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Bare Conductive’s Pi Cap is an Raspberry Pi add-on board that lets you connect anything to one of the 12 electrodes to control sound, video and more. Pi Cap is perfect for designers, engineers, artists, students or educators who are looking for ways to connect the physical world to the digital world.
It is compatible with Raspberry Pi A+, B+, Zero and later models (any of the 40-pin Raspberry Pi's) and comes with extensive programming libraries and examples written in Python, C++ and Node.js.
Technical Details
• High quality audio output function
• Rich and easy tutorial, and startup
• Python, C ++, Node.js library
• Programmable RGB LED, multi function button
• Prototyping area with GPIO breakout
• A +, B + models with GPIO connector of 40 pins available, and available in Zero
Since the software of this product is in the official Raspbian OS repository, installation is easy. At the same time, updating can also be done with apt-get, just like you do with the core Raspberry Pi packages.
Setting up your Pi Cap
Bare Conductive was kind enough to send me one of their Pi Caps for review and here's my experience after using it. Setting it up and configuring it was a breeze. You can follow their excellently written tutorial to get started in minutes provided you already have a Pi running with Raspbian installed. You can install the “picap” package simply by typing “sudo apt-get install picap” at the terminal. Once the installation process is complete, you need to configure the Pi Cap by typing “picap-setup” at the terminal.
Now that all of the software installed you will probably want to do something with it! Open the terminal and type “picap-intro” and hit Enter. This will take you to an interactive text based tour of the example codes and show you what the Pi Cap is capable of. This tour provides you with an opportunity in terms of interacting with the hardware working and seeing it work in real time. The example codes are well documented and and it shouldn’t take much for a beginner to unpick the code and adapt it to their own uses.
Controlling LIFX LED Using Custom Touch Pads
After going through the example codes you can easily get the flavor of the example libraries provided by Bare Conductive and easily adapt it to your requirements. I had a spare LIFX LED smart bulb lying around and decided to control it via custom touch pads designed using "Conductive Electric Paint" which is just like any other water-based paint, except that it conducts electricity!
Since there is no official API supporting local interface to control the bulbs, I used petrklus python script to control the bulb. You can find the code below which will change the on-board RGB LED on Pi Cap along with WiFi controlled LIFX LED.
# https://github.com/petrklus/lifx-simple
from time import sleep
import signal, sys, MPR121, subprocess as sp
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
red_led_pin = 6
green_led_pin = 5
blue_led_pin = 26
# init GPIO using BCM pinout
# look here for more info on pins: http://pinout.xyz
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setwarnings(False)
# set up color pins as outputs
GPIO.setup(red_led_pin, GPIO.OUT)
GPIO.setup(green_led_pin, GPIO.OUT)
GPIO.setup(blue_led_pin, GPIO.OUT)
try:
sensor = MPR121.begin()
except Exception as e:
print e
sys.exit(1)
# handle ctrl+c gracefully
def signal_handler(signal, frame):
sys.exit(0)
def light_rgb(r, g, b):
# we are inverting the values, because the LED is active LOW
# LOW - on
# HIGH - off
GPIO.output(red_led_pin, not r)
GPIO.output(green_led_pin, not g)
GPIO.output(blue_led_pin, not b)
signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal_handler)
while True:
if sensor.touch_status_changed():
sensor.update_touch_data()
if sensor.is_new_touch(11):
print "electrode {0} was just touched".format(11)
light_rgb(0, 0, 1) # blue
sp.Popen(["python","set_colour.py","192.168.1.12","120","50","100","3500"]) # LIFX Bulb control
elif sensor.is_new_release(8):
print "electrode {0} was just touched".format(8)
light_rgb(0, 1, 0) # green
sp.Popen(["python","set_colour.py","192.168.1.12","220","50","100","3500"]) # LIFX Bulb control
elif sensor.is_new_release(5):
print "electrode {0} was just touched".format(5)
light_rgb(1, 0, 0) # red
sp.Popen(["python","set_colour.py","192.168.1.12","320","50","100","3500"]) # LIFX Bulb control
sleep(0.01)
Veridict
Overall its a nice little add-on board designed for adding capacitive sensing capability to Raspberry Pi. When used in conjunction with the "Conductive Electric Paint" it allows you to express your creativity in every way that you can. By connecting anything conductive to one of the 12 capacitive touch pads, you can easily turn your Pi into a audio effects board via 3.5mm audio jack, or control other applications. Also the extensive tutorials and powerful Python / C++ libraries lets you get started in no time!
The only thing odd with this HAT is how its attached with the Pi. In most of the cases you have the Pi sitting in your desk and then you plug the HAT on top of it. But this is actually the one where you attach it upside down. This is done purposefully so that the Pi Cap can lie flat against the table or a piece of paper so that you can use the conductive ink to draw your circuits!
To learn more about the Pi Cap and its potential applications, do visit their product page here. You can also buy the Pi Cap from Bare Conductive for around $34.50 ex VAT.
A small Hungarian circle of friends behind Ratherboard are about to launch on Indiegogo. They have created an accessory for Raspberry Pi, which has never been seen before.
The Ratherboard is the first high quality, watertight solution clearing the way before Raspberry Pi to outdoors usage or application in wet, and grimy environments.
The Ratherboard provides the necessary supply voltage for the Raspberry Pi, and even includes a built-in GPS, 6 current-limited outputs, and an ambient light sensor to detect case openings. Furthermore, since it uses a minimal number of the Raspberry pins to achieve all this, the user can add custom hardware inside the case. The Ratherboard is a truly complex motherboard!
If that wouldn’t be enough, three extension boards, named E1, E2, and E3, will also be available from the manufacturer with various configurable analog and digital inputs and outputs. The designer team promised more extension boards to come to meet all different needs.
The advantages of the Ratherboard:
The Ratherboard makes it possible for the already successful / deployed Raspberry Pi based projects to become a modern, heavy-duty, easily integrated, re-sellable product. From now on, deep understanding of hardware architecture is no longer required to create a product for the market. With Ratherboard you can make the solution more robust and faster to implement.
Listed below are a list of possible input and output types, to help you get ideas for your next Do-It-Yourself project!
Sensor input examples
• Monitoring switches
• Push buttons on user interface
• Door opening
• Motion sensor output
• Detecting case opening
• by internal tamper switch
• by internal ambient light sensor
• Temperature measurement
• Precision measurement with PT100 or “thermocouple” in 4-wire measurement mode (length of measuring leads does not affect precision)
• with external temperature sensor connected to digital bus (I2C) – for example: HIH8120-021-001
• Humidity measurement
• with external humidity sensor connected to digital bus (I2C) – for example: HIH8120-021-001
• Light intensity measurement
• by reading analog signal from light sensitive resistor – for example: VT90N2
• RPM measurement
• using external induction sensor – for example: MCPIP-T12L-011
• using external Hall-sensor – for example: PGN-SP-001
• using external encoder
• using external potentiometer
• Displacement measurement
• using external potentiometer
• using external magnetostrictive displacement encoder – for example: MME-MTS-TLF
• using external linear Hall-sensor – for example: LP 100-H (Bosch Motorsport)
• GPS position measurement
• with integrated GPS – for example: U-Blox CAM-M8Q on the Ratherboard
• Acceleration and rotation measurement
• with integrated 3-axis acceleration and rotation sensor
• DC voltage measurement
• using analog input
• DC current measurement
• with external Hall-sensor – for example: HTFS 400-P
• with external shunt resistor – for example: SHD1-100C075DE
To learn more about Ratherboard and its potential applications, do visit their project page or Facebook page.
Source: ratherboard.com
The intelligence is provided by a program running in an on board AVR MCU ATtiny44. This C-program implements a Finite State Machine in the MCU. A small Python script is running in the Pi itself. Just one GPIO-Pin is used for two-way communication.
Created by Peter Boxler the source code and EagleCAD files are available via GitHub, and he has also created a thorough PDF manual which is available in both English and German from the official site below.
To learn more about the new iSwitchPi jump over to the Peter Boxler website for details by following the link below.
Source: projects.descan
It includes a standard Pi HAT which attaches to your Raspberry Pi and has a couple of on-board joysticks to control it. Because it’s connected to the Pi you can program it through any of the various programming languages that already run on the Pi. There’s also free software available which lets you program it through a web interface using drag and drop programming environments like Scratch and Blockly or with Python and JavaScript for the more experienced.
The HAT is designed to be compatible with B+ form factor models (those that have 40 pin GPIO headers). It should work with a Pi Zero but won't fit in the case as well (some spacers would be required). Also it won't work with the early model Raspberry Pi's that had fewer GPIO pins. Coming in orange and blue flavors, the MeArm Pi kit includes: -
• Plastic parts for the structure of the arm
• Allen key screws for easy assembling
• Allen keys so you don’t need your own tools
• 4 Metal gear servos
• A Raspberry Pi HAT with two on-board joysticks
To learn more about the MeArm Pi do visit their Kickstarter page and make a pledge if you are interested. They’ve already beat their funding goal, of £10,000 by raising more than £34,000 from 600+ backers, with another 22 days still to go.
Source: Kickstarter
It comes with a real time safety alert system, navigation and voice-to-text technology. It also lets you build your own driving apps and make Dride as intelligent as you are. Another amazing feature of Dride is a cloud based DVR for drivers to save their dash-cam footage and share the footage with world-wide driving community while storing GPS locations and license plate numbers. With the use of Dride Cloud, reckless drivers will be encouraged to drive more responsibly, since they know that their dangerous speed or reckless actions will be documented and reported.
 |
| ADAS alert system warns you if you are in danger and watches your back during your journey. |
Companion App
 |
| Available on the App Store and Google Play |
Hands-Free
Dride is also equipped with Alexa assistant allowing you to interact with it on the road You can also have Dride read and write your text messages and navigate you to your destination so that you can keep your eyes off your phone and on the road!
To learn more about Dride do visit their KickStarter page and make a pledge if you are interested.
Source: Kickstarter
The Kali takes the digital audio signals (I2S) from Raspberry Pi through the on board FPGA based FIFO and does the re-clocking of the signal before sending it to the DAC.
So, What Is I2S?
I2S is a communication protocol specifically designed to carry digital audio data. The main advantage over the long establish SPDIF interface is that the I2S interface has a separate word clock. Theoretically, this will allow for lower transmission jitter.
But in theory the Raspberry Pi has a bit of a problem with its I2S output. Since the only clock on board the Raspberry Pi is a 19.2MHz crystal, it should have trouble generating proper clocks for its I2S output. For example, for 44.1KHz audio, the LR Clock must be running at precisely 44.1KHz. That is not possible, since the frequency is not a multiple of 19.2MHz. Thus, the frequency can be either 19.200.000 / 435 = 44.138KHz or 19.200.000 / 436 = 44.0366KHz. This is a limitation of the Broadcom BCM2835 in conjunction with the 19.2MHz crystal and there is nothing that can be done. More detailed explanation can be found on Dimdim's Blog.
Kali the Goddess of Time
Every SBC has a crystal that it used to send digital signals to your DACs.
The accuracy of this crystal is very important in how well the DAC will transform the digital signal into analog sounds. Simply put: a better crystal means a better sound! Most SBCs use a very cheap crystal with lots of jitter in order to save costs.
Furthermore, there are 2 kinds of frequencies for digital files: 44.1Khz (wave files) and 48khz (streamed music). Some SBCs (like RPIs) can output only 48Khz, so imagine the degradation of the sound that was recorded at a different frequency.
Kali will solve both of those problems
 |
| NDK clocks |
Re-timing is performed through a Lattice MachXo3 LCMXO3L-4300C PLD / FPGA with 4300 LUTs along with a 4Mbit FIFO RAM which buffers 700ms of audio.
“Since FPGAs introduce about 200ps of jitter, the NDKs re-clock the buffered data outside the FPGA and provide a MCLK/BCLK that is direct from crystal to provide an almost jitter-free clock to your DAC,” claimed Allo.
Features
• The basic design includes FPGA based FIFO board
• I2S input & output: 44.1 KHz, 48 KHz, 88.2 KHz, 96 KHz, 176.4 KHz, 192 KHz ,384 KHz - 16bit, 24bit or 32bit
• FIFO Memory: 4MB SRAM
• LED indicators (Power, Full, Lock, Empty, Sample Rate, Mclk)
• DC power supply: (5V/3A) with Filter circuits
• Multi-frequency output capability to support the full I2S working range from 44.1 KHz to 196 K
• Automatically switching frequencies according to the input I2S signals
• Extremely fast and very low propagation delay Flip-Flops are added on I2s signals
• output from FPGA, for synchronization with MCLK before sending to DAC
• Ultra-low-noise voltage regulators for optimal audio performance
• Integrated EEPROM for automatic configuration (with write-protection)
Tech Specs
• LED indicators (Power, Full, Lock, Empty, Sample Rate, Mclk)
• DC power supply: (5V/3A) with Filter circuits
• Operating Temperature Range is -25C to 85C
• The Kali board size: LWH = 58mm * 77.54mm * 23.8mm
Note: The Kali Reclocker can only be combined with DACs running in Slave Mode, that is it will have to take its BCLK from the RPi and not the other way around. You can use Piano 2.1 - they were designed to work perfectly together!
The million dollar question (actually $75): how does it sound?
Well, the music will "open up". The stage will sound bigger, more tri-dimensional. You will hear sounds, words, instruments that were drowned before in a sea of digital mud. It's like Kali manages to extract more audio content from the same 44.1K/16bit source material. Imagine going from SD TV to HDTV!
To sum things up:
• It’s truly a game changer! The music became more “real”
• Sound improvement is really noticeable: Details and instrumental separation are vastly better
• With the Piano HiFi DAC, it makes a great bang\buck combo!
Support & Downloads
Kali Tech Manual: https://allo.com/documents/sparky/tech-manuals/Kali-Tech-Manual.pdf
Kali I2S Pinout From SBC: https://allo.com/documents/sparky/Kali-I2S-Pinout-From-SBC.pdf
Kali I2S Pinout to DAC Boards: https://allo.com/documents/sparky/Kali-I2S-Pinout-to-DAC-Boards.pdf
It includes headers for up to 5 I2C sensors, as well as an RGB LED, a buzzer, a relay, a button, infrared receiver and transmitter, and an optional slot for modular 16x2 LCD character display.
Getting started with RabbitMax Flex is super easy. No soldering is required. You can assemble the kit with your bare hands and start using it immediately on Raspbian, the most popular GNU/Linux distribution for Raspberry Pi. A comprehensive user's manual is also provided for learning about hardware programming using either C or Python. The developer has also released software and hardware documentation for the board, including KiCAD schematics & PCB layout, code samples, and more on Github.
RabbitMax Flex specifications:
● Relay – Songle SRD-05VDC-SL-C supporting 125V/250VAC up to 10A, 30VDC up to 10A
● Storage – EEPROM with some system information for identification
● IR – IR LED, IR receiver
● Misc – Buzzer, Button, RGB LED
● Expansion
• Header for LCD character display + potentiometer for backlight adjustment
• 5x 4-pin headers for I2C sensors
● Dimensions – Raspberry Pi HAT compliant
Watch the video below to learn more about this new open source hardware and software bundle. For more information on the new RabbitMax Flex jump over to the Indiegogo website.
Source: Indiegogo
Due to the limitations of Raspberry Pi the super speed data lines of USB Type C were not implemented. Instead the PiCHUB is designed for USB 2.0 specifications with speeds up to 480MB/s depending on the devices attached to the hub.
Hardware
The PiCHUB plugs into a Raspberry Pi via 26/40 pin header. If you are powering your Pi from a standard USB micro adapter the PiCHUB will power up when the Type A USB jumper cable is plugged in from the Pi USB port to PiCHUB upstream Type A USB port. This will provide power to the development board but is limited by the Pi's USB fuse. Devices can be plugged into all 3 Type A ports and the Type C port using the type C adapter provided.
The 15W USB Type C charger can be plugged directly into the Type C port while the Pi is already powered up and will switch the development board over to Type C power providing up to 3A of power. Port control of the Type C USB port is accomplished via a python script which must be run at the time of Pi bootup. Communication is done through I2C.
The PSOC 4 or ATTiny85V microcontroller was added to provide additional interfaces for the Pi and can be programmed with a PSOC MiniProg3 or Atmel USB programmer which is not included in the perks. Header P7 will allow you to isolate the power to the microcontroller when programming. PSOC chips are versatile programmable SOC's with anlog and digital blocks providing solutions for many applications with integrated components. Backers can also choose the option of an Atmel ATTiny85V microcontroller instead of the PSOC 4 which has a large community development support.
Software
The USB Type C Port Control software is open source and will be available for download on Enutil Energy's GitHub page. You will be able to modify and add additional python script for your applications. The USB port control software should be run upon bootup or prior to using the PiCHUB as detection and negotiation of the USB Type C port is required for use as a Device port or Charging port interchangeably. This can be added into the rc.local file to run at bootup. Python-smbus library must be installed on your Pi in order for the I2C script to work.
Features of the Raspberry Pi PiCHUB hub include :
– Switch on the Fly USB Type C power 15W @ 5V
– Digital and Analog to the Microcontroller
– 1 Upstream, 3 Downstream and 1 Dual Role Type C Port
– I2C Communication from Pi to Microcontroller and Type C Port Controller
– Plugs directly into Rasp Pi A/B/B+/3/Zero with USB jumper cable
– 3.3V and 5V output connectors for external supply to devices
– USB power or device through one Dual Role Port (DRP)
– High Speed USB 480Mbits/s
– PSOC 4 ARM Cortex M0 16K Flash 16MHz
– Or ATTiny85V 8Bit 8K Flash
– 3.3” Wide x 2.2″ High
– Included Stackable Header 26/40 pin
– Plug in USB Type C devices to Communicate
To learn more about the new PiCHUB - USB Type C HUB for Raspberry Pi and PiZero do visit their Kickstarter page and make a pledge if you are interested. CAD $14,000 is required to take the new PiCHUB USB-C hub into production.
Since PiCapture fully emulates the Raspberry Pi camera module, all software such as Raspivid, PiCamera and related applications are fully compatible. The robust design and rugged mechanical package makes PiCapture suitable for a wide range of applications including crucial ones for medical and industrial use.
PiCapture comes in two variants:
interlaced video (NTSC/PAL) from Composite,
S-Video, and YPbPr Component
- PiCapture HD1 for high-definition progressive
video from digital (HDMI/DVI), analog (YPbPr
Component), and Computer (RGB) sources at
480p, 720p, and 1080p resolutions
Features at a Glance:
● Form Factor: Raspberry Pi HAT compatible.
● High Speed Interface: Raspberry Pi Camera port – MIPI CSI-2.
● Assured Compatibility: Works with most Raspberry Pi boards (including 3.0) and standard camera software (raspivid, picamera, etc.)
● FULLY EMULATES THE RASPBERRY PI CAMERA: MIPI CSI-2 interface means the Raspberry Pi GPU can be used to its fullest and the CPU is free for you own applications not
consumed with peripherals.
● PIVIDEO PYTHON-BASED CONTROL SOFTWARE: PiVideo is used to control the PiCapture processor for:
- Automatic or manual video source selection
- Optional on-screen source indication
- Test mode control - B&W modes, solid color, and color pattern
- Firmware update utility
● MULTIPLE WAYS TO COMMUNICATE WITH RASPBERRY PI: Jumpers for selecting UART, I2C1, I2C0 (or none) for maximum flexibility of Raspberry Pi GPIO
● GET UP AND RUNNING FAST WITH ANY VIDEO SOURCE: PiCapture products are fully compatible with Raspberry Pi hardware and software so no special drivers required. Connect, power up, and run raspivid or your software, and capture video for any SD or HD source!
Application Areas:
● Video streaming
● Video recording
● Machine vision
● Manufacturing
● Robotics
● Security and Surveillance
● Baby/child/pet monitors
● Healthcare (telemedicine)
● Traffic monitoring
● Astronomy/Astrophotography
● DVR/Media Center
…. and more
To learn more about PiCapture do visit their site: www.lintestsystems.com. Be sure to check out the sample videos captured with PiCapture here.
To learn more about PiCapture do visit their site: www.lintestsystems.com. Be sure to check out the sample videos captured with PiCapture here.
For all you audio lovers out there, Flatmax Studios have come up with a decent quality Audio Injector Sound Card for the Raspberry Pi that uses both DAC and ADC for audio out and or in. It’s a cost effective solution for projects that needs decent audio capabilities. There are so many different projects which you can create using this sound card - audio to and from almost any of the devices on the Raspberry Pi, such as disk, USB, HDMI, WiFi, the Ethernet network and so on.
The Raspberry Pi Audio Injector Sound Card provides 2 channels of audio input and 2 channels of audio output. It comes equipped with volume knobs for controlling both inputs and outputs. Apart from these, it also includes a headphone preamp+jack and an inbuilt electret microphone. The headphone jack is expected to deliver 50 mW max power into 16 Ohm and 30 mW max power into 32 Ohm headphones.
This sound-card boasts low jitter operation using a crystal driven codec as the timing master. It also allows you to stack more Raspberry Pi HATS on top if required.
Specifications:
· Microphone: Inbuilt electret microphone with mixer controls. Allowing voice control or other applications.
· Headphones: 50 mW max power into 16 ohm and 30 mW max power into 32 Ohm headphones (check the updates to see more)
· Driver : ALSA
· Linux : Already integrated into the Raspberry Pi kernel. If you have an older version of the kernel, simply run "rpi-update" if you need to. Edit /boot/config.txt and set dtoverlay=audioinjector-soundcard
· DAC and ADC : 96 kHz, 32 bit audio.
· GPIO : Standard 40 Pin header, broken out above the add on card to accept more add on cards and hats.
To learn more about the new Raspberry Pi Audio Injector Sound Card do visit their Kickstarter page and make a pledge if you are interested.
Source: Kickstarter
You can use your WiFi dongle, but you will have to use an 'OTG' cable as Pi Zero does not have standard USB type A port. Also if you plan on using Bluetooth or other input devices like Keyboard and Mouse you will need a powered USB hub. This amount of hassle is discouraging to many users who are looking for speedier results.
RedBear has designed the perfect solution to this inconvenience. Pi Zero IoT HAT is an add-on board that provides Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for the Raspberry Pi. It supports Wi-Fi 802.11n (2.4GHz) + Bluetooth 4.1 (Dual Mode – Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy).
Why use Pi Zero IoT HAT when you can use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth dongles?
IoT HAT is more affordable
- USB OTG cable ($3-$5) - connect a normal USB device to the Pi Zero's micro USB port.
- USB hub with power adapter ($15-$30) - if you need to connect more than one USB device
This HAT will enable any Raspberry Pi with 40 pins including A+, B+ or Pi 2 IoT ready when connected to a RedBear’s IoT HAT. The wireless radio of IoT HAT is as good as that of the Pi 3 and all WiFi/Bluetooth software for Pi 3 are compatible. Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth operate on the same 2.4GHz frequency, they share the on-board antenna or an external antenna when running.
Watch the video below to see how IoT HAT + Pi Zero can be used to control eight BLE peripherals.
Head over to Kickstarter to read more or to back the campaign.
