi 3 to a stepper motor to rotate the plant, and how he attached a Grove Sunlight Sensor.  He also needed something to build the rotator onto and opted for a basic smart car chassis kit, which provides some stability. He designed the 3D-printed plate on which the plant sits. “I hadn’t used CAD before taking this class, but the plate didn’t take too long to design.”

Yohei also needed a means of collecting and analysing the sunlight data, so he set up InfluxDB (a time series database) and Grafana (an open-source analytical application) on his Raspberry Pi. While he initially considered using an Arduino for the project, “I needed something more powerful to run cron jobs, keep track of the data collected, and visualise the data through a dashboard. I had a Raspberry Pi lying around, so decided to use that.”

A great a-chive-ment

As with every project, there were obstacles to overcome. These included ensuring that the rotator was fully stable and able to rotate with the weight of the plant (around 1 kg in Yohei’s case), figuring out how to attach the motor shaft to the plate, and establishing the threshold to determine how often the plant should be rotated. The good news is that his wife’s problem plant is now “growing faster and more evenly.”

Yohei’s invention has already attracted lots of interest. “I’ve received a bunch of feedback from plant owners saying it’s a great idea and want to see it productised. They’ve asked me if I can build one for them or create one that can support a much larger plant.”

As for future iterations of his rotator, he has some plant plans. “A couple of people in my class built devices that work on auto-watering plants,” he reveals. “It would be neat to combine my project with theirs so we can build a completely automated ‘plant babysitting device’. It seems like plant owners would like to have such devices for when they go on longer trips.”

For those of us not gifted with Monty Don’s green fingers, that sounds like a blooming brilliant idea.

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Our vinyl decals, bought from Omniretro, arrived on a roll and had to be cut out, but some firms will die-cut vinyls for you. We’ll use a wet application process, which makes it easier to remove and reposition decals for a short while after initial placement, to help you get a perfect alignment.

01: Flatten your vinyl decals

If your vinyls all came on a single roll, the first step is to cut each of them out. First separate them, if they’re on a single roll, but leave generous margins. Spread them out on a table or on the floor and weigh them down – coffee table books and textbooks are good for this. Leave them for at least an hour or two: 24 hours is better.

02: Cutting out

Now they’re flat, it’s time to cut out your vinyls. Try to get rid of all white matter on straight edges. The easiest way is to line up a long metal ruler so that it just covers the edge of the printing, and run a scalpel down the outside of it. Curved sections for the cabinet side panels are trickier, but you don’t need to worry about these as they’re easy to trim down once fitted. For now, trim them freehand and leave as much white overmatter as you feel comfortable with.

03: Partial disassembly

Depending on the design of your cabinet, you may need to remove a side panel to take out the acrylic marquee and screen panels. Before doing this, use a liquid chalk pen and ruler to mark the edges of your LCD display on the acrylic, so we can accurately hide the bezel.

If you’ve previously fitted joysticks and buttons to your control panel, this is the time to remove them too. Apply steady pressure to the rear of snap-in style buttons to pop them out of the cabinet. People with large fingers may find a ButterCade Snap Out Tool useful for this.

04: Applying vinyl to your marquee acrylic

Two acrylic parts require individual application of vinyls: the marquee and the screen that goes in front of your monitor. The former is easy: remove the backing from the vinyl marquee decal and any protective film from the acrylic. Spray both the acrylic and the adhesive back of the vinyl with two or three squirts of application fluid. You want them to be damp all over but not awash.

Pick up the vinyl decal in both hands and, starting at one end of the acrylic, line it up with the edges and paste it down. If you’re not happy with the positioning, firmly hold the vinyl and snap it back up – the application fluid will help it release easily.

Once it’s positioned, use your applicator and a cloth to smooth it down, drive out any excess water, and remove any trapped air bubbles under the vinyl. Trim any excess vinyl spilling off the edge of the acrylic with a knife.

05: Measuring your screen acrylic

Cutting your screen decal to size is awkward. Before removing the screen acrylic from the cab, we marked the inner position of our monitor’s bezel on the acrylic using a chalk pen. If your cabinet has a detachable VESA mount, bring the monitor with you to help line everything up.

Measure the distance between the edge of the acrylic and the chalk line you drew on it. Measure in multiple places to be sure of distances. Our 24‑inch monitor’s positioning and bezel size means that we cut 35 mm in at the top and sides, and 65 mm from the bottom – yours will differ.

06: Cutting your screen decal

Once you’ve taken the measurements, grab your screen vinyl and mark up the area to cut out. Mark on the side showing the picture, paying particular care to the corner positions. Double-check these by placing the acrylic on top to make sure both sets of marks line up.

Grab your metal ruler, place it along your marked line, and cut a rectangle out of the middle of the vinyl decal with a blade. If in doubt, err towards leaving too much vinyl rather than too little. To check positioning, put the acrylic over your monitor, and your vinyl over the acrylic: they should all line up.

07: Screen decal application

Now, turn the vinyl upside down, remove its backing, spray it and the acrylic with the application solution, and stick it down using an applicator and cloth. Residual chalk marks can be wiped off using a bit more of the application solution.

Allow both the marquee and screen decals to dry for a day, trim them if needed, slide them back into your cabinet, and reattach anything you removed. This will probably be the last time you do this, so make sure the side panels are on securely and are correctly lined up and bolted to your stand, if you have one.

If you plan on back-lighting your marquee, this is a good time to put in your light. We used adhesive tape and supplied clips to mount a 50 cm USB-powered LED light on the underside of the marquee, just in front of the speakers.

08: Applying flat vinyls

If you have a full-height cabinet or a bartop and stand, you’ll probably have a number of flat, front-facing areas to decorate – in our case, the front cupboard door of our stand, its base, and the front of its foot. Do these next to get your hand in.

The drill is the same for all of them: place the vinyl decal face-down on the floor, remove its backing, spray both it and the surface you’re applying it to, position your decal, and smooth it out with your applicator. Use a scalpel to trim off any overmatter. For the door, we applied the decal with the door in place – knob removed, starting at the top. We had to open the door to flatten and trim the vinyl in places.

09: Control panel decals

Most control panel decals wrap around the top and front of your panel. Buttons and joysticks should not be present during application. This is a relatively easy section to apply, but watch your position if there are decorative patterns designed to surround specific buttons or joysticks.

You may need to trim overmatter from the sides with a scalpel to get the decal to fold over the front face properly. Be careful when smoothing the vinyl on this fold, as it can be prone to both trapped air bubbles and damage from the join beneath.

10: Cabinet positioning

Side panels are the largest pieces of vinyl you’ll be applying, but they’re less intimidating than they seem. For a standalone bartop, one person can mount them in a vertical position with little fuss, as shown in Omniretro’s video at magpi.cc/omniretrovinyl.

Full-height cabinets present more of a challenge due to their height and the size of the vinyl – a second person is useful here. You can apply long vinyls in an upright position, but we’d already attached rubber feet to our cabinet, so we used these to help pivot the cab down to lie on a sheet of cardboard on the floor.

11: Apply side panel vinyls

Lying flat and sprayed down as before, it’s easy to line up the side-panel decal. Make sure everything’s covered – with two people, it’s easy to snap the decal back up if you make a mistake, then use a cloth and applicator to drive out excess moisture. Use a Stanley knife to trim the vinyl to size – its solid metal body makes it easy to follow the line of the cabinet’s curves.

Go around again to remove any air bubbles and ideally leave the vinyl to dry for at least a couple of hours before pivoting the cabinet back up and lowering it to expose the opposite side. Repeat the process.

If your cabinet has separate stand and bartop parts, but uses a single sticker, there will be a slight ridge where these join. However, careful application (and a sympathetic vinyl design) makes this effectively invisible. Just be careful smoothing around it.

12: Moulding

We used U-moulding on our cabinet, with neoprene glue to hold it in place securely. First, measure and use scissors to cut two strips to go above and below the marquee – it’s better to cut these a few millimetres too long and then trim than it is to have a gap.

Use a spatula to help apply neoprene glue along the edge you’re working on, then use the tube’s nozzle to apply glue to the inside of the U-moulding.

To lock U-moulding into place, bend it backwards to spread the U-shaped section, push that onto the edge you’re applying it to, and then roll the moulding down along the edge, using a finger to push it into place.

When applying it to a long section, such as each side of your cabinet, start at the front underside – rubber feet help access here – apply glue to the cabinet edge and the first 50 cm of your roll of moulding, and have someone else feed it to you as you work up and around the cabinet. When you get to the bottom at the back, cut off your moulding with scissors.

T-moulding locks into a pre-cut groove along the edges of your cabinet, making it more secure, but it’s still a good idea to apply glue to the flat surfaces for security. Either way, use a rubber mallet to gently tap down your moulding at the end.

You can use acetone to clean the glue off your hands and the moulding, but keep it away from the vinyl.

13: Finishing moves

Use a scalpel to cut out the vinyl above the button holes: locate a hole, pierce it with the blade, slice until you find the edge of the hole, and then follow the hole round to remove all the vinyl. Do this for all your joystick and button holes.

As described in The MagPi #105, screw your joysticks back into place from the inside. If you’re going to put protective acrylic panels over your control panel, this is the time to do it – they’re held on solely by the buttons.

However, because our cabinet is for home use, we’ve left the vinyl bare for a more comfortable and attractive finish. If your cabinet will see lots of play, acrylic will protect it and cut down on wear and tear. Whichever you choose, connect a DuPont cable to each button and pop them into place.

Follow the instructions from issue 106 to connect your buttons and peripherals to Raspberry Pi.

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One of the emails we got this month was from a group of students graduating from Calvin University in Michigan, USA. Brad Ritzema, Samuel Zeleke, and Enoch Mwesigwa created a live collaboration plug-in for the Thonny Python IDE. It basically allows you to code with other people.

Their paper addresses the issues with teaching industry practices using online learning. “We sought to rectify this problem by introducing a live collaboration plug-in titled CodeLive for Thonny. [It supports] pair programming where one user (the ‘driver’) writes code while an indeterminate number of other users (the ‘navigators’) view their changes. This takes place while the users converse over an external voice/video channel of their choice.”

Find out more at: magpi.cc/codelive

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Designed by Ruha Cheng and constructed by her husband Penk Chen, the retro-styling comes courtesy of a 3D-printed case brought to life with the addition of faux leather patches wrapped around the body. “The look was inspired by Tokyo’s old camera shops,” Penk reveals. “Ruha is an illustrator and designer and has experience with film cameras. So, naturally she led the design, which shows in the project’s name.”

Going down the retro route has had another benefit. “The body size of an old camera is a perfect fit for DIY projects and there’s lots of room for electronic parts,” continues Penk, who is a software engineer by trade.

Those parts include a Raspberry Pi Zero W computer, a 2.2-inch TFT display that has been used as a viewfinder and a 2000 mAh lithium polymer (LiPo) battery. “I’m more of a smartphone camera user, but this project has been a lot of fun,” Penk says.

Developing the project

From the outset the pair, who live in Tokyo, had a clear goal: to make a usable Raspberry Pi camera with easily available parts that other Raspberry Pi users could replicate. “The milestone for the project was to take a picture of the Toyko Skytree tower from our balcony,” Penk says. So the couple got down to work to make it all happen.

Ruha says the easiest – and most fun – part of the build was decorating the camera. “You can choose colours and paint, and decorate it with faux leather or wood veneer,” Penk adds. “The most difficult part for me was figuring out the wiring of the LiPo battery, with a DC-DC step-up converter and USB charging module.”

The decision to use Raspberry Pi Zero W was straightforward enough, though. “It has excellent balance and it’s powerful enough to handle the camera’s full resolution, yet small enough to fit into our 3D-printed case,” says Penk. “But we opted for a smaller 2.2-inch LCD to reduce cost and skipped a video recording function so we could meet the cherry blossom.”

Staying focused

Helping keep the quality high, the 12.3 megapixel High Quality Camera with its Sony IMX477 sensor supports C-and CS- mount lenses. Ruha and Penk chose a 16 mm, 10 MP telephoto lens and have been more than happy with the output.

“The image sensor size (7.9 mm) of the camera is equivalent to the sensors in the iPhone 5 era and even though it’s not on a par with APS-C or M4/3 sensors commonly found in mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras (MILC), it’s definitely a luxurious upgrade from the Camera Module V2.”

They’ve found the viewfinder helps to compose the best possible image. “It’s also a lot of fun manually adjusting aperture and focal lengths, which sometimes causes ‘happy accidents’ that you don’t get with a smartphone.”

They’re certainly pleased with the results. “Since the project went live, we have received a lot of interest and much feedback from enthusiastic developers,” says Penk. “It’s literally technology married with liberal arts.”

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In this case, micro:Pi uses a Raspberry Pi 3A+ as its base, making use of the smaller footprint of the square A+ range. All the extra bits and bobs are neatly stacked on top, only increasing its vertical size in the process. It has an impressive array of components attached as well, including lights, IR sensors, buttons, audio in, and a little OLED screen to boot.

Teachable moment

Its creator, Dr Anwar Bashir, tells us that a number of functions were requested by educators – such as a self-test when an internet connection is made, and example code discreetly copied to the examples folder on each boot.

These code examples make use of the full range of functionality, with programs available to work out of the box with the buttons, LEDs, and screen, as well as functionality that can easily be added via the Grove connectors, such as motors.

The code is clearly and concisely written in Python, although it does make use of a special micropi library (similar to GPIO Zero) that will not be common elsewhere with Raspberry Pi.

Still, with all the extra functionality this adds, it’s a great beginner kit that can transition to doing much more advanced stuff like robotics and home automation.

Verdict

A great starter kit with good examples that could help take new and younger coders from beginners to advanced users.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

All of this movement is controlled by a custom RIC (Robot Interface Controller) based upon an ESP32 microcontroller. It has built-in Bluetooth, wireless LAN, an accelerometer, and a speaker. It’s powered by a rechargeable battery with a built-in USB-C charger.

With his big blue head and various accessories, Marty is a good-looking piece of kit, the sort of personable toy that children can make friends with. However, there’s a lot to unpack here, surprisingly so for a device that looks very much at home on the shelf of a local toy store. There is a scalable level of complex interaction that can move right from key stage 2 (7-year-old and upwards) to the university level.

Right at the entry level, you don’t need any computer at all. With an optional IR colour sensor (£19), Marty is controlled by placing coloured cards on the floor: green to move forward, purple to slide right, and so on.

The next stage of interaction is via an Android or iPhone app. This connects to Marty via Bluetooth and provides button controls (walk, rotate, and so forth). The app also has a built-in version of Scratch 3 that is packed with blocks to control Marty. So children can use Scratch to create programs for Marty and learn the basics of programming with a physical device (much more interactive than watching a sprite shuffle around the screen). To this end, there are a range of teacher guides and lesson plans available.

Raspberry Pi connection

The app is also used to connect Marty to a local wireless LAN, which is where Raspberry Pi can step in. Once on your network, you can move from Scratch to Python and connect to Marty using the MartyPy library. For example, here was our program to make Marty dance:

from martypy import Marty
my_marty = Marty("wifi","192.168.0.45")
my_marty.dance()

There’s a comprehensive Knowledge Base portal on Robotical’s website with example code, tutorials, and a Python function reference guide.

Marty does not – by default – contain a Raspberry Pi computer. Instead, you connect to the built-in RIC (Robot Interface Controller). However, you can install a Raspberry Pi inside the head unit and connect it to the RIC using the supplied cable.

Putting a Raspberry Pi inside Marty gives it independence from the network and other computers or the app. There’s also a decrease in latency time, so response time is faster. There’s the tantalising possibility to expand Marty’s abilities with voice interaction and image processing to make the robot more like a walking smart assistant.

Even if students never make it that far, learning code by moving a physical device around, rather than shuffling sprites around on the screen, is a powerful concept. And we found Marty personable, fun to play with, and packed with features – some of which scale surprisingly high up. The detailed documentation helps get you started and gives you direction.

Verdict

8/10

A great little robot that brings Scratch and Python code to life. Don’t be fooled by the cute exterior: there’s a lot of potential inside this robot.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“I usually just describe myself as a ‘content creator’,” Al tells us. “But to [be specific], I’m not only a music producer, but a DJ, a sound engineer, a streamer, and I have a radio chain, and two stores: one for clothing and one for headbands.”

Al was on the stream for only a short time, showing off their robot in the process, so we decided to catch up with them and ask more in the process.

What do you like to make?

Essentially anything that has to do with computers, whether that’s apps, websites, games, music, designs… So pretty much everything.

What do you like to stream?

On my Twitch channel (popito57) I mainly stream two things: music mixes and video games. I don’t really do much else there as for me it’s a pretty informal platform.

When did you first learn about Raspberry Pi?

I’d say when I lived in the UK and joined the Code Club. I asked where the resources came from and discovered Raspberry Pi.

What is the maker community like in Andorra?

I’d mainly say that it focuses more on robots and video games, since that’s what the main academy teaches.

What’s your favourite thing that you’ve made?

It’s not completely made yet, but I’d say one of my projects, ‘The Rainbow Mailbox’, which is a messaging hotline for any LGBT kids that are struggling with anything, whether that is in school, with family, etc.

Anything you would like to plug?

I recently made a Linktree with all of my work and social media, including things I didn’t/forgot to mention in the stream, such as my Spotify, so check it out if you want to/have the time.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

It got me thinking about how I use/have used older Raspberry Pi in the past. Up until recently, I was using a Raspberry Pi 2 as my in-home file server with no problems. I still have a NES controller that I use for NES emulation, that has a pre-production Raspberry Pi Zero inside it. I have a Raspberry Pi 3 that powers my interactive tabletop RPG screen, which hopefully I’ll be able to use again soon.

Demystify it

Due to my position here at The MagPi, I do have a wider variety of Raspberry Pi boards than most; however, you can always grab cheaper/older models off eBay, or your auction/local sales website of choice, if you’re on a really tight budget.

This extended lifespan is by design. Of course, code is code, so learning and using Python naturally works across different Raspberry Pi boards. However, even the newest Raspberry Pi OS is still compatible with original Raspberry Pi models. In the past, when I’ve spoken with engineers in the office, they’ve pointed out how a lot of features and functions are backwards compatible. Some still have an original Raspberry Pi Zero powering Kodi on a TV at home.

It’s clear that power isn’t everything. Just look at Raspberry Pi Pico – it’s more suited to certain projects than even the most powerful Raspberry Pi, and it’s much smaller to boot.

Recycling Raspberry Pi

Using and reusing Raspberry Pi is built into its DNA. The amount of different little projects I’ve put together with the same Raspberry Pi is too high to count (on our fingers at least), and just because there’s a newer Raspberry Pi, it doesn’t mean we’ve stopped using it. I think I’ve only broken a single Raspberry Pi, and that was an original Model B that got a lot of use in the early years from a lot of people. The only reason I upgraded my file server Raspberry Pi is because the Raspberry Pi 2 became a gift for my sister, and she still uses it to this day.

Upcycling doesn’t just have to mean using hardware from the eighties, and recycling doesn’t have to mean completely melting down and remaking – Raspberry Pi computers have a very long lifespan, and can be recycled ad infinitum for newer and better projects thanks to cross-generational compatibility

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“I love playing old games in RetroPie on my Raspberry Pi 4 with my son Luke,” he tells us, “so when I realised what a perfect fit Pico’s PIO would be for generating a VGA signal, my mind went to a reimagining of one of the greatest games of all time.”

It took Nick about three weeks of nights and weekends to build Pico Pong: “I have a day job, so I have to fit my projects in when I can.”

The difficult part was getting the VGA signal timing just right. “Once I had that locked down, it only took me a couple of hours to code up the Pong algorithm and graphics,” he reveals.

Since Pico’s PIO handles the cycle-intensive process of generating video, this leaves the CPU free to do other work, like play Pico Pong. “I use the PIO to generate a 640×480@60Hz monochrome VGA signal,” says Nick. “Data for the display is stored in a buffer in SRAM, which the PIO program grabs at exactly the right nanosecond, as it paints the screen, via DMA [direct memory access].”

As well as overclocking Pico to 258MHz, nearly double its standard speed, it took a lot of incremental tweaking to get the VGA signals exactly right. “I had to reorganise and rethink the PIO assembly code a number of times to get the data for each pixel on the GPIOs exactly within its 40 nanosecond window.”

Gesture control

The player’s on-screen paddle is gesture-controlled using two infrared (IR) LED / IR phototransistor pairs. “The IR LED shines upward onto a mirror, which reflects the IR light back onto the receiver below,” explains Nick. “When that signal is interrupted (i.e. by a hand), it triggers Pico via GPIO to move the player paddle. One receiver moves the paddle up on the screen, and the other moves the paddle down.”

Why gesture control? “I wanted to do something different from the typical potentiometer controller, so I did some digging through my parts bins to get ideas,” Nick replies. “I first thought I might use a PIR sensor for a similar gesture interface, but even with hardware modifications it wasn’t responsive enough.”

As an alternative, he tried the IR LED/phototransistor pair and responses were smooth and instantaneous. “After playing around with this for a while, I feel like this is the way Pong was meant to be played. If my idea weren’t over 40 years late, I think this could have been the Nintendo Wii of the 1970s.”

Game, set, and match

After showcasing the project on Hackster.io (magpi.cc/picopong), Nick has received plenty of positive feedback from the maker community. “There’s a lot of love for Pong, so I’ve found that many people are drawn to this new way of playing a classic game,” he says. “People see this as something that they could realistically build for themselves, and I think that’s right.  With the coding already done, there is only a simple circuit to build, and the Pico is a very inexpensive development board.”

Nick advises us to keep our eyes open for updates to the projects in the future. Meanwhile, he’s currently experimenting with using his Pico to remotely control a toy helicopter. “I’d like to teach it some new tricks, and control it by voice and/or gestures.

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It’s a remote-control device powered by Raspberry Pi that controls a mini-split heat pump, which is a kind of heating and cooling unit used in some homes.

“Mini-split heat pumps use a lot of energy when it is really cold out, and are the one home device we have that may continue to run unnoticed during an outage, such as when we are asleep or out of the house, causing the batteries to drain down rapidly,” he explains further. “So, finding a way to automatically shut them off at the start of an outage became the goal of this project, and in the process ended up with full web control of the mini-splits. Yes, they could have been put on a separate panel that is not powered during an outage. However, what’s the fun in that? We still wanted the ability to run them for A/C during the summer when they don’t use up much energy.”

Cheaper alternative

While there are commercial products that perform this function, they tend to cost around $200 (£140), whereas Robert’s Raspberry Pi version costs only $20 (£14) for each device. They also wouldn’t perform the shut-off during the grid outage that he originally planned to control.

The MiniSplitPi is connected via a CM105 port on the heat pumps, which are usually used with the official remote control products.

“The CN105 connector pins provide 12 V, ground, 5 V, TX, and RX,” Robert explains. “Communications are through the serial UART (TX/RX). Although the 5 V could possibly be used to power Raspberry Pi, in an abundance of caution the 12 V was used instead, along with a buck converter to step down the voltage to the required 5 V for Raspberry Pi. Similarly, the CN105 TX/RX are 5 V, whereas Raspberry Pi requires 3 V, so a bidirectional logic level converter was used.”

Robert added other features, such as a shutdown button if wireless contact is lost, an LED for at-a-glance checks of the grid, and a motion-activated screen with more data and adjustable settings.

Hot stuff

“The MiniSplitPi has worked remarkably well,” Robert says. “Being able to control all of the mini-splits from a single web interface has made life easier. The one gotcha I have found, and am still chasing down, is trying to switch multiple heads from heating to cooling mode at the same time. This is usually only required twice a year, so turning them off then on again in the new mode, something that can be automated, is not a big issue. The primary reason for developing the MiniSplitPi has worked extremely well, though. As our home is now powered by photovoltaics with Tesla Powerwall batteries for backup, I wanted a way to have the mini-splits go off automatically after ten minutes if the grid goes down, so the batteries are not quickly drained. The MiniSplitPi worked as expected for the power outages we had over this past winter, and it has been useful to have the LED on it showing an active outage, as it is not always evident when the grid goes down.”

Plans for a big touchscreen to work as a thermostat are in the works as well, so that it’s more accessible to family members.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“My iPad was so old that apps didn’t really work any more and the Safari browser wasn’t performing well with modern websites,” he says. “The glass was also cracked and the batteries didn’t charge, so it was heading to the bin.” Or at least it was until Chris decided to use it as the basis for a magic mirror.

Chris had explored such a project before, using a Fire tablet for the display. By swapping it for an iPad, however, he was able to liberate the Amazon-made Fire device for day-to-day use. What’s more, since he’d already written a magic mirror web page and server, the switch proved relatively easy.

Peel it away

The project entailed removing and using the iPad’s screen. “I knew, from watching a few videos on iPad repairs, that the LCD screen was completely separate from the glass, so it seemed a shame to throw the whole thing away without at least trying to salvage some components,” he says.

Unfortunately, this was the most difficult part of the build. “It’s a lot easier if the glass is not already cracked,” he explains. “In theory, you should just be able to pop the glass out from the metal frame, and using a thin metal spudger seems to be the way to go. As my glass was already cracked, I went with a much more brute force approach.”

Once he’d isolated the screen, it was then a case of hooking it up to a Raspberry Pi Zero W. This required a driver board. “The main thing to check is that it’s definitely compatible with the first iPad’s LCD screen which has the model number LP097X02,” Chris says. “The driver boards to seem to be fairly standard now.”

The core business

Raspberry Pi Zero W – powered using a 5 V buck converter and running Raspberry Pi OS – proved to be a perfect match. Being thin, it fits nicely behind the mirror. “It’s also so affordable but can still run a full operating system with a GUI and it has wireless LAN, too – those are probably the most important things for this project because I really needed to be able to run a web browser,” Chris says.

After setting the Chromium browser to auto-start in full-screen kiosk mode, it was pointed at Chris’s magic mirror URL. “But there is some really nice magic mirror software available for Raspberry Pi, so I may look at switching over at some point,” he muses. From that point, it was a matter of fitting everything together.

“The main challenge was ensuring the components wouldn’t stick out from behind the mirror too much,” he reveals. “The driver boards come with VGA and composite connectors which are quick thick compared to the actual PCBs.” There was also a problem with the screen’s brightness, solved using tinted acetate sheets, but otherwise everything went to plan.

“You can pick up refurbished, second-hand iPad LCDs on eBay for very good prices, especially if they have a couple of dead pixels,” Chris says. “You can create a very affordable display.”

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At Philip’s workplace, a laser eye surgery, employees would need to get their temperature taken and then fill out a paper form to confirm that they could work.

“I was given the assignment to digitise this process using a touchscreen device,” he tells us. “I thought that it would be nice to combine the process of taking our temperature with filling out the form. The other thing is that everyone who used it would have to touch the screen, so I figured if facial recognition was incorporated, it would be more hygienic. So what was developed is a Raspberry Pi-based device with an IR temperature sensor that can recognise the employee in front of it, take their temperature, and log whether it is too high or acceptable for work.”

Cool design

The touchscreen integrated into the monitor also allows for manual entry if required.

“Raspberry Pi is an obvious choice for a project like this,” Philip explains. “It is compatible with a wide range of sensors, has the processing power to be able to handle things like facial recognition, and it has the conveniences that come with a full-blown operating system. On top of that, it has great support for Python and most of the libraries needed straight out of the box. I do a lot of my software development in Python, so this is a major plus.”

Development happened over the course of three-to-four weeks as a side project, programming, part sourcing, and 3D design for the case.

“The largest part of that was actually hand gesture recognition believe it or not,” Philip says. “I wanted a good way to signal to the device that it got the identity of the user wrong. It took a lot of trial and error, but eventually I found a Haar cascade for palm recognition and that seemed like a good way to tell it to ‘stop’. But the nice thing is that something relatively complex, like facial recognition and temperature reading and logging, can be done by one developer in a reasonably short amount of time.”

Hot product

With projects like this, there’s always a concern that it won’t do its job. That was not the case for this monitor.

“The facial recognition works well to identify the registered users and the temperature reader is pretty accurate too,” Philip reveals. “In testing, we’ve found that distance from the sensor plays a large roll in accuracy, so we will be working on ways for the users to have an easier time placing themselves in the correct range of distance from the sensor. Overall, the response has been pretty good from the users.”

Currently, the monitor is still being tested, but, if it passes, Philip hopes to get it rolled out throughout other departments in the company, and hopefully further.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Become a Raspberry Pi genius

Wes and Lucy have been poring over Raspberry Pi’s engineering documentation and pooling the team’s knowledge. In this month’s lead feature we look at a whole range of techniques, and tricks, that can be used to get an errant Raspberry Pi working properly. You’ll gain a deep understanding of Raspberry Pi and learn some essential maintenance techniques.

Handheld Builds

Last month, Rob looked at big builds you needed a garage to make. This month Rob is looking at complex builds that don’t take up so much space. From portable games consoles to 3D printed laptop computers, and hand-made digital cameras. These builds are big in detail; small in stature. 

Recreating the Mars helicopter: Epigone Drone

We love this project by Avra Saslow. Using NASA’s open-source F-prime operating system with Raspberry Pi and an off-the-shelf drone; our intrepid maker has recreated Ingenuity here on Earth.

Bluebot Shoal Fish Robot

Not all robots fly, walk, or wheel around. Some also swim through the sea. And they do so in shoals. This month Rosie takes a look at these Bluebot Shoal Fish Robots built by Florian Berlinger. With fins and robotic bodies, these robots mimic the movement and activity of fish.

Decorate your arcade machine

KG has been working on a full-scale arcade machine for a few issues now, and this month it all comes together with vinyl decals. We’re sure you’ll agree it looks fantastic. 

Pico Voice

Pico Voice is a great project from Mike Cook that turns the new microcontroller into a fully-fledged voice adjustment system. With the hardware set up, Mike now looks to the software adding support for ten funky sound effects.

Marty The Robot v2

Marty is back. This small walking robot looks like a toy, but with Raspberry Pi added it suddenly comes to life with a powerful Python API (application programming interface). We’ve been putting Marty through their paces this month, and come away impressed with the performance.

Pick up your copy of The MagPi magazine #107

The MagPi magazine is available as a free digital download, or you can purchase a print edition from our Raspberry Pi Press store.