December 10, 2016 – A Christmas Tree

Tis the season, a Christmas tree with lights and music controlled by an Arduino!

November 26, 2016 – Analogue Inputs

Analogue Inputs on the Pi

  • Saturday, November 26, 2016

    9:30 AM

  • Q-College

    Suite 303 771 Vernon Ave, Victoria, BC (map)

  • The Raspberry Pi has 30 GPIO pins, but none of them are analogue inputs. At this meeting, we’ll take a deeper look at how to take an analogue signal (like temperature) and connect it to the Pi, and access it via Python.

November 12th Meeting: IoT Streaming

Raspberry Pi and IoT Streaming

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a hot topic. Join us, as we continue to explore the vast world of IoT using the Raspberry Pi. This weeks session will focus on IoT devices streaming data over the internet.

Saturday, November 12th, 2016
9:30 AM
Victoria Computer Club
85A Burnside Rd West (at Wascana), Victoria, BC

A full writeup for this presentation is available on the presenters website.

October 22, 2016 – Python 5: Exceptions

Python provides for the raising and handling of exceptions. An exception is used primarily for managing an error situation but is also handy in other circumstances e.g. an exception is used internally to end loop iteration.

A full writeup for this session is available here.

Saturday, October 22, 2016
9:30 AM

Q-College
Suite 303 771 Vernon Ave, Victoria, BC

July 9th Meeting

Serving The Web With A Slice Of Pi

Although small in size, the Raspberry Pi and other embedded Linux boards can be used as very capable web servers.

Instructor Don Woods will show you how to set up a Web server on a Raspberry Pi and get around the little snags to be able to access your Pi from outside your local network.

The entire tutorial is available here:

http://piserver.vicpimakers.ca/

Note: This will be our last Meetup before the summer holiday season. We will reconvene in early September. Have a good summer, y’all!

June 25th Meeting

Low-cost High-quality PiFi Audio

Presented by Stuart Hertzog

Tired of iTunes? Time for PiTunes! — HiFi audio from your Pi.

You don’t need a PC or laptop to enjoy listening to hifi audio from your personal collection or Internet streaming. And you won’t have to endure the convoluted iTunes interface.

A low-cost Digital Audio Converter (DAC) or DAC and Amplifier such as offered by HiFiBerry or IQAudio will turn any Raspberry Pi2 or 3 into a low-cost and energy-efficient MPD audio server controlled from a Web browser or an iOS/Android app.

Join us as instructor Stuart Hertzog explains how to set up a DAC on your Pi and demonstrates the free and open-source Linux audio software PiMusicBox, Volumio, RuneAudio, and MoOde Audio.

Discover PiFi audio and a world of listening pleasure!

Check out the links for this presentation:

May 14th Meeting

Using the GPIO Pins on the Pi – Part 2

By Deid Reimer

This meeting we’ll pick up on the Pi GPIO pins (Part 2), looking at input, using switches (push buttons). You’ll learn how to not only have your Pi illuminate lights or close relays, but also to take input via GPIO. Using the input and output GPIO capabilities of the Pi, one can create a home automation system, or even replace your “Nest” thermostat with the Pi.

Bring your Pi and get hands on help after the presentation.

Read the tutorial material

April 9 Meeting

VNC on the Raspberry Pi

by Craig Miller

In this meeting we’ll learn:

  • What is VNC
  • Why would you want to use VNC?
  • Basic Networking
  • VNC Server, VNC Client
  • Other remote GUI methods, X-Windows
  • Demo

Bring your Pi if you have one so you can set it up for VNC access as the presentation progresses.

Outline

  • What is VNC?
  • Why would you want to use VNC?
  • Basic Networking
  • VNC Server, VNC Client
  • Other remote GUI methods

Read the Presentation

March 12 Meeting

Building An Arduino Obstacle Avoidance Robot

by Eileen Amirault (with a little help from Cody Gregory)

Last March Break, I read a book that changed my life. I immediately ran out and purchased an Arduino. A Raspberry Pi was not far behind. After a few months of experimenting, and watching YouTube videos of kids building Obstacle Avoidance Robots (OAR), we thought it looked like a good first project. We call it Bobby OAR. An OAR is an autonomous robot that rolls around and avoids obstacles by using sensor input. Then, based on programming, finds an alternate path forward, avoiding obstacles along the way. We had most of the components from various kits, so only a chassis and wheels needed to be ordered. Or was there something else?

February 27, 2016 – Python 2: Basic Constructs

This Python Course covers what is useful to know so you can quickly and easily set about writing Python programs. (Detailed Python programming will be covered in subsequent courses.) This course is suitable for anyone, from those that may have very little computing/programming experience, to those who have already been actively programming in Python. The aim is to get everyone up to the point where they feel confident in using Python and writing useful programs.

Simon Bluck

See tutorial material here.

February 13 Meeting

41BkDwf1-JL._AA160_   flightradar

A Live Flight Data Feeder

Presented by Gordo

One of the many cool things you can do with your Raspberry Pi is to add a special $30 DVT-T USB dongle and install some software to turn your Pi into a live flight data feeder for FlightRadar24.com and FlightAware.com.

The recommended one is an ADS-B USB Dongle (R820T), which includes a small indoor antenna, but I purchased an equivalent one from Amazon at a very reasonable cost.

Among the benefits of this project are gaining free premium memberships with both sites; the ability to monitor flights overhead in real-time; and learing a bit about how to install third-party software via the command line.

In this presentation, I will give an overview of the hardare and software required and perform a quick walk-through installing the FlightRadar24.com feeder. If time permits, I will also demonstrate installing the FlightAware.com feeder.

Since these feeder stations are location-dependent, you will have to perform your own install at the place from which you’ll set up your Pi feeder and antenna.

Place: Victoria Computer Club, 85A Burnside Rd West (at Wascana), Victoria
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Read the full instructions here

January 23, 2016 – Python 1: Introduction

Jan 23, 2016 · 9:30 AM
Victoria Computer Club

Python is a modern programming language that is relatively easy to learn and well-suited to sensor or robotics projects using the Raspberry Pi, Arduino, or other embedded Linux boards.

The first of a monthly series, An Introduction to Python is co-presented by Deid Reimer and Simon Bluck, two VicPiMaker members with considerable combined experience in programming and teaching.

See tutorial material here.