[Closed] Raspberry Pi

sold it for half what I paid for it, pretty much unused. 🙄

Halloween skull - which is what I'm working on right at the moment (it's been in use since the first Halloween after RPi first came out, just making some slight changes and trying something different).

I've got 5 of them, 2 first gen, a 2, a 3 and a zero. The other first gen is going to be used as a IoT central heating controller (currently a work in progress), the 2 is connected to the TV and occasionally used for Scratch by mini aracer (also have Kodi on there, but now have a BT box instead), the 3 has mainly just been used for performance testing with the aim of using it as a Thin Client. No idea what I'm doing with the zero yet.

...actually I'm forgetting I've also used one for controlling one of these via a web interface:
https://thepihut.com/products/phenoptix-mearm-pocket-sized-robot-arm

How did it do with Kodi aracer?

I've been thinking about putting a monitor / Pi in the bathroom for my wife's Christmas present.

I was in a rehearsal studio recently which had one set up as an 80's and 90's console emulator, with Master System, Mega Drive, NES, SNES, Famicom, CD32 etc all on there. Pretty impressive too.

My daughter has expressed an interest in one of these for Christmas, but what can it do that she couldn't already do on her laptop?

I feel it would sit unused.

[quote=makecoldplayhistory ]How did it do with Kodi aracer?

It was OK, but not 100% stable - just needed restarting occasionally. Though it was added on to standard Raspbian, I think the dedicated media centre distros may be better.

put like that Muffin, nothing.

Seen as the start of a project, it's a great tool, educationally as well as the end results being pretty bloody brilliant.

http://www.itpro.co.uk/mobile/21862/raspberry-pi-top-22-projects-to-try-yourself

See it as the Mecano of her generation.

@Aracer - thanks. Wondering if a dumb TV and Kodi / Firestick may be better.

[quote=the-muffin-man ]My daughter has expressed an interest in one of these for Christmas, but what can it do that she couldn't already do on her laptop?

Interact with things in the real world - ie robotics and similar things. At least that's the main point for one I can see (apart from it being a very cheap computer, though it won't do anything her laptop can't from that perspective).

Depends what she's into and how old she is - IME kids get quite excited at just turning LEDs on and off using a "computer". Which reminds me I'm also putting something together for our local primary school using them to do stuff like that from Scratch.

My daughter has expressed an interest in one of these for Christmas, but what can it do that she couldn't already do on her laptop?

It's a miniature computer, but its USP (other than size and price) is that it has a bunch of input / output pins that can be used to Do Stuff. If she wants to learn programming and / or has an interest in electronics, it's ideal.

@Aracer - thanks. Wondering if a dumb TV and Kodi / Firestick may be better.

The Pi 3 has a lot more grunt than previous iterations for throwing video about.

Interested if anyone's got a touch screen for it. The official touch screen is tempting in that it doesn't require external power, but the resolution is extremely low.

[quote=Cougar ]If she wants to learn programming and / or has an interest in electronics, it's ideal.

I'd argue if we're just talking programming it's unnecessary if she already has a laptop. I appreciate the original idea was to do that, but things have moved on - I presume most kids nowadays at least have access to a tablet, and you can do a lot of the learning coding stuff on one of those. I can't think of anything coding wise you can do on a RPi you can't do on a laptop.

Electronics is a different matter - if she does have any interest in that then get her one, no question.

[quote=Cougar ]The Pi 3 has a lot more grunt for throwing video about.

Yeah - I was doing it on a 2, got the BT box before I got around to trying it on the 3.

I'd argue if we're just talking programming it's unnecessary if she already has a laptop.

It's not needed, sure, but making something with flashing lights is going to be a lot more appealing to a kid than writing a stock control program.

Sorry - I didn't want to start an in-depth analysis of the pros and cons.

My daughter is 13 - she has an interest in computing and does well at it at school. But she's never come home and said 'Dad, I must build this awesome robot and need a Pi to act as a controller'.

I think I'll give it a miss until that day. I can't programme so I'd be useless at offering assistance, she'd be on her own.

Ta! 😀

Why not ask her if she wants to?

There's not enough women pursuing technical careers, if it were my daughter she'd have been brought up on Lego Mindstorms rather than dollies. (-:

So tell me what weird and wonderful stuff you have done with your Pi ?

Left it in my desk drawer still in it's box for 2 years!

I have a Pi in the shed, connected to a webcam in a birdbox.
I'm thinking I might add a few more webcams, to see if I can spot any more wildlife around the garden.

Also want to setup a weather station.

So tell me what weird and wonderful stuff you have done with your Pi ?

Undoubtedly a massive success, and yet even as someone who works in Software/Electronics I just struggle to see the point.

The Pi 3 has a lot more grunt than previous iterations for throwing video about.

Need to find a use for the original Pi in my box of bits. Proper original, from before the time when they managed to squeeze in some mounting holes.

Had mine as a iPlayer/redbull.tv player but that got a bit superseded by the chromecast, then it was a google calendar driven central heating controller for a bit, then an internet radio. Currently not being used, though. I use Arduinos far more. Much easier to make them talk to things but harder to make them talk to the internet, which the Pi is much better at but I am much worse at programming.

Running an OSMC build of Kodi as a media centre for TV and server for my music collection. Use my android phone as a remote control

[quote=the-muffin-man ]Sorry - I didn't want to start an in-depth analysis of the pros and cons.

No worries - we enjoy that sort of thing, and it's probably quite useful for a lot of people.

My daughter is 13 - she has an interest in computing and does well at it at school. But she's never come home and said 'Dad, I must build this awesome robot and need a Pi to act as a controller'.

I'd be tempted to say go for it in that case. If she does have some interest in that area, and she's expressed interest in one, then she probably does have some idea what you can do with one and is capable of working it out for herself. At 13 with aptitude in computing I'm sure she's quite capable of putting something together with it - maybe worth getting an add on board or other stuff as well so she can just do things (others can advise - I tend to hack mine in a way I'd not recommend for a 13yo - though I suppose I need to sort that out if I'm getting a class of primary school kids using them!)

[quote=fifeandy ]Undoubtedly a massive success, and yet even as someone who works in Software/Electronics I just struggle to see the point.

We're kind of explaining the point here 😕

This
[img] [/img]

Not finished yet, fully working just need to finish the cabinet off etc.

[quote=andytherocketeer ]Need to find a use for the original Pi in my box of bits. Proper original, from before the time when they managed to squeeze in some mounting holes.

Ah, now I've checked I realise I actually have 3 first gen and 6 in total (one is like that, ordered the day it was released). Will have to check what's on the other one - I suspect it's probably what I was using for a printserver, can now dedicate that as the robot arm controller 🙂

[quote=nickjb ]I use Arduinos far more. Much easier to make them talk to things

In what way? I don't find any problem in getting a RPi to talk to things (admittedly I've never owned an Arduino, but I've done stuff with breadboarded ATmegas, and indeed both more and less powerful AVRs, so I have some idea about interfacing with them).

In what way?

At 13 with aptitude in computing I'm sure she's quite capable of putting something together with it

When I was 13 I had an aptitude in computing and an interest in electronics, and would almost certainly have blown the shit out of the GPIO pins inside of an afternoon. (-:

It's not needed, sure, but making something with flashing lights is going to be a lot more appealing to a kid than writing a stock control program.

Get a micro:bit then! And save a bit of cash! The young 'un loves hers, just plugs into the laptop and she happily makes little hearts and scrolling messages.

[quote=nickjb ]With a Pi I seem to need to cut'n'paste huge swathes of code just to get it running and its mostly gibberish.

Turn on an LED on the command line:
[code]
echo 11 > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio11/direction
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio11/value
[/code]

Or flash in a bash script:
[code]
echo 11 > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio11/direction

while true
do
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio11/value
sleep 1
echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio11/value
sleep 1
done
[/code]

Though I do usually control stuff from C and whilst you can just use that command line stuff, I tend to use a library, so simple commands rather than cutting and pasting lots of stuff (admittedly I normally use my own custom library which does involve lots of low level hacking, but then I'm using hardware PWM to control servos).

I know a couple of my techy friends will use an Arduino to talk to the 'thing' then connect that to a Pi to talk to the internet.

😯 - seems like a lot of work - about the only IO I can think that isn't directly available is analogue input, which is why I've sometimes connected an AVR or PIC - though I now tend to do that properly with a dedicated chip connected with SPI.

[quote=Cougar ]When I was 13 I had an aptitude in computing and an interest in electronics, and would almost certainly have blown the shit out of the GPIO pins inside of an afternoon. (-:

That's kind of why I was suggesting he also get an add on board she can just plug in rather than hacking it like grown ups do 😉

Mine's supposed to be running homebridge so I can control the blinds through Siri.

But it's not working yet...

I have a few Pi's..

Poor Mans SONOS (Perfectly Synced) - [url= https://sites.google.com/site/picoreplayer/home ]PiCorePlayer[/url]
Arcade Classic Gaming Console - [url= https://retropie.org.uk/ ]RetroPie[/url]
3D Printer WiFi Controller & Camera - [url= https://octopi.octoprint.org/ ]OctoPi[/url]
^Has a 3.5" Touchscreen
Starting to build a Temperature & Humidity logger, eventually will control with an Arduino, required to upload data and notify of min/max temps.
Built this a couple of years ago, now gathering dust!
[img] [/img]
I have an old BigTrak and a robot arm that require mating together, but I haven't got round to it yet, like most of my projects!
I want to build a controller for the LED strip lighting, so I can sync it around the house and eventually have it going to music.
Like many, I have loads of ideas, just not a lot of time!

If you looking to get stuck into a Raspberry Pi, check out this free Pi Magazine
[url= https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/ ]MagPi[/url]

As I understand it an Arduino is a programmable controller board aimed purely at interfacing with things and prototyping, but you program it from external computers.

Whereas a Pi is an all-in-one mini computer that can run a variety of operating systems, and having a bunch of interface options as well to talk to things (including Arduinos).

A Pi running Raspbian is a bargain way for kids to get a computer they can program with, without needing a laptop/tablet/etc (except maybe to flash an SD card).

Arduinos however are perhaps more flexible in that there are a wide variety of kits and components and they do dedicated tasks. They might perform more reliably or efficiently, although I don't know for sure, based on not having the overhead of a full blown OS.

They're perhaps a bit more IoT (though the Pi has IoT specific OS, e.g. Windows 10 IoT, though that's not something kids will get on with. It makes the Pi more like an Arduino in a way. There's no desktop. Need to develop externally and deploy to it).

A Pi can also be used for non hardware things. Running web servers etc. Been using one of mine as a VPN server.

rossendalelemming > that cab's ace. I'd love to have a go at something like that myself.

I have an old BigTrak

Oooh! So have I. There's an idea.

I run my weather station with a Pi2:

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=ISTIRLIN11

Updates every minute, using a Maplins weather station. I think it's cool.
Total cost was £100.
(Using the setup here: http://www.weather.dragontail.co.uk/index.php?page=pywws_setup)

It did have its own Twitter account for a while but it kept corrupting the SD card.

I run Kodi on the Pi3.

I have one running OpenHab and a number of sensors that control various switches and lights.

I've got a couple or Pi's and an "Orange Pi" clone. I use the Orange Pi to run Octoprint and control my 3D printer, on a Pi2 I have installed [url= http://www.pimusicbox.com/ ]PiMusicBox[/url] so it's an internet radio streaming device (hook a JBL flip up to it via bluetooth).

So tell me what weird and wonderful stuff you have done with your Pi ?

A 'line-in' for Sonos to connect a CD player into the system. Essentially the Pi is an Internet Radio server that broadcasts the CD player output. Sonos then picks that up as an Internet Radio station

I have 3 in a house:
#1 - monitors the temperature upstairs (upside down house with bedrooms downstairs), controls the electric heaters wirelessly and allows me to remotely switch the heating on and off.
#2 - monitors the downstairs temperatures and the output from the solar pv the data from which it uploads to the pvoutput.org web site
#3 - monitors the hot water temperature

The data from all three is uploaded every 5 mins to the [url= https://www.initialstate.com/ ]initial state[/url] web site which I use as a dashboard to see what's going on when I'm not there.

I had basically no programming knowledge before getting the Pi's and because of them I've learnt a reasonable amount of Python which I've utilised my business.

Pi's are cool, but you need a project.

[quote=allthepies ]I've got a couple or Pi's and an "Orange Pi" clone.

Interesting - how does the OPi compare and what's the distro/software - is it completely compatible with a RPi?

Here's the skull I'm currently fiddling with

So if Santa was to leave one on Christmas day what would we need to start with?

Probably some sort of project kit to get the ball rolling and inspire interest would be ideal. Or recommendations of good reading (books preferred).

Thanks

The camjam edukit robot is good for kids and you can build on it

Minecraft pi let's you interface with the real world, also good for teaching coding such as teleporting around, building houses etc

Sensor based webcam smsing images

As above having an idea of what you want to do helps, loads of free resources out there

The plan for Christmas is a rabbitcam and weather station, probably add some counters logging movement in the hutch and run

Dmorts in line Sonos CD player? Tell me more I have a pi doing nothing and need to justify keeping my cd's!

I've used some at work hooked up via some USB relay boards to some remote controls to simulate button presses and hence find bugs in the various layers of remote control handling (a lot more than I expected).

You could do the same with a PC, but then you'd need an entire PC, and the desk space, cabling, and power starts getting annoying.

Nothing exotic. Got a Pi3 used for Kodi, running under OSMC. Also has MPD installed on it purely for music playing as I like the way it works once set up for ease of use from desktop PC. Music played via MPD goes through a HiFiBerry DAC+ plugged on top of the Pi with phono leads to hifi for better sound quality than the headphone jack on the Pi. Audio played via KODI just goes through HDMI to the TV. Soldered a IR receiver to the HiFiBerry so can use an old freeview remote for controlling Kodi (though s/w seems slightly misconfigured and refuses to work every-so-often).

Got another Pi2 I intended to use as a sort of gateway to my LAN, running OpenVPN on it, but we're on such a basic broadband package that even downloading a hi-res JPEG or CD quality MP3 from the NAS via Samba rekindles nostalgia for the days of dialup - so practically unusable. Sometimes SSH into it from work if I'm bored and inspect the uptime on the NAS or look at running processes.

Dmorts in line Sonos CD player? Tell me more I have a pi doing nothing and need to justify keeping my cd's!

I'm using a Pi3 (although I think other Pis would be ok). Pi3 is good because it has built in WiFi. I then attached a USB soundcard, one of these [url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-UCA202-U-Control-low-latency-Interface/dp/B000KW2YEI ]Behringer UCA202[/url]. There are some fakes of these about on eBay for less than £20. The fakes work, but the real thing is only £25 and better quality.
I tried to get a cheap USB card with an Optical In, but couldn't find one. The CD player is connected to the line in of the soundcard.

To setup the Pi, I used this guide [url= https://stmllr.net/blog/live-mp3-streaming-from-audio-in-with-darkice-and-icecast2-on-raspberry-pi/ ]Live mp3 streaming from audio-in with DarkIce and Icecast2 on Raspberry Pi[/url]. You'll need to give the Pi a static IP address too.

Then configure Sonos to pick the stream from the Pi. Add a radio station and put in the URL of your Pi.

Need to find a use for the original Pi in my box of bits. Proper original, from before the time when they managed to squeeze in some mounting holes.

256MB RAM? Basically a Pi A deluxe...

Do I need a degree in Electronics to build anything "worthwhile" with one of these?

Pi 3 has been on the wanted list for a while and happy to buy the starter kit and some other gubbins, but want 6yr old monkey jnr and I to get something out of it

256MB RAM? Basically a Pi A deluxe...

[url= http://mybigideas.co.uk/RPi/BigTrak/ ]Big Trak and Raspberry Pi![/url]

😀

Model B 256 iirc. From the first batch after the original Pi purchasers DDoSed RS and Farnell.

Yeah same. Have a lovely case for it and everything, my 3 year old has been eyeing it up for a while.

Interesting reading this thread, I've got a Pi sat in a box in the loft that used to be a samba server, now replaced by a ITX based PC.

However my wife does regularly talk about internet radios and I've found [url= http://www.bobrathbone.com/raspberrypi/Raspberry%20PI%20Radio.pdf ]this guide[/url] so I may give it a go when I get a minute...

Do I need a degree in Electronics to build anything "worthwhile" with one of these?

No. You can get add on boards ("hats") to do a fair amount, which just involves plugging things together, being prepared to read some instructions, and common sense.

If you get into using relays to control mains voltages then you need to a bit more careful.

So if Santa was to leave one on Christmas day what would we need to start with?

For Pi3..
Keyboard, PSU, HDMI Cable & TV, MicroSD Card

Think of a project you want to do and buy the stuff you need, like a breadboard, wires, etc. I'm gonna plug [url= https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/ ]MagPi [/url]again.

Interesting reading this thread, I've got a Pi sat in a box in the loft that used to be a samba server, now replaced by a ITX based PC.

[quote=andytherocketeer ]From the first batch after the original Pi purchasers DDoSed RS and Farnell.

Yeah - I was part of that DDOS!

[quote=oldnpastit ]No. You can get add on boards ("hats") to do a fair amount, which just involves plugging things together, being prepared to read some instructions, and common sense.

+1 - there's also a lot of information out there on how to do things, and it's not really that hard if you have basic skills at putting things together and computing.

If you get into using relays to control mains voltages then you need to a bit more careful.

I do have a degree in "electronics" and I'm still kind of nervous about that with my CH controller - I'd not recommend it unless you really do know what you're doing!

Yeah - I was part of that DDOS!

Big Trak and Raspberry Pi!

Bah, that's one of the reissued ones. Mine's an original.

aracer - Member

I do have a degree in "electronics" and I'm still kind of nervous about that with my CH controller - I'd not recommend it unless you really do know what you're doing!

Yes, I've been wary of touching my central heating partly out of idleness and partly out of a fear of having the hot water tank spray superheated steam throughout the house! I'd be quite interested in what you did though.

Been curious about having a play with one to control our heating.

Living in France, where central heating is pretty rare and electric radiators are still the most common kind of heating, we heat our house with a wood stove upstairs and electric radiators in the bedrooms downstairs.

The radiators are a pain in the ar$e - efficient enough, but the controller UI is rubbish and each radiator is individually controlled. Every time there is any kind of power cut (which is about once a week in the Alps - storms in summer or snow on the cables in winter), all of the individual controllers / timers get factory re-set and you have to go around and sort them all out individually.

You can actually buy a wifi control kit for our radiators, but I'm not at all convinced that it does what I want, which is to be able to turn on/off each room individually at different times (main bedroom, office, spare room) and it's pretty expensive too. So I thought about making my own with a Pi or similar.

It should be possible to either use the exisiting radiator built-in thermostats and relays and just control them wirelessly or to add your own, right?

Yes, it should be possible to do what you suggest - just depends how much hassle you want. The thermostat is presumably just a switch and you should be able to control the relay almost straight from the RPi.

Are you thinking about having a RPi on each radiator, or putting wiring in to a central point? The latter would clearly involve putting in the wiring, though otherwise be simpler. If you want to do it wirelessly then http://abyz.co.uk/rpi/pigpio/index.html enables very simple central control of GPIO on multiple RPis over Wifi - it seems overkill to use a RPi as the slave for this, but it's a lot quicker and easier to set up using that than it would be with an arduino.

I used that with my Skull last night - had a separate RPi attached to a motor with a bat on a string. From a software POV it was incredibly easy to add control of the slave RPi into existing code.

Putting in wiring isn't practical, so I was thinking of having some kind of wifi-controlled slave switch on each rad with a Pi or similar as a central control unit.

Thinking about it, 2-way comms would be essential I guess as I'd have to feed the temperature data back to the pi, then send back an on/off signal based on temp and time of day.

Might actually be easier with separate, off the shelf temperature sensors in each room, pick up those signals with a pi, send a simple on/off to each rad.

In which case you need something which can connect to WiFi in each room - as I suggest you could use a RPi, though I presume an Arduino would also be possible and cheaper (not something I've done)? I the "thermostat" providing an analogue signal rather than just a switch then? If so you'd need an analogue add on module for a RPi, whilst an Arduino can do that as standard. If you're using a separate temperature sensor then you can get ones which plug straight in.

Certainly feasible, just depends how much you're happy to spend (given you're going to need smart stuff in each room if doing it via WiFi) and what your software skills are like.

...back to working on the CH controller here now Halloween is out of the way!

Check out the esp8266 module which is little programmable widget with wifi. Could put one in every room without much bother

How about creating an alexa. (Amazon Echo)

https://github.com/alexa/alexa-avs-sample-app

[url=http://]Simple Pi Controlled Electric Heaters[/url]
^^ This might work, if you can bypass the radiator controllers.

I'd be interested to know what software & hardware people are using for their Pi temperature controllers/readers.