We will be having a discussion about Projects that we are working on, but haven’t shared with the group. These can be projects that are successful or ones that just didn’t work out and have been abandoned. We’ll enjoy hearing about other’s projects, and perhaps even offer to help.
Joel will be presenting a hydroponics controller based on the esp32 and connected to a raspberry pi using home assistant. Here are some links to home assistant and associated sites.
T’is the season for bright lights and Raspberry Pi fun.
T’is the Season!
In this talk we’ll look at a ModMyPi Programmable Christmas Tree (MMP-1021), which sits atop the 40 pin header and presents a set of individually controlled LEDs. The trick to practical and easy use of the tree is via GPIOZERO, a fantastic python module. We’ll integrate some sensors as well, since GPIOZERO makes them very easy.
George will share his old man savers. Consumer kitchen appliances are designed for one size fits all, not for my personal needs. My needs change as I age, and I need alerts for faults.
I like to turn off my drip coffee maker as soon as coffee is brewed. If I forget, it wastes electricity (500watts) and spoils the coffee. If I forget to insert the carafe, I’ve got a mess. A timed relay with a contact sensor for the carafe solves the problem.
So as not to overcook the meat, I turn off my induction hot plate based on a thermistor inserted into the meat to trip a relay to power off the hot plate.
A centralized monitor and alarm system, with text message notifications, can be tailored to one’s specific needs. My monitoring system needs to include at least 9 sensors:
Show and Tell of how you are controlling the world (or at least your part of it) with an AC Power Control project. All are invited to share in this meeting.
QCollege, Suite 303 771 Vernon Ave · Victoria, BC, has welcomed us back to meet in-person. We thank them for their support.
Jim will cover the details of Infra-Red Communications, including basic components (emitter & receiver), data encoding methods, external components & software, how to generate pulses, and how to receive pulses on the Pi Pico.
IrDA Infrared communication Infrared Emitting Diode • Angle of half intensity: ϕ, • Relative radian power vs wave length Infrared Receiver • Series for remote control • Automatic gain control (AGC) • Data format compatibility Data Encoding Methods • Pulse distance encoding, Pulse width encoding, Manchester bi-phase encoding Basic IR System –IR emitter/receiver • External components/software • Generating Pulses • With PSoC PWM interrupts • Raspberry Pi Pico State Machine • Receiving Pulse • Raspberry Pi Pico using interrupts Single Pulse Application Example IR Receiver for Continuous Data Communication • What works for RS-232 data transmission and why? Project Utilising IR emitters/Receivers using RS-232 Communication Reference
Intro to Pi & Others Discussion. We will review the course materials, and discuss improvements, and getting the word out.
Intro to Pi & Others is a four part series with each session building on the previous sessions, where Pi basics of software and hardware will be explored.
Now that you have the world’s most useful project, it is time to package it up so the world doesn’t break it. We’ll discuss using different packaging containers to protect your project.
Deid will give the Introduction to Pi presentation he gave to the OPCUG (Ottawa PC Users Group) last fall. It will be chock full of ideas for that Pi you have just laying around, or stuff in a drawer.
Electronics doesn’t have to be all tiny surface mount components that you can barely see. George will tell us about how to do electronics using bolt cutters this month.
Due to the current situation @ March 14, 2020, in-person meetings have been suspended until further notice. Please do join us on Slack or at our online learning sessions using Jitsi. Write to hello at vicpimakers.ca for invitations and information.
Q-CollegeSuite 303 771 Vernon Ave · Victoria, BC – 10am
1) Hack Challenge, by George Modify a window alarm to be a useful or entertaining device. Window alarms to be supplied free March 14th, one per attendee.
3) … bring projects that you want to share or need help with… If you like, email a description to be added to this page.
It is fun to repurpose battery powered consumer products. For instance, here is a Leak Detector made from a window alarm. The article includes the window alarm schematic.
And George made a bike theft deterrent alarm with remote radio alerting from the same window alarm.
In normal operation, the window alarm senses separation from its external magnet via its internal reed switch and feeds its piezo disk with an oscillation. The window alarm runs on 3 button cells and draws no current when the reed switch is open. There is also a slide switch to enable/disable the alarm.
Here is a photo of the circuit board: The OUT signal from the 8 pin oscillator chip is a 10V DC wave, pumped up by the inductor from 5 volts. A voltage divider can be added to lower this chip output signal to less than 5v to feed another device.
Deid successfully connected a 50 light string of addressable LEDs to an ESP8266 to cause the lights to light and change colour and move and …
Deid created the following patterns:
Primary
Random
Web Safe
Follow
Lead
Random On ***
All On
All Off
Rainbow
Moving
Colour
Christmas
Rainbow Group
Dual Colour *** *** Shown in the images
The ESP8266 C code to do this can be found here. Deid makes no representation that the existing code is good. In fact he knows some of it is not. Feel free to fix.
The challenge is to add more patterns and the code to implement the patterns. If you send Deid the code he will load and try the code. Unless someone comes up with a better way for folks to test remotely.
