Open Hardware: Raspberry Pi, Arduino, SparkFun, and More
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Celebrating 5801 young people’s digital creations at Coolest Projects 2023
An absolutely huge congratulations to each and every single young creator who participated in Coolest Projects 2023, our digital technology showcase for young people! 5801 young people from 37 countries took part. This year’s participants made projects that entertained, inspired, and wowed us — creators showcased everything from robotic arms to platformer games. We celebrated…
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“Alexa, start the car”: warm up your car remotely with Raspberry Pi
The Pi Zero runs Home Assistant and talks to the ESP32 board wirelessly. The ESP32 board activates the hardware components which physically press the button on the car key. ‘Remote Start’ and ‘Multi-Relay’ are the ESPHome software add-ons you need to make this happen. ChatGPT wrote the code the ESP32 board uses to get the push pull solenoid to perform just the right sequence of pushes on the car key button.
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Raspberry Pi Drives Sailboat by Automating Autopilot
According to Joad, there are several problems that he needed to overcome in order to design a more efficient system. Joad explains that many autopiloting systems are expensive and when they break, they can be pricey to fix — often requiring a specialist to repair. By creating his own autopiloting system with a Raspberry Pi, the price is cut significantly, and being the creator of the project means it’s much easier to troubleshoot.
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How Raspberry Pis are made (Factory Tour)
On the factory floor—where they were making Pi Zero, Pi 3 model B+, Pi 4 model B, Compute Module 4, and Compute Module 4S at the time—the Pi's start as a set of blank PCBs with copper pads, and the first stop is the automated screen printing machine where solder paste is applied with a squeegee. In the picture below, Andrew Puntan (one of our guides, working at the factory for over two decades!) holds up the Pi 3 B+ stencil, and you can see me and Gordon Hollingworth admiring it's shiny surface: [...]
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This AI system helps visually impaired people locate dining utensils
People with visual impairments also enjoy going out to a restaurant for a nice meal, which is why it is common for wait staff to place the salt and pepper shakes in a consistent fashion: salt on the right and pepper on the left.
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Arduino Cloud embraces Python and JavaScript for new IoT projects
The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a ubiquitous term, encompassing a vast array of applications ranging from small-scale embedded systems to complex networked devices. Traditionally, IoT development has been synonymous with programming in languages like C and C++.
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Pete on SparkFun's 20th Anniversary
I had just finished my music degree at CU. I was playing in my band, giving private guitar lessons, and working at an art gallery. A friend of mine was working as a mechanical engineer for a new electronics company and he let me know that they needed assembly technicians. I thought I’d give it a try and was immediately hooked.
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Should you install low-voltage wiring for your smart home in 2023?
The latter part of that question has a shorter answer, so I’ll start with this one. If you have access to add wiring throughout a home, I’d definitely recommend running at least CAT-6 cables. And I’d aim for at least one ethernet port for bedroom or living area. This will allow wired transfer speeds at up to 1 Gb per second. A nice upgrade would be to use CAT-7 cables for a massive 10 GBps throughput boost.