WIN!

10 RASPBERRY PI 3 & CASES SIGNED BY EBEN

The official Raspberry Pi magazine Issue 59 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

THE RASPBERRY PI
PC CHALLENGE
What cant you do with a $35 computer?

CREATE A SATNAV ROBOT

Discover precision robotics with Big Rob

DESIGN A DOG
TREAT DISPENSER
Keep Scooby in snacks with
this clever pet project

BUILD A GPS
TRACKING DEVICE
The ultimate movement tracker
for land and sea adventures

MASTER BLUETOOTH
Take control of your Raspberry Pi remotely
12 SUMMER
Also inside:
> USE A SENSE HAT WITH MATHEMATICA
PROJECTS
Dont leave your Pi in the shade!
> REVIEWED! THE BEST WEB BROWSER FOR PI Incredible outdoor
> CREATE ELECTRONIC SENSOR WIND CHIMES digital projects for
Issue 59 July 2017 5.99

> BUILD THE WORLDS SMALLEST CONSOLE open-air fun 07

THE ONLY MONTHLY MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY AND FOR THE PI COMMUNITY 9 772051 998001
 Welcome

WELCOME TO
THE OFFICIAL
MAGAZINE PAGE 3
0

any people stare all day at their phone

M screens, and never think to ask whats going
on behind the glass. We want computers we
can hack, make, and break (and for it not to matter),
and thats exactly why we love the Raspberry Pi.
The Raspberry Pi is about GPIO pins and wires, and
the Linux OS. Its about making something, and
messing up everything, and it not mattering because
theres always another chance.
We love it.
But what would it be like to use all the time?
Would using a Raspberry Pi every day of the week be
digital heaven, or computing hell? Thats the task
we set our intrepid Features Editor Rob Zwetsloot.
Spend a week working with a Raspberry Pi nothing
SEE PAGE 30 FOR DETAILS
else allowed. And let us know what its like: warts
and all. You can read all about it on page 16.
The Raspberry Pi is a glorious piece of kit, and
its a shame to keep it in the shade. It is perfectly THIS MONTH:
portable and ideal for aerial balloons, outdoor
cameras, weather stations, and all manner of
freshair projects. We have twelve amazing summer
16 THE RASPBERRY PI PC CHALLENGE
Can you really use a Raspberry Pi as a desktop replacement?
projects for you, starting on page 68.
So whether youre installing a Raspberry Pi
permanently in your home, or taking it outside
42 GET STARTED WITH GIT
Use Git to clone, copy, and contribute to code
to play, whats important is that youre using the
worlds most interesting computer. And let us know 50 BLUE DOT BLUETOOTH
how you get on. Adding Bluetooth control to your projects has never been easier

Lucy Hattersley 68 SUMMER PROJECTS

Editor The MagPi Twelve incredible outdoor digital projects to make

FIND US ONLINE raspberrypi.org/magpi GET IN TOUCH magpi@raspberrypi.org

EDITORIAL DESIGN PUBLISHING

Editor: Lucy Hattersley Critical Media: criticalmedia.co.uk For advertising & licensing:
lucy@raspberrypi.org Head of Design: Dougal Matthews Head of Publishing: Russell Barnes
Features Editor: Rob Zwetsloot Designers: Lee Allen, Daiva Bumelyte, russell@raspberrypi.org | +44 (0)7904 766523
Sub Editors: Rachel Churcher and Phil King and Mike Kay Publisher: Liz Upton
Illustrator: Sam Alder CEO: Eben Upton

DISTRIBUTION SUBSCRIPTIONS CONTRIBUTORS

Seymour Distribution Ltd Select Publisher Services Ltd Bill Ballard, Alex Bate, Mike Cook,
2 East Poultry Ave PO Box 6337 Brett Haines, Phil King, Sean McManus,
London Bournemouth Martin OHanlon, Matt Richardson,
EC1A 9PT | +44 (0)207 429 4000 BH1 9EH | +44 (0)1202 586 848 Richard Smedley, Clive Webster

This magazine is printed on paper sourced from The MagPi magazine is published by Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd., 30 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2JH. The publisher,
sustainable forests and the printer operates an editor, and contributors accept no responsibility in respect of any omissions or errors relating to goods, products or services
environmental management system which has referred to or advertised in the magazine. Except where otherwise noted, content in this magazine is licensed under a
been assessed as conforming to ISO 14001. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0). ISSN: 2051-9982.

raspberrypi.org/magpi April
July 2016
2017 3
 Contents
Issue 59 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

TUTORIALS COVER FEATURE

> PI 101: SENSE HAT EMULATION 40
How to create and test code for the Sense HAT

> PI 101: GET STARTED WITH GIT 42

Manage your code repositories the easy way

> CREATE A GPS TRACKER 48

Track your travels with this nautical project

> ADD BLUETOOTH CONTROL 50

Use Blue Dot to control Bluetooth devices

> USE SENSE HAT WITH WOLFRAM 54

Analyse and display your data with Mathematica
16
> BUILD WIND CHIMES 56

THE PI PC
This months Pi Bakery makes wind-powered music

> ADD SERVOS TO AIY PROJECTS 60

CHALLENGE
Use the AIY Projects Voice HAT to control servos

> USE MOTORS WITH VOICE HAT 62

Servos not enough for you? Lets add some motors!

IN THE NEWS BEST OF SHOW GOPIGO 3

CODERDOJO AND
RASPBERRY PI

Our friends at Dexter

Two Foundations join forces
to bring coding to young people
6 Raspberry Pi clusters
support medical research
13 Industries launch
a new robot
10
4 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi
 Contents

THE BIG FEATURE

SUMMER
is outside
th
Lets take
HOT HOLIDAY PROJECTS 68
Go outside and get making this summer!

YOUR PROJECTS
97
REGULARS
> NEWS 06
> TECHNICAL FAQ 64
> BOOK REVIEWS 82
> FINAL WORD 98

COMMUNITY
32
> THIS MONTH IN PI 84

BIG ROB ROBOT

Everything else that happened last month

> COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 88

Meet awesome YouTuber Estefannie
Not our Features Editor, but a GPS-controlled robot!
> EVENTS REPORT 90
Some of the cool events that took place last month
TELE2 VR 34
> UPCOMING EVENTS
Experience the life of a stranger with this
92
Attend one of these upcoming Jams!
incredible Pi project
> YOUR LETTERS 94

DOG TREAT 36 We endeavour to answer your questions

DISPENSER
The ultimate, Pi-powered treat dispenser
for a very good boy REVIEWS
PI0CKET TINY 38 > OCTOCAM 76
The smallest handheld games system > BROWSER GROUP TEST 78
weve ever seen
> WD PIDRIVE USB FLASH 80
raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 5
 News FEATURE

RASPBERRY PI
JOINS FORCES WITH
CODERDOJO Teaming up to deliver more for young makers and coders
he Raspberry Pi CoderDojo spokesperson Rosa with technology. By combining
T Foundation and the
CoderDojo Foundation
Langhammer tells us that
CoderDojo is and will always
our efforts we get closer to these
shared goals.
have merged, with Raspberry Pi remain 100% content, software The merger will allow CoderDojo
Foundation CEO Philip Colligan and hardware neutral! to reach even more young,
joining the CoderDojo board. The The Raspberry Pi Foundation enthusiastic makers and coders.
Below Philip
two Foundations will share back- works to put the power of digital Well hear more about these
Colligan (left), CEO
of the Raspberry office resources and expertise making into the hands of people plans in the summer, but Rosa did
Pi Foundation,
to deliver more quickly on their all over the world, continues reveal that part of the strategy
and Giustina
Mizzoni (right), shared goals. Rosa, and the CoderDojo mission review includes mapping the
Executive Director
CoderDojo fans wont see any is to give every young person an path to 5,000 Dojos [worldwide]
of the CoderDojo
Foundation change at the Dojos, however. opportunity to learn and create by 2020.

6 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 RASPBERRY PI JOINS FORCES WITH CODERDOJO News

WHAT IS CODERDOJO?
Aimed at young people between the ages of
7 and 17, CoderDojos are free, community-led
programming clubs for anyone curious about
coding. Whether thats building websites, apps,
or just figuring out how technology works, Dojos
have always offered freedom from hardware and
software restrictions any tool is fine, as long as
youre coding.
The CoderDojo mission is to give every young
person an opportunity to learn and create with
technology, as spokesperson Rosa Langhammer
puts it.
Key to the movement are the volunteer
Champions who set up the Dojos. If you or your
Any hardware and software is fine, as long as youre coding organisation would like to set up a Dojo, the
CoderDojo Foundation will help you get started:
visit magpi.cc/2r4EnVT for details. You dont need
But, the first priority, Philip to support the growth of the technical skills to start a verified Dojo, just the ability
tells us, is to make it as easy CoderDojo movement around to bring people together, and a passion for the
as possible to set up and run a the world. power of code to build a positive future.
CoderDojo. That means investing The CoderDojo Foundation To search for a Dojo near you, check the
in the tools and resources that team is really excited, says interactive map at zen.coderdojo.com.

We decided we should join

forces to accelerate the growth
of the CoderDojo movement
CoderDojo champions and Rosa, and is looking forward
mentors need. to working with a wider team Perfect timing
Enabling more people and of people with similar goals, Why now? In a word: demand,
businesses to set up Dojos wont cooperating on new projects Philip explains. We know that
be easy. Thats why the Raspberry and pooling all our experiences young people all over the world are
Pi Foundation will be bringing all and talents to give more people crying out for places they can go
of the capabilities and expertise the opportunity to learn and be to learn how to get creative with
of the Raspberry Pi Foundation creative with technology. digital technologies. Education
systems arent responding quickly
enough to that demand, so we
decided that we should join forces
to accelerate the growth of the
CoderDojo movement.
Both Foundations were
established at around the same time,
and weve been working together
in lots of ways from the beginning,
says Philip. Lots of the people
who are CoderDojo champions and
volunteers are also members of the
Raspberry Pi community. He also
confirms that we have no plans
to change the approach to Code
Club or CoderDojo; our priority is
encouraging the growth of both
A Dojo in action, with experts and mentors helping kids make and code
initiatives all over the world.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 7

 News A PI IN EVERY DEVICE?

A PI IN
EVERY
DEVICE?
Eben Upton speaks at the first ever Global Digital Signage Conference
aspberry Pi co-founder With about 14 million Pis shipped However, machine-to-machine
R Eben Upton was a key
speaker at the recent
in the last five years, he sees more
scope for industrial IoT applications
interactions offer according
to Eben almost limitless
Global Digital Signage Conference. than consumer IoT products. possibilities to use a Raspberry Pi.
One attendee had flown in from Theres a limit to how many things For example, many of the screens
Brazil just to hear him speak. you can interact with if you have in airports now are powered by Pi
Compute Modules.

We took a network that was designed IoT and security

to be resilient to nuclear war and we Theres a general IoT security
problem, stated Eben. We took

made it vulnerable to toasters

a network that was designed to
be resilient to nuclear war and we
made it vulnerable to toasters.
Host, and DailyDOOH editor a human in the loop. Eben listed However, security tends to get
(dailydooh.com) Adrian Cotterill, a Nest-like thermostat, lighting squeezed, because you dont
asked about Pi sales. Were selling controller, and security system: need it until you need it. Further,
Below Eben Uptons about half a million units a month, My house is probably never going potentially the guy who doesnt
talk at the inaugural
of the $35 flagship product, to have more than three or four invest in security beats the guy who
Global Digital
Signage Conference replied Eben. consumer IoT devices. did invest in security to market.
Eben sees IoT makers eventually
opting for a company such as
Amazon to provide an easy
and robust security service.
However, I think its going to be
a while before this stuff becomes
really trustworthy.

UHD Pi?
Asked when we might see a
Raspberry Pi capable of Ultra High
Definition (4K) output, Eben said
it was forward in our minds but
dismissed the use of a separate
graphics chip. The only rationale
for a second chip would be
thermal you bake in a lot of cost
if you do that. Eben estimated
that its probably four or five
years before wed see a UHD Pi.

8 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 News

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 9

 News MACROBERT AWARD / GOPIGO 3

RASPBERRY PI
IS FINALIST FOR PRESTIGIOUS
MACROBERT AWARD Redefines how people use and engage with computers
Below Last
years MacRobert
he Raspberry Pi is a finalist for this years The Raspberry Pi team has achieved something that
Award winner
was Blatchfords
Linx, the worlds
T MacRobert Award, the UKs longest running
and most prestigious national prize for
mainstream multinational computer companies and
leading processing chip designers not only failed to
most intelligent
prosthetic limb engineering and innovation. do, but failed even to spot a need for, said MacRobert
Award judge Dr Frances Saunders CB FREng.
The Raspberry Pi has helped reverse the
downward trend of interest in computer science and
programming. This trend is thought to be linked to
the demise of programmable home computers like
the BBC Micro and [ZX] Spectrum, according to the
MacRobert nomination.
Speaking at a separate event, Raspberry Pi co-
creator Eben Upton corroborated this. We used to get
about 600 people applying to study computer science
at Cambridge, he expanded. We got down to about
200 our worst year, in 2008. We had 700 [applicants]
last year [2016].
The final winner of the MacRobert Award will be
announced at the Royal Academy of Engineerings
Awards Dinner on 29 June.

GOPIGO 3 RELEASED
Updated robot car kit more versatile than ever exter Industries has launched the third version
D of its popular GoPiGo robot car kit, along with
a whole new operating system, DexterOS,
designed specifically for learning how to program
robots intuitively.
The new kit has an updated sensor board, with ports
including two I2C and two AD (analogue or digital),
one serial, two servo. Everything is a lot more robust
so you can daisy-chain and add on easily.
Dexter Industries Taryn Sullivan says that the
GoPiGo3 is totally redesigned and weve added a
lot of features that will be great for educators. The
DexterOS software allows you or your students to build
code in Bloxter (based on Googles Blockly) or Python,
and is compatible with the GoPiGo2.
The GoPiGo3 should be on sale in the UK by
the time you read this, from suppliers such as
ModMyPi (www.modmypi.com). The price has
yet to be confirmed, but we expect it to be around
95-100 (Pi-less).

10 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 PI-POWERED SMART METER News

NOW TRENDING
The stories we shared that
flew around the world

PI-POWERED PIDRIVE NODE ZERO

SMART METER
magpi.cc/2s6L21v

Western Digital has released a cunning caddy that

snugly combines a Raspberry Pi Zero with a 314GB
PiDrive hard disk. Use it as a neat and low-powered
Welsh company delivers open-source smart NAS or file storage device.

appliance and accessories

penEnergyMonitors homeowners have four different

O Pi3-based emonPi
monitors your energy
tariffs during each day, depending
on the behaviour of the nearby
use in real time, and coordinates hydroelectric generator. When
all your smart- and eco-tech. the hydro is running, their energy
Co-founder Glyn Hudson told us bills are very, very low.
about the companys latest project, Hudson wanted an intuitive
the emonPixel. display for the current tariff, so he
For many years weve had developed the emonPixel. Based on
a little LCD display called the a NeoPixel ring, the emonPi control HACK AN AMAZON DASH BUTTON
emonGLCD. But it doesnt give a hub monitors the energy supply in
magpi.cc/2rwtTxP
whole lot of information. Hudson real time, and turns quarters of the
informed us about his work with ring either red or green. If the ring is With a bit of craft and Python code, you can hack
Energy Local (energylocal.co.uk), fully red, dont use the tumble dryer! one of Amazons 5 Dash Buttons to do pretty much
and a group of homes in North The emonPixel should be on anything you like. We use ours to switch on our LIFX
Wales, to develop a better energy sale soon see magpi.cc/2qYYukc smart lights.
monitoring system. These for details.
Below The guts of the new energy display: a NeoPixel ring with wireless capability

PROGRAM MINECRAFT ON A PI
magpi.cc/2sit2RT

Our comprehensive guide to programming and

hacking in Minecraft Pi Edition is an ideal starting point,
whether youre playing, or using the game to learn
coding in an exciting way.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017

February 11
 News PLUG & PLAY 10 PI / JULIA ON PI

PLUG & PLAY

10 PI Pre-soldered Pi Zero W
Get making
straight away with
Pi Supplys pre-
soldered Pi Zero W

nline retailer Pi Supply (pi-supply.com) has Shaw says that pre-soldering the GPIO header
O released a Raspberry Pi Zero W with a GPIO
header. This is a boon for solder-averse
turns the Pi Zero into something completely plug
and play, the minute it falls through the post box.
hobbyists and lazy makers alike, especially as the pre- And we test them before they ship out.
soldered Pi costs only 14. Visit magpi.cc/2sUWhds We wondered who was doing all the laborious
for details. soldering: For the first 100 units, we did these by hand
Pi Supply owner Aaron Shaw tells us, We think the between four of us we have now outsourced it to our
Raspberry Pi Foundation absolutely did the right thing lovely contract manufacture partners based in the UK.
by not including a header as standard because its The pre-soldered Pi was first listed on 12 May
unnecessary for many projects and adds a significant and they have been selling fantastically well.
cost! However, for some projects this is an annoyance Presoldered or not, you can still only buy one Pi
and a header is needed. ZeroW per order.

JULIA ON PI Fast and powerful coding language

ported to the Raspberry Pi

ulia has been ported to the Pi, allowing

J scientific researchers, data analysts and
hobbyists alike to experiment with the
next-gen programming language.
Viral Shah, co-creator of Julia, explains to us that Above Julia can be used for less serious applications as well as more
complicated tasks. Image: JuliaCon 2016
workstations crunching data is the typical picture
for scientific computing, but I just got myself a Pi 3 and a Sense HAT. With all the computing power and
sensors there, it makes sense to crunch data on the
Right Julia running
on a Pi with a device itself.
Sense HAT Julia isnt just for scientific analysis, crunching
huge data sets, or statisticians, though. Julia was
designed to solve the two-language problem: the
speed of C++ and Fortran with the ease of use of
Python. There are increasingly many application
domains where Julia is a great fit. Weve seen
demonstrations of Julia being used to hack Minecraft,
and to build the AI in an autonomous RC race car.
Julia currently offers support for the Pis GPIO,
the Sense HAT, and Minecraft Pi.
To start playing with Julia, follow the download
instructions at juliaberry.github.io.

12 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 MEDICAL RESEARCH TOOL News

PI CLUSTER POWERS
NEXT-GEN MEDICAL
RESEARCH TOOL
Semantic search meets affordable hardware
K-based SciBite recently demonstrated its
U cutting-edge biomedical semantic search tools
on a humble Raspberry Pi cluster.
The demonstration was part of SciBites setup for the
Bio-IT World show in Boston, USA, where SciBite won an
award for Best of Show in the Analysis and Data Computer
category. The show went really well, SciBite marketing
manager Monica Kulkarni tells us, with a great reception
for the Pis. People came to the stand just to see the demo.
The great thing about using the Pi cluster,
Monica continues, was that when the internet
connection went down in the exhibition hall, we could
carry on demonstrating, as the Pis ran on their own
local network.
Semantic search is a method of information gathering
far in advance of using a standard search engine, Monica
explains. Controlled scientific vocabularies allow the
TERMite semantic search tool to understand that for
any given concept, there may be multiple synonyms
for a singular term. Schilder syndrome, Alpers disease,
Christensen disorder, Encephalitis periaxialis are all
the same disease. The tens of millions of synonyms
provide the depth of knowledge required to understand
biologicaltext.
However, ambiguity is also a problem, with a single
word having many meanings, and therefore producing
either irrelevant or misleading search results. Contextual
disambiguation is critical to ensuring accurate insight,
confirms Monica.
TERMite, and the DOCstore front-end that accesses
it, is platform-agnostic (its a Java app with a browser-
based UI), but developing for the Pi wasnt just for fun.
Squeezing the TERMite vocabularies to run on the Pis 1GB
of RAM was a challenge, but some of the techniques we
used to compress and efficiently scan data are already
finding their way into next release of TERMite.

Above A cluster of four Raspberry Pis in a master-slave configuration

hosts and executes SciBites next-gen search tool

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 13

 Feature

The
RASPBERRY PI
PC CHALLENGE
Can you really use a Raspberry Pi as a desktop replacement?
We set Rob Zwetsloot the challenge of using a Pi for a week

he desktop computer is a dying breed these

T days, especially in the home. With the
arrival of powerful laptops and convenient
tablets, fewer people feel the need to have a dedicated
desk computer taking up space or gathering dust in
their house.
A good desktop computer can be useful, particularly
for work-related tasks, but for many people space is
at a premium. What better computer to turn to than
the credit-card-sized Raspberry Pi? Weve claimed
several times that you can use the Raspberry Pi as a
desktop PC, so its time to put this to the test and use
a Raspberry Pi for a whole week for science!

03.

03.

16 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 LIFE WITH PI Feature

01.

Robs
Desktop
Setup
01. RASPBERRY PI
For one week, Ill be working
on a Raspberry Pi. Ive chosen
the Raspberry Pi 3, as its the
most powerful Pi to date, and
02. Im going to need all the power
I can get.

02. ETHERNET PORT

My test used wireless LAN
for internet access, but you
04. can easily wire up an Ethernet
connection if you prefer.

03. KEYBOARD
& MOUSE
The classic desktop setup isnt
complete without the standard
mouse and keyboard no
touchscreen or motion-sensing
devices in sight!

04. HARD DRIVE

External storage is essential,
as SD cards offer limited space.

Also...
MONITOR
The Raspberry Pi 3 can display
1080p visuals over HDMI, so
Ive chosen a monitor that can
handle this.

RASPBIAN
Ive chosen Raspbian for this
experiment. Not only is it the
premier Raspberry Pi OS; it
is also well supported by the
community, so I can easily get
help if I need it.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 17

 Feature

Day One:

SETTING UP
built the basic hardware setup as described on
I the previous page. I downloaded and installed
the latest version of Raspbian (you can do
Web browser: Email:
this via NOOBS, or follow our instructional video:
magpi.cc/2sj7IeN) and let it run through its automatic Chromium Claws Mail
setup steps. With that, I was ready to start using the
Raspberry Pi as a desktop computer. Lets begin. This default browser (and the base A very lightweight email
for Googles Chrome browser) client that comes bundled
comes with all the major features with Raspbian. You can use
Know your software of Chrome itself, including the it like any other email client.
If youre using the Raspberry Pi for sysadmin or other ability to transfer over your Rob thinks: Claws is fairly
kinds of IT management, youre not going to demand settings and Chrome apps. This basic, but if all you really
much from it. The trusty Terminal will be your best version of Chromium also comes need to do is read and reply
friend, along with a quick peek at Google to check with Flash integration. to emails, you dont need
Stack Overflow. Rob thinks: Chrome is my much else.
Im treating my Raspberry Pi as an office desktop preferred browser, and we also
computer. For writing magazine articles, this means think it (as Chromium) is the
Im about 95 percent covered by a word processor best browser available for the
and an accompanying office suite, a web browser for Raspberry Pi (read our group test
general internet usage, and access to relevant chat on page 78). Most importantly for
protocols so I can coordinate with the rest of the team. this experiment, it allows for great
These requirements will be the same for a lot of office access to web versions of software
workers. Lets take a look at the tools youre getting on that may not have a Raspbian
Raspbian to help with this. equivalent, such as Skype.

Office suite:

LibreOffice
One of the most popular alternatives to Microsoft
Office, LibreOffice includes a range of equivalent
programs that are compatible with Microsoft
Office files. Writer is your Word replacement,
Sheets replaces Excel, Impress works with
PowerPoint files, etc.
Rob thinks: I really like the LibreOffice apps,
and Writer is a perfect substitute for Word
and other word processors. This version of
LibreOffice has been further optimised to look
and run better on the Raspberry Pi as well,
so you wont notice any performance issues.

18 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 LIFE WITH PI Feature

CHROMIUM TIPS
Heres how I used the Chromium browser to handle multiple tasks

e spend a lot of our lives online, accessing

W everything from email and search engines
to news and social media, as well as web
versions of popular software. Here are some of my
top tips for making the most of your browser on Pi.

Gmail
While I could access my Gmail through Claws Mail,
I was interested in seeing whether I could get Gmail
running in the browser. Surprisingly, Gmail takes up
a lot of memory space while it runs. This increases as
you add different accounts.
Luckily, Google has a solution: switching to
HTML mode while loading. Google claims that
TOP TIP: this is to help with slow connections, but it also
Use SHIFT+ESC to drastically cuts down the memory footprint. It
open the Chromium looks as if youre using Gmail in 2002, but its
task manager worth it.

Skype
We use Skype for chatting at The MagPi, and while
there are other chat protocols that might be easier
to tap into (such as Hangouts), we cant change
the way we work just for one person. I decided
to try web Skype (web.skype.com), and while it
wasnt particularly kind to the memory
resources, it did run happily
in the background while I got on
with other work.
TOP TIP:
I turned off some of the chat Use a different chat
features (including the giant client. Try out Pidgin
animated emoticons), and I for a very lightweight
suggest that you do the same. way of staying
in touch

TweetDeck
You may not use Twitter enough to need TweetDeck
to manage all your accounts, but I was pleasantly
surprised at how well it worked. It does use a lot of
memory, but it runs just fine on the Pi, even when
other programs are up and running.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 19

 Feature

Day Two:

ZEN AND THE

ART OF
TAB MANAGEMENT
n 2017, access to the internet is essential.
I This means that your Chromium browser
is going to be running for most of the time
while youre using your Pi as a desktop, even if its in
the background. As the Raspberry Pi offers limited
resources compared with a modern desktop, you wont
TOP TIP: be able to have 15 tabs up and running at once. Heres
If youre having my advice on how to maximise your browser efficiency.
serious performance
issues, close and
restart Chromium
Open and close tabs
I spent the week working with four or five reasonably
resource-intensive tabs open at a time, and that
was probably stretching the abilities of the Pi. These TOP TIP:
included Skype web chat, Slack, TweetDeck, and Check the task
Google Music (which Ill discuss over the page). good choices; I could come back manager to see which
Adding extra tabs starts to make Chromium a to them, but closing the tabs tabs are taking up the
little wobbly, so I decided to close down tabs when removed a distraction for a time, most resources
they werent essential. Slack and TweetDeck were allowing me to focus on work.

TOP TIP:
Keep an eye on the
tabs you have open,
and whether or not
they need to be open
all the time

20 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 LIFE WITH PI Feature

DOS &
DONTS
Which websites should you avoid?

Keep an eye on memory

One of my best friends during the week was the
SOCIAL MEDIA
Chromium task manager: you can access it using
SHIFT+ESC or open it from the Chromium menu. Twitter
It displays a basic process list, giving memory and Twitter is a simple site, and I had very little trouble
CPU usage for each tab and service. using it. As I mentioned before, TweetDeck is a great
In this instance, the Raspberry Pi is limited more way to make the most of Twitter without causing the
by memory than by CPU power. I found that tabs Pi to struggle. You can easily handle pictures, GIFs,
using about 100-150k of memory were at the upper and video through Chromium using TweetDeck.
limit of what the Pi could
handle, and you really
shouldnt have too many TOP TIP: Facebook
of them running at the Use your mobile Facebook is very resource heavy and I struggled
same time. I used this phone as a second to use it unless it was the only tab running in
information when deciding screen and/or Chromium. If youre planning to use a Pi desktop
which tabs to keep open. music player purely for social media management or browsing,
you wont need as many tabs open, so youll probably
be fine. Otherwise, be careful with Facebook.
Phone backup
I dont know about you, but I have a lot of the
important notifications I need (work email,
work chat, etc.) tied to my phone as well as to
MEDIA
the desktop for when Im out and about. Its not
unusual to get a ping about a work email on my YouTube
phone and then check Gmail in the web browser Everyones favourite repository of cat videos,
to read it. YouTube runs well on the Raspberry Pi via
While I completely understand if youd rather Chromium. Make sure you have some speakers or
keep work off your personal phone, notifications headphones plugged in. If you need to, right-click
are easy to turn on or off, or even schedule on the volume button in the top right-hand corner of
modern smartphones. I was happier to close Raspbian and change it to Analog.
non-urgent browser tabs when I knew that my
phone would beep at me if something required
my attention. Other video
Alternatively, while I chose to run a music Your mileage may vary, but other video sites or
streaming service through the browser on the news sites that dont use embedded YouTube
Raspberry Pi, I could easily have done so via my videos dont work as well as YouTube. Again, this
phone instead, which would have freed up some will be dependent on the number of tabs you have
extra memory. open at any time.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 21

 Feature

Day Three:
MEET THE
COMMAND LINE
I
t is perfectly possible to use Raspbian or any
other Linux distribution solely through the Command-line
graphical desktop. However, getting to grips
with the command line or Terminal is essential to
basics sudo
allows you to run
Some essential commands commands as
make sure your Raspbian experience is as smooth
you need to know the owner of the
as possible.
I found myself periodically having to enter the operating system
command line to troubleshoot issues Id discovered sudo apt-get update
during the experiment. Heres how it works.
Before installing software or updating your version

Know the difference

of Raspbian, this command will let your installer know
which software updates are currently available. Online
versions can change regularly.
Command line Terminal
The classic computer Also known as the sudo apt-get upgrade
interface. There are terminal emulator, this
no fancy graphics program allows you to After updating the software list, you can then
here, just lines of run commands from upgrade any software that has a newer version online.
text. You can use the inside the graphical This can take anywhere from five to 30 minutes, or
computer by running desktop environment. even longer, depending on how long it has been since
commands here. The best of both worlds! your last upgrade.

Access: Access: sudo apt-get install [software]

Access the Click on the Terminal
command line using program in the toolbar. You can install software using the apt-get install
CTRL+ALT+F1. Return The icon shows command, followed by the relevant package name.
to the desktop with a window with a There is also an option to add and remove software
CTRL+ALT+F7. black screen. using the graphical desktop.

sudo reboot

Use this to safely restart the Raspberry Pi.

sudo shutdown -h now

TOP TIP:
Need to know the Use this to safely switch off the Raspberry Pi.
Raspbian user name
and password? The startx
default user name is
pi, and the password From the command-line interface, you can enter
is raspberry the graphical desktop using this command.

22 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 LIFE WITH PI Feature

TROUBLESHOOTING
IN THE TERMINAL
Got a problem? Pi running slow? Try these simple fixes

COMMAND
The column on the far right-hand side
shows which programs are running,
along with their package name

PID
The process ID, or pid, is the number
the Raspbian system assigns to each
running piece of software

%CPU
This column shows the percentage
of the processors overall power
used by each piece of software

%MEM
This column shows the percentage
of overall memory that each piece
of software is using

ike the task manager in Chromium, Raspbian Command-line Essentials

L has its own task manager known as top.
Youll need to access it through the command
Like working in the command line? Then
you should check out our book, Conquer
line, by entering top. Once youve opened it, you can the Command Line, for more ways to use
do some minor troubleshooting and ease the strain on it: magpi.cc/Essentials-Bash.
the Raspberry Pi if its struggling.
Alternatively, you can press q to quit top and enter the
Stopping processes following command:
In my experience, applications that use a lot of
memory are the ones that cause the most trouble for sudo kill [pid]
the Raspberry Pi. If something uses a lot of CPU power
as well, that will also slow down the Pi. If you need to stop a lot of processes with a similar
Using the columns displayed by top, you can name, you can also use:
determine which processes are taking up the most
resources. Use the left and right arrow keys to change sudo killall [name]
which column to sort the list by, so that when it
updates you dont lose track. Not fixing your problem? The best place to look
Press k when you locate the resource-hungry for solutions or ask questions is in the Raspberry Pi
program, and enter the pid to stop the process. forums: raspberrypi.org/forums.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 23

 Feature

Day Four:
GETTING DOWN
TO BUSINESS
few days into our experiment, I found myself
A facing some admin tasks, so I was using more
Office-style programs than on previous days.
I needed access to collaborative documents from
Google Docs and Sheets, and to WordPress for writing
blog posts. Heres what I needed to achieve, along
with some of my solutions.
TOP TIP:
Google Drive
set up Dropbox on
a Raspberry Pi using
Using online collaborative spreadsheets
Dropbox
the guide here:
and documents magpi.cc/2c9NnPC
As I discovered earlier in the week, juggling Chromium
Making the most
tabs is essential to keep the Raspberry Pi running
of cloud storage
well. Google Drive and Google Docs use large amounts A lot of The MagPi files live on a shared Dropbox
of resources, so keep that in mind when working that we use to create the magazine, and we all
with them. need to upload articles as well as monitoring the
I recommend trying to use one document at a time, production process. There are two main ways
or to close as many other tabs as possible if you need to make this work: follow our previous tutorials
to juggle more than one. If you keep this in mind, and install Dropbox to Raspbian, or make use of
Docs and Sheets work well in the Chromium browser, the Dropbox web interface.
so you shouldnt need to make any further changes to There are advantages to both options. Creating
get them running. a dedicated Dropbox folder is a lot faster and
frees up all-important browser resources, while
the web interface allows you to quickly access,
download, and upload a few files at a time. While
I used the web interface method this time, I
have used Dropbox on a Pi before. If this were a
more long-term solution, Id set up Dropbox on
an external hard drive. This makes everything
easier, although it takes a while to set up.

PDF
How to read PDFs on the Raspberry Pi
Opening a PDF on the Raspberry Pi is easy theres a
dedicated PDF reader installed. Opening PDFs in the
browser can cause problems, though. Chromium has
a habit of trying to load PDFs into the browser without
downloading them first. This is fine on a normal
desktop computer, but it doesnt always work on the Pi.

24 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 LIFE WITH PI Feature

If youre having trouble reading a PDF

online, download it first and open it in
the default program. If you need to copy
text from it, youll need to open it in
Chromium. Open a new tab, then drag
and drop the downloaded PDF onto
Chromium to loadit.

Other services
Ive probably missed out something you use regularly
we dont all use our computers for the same things!
Here are a few tips on troubleshooting your desktop
Pi experience.

 se Google to search for lightweight alternatives

U

Blogging to the software you normally use

Things to keep in mind while using WordPress  xperiment with several pieces of software until
E
you find the one that works for you
I didnt have any big problems while writing The MagPi
 e wary of fancy web interfaces; these will take
B
blog posts. The main thing that caused the Pi to slow
up a lot of resources
down was adding images directly into the posts. Id
recommend uploading them to the Media library first, Above all, be patient
before embedding them in a post.

Image editing
A lightweight alternative to Photoshop
I dont expect to do any serious image editing or
touch-ups on a Raspberry Pi, but the ability to
perform simple editing tasks (crop, rotate, resize)
is important. Mirage is the software that allowed
me to do this in Raspbian. It is very lightweight
and works well. The display also includes a column
showing all the images in a selected directory.
It was quick and efficient for the simple tasks I
needed, although for anything more complex youll
have to seek out a more powerful computer.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 25

 Feature

Day Five:
MAINSTREAM
MEDIA Below Can Goku recruit Frieza for the Tournament of Power?
wanted to relax on the evening of the final
I day, by watching some TV and playing some
games. While Im performing this experiment,
Find out next time on Dragon Ball Super

I thought Id give it a go on the Raspberry Pi. How did

my trusty little computer fare?

WATCHING
YouTube & online video viewing into fullscreen mode, which juddered a bit
As weve discussed before, YouTube works just fine when it started but performed well over the next half
on the Raspberry Pi with Raspbian and Chromium. hour or so as I switched between a selection of videos.
I caught up with my YouTube subscriptions (handily I havent had much luck with other types of online
placed in a Watch Later playlist) while sipping video this week. However, this task only used one tab
Below Dont judge
me: Im going to Walt a tropical, rum-based concoction Id devised to in my browser, so I thought Id push the envelope a bit
Disney World soon... celebrate the end of the week. I daringly took my and see whether I could catch up on Dragon Ball Super
via Crunchyroll. Unfortunately, instead of providing the
low-quality playback I had come to expect, the video
player just refused to load, leaving me unable to find out
whether Goku had reached Super Saiyan Blue 2!
I had similar problems with Netflix while trying to
watch some of the new Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
episodes. There are solutions to fix this issue
(magpi.cc/2rDbtaE), but theyre not available by default.

Verdict:
Hit and miss for online video, but at least
YouTube worked well

PLAYING
Minecraft Pi
A slimmed-down
version of Minecraft,
Minecraft Pi is great
for making forts in mountains, and thats before you start hacking it with
Pi-compatible games your own mods! To run Minecraft Pi, open it from the desktop menu or type
minecraft-pi in a Terminal window.

26 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 LIFE WITH PI Feature

Left The settings

file may look a little
basic, but it gives
you full control over
the program

Network video playback

One cocktail down and with another to go, I decided to Connect to a
see how well the Raspberry Pi would handle streaming
video over the network. The Pi has hardware decoding
Network Shared Folder
for HD video and Ive run some playback with it before, You can quickly connect to a Samba/Windows
so I was interested to see how it would all work. I have shared folder by opening File Explorer (the
a file server on my network (powered by a Raspberry Pi, folder icon) and typing into the address bar
of course), so I connected to it and had a go. smb:// followed by the IP address of the
Omxplayer is bundled with Raspbian, and it provides computer, or its name on the network:
one of the best ways to play video on the Pi. While smb://mediaserver
it is a Terminal app, a GUI that will automatically
play your videos is available (via the kweb suite:
magpi.cc/2sTExQo). I did need to change the audio
output settings: open the GUI via Menu > Sound &
Video, click on Edit Settings, and then click on the
analogaudio button at the top of the settings page.
The video playback might not line up with the
interface, but the HD video plays just fine, using the space
bar to pause and play. I like to watch anime and tokusatsu
shows, which usually come encoded in 10-bit colour.
While Omxplayer will play them, expect some glitches
as the Pi doesnt support 10-bit hardware decoding.

Verdict:
A very similar experience to using a video player
on a normal desktop, thanks to Omxplayer Above Easily view your files over the network using Samba -
it can be used for more than just streaming media!

Super Crate Box Scratch games

A fun little game from I always enjoy having
Vlambeer that is available a quick look at the
as a Gamemaker game Scratch website to see
for the Raspberry Pi. what fun little games
Get it here: I can find for the Pi:
magpi.cc/2s8tdhK scratch.mit.edu

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 27

 Feature

WHAT WE
LEARNED
The experiment is over: heres what I thought of the week

oing into this experiment, I wasnt sure what As Ive explained, juggling all my tasks was a little
G to expect. Ive been using the various models
of Raspberry Pi for more than five years
taxing on the Raspberry Pi, and I had to learn to
prioritise my tasks and software to guarantee the
now, in all manner of ways, but never as a full-on best performance. I also had to remove the power a
desktop replacement. I knew the Pi was capable of the few times, so I learned to save anything important to
individual tasks Id need to do, but I was wary of trying external storage in case the SD card corrupted.
to get them all running together. I learned two main lessons from the week with Pi

Patience:
The Raspberry Pi, like any computer, can only do
so much at once. The Pi is a bit more limited than
a modern laptop or desktop computer, so you cant
expect it to immediately load all the elements of
a webpage or instantly open the document youre
working on.
If it seems to hang, give it some time to sort itself
out before you start killing programs or consider
pulling the plug.

Compromise:
Like all relationships, using the Raspberry Pi as
a desktop computer involves some compromise.
Sure, Id love to have all the things I need to work on
running at once, but the Pi cant quite handle them.
Instead, I moved my music listening to my phone,
I made sure that windows and software were closed
when they werent needed, and I used the HTML
Gmail interface for my email.
All this resulted in increased efficiency during my
work day in some ways, but other tasks took longer,
so it balanced out overall.

The Result
After my week with the Raspberry Pi 3, Id say that
it is perfectly suitable for using as desktop work
computer just dont expect it to perform better
than a standard desktop machine.

28 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 LIFE WITH PI Feature

GETTING YOUR Raspberry Pi

Desktop Kits
HARDWARE
Want to try out a Raspberry Pi desktop for yourself?
You can build a Pi desktop yourself, or try one
of these Pi PCs instead

Pick up the kit you need online 90/$115 to

235/$300

Raspberry Pi

Retailers
Websites that specialise in supplying Raspberry
pi-top
pi-top.com

Pis offer some great deals on kits, along with The pi-top is one of the first major Raspberry Pi
the accessories youll need. Here are some full-computer kits, available as a pi-top laptop,
of our favourites. or a pitopCEED desktop. Theyre designed for
educational purposes rather than desktop use,
but theyre very easy to convert once youve got
Pimoroni everything up and running. The pi-topCEED is the
shop.pimoroni.com cheaper model, and all you need to provide are the
Pimoroni is a great place to find mouse, keyboard, and external hard drive.
cool Raspberry Pi kits, along with
some great project ideas and 112/$110
accessories. Theyre famous for
their funky Pi cases made from
layers of laser-cut acrylic.

The Pi Hut
thepihut.com
The Pi Hut always has great little
supplies for your Raspberry Pi
projects, as well as everything
youll need for a Pi desktop. WD PiDrive
Compute Centre
magpi.cc/2s8NbZr
Adafruit
adafruit.com We reviewed this kit in issue 56, and we think its
Looking for Raspberry Pi gear great. It is part of the WD PiDrive series, so it comes
in the USA? Adafruit is one of with a case and a hard drive setup optimised for use
the best sites, and has its own with the Raspberry Pi. You wont need an external
awesome range of components hard drive for this setup, and it even comes with a
to use with your Pi. mouse and keyboard all you need is a monitor!

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 29

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 Projects SHOWCASE
INGMAR STAPEL
Ingmar has been building Pi-
powered robot cars since 2012.
Hes also working on a particulate
matter sensor.
custom-build-robots.com

SATNAV
FOR ROBOTS Guide robots with incredible accuracy using this differential GPS system
Quick
Facts W
hile building a rugged
robot, named Big Rob, for
enables the robot to correct the
inaccuracies in its own GPS signal,
can receive not just GPS signals,
but also those from the Russian
outdoor use, Ingmar Stapel mainly caused by atmospheric GLONASS system, as well as SBAS
> The differential
GPS system wanted to create a system for effects, in order to calculate its systems such as Europes EGNOS.
is accurate precise navigation. Disappointed precise position. This technique
to 20 cm with the accuracy of the standard produces an accuracy of 20cm, XBee or WiFi?
> The robot uses USB GPS modules used on his compared with 4-5 m for To minimise GPS inaccuracies,
three Python previous robots, he decided to standard GPS. Ingmar is using the RTKLIB Python
programs
build a navigation system based Both units are equipped with a library (rtklib.com) to perform
> 6 IKEA on differential GPS. RasPiGNSS Aldebaran module from the RTK calculations. The most
lunch boxes
protect the Differential GPS uses the RTK drfasching.com: It is the only complex part of this project was to
base stations (Real Time Kinematic) method for one I know which is especially built configure the RTKLIB library and
> Big Rob has carrier-based ranging between for the Raspberry Pi, explains to set up the XBee communication
a 12 V 30 Ah a base station and the robot. Ingmar. They are also fitted with between the base station and
battery
Data sent from the base station a Tallysman GNSS antenna that the robot. The main advantage
> See videos to using XBee Pro rather than
of Big Rob at
standard WiFi is its superior
magpi.cc/
2rPfEnz range of up to 1.6 km. However,
Ingmar has also tested the system
using WiFi, which offers a higher
bandwidth. Both versions of the
RTKRCV program are described on
his blog.

The base station sends its own

position to the robot to eliminate
GPS inaccuracies caused by
atmospheric effects

The two units are in constant

communication via XBee modules
or standard WiFi

The robot calculates its precise

position using differential
GPS, and can direct itself to
variouswaypoints

32 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 SATNAV FOR ROBOTS Projects

BUILD A GPS SYSTEM

>STEP-01 >STEP-02 >STEP-03

GPS modules XBee communication Big Rob
Both the robot and the base station feature XBee Pro modules, connected to Raspberry Ingmar has equipped his Big Rob robot
a Raspberry Pi equipped with a RasPiGNSS Pis via XBee Explorer boards, are used for with the differential GPS system, along with
Aldebaran module and Tallysman antenna long-range data communication between a Sense HAT at the rear to aid orientation
to receive satellite signals. the robot and base station units. when navigating between waypoints.

Robotic navigation Once it obtains a fix, the robot Ingmar has a few ideas for
So, how does it all work in moves continuously from one putting his differential GPS system
practice? Ingmar admits that waypoint to the next, checking its to practical use. I will mount the
it can take a while to obtain orientation with the Sense HAT metal detector (as used on his
a GPS fix, depending on the magnetometer: If a deviation of Discoverer robot, featured in The
surroundings and weather. five degrees is detected to the next MagPi #48) on the front of Big Rob,
If I use the setup in open country waypoint, the Python program and together with the differential
with no clouds, the calculation corrects the speed of the DC GPS setup, the robot will be able
of a fix position takes between motors to face the waypoint. Only to search very precisely for metal
10 and 15 minutes. If I use it in if the GPS signal gets lost will the in the ground. The next idea is to
the yard with high buildings robot stop and wait for the next mount, for example, a lawnmower
around the base station and calculated fix position. Waypoints on the front or to build a fertilizer
robot, it could take up to an can be entered in a Terminal spreader. The differential GPS
hour to calculate only a floating window or imported via a Google setup is a key feature for many
GPS position. Earth KML file. ideas and setups.

Left The path of a test drive, showing the

precision of the system with a floating
solution from the RTK calculation

Below An early version of Big Rob showing

the GPS system components, along with
an illuminated Sense HAT at the rear

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 33

 Projects SHOWCASE
ALVIN GROEN
Alvin is a director, designer, and
animator from The Netherlands.
Currently, he lives in New York.

TELE2
alvingroen.com

How a Raspberry Pi kit helps people to live the life of a complete stranger
e have all imagined what More intriguingly, the We caught up with Alvin Groen,
Quick W it would be like to be system collected data on each the director and designer of the

Facts somebody else, even if just

for a short time.
personalitys heart rate and
sweat level.
Tele2 project, who dreamt of
building a piece of equipment that
Tele2 is one of the more All of this data was used to changes our perspective.
> The Tele2 kit
was used in intriguing projects weve come measure the emotional state of The Tele2 project is named after
five different across. It was a custom Raspberry the person, which was relayed to the Swedish telecom company that
countries Pi electronics kit worn by various the viewers using visual effects sponsored the project. They were
> The idea came interesting people from around the layered on top of the audio and launching a new 100GB data plan
from the movie world. Each person wore a GoPro video. Brain sensor (EEG) data and wanted a project that required
Being John
Malkovich Hero 5 and Rde Video Microphone was translated into warmer or high data bandwidth, recalls
to capture a first-person view of cooler video filters to represent the Alvin. With funding underway, the
> 36 million
people were what they were seeing and hearing. persons emotions. Tele2 project was born.
made aware of
the project

> A custom iOS The Teradek VidiU enables the kit The Galvanic Skin Response An e-Health v2.0 board is mounted
app was used to stream live video to the web Sensor, Polar Bluetooth HR above a Raspberry Pi 3. The Pi
to control the via the Tele2 modem monitor, and Muse headband collects the video and audio data, as
data stream all gather data on the emotional well as the health measurements
state of the wearer
> The equipment
was in use for
more than two
months

34 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 TELE2 Projects

WEARABLE

In Sweden, a lot of discussion Above The kit recorded everything a

around connectivity tends to be
person saw and heard while measuring
their mood levels
>STEP-01
negative, says Alvin, especially Build a backpack
when it comes to controlling our processed all the video, audio, and The Raspberry Pi, e-Health shield, video adapter,
exposure to media. sensor data. wireless modem, and battery pack were carried
Alvin wanted to alter the outlook Camera footage went to a colour by the wearers in a custom-built backpack.
people had on other lives. Each grading box in the backpack. This
person was chosen because they was fine-tuned for each location,
have a big following online, or and the video and audio was
they have an interesting life, streamed live via a Teradek VidiU
explains Alvin. They included wireless HDMI video encoder.
Simone Giertz, a robot maker from The built-in wireless features of
Stockholm, Joel Kinnaman, an the Raspberry Pi 3 made it a good

They were launching a new 100GB

data plan and wanted a project
that required high data bandwidth
actor from Vancouver (and star fit for the project. The built-
of the RoboCop reboot), and Noor in Bluetooth chipset, wireless
Daoud, a female drift racer from networking, and the fact that you
Dubai. An impressive collection can use a pretty standard flavour
of folk. of Linux right out of the box
>STEP-02
Each of the personalities was made it very easy to work with,
Sight and sound
The GoPro Hero 5 was mounted on the wearers head,
hooked up to the Tele2 equipment. says Alvin.
along with the various health sensors. Everything they
The team broadcasted nine live Since all the other equipment
looked at and heard was streamed live.
streams in five countries during was rather bulky, size wasnt
a two-month world tour. We an issue either, he adds. The
measured the personalities toughest challenge was trying to
heart rate, emotions, and sweat figure out if we could get the Muse
level, using a Skin Response headband to communicate directly
Sensor and Muse headband with the Raspberry Pi, since the
(choosemuse.com). Then, using official Muse SDK wasnt released
WebGL and web audio technology, for the ARM architecture.
they translated the data live into The project was a huge success,
audiovisual effects. with hundreds of thousands of
The team built a custom people tuning in to see what its
backpack using a 3D printer like to be somebody else. Viewers >STEP-03
for each personality. The rig could click on cheers and give World in colour
included a Raspberry Pi hooked feedback to the wearers. Overall, A filter was laid over the recorded video based on four
up to an e-Health v2.0 board Tele2 was a very interesting mood characteristics: Angry, Happy, Sad, and Calm.
(magpi.cc/2qnMyry). The combination of health sensors This filtered video was streamed live to the web.
Raspberry Pi collected and and live video streaming.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 35

 Projects SHOWCASE
ERIC PAGE
Eric enjoys building things for his
fiance, Shirin, and their dog, Pickles.
When hes not DIYing, youll probably
find him backpacking or running his
healthcare business.
magpi.cc/2sUurv1

The cylinder is divided

into sections for storage
and dispensing

A stepper motor rotates

the inner cylinder to
dispense the treats

The Camera Module is

used to detect motion
and capture photos
and video of the dog

DOG TREAT
MACHINE
With motion detection and video capture, is this the ultimate dog treat dispenser?
hile pondering what to analysis of the view from a system using really good code

Quick W get Shirin, his fiance, for Raspberry Pi Camera Module. If from Adrian at PyImageSearch.

Facts
her birthday, Eric Page motion is detected, it captures a This ensures that the video always
realised how much she misses her photo and video of Pickles, which starts with Pickles entering the
dog Pickles while shes at work. are sent to Shirin in an email with area, and Shirin can see him
> Build details He decided to build a device to a randomised cute comment. If trotting up with excitement.
are on
allow her to serve treats to Pickles no motion is detected, it sends Far from being a seasoned maker,
Instructables
magpi.cc/ remotely. She uses it almost an Im not home but will enjoy Eric reveals this was my first
2sTf5qU every day! Usually once a day when the treats later message, along attempt at anything DIY in probably
> There are four she is at her office. When shes with a couple of photos of Pickles 25-plus years since junior high,
ways to trigger travelling, she probably sends playing outside. so it took some trial and error.
the device
him three or four treats every Eric says motion detection was After starting the project with an
> It can dispense day. I think it helps her feel closer an important addition. I didnt Arduino, he soon realised that it
treats of
different sizes
to home. want to send my girlfriend a video lacked the processing power and
There are four ways to trigger of a floor full of treats. Even if storage required for video and other
> Eric has added
a ball launcher
the Pi-powered device: email, Pickles was home, if he walked complexities. After I switched
MQTT, IFTTT, or Alexa. It then over to the treats more quickly or to the Pi, it took 30-45 days to get
> He intends
to extend plays a sample of Shirins voice, slowly than expected, the video to a version that would reliably
it further dispenses some dog treats, and would be blank for a period of deliver treats via email. After
checks for motion using OpenCV time. So I built a motion detection that, I periodically tinkered with

36 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 DOG TREAT MACHINE Projects
Eric reckons
Pickles thinks
MAKE A DOG
of the device as
some sort of
God of Treats.
TREAT DISPENSER
Sometimes, well
see him just
sitting in front of
it, looking up at
it with a mixture
of awe and
delight

Below The
ingredients for
the perfect dog
treat dispenser
include a Pi,
Camera Module
laser-cut tubes
and stand, and
a stepper motor

>STEP-01
Cutting the parts
Eric used a laser cutter at a local makerspace to
create the plastic stand and cylinders. The inner
cylinder is divided into two compartments; one for
storage and one for dispensing.

>STEP-02
Dispensing mechanism
To make sure the desired number of treats falls into
it for four to five months, adding opening to a smaller section that the dispenser compartment, acrylic semicircles
additional delivery mechanisms holds and dispenses one serving. reduce the size of the opening. One of these is
and improving the reliability of the Following the success of the attached by Velcro and can be adjusted.
code, e.g. reconnecting everything treat dispenser, Eric has extended
if the WiFi went down. the project by building a ball
Eric says the most difficult part launcher using RFID-tagged balls,
of the project was getting the which hes trained Pickles to

Now Pickles can get his own

treats by putting those balls
in the receptacle. He loves it
device to deliver a small number retrieve and place in a receptacle
of treats (not zero or too many) by equipped with an RFID reader. >STEP-03
gravity from its plastic cylinder, Now Pickles can get his own Stepper motor
when rotated by a stepper motor. treats by putting those balls in A stepper motor with driver board is used to rotate
The design went through several the receptacle. He loves it. Now, the cylinder, causing the treats to fall out of the
iterations before I hit on the he even sits by the ball launcher opening, while allowing more treats to drop into
concept of a cylinder with a central making funny noises his way of the dispenser compartment.
storage area, with an adjustable saying Dad, launch a ball!.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 37

 Projects SHOWCASE
PETER BARKER
A full-time software developer,
part-time hacker, with a passion for
making fun little projects to get a Pi
in his pocket.
@Pi0CKET / github.com/moosepr

PI0CKET-TINY PI Possibly the worlds smallest Pi-based gaming device

Quick
Facts
eter Barker was inspired screen flanked by two stripboard small as I thought I could go.
P to start making miniature
gaming devices following
button arrays. Things progressed
from there, really, recalls Peter.
However, Peter then found a
smaller, 1.44 inch TFT screen that
> Tiny Pi took the release of the Pi Zero, and seeing I didnt like how big the circuit perfectly matched the 128 128
two months
to create other makers cramming it inside board was for the screen, and resolution of the Pico-8 fantasy
an old Game Boy. After ordering realised that there werent all games console (magpi.cc/2rCswv1)
> It runs for 3.5
hours on a 1000 all the parts, I initially wanted to do that many bits to it, so I started that hed stumbled across after
mAh battery the same, but couldnt bear to take designing my own. looking at the PocketCHIP
> Peter is a working Game Boy apart. This resulted in his diminutive handheld computer. It took me
considering Instead, he created his first Game Boy Zero device featuring back to the good old days of the
selling his
standalone Pi Zero-based gaming a 2.2 inch display on a custom [Sinclair] Spectrum, where the
custom PCBs
device using a cheap 2.2 inch SPI PCB, which was pretty much as system was small enough that
> or putting
together a
Tiny Pi kit

> Hed like

to create a
Pi pocket
computer

A three-way switch can be

mapped to extra functions

Tiny Pis custom-designed

PCB is just 0.8 mm thick

The 1.44 inch TFT screens

128 128 resolution is a perfect
match for Pico-8 games

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 PI0CKET-TINY PI Projects

BUILD A TINY GAMES MACHINE

>STEP-01 >STEP-02 >STEP-03

Make a custom PCB Add a Pi Zero Make a case
To keep the size down, Peter designed The Pi Zero is mounted directly to the Peter designed his own slimline case using
his own slimline PCB and had it made by rear of the PCB, its GPIO header soldered OnShape. It comprises a top, bottom, and
OSHPark. You can download the design to the connections. A LiPo battery and backplate, and covers for the joystick and
or order a board at magpi.cc/2qu0wbJ TP4056 charger are strapped in place. buttons. Find the files at magpi.cc/2qu0P6f

kids in their bedrooms could make by two piezo transducers situated

brilliant games. I tried it on my behind the screen.
GBZ project and it was good fun to As well as Pico-8 software,
have a portable system that could Peter has programmed the Tiny Pi
play all these games, almost like to run classic console games via
having a part of my childhood the RetroPie emulation system.
in my pocket. You are restricted on the games
The PiOCKET-Tiny Pi you can play. The 128 128
(magpi.cc/2sdhmf8) took him resolution makes things like SNES
two months to put together. or MegaDrive games hard to see,
The biggest hold up was getting although the Pi is actually capable
my hands on some screens. There of playing them.

As well as Pico-8 software, Peter

has programmed the Tiny Pi to
run classic console games
are many suppliers who sell them The original version of the Tiny
attached to a PCB, but I didnt Pi was naked, but Peter has since
want that extra bulk. Instead, clothed it in a 3D-printed custom
he designed his own super-skinny case. Designed using OnShape
PCB, a mere 0.8 mm thick, which (onshape.com), hes made it as
is mounted directly to the rear slimline as possible, to match
of a Pi Zero W. the rest of the project. It needs
On the front of the PCB are a five- a spot of refinement, but the
way joystick (with push-in function) main change I would like to make
and two push buttons. Theres also a would be to the software side of
three-way navigation switch at the things. My real goal is to have it
top, which can be mapped to extra like a Game Boy, where it starts up
functions. The device is powered quickly, you can play a few games,
by a slimline LiPo battery, strapped then just switch it off, no worries Above You can get an idea of just how tiny the Tiny Pi
is when its placed next to a Nintendo Game Boy
to the Pi Zero along with a TP4056 about shutting down and waiting
Above top With RetroPie installed, the Tiny Pi can emulate
charger. Stereo sound is supplied for it to finish things. classic games machines such as the Sega Game Gear

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 39

 Tutorial RASPBERRY PI 101: CODE WITH THE SENSE HAT EMULATOR

CODE WITH THE SENSE HAT

EMULATOR Practise coding for the Sense HAT hardware using the Sense HAT
emulator built into Raspbian

he Sense HAT is one of the most important You develop code for the Sense HAT and run it in the

Youll T pieces of Raspberry Pi hardware. The emulator. A visual representation of the Sense HAT

Need
board was developed to travel aboard the hardware appears, and a range of sliders and buttons
International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Astro can be used to emulate the Sense HATs features.
Pi mission. It was also made available to buy, and The sliders are used to change the values reported
> Raspberry Pi schoolkids around the world use it to develop code by the sensors while your code is running. You can
> Raspbian - some of which runs in space as part of a series increase the pressure and humidity that the Sense
of competitions. HAT hardware would detect, and check that your
> Sense HAT
emulator The Sense HAT adds various sensors to system responds accordingly.
the Raspberry Pi: gyroscope, accelerometer, The Sense HAT emulator is a great option for
magnetometer, temperature, barometric pressure, somebody who wants to develop code for the Astro
and humidity. Pi mission, but doesnt have access to the Sense HAT
The Sense HAT emulator was developed by Dave hardware. Its also a great environment for testing
Jones (github.com/waveform80). It is intended for code, because you can manually adjust the values
people who own a Raspberry Pi, but not a Sense HAT. reported via the sensors.

The 88 matrix emulates the 88 LED

display found on the Sense HAT hardware,
The sliders are used to change
the values reported by the sensors
HOW TO:
START USING THE
which is used to provide visual feedback while while your code is running
the code is running

SENSE HAT EMULATOR

>STEP-01
Start up
You can access the Sense HAT emulator from the
Raspbian desktop menu, under Programming. The
emulator closely simulates the experience of attaching
the Sense HAT hardware to your Pi. You can read from
the sensors or write to the LED matrix using multiple
Python processes.

01

The joystick buttons

emulate the stick control found
on the Sense HAT hardware

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 SENSE HAT EMULATOR Tutorial
>STEP-02 humidity.py Language
Code >PYTHON
Open IDLE (Programming > Python 3) and choose File > from sense_emu import SenseHat
New. Enter the code from humidity.py. This program
adjusts the number of green and white pixels displayed sense = SenseHat()
on the LED, depending on the detected humidity.
green = (0,255,0)
02 white = (255,255,255)

while True:
humidity = sense.humidity
humidity_value = 64 * humidity / 100
pixels = [green if i < humidity_value
else white for i in range(64)]
sense.set_pixels(pixels)

>STEP-03 >STEP-05
Run and adjust Code examples Sense HAT
Run the program in IDLE (Run > Run Module) and the If youre new to the Sense HAT, you can copy and
Sense HAT image will appear and display some green paste a range of example code from the Raspberry Pi Essentials
LEDs. Adjust the humidity slider and watch the number educational resources page. Projects include a getting
If youre interested
of green LEDs change to match the new readings. started guide (magpi.cc/2rvSPSB) and a random
in learning more
number program (magpi.cc/2rvpOXq). You will also
about the Sense
03 find lots of examples under File > Open Example.
HAT, check out
These will be written to your home directory.
our Sense HAT
Essentials guide,
05 Experiment with the
Sense HAT.
magpi.cc/
Sense-HAT-book

>STEP-04
Preferences
There are some preferences that you can adjust to
change the behaviour of the emulator. Choose Edit
> Preferences. Increase the Screen updates value to
provide a more realistic experience of the behaviour of
the hardware sensors. Youll see that the values being
returned in your code drift according to the known >STEP-06
error tolerances of the physical sensors used on the Port to Sense HAT
Sense HAT. If you want to port your emulator code to a physical
Sense HAT, you just need to change:
04
sense_emu 06
to

sense_hat

Reverse this if youre

porting a physical
Sense HAT program to
the emulator, perhaps
from one of the online
educational resources.

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 Tutorial RASPBERRY PI 101: CLONE, COPY AND CONTRIBUTE TO CODE WITH GIT

CLONE, COPY &

CONTRIBUTE TO
CODE WITH GIT Use Git version control software to work on your own code
and contribute to open-source projects. By Marc Scott

it is powerful software that lets you clone, The first thing to do is to tell Git who you are.

Youll G copy, and contribute to code projects. Discover

how to master Git and youll be a much better
This is important, as Git can be used collaboratively
by lots of people, so it needs to know who made
Need project maker. changes to which files. Use your user name and
If youre working on a Raspberry Pi, then email address.
> Raspberry Pi congratulations: Git already is installed in Raspbian by
> Raspbian default! If you are on another Linux build, or ever need to git config --global user.name "Harry Potter"
install Git on another Linux system, this is all you need:
> Git
git config --global user.email "h.potter@
sudo apt install git hogwarts.prof"
Initialising a directory
of code (and other
files) adds a hidden
Youre going to be working in a Terminal window for Next, you need to tell Git which text editor you
.git directory to it; this this tutorial, so open it by clicking on the icon on the want to use. If you dont have any particularly strong
directory is used to
track changes desktop, or by pressing CTRL+ALT+T on the keyboard. feelings about text editors, then type:

git config --global core.editor nano

Now you are ready to start using Git to manage

your projects.

The magical briefcase

One way to think about Git is to imagine a magical
briefcase. You can pull documents out of the
briefcase and work on them whenever you like.
Once youve finished your work, you can put the
documents back into the briefcase, and the case
remembers what changes you made to all the
documents inside.
Whats really clever is that this briefcase can be
synchronised with another master briefcase that
lives in the clouds. Whenever you like, you can
tell your briefcase to copy the contents of all the
documents to the master briefcase. If you lose your
own briefcase, you dont have to worry, as you can

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 GIT Tutorial

just get a new one and grab all the documents and
writing from the master briefcase.
Thats not all, though. The other people working
on your project also have magical briefcases, and
they also keep their documents synchronised with
the master briefcase. This means that you can all
work on a project together. If someone else has a
better answer to a project question than you do, you
can copy their answer from the master briefcase to
your document.

Start a project
So you want to start a new project? Maybe its a special
ultrasonic range finder for tracking flying objects in
the air. Youll want a directory on your computer for
Use nano to edit the
all your files to sit in, so the first thing to do is create nano README.md README.md text file
that directory.
In the Terminal, you can use the mkdir (make This command opens up the file in the Terminal.
directory) command to create a new directory. You can now give the file a title and write a short
explanation of what your project is about.
mkdir snitch-sniffer
# The Golden Snitch Sniffer
Now you want to go into that directory. You can use
the cd (change directory) command to do this. This is a project that uses multiple long-
range ultrasonic sensors to find and track
cd snitch-sniffer an object flying in three-dimensional space.
It displays the objects coordinates,
Next, you can create a file that will tell people what speed, and trajectory through a VR headset.
the project is about. You can use any text editor to
do this, but in this example, nano is used to create a Pressing CTRL+X will cause a save prompt to
file called README.md. The .md extension stands appear. You can type Y to save and then hit ENTER
for Markdown, which is a markup language. You can to close nano. Your file should have been created
learn more about Markdown on the Daring Fireball and will now be sitting in your directory. You can
website(magpi.cc/2scx1iu). type ls in the Terminal to see a list of files.

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 Tutorial
News RASPBERRY PI 101: CLONE, COPY AND CONTRIBUTE TO CODE WITH GIT

Perform a new commit

every time you make a
change to your file

Create the magic briefcase git add --all

At the moment, the directory is just like any other
directory on your system. You now need to make Now Git knows that it needs to keep track of all the
the magical briefcase part. This is known as a Git changes that happen to the README.md file. You
repository, and it takes the form of a hidden directory can have a look at the status of your repo at any time
that keeps track of all the changes to the working by typing:
directory. Type the following:
git status
git init
You should see something like this:
This creates the repository, which from now on will
just be called a repo. On branch master
If you type ls again, nothing will appear to have
changed. You can use ls -a to see all the hidden files Initial commit
and directories, though.
You should now see something like this in your Changes to be committed:
Terminal window: (use "git rm --cached <file>..." to unstage)

. .. .git README.md new file: README.md

That .git directory is the repo skeleton. You can have a This is telling you that the README.md file has
look inside it by typing ls -a .git. not yet been committed. This means that although
This should bring up something like: Git knows about the file, it doesnt yet have any of
the files contents stored. The simplest way to do a
branches config description HEAD hooks commit is by typing:
info objects refs
git commit -am 'add README.md'
You dont need to worry about this directory
at all now. Just know that it is there and that its tracking
all the changes to the parent directory snitch-sniffer.

Add your books

So you now have the magic briefcase, but you havent
yet added anything to it. That README.md file hasnt
been placed into the briefcase yet. You need to tell Git
that you want to add the README.md file to the repo.
To do this, type:

git add README.md

Sometimes its easier to just add everything to the

repo, though, rather than adding individual files. To
do this, you type: Add files to the Git repo and commit the changes with a comment

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 GIT News
Tutorial
This commits all the changes you have made in the
directory to the Git repo, and adds a message saying
what you did. The message can be anything really, but
its best to keep it fairly short yet descriptive of what
you changed.

Time travel
Now that you have set up your repo, its time to get on
with the project. Create two new files and store them in
your snitch-sniffer directory:

touch snitch-sniffer.py quidditch-rules.json

Typing ls reveals those files.

README.md quidditch-rules.json snitch-

sniffer.py

The new files need to be added to the Git repo and

then committed.
A great thing about
commit Git is that it tracks
git add --all 127545c19794b5fe869dd22d0cf57bf8820c5794 changes so that you
can restore an earlier
Author: Harry Potter <h.potter@hogwarts.prog> version of your code at
any time
git commit -am 'add json rules and python Date: Fri Mar 3 20:20:18 2017 +0000
program'
add json rules and python program
Carry on working on your code (enter nano
snitch-sniffer.py and add some dummy code). You can see that the last commit (the one at the
Every time you make a change to the file, perform top) was where the function was deleted. Luckily,
a new commit. the commit message has made it easy to see what was
done, which is why commit messages are important.
git commit -am 'finish find function' However, typing:

Now imagine that youve made a horrible git log -p snitch-sniffer.py

mistake. Youve been working for a while,
and youve deleted your find_snitch() function, would have shown the changed contents of the
and then performed a commit. With Git, its easy file if the commit message wasnt clear enough.
to go back in time and restore an earlier version You can now get back the version of the file
of any of your files. Lets first look at the commit from the previous commit. The long string of
history of the file. characters after the word commit is called a
hash, and is used by Git to keep track of files. In
git log snitch-sniffer.py this case, the commit that needs to be restored is
5fd772a292c019a7cf3012b1156685280d4a7d2d.
This produces something like this: Typing the following will get the file back to the way
it was:
commit
12c4c693e95438ceadcf3f4fb39c83ce1ade712f git checkout
Author: Harry Potter <h.potter@hogwarts.prog> 5fd772a292c019a7cf3012b1156685280d4a7d2d
Date: Fri Mar 3 20:27:17 2017 +0000 snitch-sniffer.py

delete find function The file will be restored, and you can now commit
this change.
commit
5fd772a292c019a7cf3012b1156685280d4a7d2d git commit -am 'restore find function'
Author: Harry Potter <h.potter@hogwarts.prog>
Date: Fri Mar 3 20:24:52 2017 +0000 Making major changes
Imagine youre talking to someone about your
finish find function amazing project, and they have a cool idea for some

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 Tutorial
News RASPBERRY PI 101: CLONE, COPY AND CONTRIBUTE TO CODE WITH GIT

need to make sure all your changes are committed and

then switch back to the master branch.

git checkout master

Then you can merge the version into the master

branch:

git merge lidar-version

Warning: you can cause problems with a merge if

youre working on two branches at the same time,
as Git wont know which changes are the ones you
want to keep. For this reason, its best to work on one
branch at a time.
You can always check changes you could make to improve it. They suggest
the current status of
your repo using lidar rather than ultrasonic sensors. The Setting up a Git service
changes are quite large, though, and youre worried Now that you know how to do the basics in Git, it is
that if you make them, you might break the project. time to learn how to use it to its full potential: sharing
You could make a copy of the directory and start your work and collaborating with others.
working on this copy, but to keep using Git, youd There are lots of services that will host your Git repo
have to make an entirely new repo. This could all for you, free of charge. GitLab is one such service, and
get quite confusing. Luckily, Git has a feature called BitBucket is another. In this resource, you are going
branches. Using a branch allows you to make copies to be using GitHub (github.com), which is one of the
without losing or altering your original work. more popular services.
First, you can have a look at your repos current status. The first thing to do is to register for an account on
GitHub: just choose the free plan. Now that you have
git status an account, you can create a snitch-sniffer repo on
GitHub. Click the New Repository button to the right
This should show something like this: of Your Repositories. Give the repo a name (enter
snitch-sniffer in the Repository Name field, and a
On branch master short description, such as 3D tracking of objects in
nothing to commit, working directory clean space and click Create Repository). This will bring
up a page of instructions. As you already have a repo
Now you can make a new branch in the repo, which ready to push to GitHub, all you need to do is make
lets you work on your amazing new adaptation. sure you are in your project directory in a Terminal
window, and type:
git checkout -b lidar-version
git remote add origin https://github.com/
Now git status will show you something like this: harrypotter/scratch-sniffer.git

On branch lidar-version and then:

nothing to commit, working directory clean

This tells you that you are on the lidar-version branch.

To view all the branches in your repo, you can type git
branch, which will show something like this:

* lidar-version
master

You can now work on the lidar-version branch without

altering your master branch. If you try out the new
approach and find it doesnt work, you can simply delete
the branch using git branch -D lidar-version.
However, if it all works well, you can merge the
branch back into your master branch. First, youll Merging puts the changes you have made into your master branch

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 GIT News
Tutorial
logged in. Find the Issues tab. You can now
create a new issue, and give a description. Once
thats completed, the maintainers of the repo will be
able to reply to you, and close the issue once its fixed.

Pull requests
Issues are great, but if you want to help out even
more, the project maintainers are usually very happy
for you to fix or improve projects yourself. To do this,
you need to make your own copy of the repo so that
you can work on it.
On the projects main page, find the Fork button
and click it. You will now have a copy of the repo. You
should see a Clone or Download button. Clicking this
Use the GitHub website to create a repository (repo) will reveal the uniform resource identifier (URI) of the
repo. Using the Terminal, you can clone the repo to
git push -u origin master your computer with git clone:

You will need to enter yes in the command line to git clone https://github.com/HelpfulUser/
accept the authentication token, then your GitHub getting-started-with-git.git
user name and password. If you look on GitHub, you
should now be able to see your repo, along with the All the files and directories will now be on your
displayed README.md file that you wrote. computer. Go ahead and make the changes you want,
Any time you make changes to your project, and you then commit them and push them back up to GitHub,
want to push them up to GitHub, you can just type: just as you would normally do. Here your commit
message is particularly important, as it will explain
git push origin master to the resources original owner the changes you
have made.
You may see an RSA fingerprint warning. Enter yes. If You can now head back over to GitHub. Find the
you are working on a different branch, you would type: button that says New Pull Request. Click the button
and then click on the Create Pull Request button. Your
git push origin <branch-name> commit message will be there, but you can change it
and even add a more detailed description if you like.
Collaborative working Once youre happy, click the Create Pull Request
The true power of services like GitHub becomes apparent button. The maintainer of the repo will then be able to The snitch-sniffer
when you start working with other people. GitHub allows see your pull request. They can then choose to merge repo, showing
branches, commits,
other people to make their own copies of your projects, it into their repo or close it. and other information

or you to make copies of theirs. Either of you can then

make improvements to the project and then push the
improvements up to GitHub for everyone to share.
This tutorial started as a GitHub repo. You can find
it at magpi.cc/2rM1c0w. That means that if you
found a mistake in the resource, or if you just wanted
to make some improvements, you can. There are
two main ways to get involved with other peoples
projects: issues and pull requests.

GitHub issues
The copy editors at Raspberry Pi are pretty amazing,
so the chances of you spotting a typo in this tutorial
are pretty slim. You might spot a mistake in some of
the code, though, and thats where you can help out.
Take this bit of code for example:

print('Hello World!)

Lets see how you could help fix this error. Head on
over to magpi.cc/2rM1c0w, and make sure you are

raspberrypi.org/magpi xxxxx
July 2016
2017 47
 Tutorial WALKTHROUGH
BILL BALLARD
Bill is a retired physicist who went
back to his programming roots and
found fun things to do with his ten
Raspberry Pis, even while sailing.
github.com/wpballa

Youll
Need
> Raspberry Pi
Zero W with
case and
GPIO header
SAILING PI
Track and map your sailing adventure, wherever you go
y weekly sailing crew asked for a way to
M
> Ultimate GPS
breakout visualise where we had been, and for a live
magpi.cc/ display of the true speed over ground to see
2qLDUpB
whether we were fighting tides. This project delivers
> Pimoroni Scroll both, without relying on internet connections or cell
pHAT
magpi.cc/ phone data. Add a battery and it would also be useful
2qMVMks for car rallies or cyclists. All you need is a Raspberry
> 40-pin stacking Pi Zero W with some additional hardware, Python,
header for the and Mathematica!
Scroll pHAT

> USB to micro Assembly

USB cable
Solder the dual male header to the Raspberry Pi
for power The Scroll pHAT
ZeroW, and solder the stacking header to the Scroll entirely covers the
> 12 V USB power Raspberry Pi. Note
pHAT. Cut off the header wires except for pins 4, 6, 8,
adapter suitable the GPIO connections
for a car and 10 (see magpi.cc/2sApUOQ). Double-check the
pin numbering before you do this! Bend these four
pins through 90 degrees so that they point outwards.
Take four wires of different colours, about 10 cm
long, and solder them into the GPS breakout Vin, GND,
TX, and RX connectors, bringing the wires in from the
top of the board. Next, solder the Vin wire to pin 4 of
the GPIO, GND wire to pin 6, RX wire to pin 8, and TX
wire to pin 10. There should be no crossover wires.

Software setup
Boot up your Raspberry Pi Zero without the
GPS attached. Go to Preferences > Raspberry Pi
Configuration. In the Interfaces tab, be sure to enable
SSH, Serial, and I2C. In the System tab, you will also
SPEED UP GPS ensure the Boot option is To CLI (command line
ACQUISITION interface). Next, set up the wireless and reboot.
Now load some special software for the Scroll pHAT
Installing
the optional and the GPS:
battery on the
GPS board will sudo apt-get install python-scrollphat gpsd
significantly Note the four
speed up gpsd-clients python-gps connecting wires
satellite with twists to make
sure the antenna
acquisition The GPS uses the TX/RX pins that are the console points upwards
when starting
the system defaults, so you need to make some modifications to
the system:

48 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 SAILING PI Tutorial
sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt Language
>PYTHON AND
Remove the console=serial0,115200 portion of MATHEMATICA
the line. Then save the file and exit the editor.
FILE NAMES:
gpsd-boat.py
sudo systemctl stop serial-getty@AMA0.service
LatLonPlot.nb
sudo systemctl disable serial-getty@AMA0.
service DOWNLOAD:
sudo halt magpi.cc/2qN6BmG

When the system stops, remove the power and

install the scroll pHAT with the GPS breakout. Power
the system up. The Fix light on the GPS board will
blink once every second with no satellite fix, and every
15 seconds with a fix. If you dont have a fix, move the
system to a window with a good view of the southern
sky (northern sky in the southern hemisphere) where
the antenna can see the satellites.
While you are acquiring a lock, we need to disable
the standard gpsd socket. In a Terminal window, type:

sudo systemctl stop gpsd.socket When you get home and have internet access again, Above The
unit installed
sudo systemctl disable gpsd.socket connect the Raspberry Pi to a monitor and keyboard. on the boats
The CSV output file is designed to be easily read with instrumentation
Program Mathematica. However, because we crashed the Pi to
console

Download the Python program gpsd-boat.py power it off on the boat, you will need to edit the file
and Mathematica notebook LatLonPlot.nb from with nano and remove the last line or two, which will
magpi.cc/2qN6BmG. The system will not have a live contain some garbage. If the application crashed and
internet connection while you are sailing, and so it restarted at any point, there will be extra headers you
will not know the date straight away. As a result, the should search for and delete. These files were written
program waits for the GPS to get a fix and uses the as root, so, where 2017-05-04 is replaced by your
UTC date information to generate file names with the activity date:
current sailing date. Automate everything so that the
program starts at boot time: sudo nano 2017-05-04-latlon.csv

sudo nano /etc/rc.local Remove the last few lines and any errant blank lines
or additional headers. Then save the file and exit.
Add the following two lines to the file just before Start Mathematica and use the LatLonPlot.nb
the exit 0 line: notebook you downloaded to visualise your sail, but
replace the date with the date identifier for your file.
gpsd /dev/ttyS0 -F /var/run/gpsd.socket The first line of the file imports the data from the
python /home/pi/gpsd-boat.py > /home/pi/ comma-delimited file and loads the header and data
gpsd-boat.log 2> /home/pi/gpsd-boat.err & separately. The output of this command should be
a partial list of all the latitude and longitude pairs.
Then save and exit. The last line will start the Thesecond line converts the latitude-longitude
Python program as a background job, redirect output data into a GeoPosition set of variables, and then
to a log file, and redirect any error messages to an a GeoPathconstruct for plotting. The output of this
error file for later debugging. should be a small graph of the path taken, but with
no map. The third line places the GeoPath on an
We are sailing automatically sized map and places the output in the MOUNTING
Now go sailing, or perhaps driving. A 12 V automotive file image.jpeg. PlotStyle controls the colour and
THE UNIT
USB plug works in a car or in the boat, in one of the thickness of the sailing path plot. The final
many 12 V outlets. Above deck these are likely to be Hit SHIFT+ENTER to force an evaluation and wait product is held
in place with
corroded, so be prepared to clean the contacts (Scotch a while (the header will show running), particularly
Velcro strips
Brite scouring pads work well), and keep the Raspberry if it was a long sail. It takes quite some time for on the back
Pi and GPS in a plastic bag to ward off water. Power Mathematica to load the map data over the internet, of the Pi and
on the boat
everything up and go for a sail. When youve finished so be patient. When the calculation is complete, open
console
sailing, unplug the system and take it home. the image.jpeg file to have a look.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 49

 Tutorial WALKTHROUGH
MARTIN OHANLON
Martin is the creator of Blue
Dot, co-author of Adventures in
Minecraft, and a Picademy trainer.
stuffaboutco.de

BLUE DOT
BLUETOOTH
Youll
Remove the wires from your Raspberry Pi with the Blue Dot app

Need
dding Bluetooth control to your projects The first step is to install the bluedot Python library
A has never been easier, thanks to Blue Dots
app and simple-to-use Python library. The
on your Raspberry Pi, so you can interact with the
remote app. Click Menu > Accessories > Terminal
> Android phone
apps simple blue circle can be pressed and released and enter the following:
or tablet
like a button, pushed like a joystick, and swiped like
> Raspberry Pi
a touchscreen. sudo apt-get install python3-dbus
with Bluetooth
In this walkthrough we will set up Blue Dot and sudo pip3 install bluedot
> Blue Dot
use the remote app (on an Android device or a second
magpi.cc/
2qRf8EO Raspberry Pi) with the bluedot Python library to The Blue Dot app for Android can be installed from
make lights turn on, create a DJ scratch machine, the Google Play Store (magpi.cc/2q8wkTq).
and add Bluetooth control to a robot. Blue Dot makes If you are using a second Raspberry Pi as your
using Bluetooth simple, so you are only limited remote, you should install the bluedot Python library
by your imagination! on this as well.

Pair the device

We need to pair the remote device running the
Blue Dot app (the Android device or the second
Raspberry Pi) with the first Raspberry Pi, so they
can communicate.
If you are using an Android device, open Settings
and select Bluetooth to make the device discoverable.
If you are using a second Raspberry Pi device, click
the Bluetooth icon and select Make Discoverable.
Now, on your first Raspberry Pi, click the Bluetooth
icon on the taskbar, select Make Discoverable, and
click Add Device.
When your remote device appears, select Pair
and follow the instructions. There are step-by-step
installation and pairing instructions in the Blue Dot
getting started guide at magpi.cc/2q9cwiq.

Left The Blue Dot app is available

for Android and Raspberry Pi

50 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 BLUE DOT BLUETOOTH Tutorial
You can control many electronic
items using Bluetooth connectivity

Control Blue Dot using

the big blue circle

Hello world print("Hello World") BLUE DOT

Now that Blue Dot is installed and paired, you can write POSITION
your first Bluetooth program. Its a classic: when the dot def say_goodbye():
The Blue Dot
is pressed, Hello World will be printed to the screen. print("Goodbye")
touch position
Open Python 3, click Menu > Programming > also includes
Python3 (IDLE). Click File > New File to create a new bd = BlueDot() the x and y
coordinates,
program. Create your Python program: bd.when_pressed = say_hello
distance and
bd.when_released = say_goodbye angle from
from bluedot import BlueDot pause() the centre.
bd = BlueDot()
bd.wait_for_press()
print("Hello World") Wireless light switch
Blue Dot works really well with the gpiozero Python
Save your program: click File > Save As and save library (magpi.cc/2qd2MEb) to remotely control
as mydot.py. To run the program, click Run > Run physical and electronic projects, and can be used to
Module or press F5. replace a gpiozero Button.
For example, you can create a wireless light switch
Start up the remote using the when_pressed and when_released
Now it is time to start up the remote. On Android, functions with an LED. Connect an LED and resistor
open the Blue Dot app. If you are using a second between GPIO 17 and GND (see Fig 1 on page 52), and
SOURCE
Raspberry Pi, open a Terminal and run: create the following Python 3 program:
& VALUES
python3 m bluedot.app from bluedot import BlueDot Many gpiozero
objects have
from gpiozero import LED a source
Select your first Raspberry Pi from the list of paired from signal import pause property to link
devices and press the dot. You can set functions to be components
together
called when the blue dot is pressed or released: bd = BlueDot() with a values
led = LED(17) property,
from bluedot import BlueDot including
Blue Dot. For
from signal import pause bd.when_pressed = led.on example:
bd.when_released = led.off led.source
def say_hello(): pause() = bd.values

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 51

 Tutorial WALKTHROUGH

Run the program and connect the Blue Dot app to

ALLOW
your Raspberry Pi. Pressing the blue dot will turn on bd.when_moved = move
PAIRING
the LED, and releasing it will turn it off.
You can make
your Raspberry
Pi discoverable
Control a robot DJ scratch machine
and pairable The Blue Dot app can detect exactly where the dot You can swipe the dot as well as pressing it, as if you
for 60 has been pressed. Using this information, the dot can were moving between images in an app.
seconds with
act as a joystick to control a robot. Pressing the dot In this program you will create a DJ scratch machine
bd.allow_
pairing(). at the top will make your robot move forward, while which will play a beat in a loop, and a vinyl scratch
This is useful pressingit on the right will rotate the robot clockwise, when the blue dot is swiped:
when adding a
and so on.
new remote.
Replace the LFpin, LBpin, RFpin and RBpin import pygame
variables with the Left Forward, Left Backward, Right from bluedot import BlueDot
Forward and Right Backward pins which control your from signal import pause
robots motors:
pygame.mixer.pre_init(buffer=512)
from bluedot import BlueDot pygame.init()
from gpiozero import Robot pygame.mixer.init()
from signal import pause
loop = pygame.mixer.Sound("/opt/sonic-pi/
bd = BlueDot() etc/samples/loop_amen.flac")
robot = Robot(left=(LFpin, LBpin), scratch = pygame.mixer.Sound("/opt/sonic-
right=(RFpin, RBpin)) pi/etc/samples/vinyl_backspin.flac")

def move(pos): def scratched():

if pos.top: scratch.play()
robot.forward()
elif pos.bottom: bd = BlueDot()
robot.backward() loop.play(loops = -1)
elif pos.left: bd.when_swiped = scratched
robot.left() pause()
elif pos.right:
robot.right() The direction in which the dot is swiped can also be
used by checking the variable that is returned by the
def stop(): when_swiped function:
INTERACTIONS robot.stop()
from bluedot import BlueDot
db.interaction
will return all bd.when_pressed = move from signal import pause
the details bd.when_released = stop
about what pause() def swiped(swipe):
happened
between the if swipe.up:
Blue Dot At the moment, the robots direction only changes print("up")
being pressed when the dot is released and pressed again. To change elif swipe.down:
and being
released. it so that the direction also changes when the touch print("down")
position is moved, use when_moved: elif swipe.left:
print("left")
Fig 1 Set up elif swipe.right:
your Bluetooth-
controlled LED print("right")
as shown here,
connected via
a resistor to bd = BlueDot()
GPIO17 and GND bd.when_swiped = swiped
pause()

More ideas
Youll find a full getting started guide with lots more
ideas, as well as a complete API reference, in the Blue
Dot documentation (magpi.cc/2qRf8EO).

52 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 Tutorial WALKTHROUGH
BRETT HAINES
Brett is a Junior Release Engineer at
Figure 1 Wolfram Research, where hes been
working with the Raspberry Pi for more
than two years.
blog.wolfram.com

The display after passing

an 88 array of RGB
colours to the Sense HAT

Use the environmental

sensors in conjunction
with the LEDs

MATHEMATICA AND
THE SENSE HAT Collect and display environmental data using the Sense HAT
Youll and Wolframs language function
Need ver since the partnership between the To access the data from these sensors, simply call
> Sense HAT
magpi.cc/
E Raspberry Pi Foundation and Wolfram
Research began, people have been excited to
DeviceRead with the name of the measurement
wanted. For instance:
1TGGUt5
discover and are often surprised by the power and
ease of using the Wolfram Language on a Raspberry Pi. temp = DeviceRead[hat, "Temperature"]
The Wolfram Language is particularly useful in hum = DeviceRead[hat, "Humidity"]
partnership with the Sense HAT, which features an LED
array and a collection of environmental and movement A total of seven measurements can be read from
sensors. These give users the ability to read in data the Sense HAT: temperature, humidity, air pressure,
from the physical world and display or manipulate acceleration, rotation, magnetic field, and orientation.
it in the Wolfram Language with simple, one-line All the readings are returned with appropriate units,
functions. With the release of Mathematica 11, Wolfram making it easy to convert the values to other formats
Research has been working hard to refine functions if necessary.
that connect to the Sense HAT, allowing Mathematica
to communicate directly with the device. accel = DeviceRead[hat, "Acceleration"]
accelSI = UnitConvert[accel,
Programming the Sense HAT "Meters"/"Seconds"^2]
The Sense HATs functionality is built on Wolframs
Device Driver Framework (magpi.cc/2sl5Q5u), so The other physical component of the
connecting to the device is incredibly simple. To Sense HAT is the 88 LED array. You can use
start, use the DeviceOpen function to establish a theDeviceWritefunction to send an image or
connection. This will return a DeviceObject, which a string to the array. For strings, the text scrolls
we will use later to tell Mathematica which device sideways across the device. You can set the speed and
we want to read from or write to. colour of the scrolling text.

hat = DeviceOpen["SenseHAT"] DeviceWrite[hat, "Hello, world!"]

DeviceWrite[hat, {"Now in color!",
In the case of the Sense HAT, there are three on- "ScrollSpeed" -> 0.25, "Color" -> {255, 0, 128}}]
board sensors that Mathematica can read from.

54 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 MATHEMATICA AND THE SENSE HAT Tutorial
Alternatively, the Sense HAT can receive an 88 list In Figure 2, you can see the rise in air pressure Language
of RGB values to be displayed on the LED array. Using inside the conference centre as more people gathered >WOLFRAM
this method, it is possible to display small images. to see the demos from Wolfram employees, followed
Download and run the code from magpi.cc/2slmDoa by a drop as the conference ended. DOWNLOAD:
magpi.cc/2slmDoa
to see a display like the one in Figure 1. Another demo run at the conference made
use ofDeviceWrite. Using the Wolfram
Practical uses Languagesfinancial database, the Sense HAT was
Using thesefunctions, you can write Mathematica transformed into a miniature stock ticker. This
programs that process the data received from the demo downloads the current stock market data from
sensors on the Sense HAT. For example, at the Wolframs servers, then picks a random stock from
Wolfram Technology Conference in October 2016, the list and shows the stocks name and price on the
the Sense HAT was demonstrated by reading the Sense HATs LED array.
temperature, humidity and air pressure around
the Pi every five minutes, and pushing that data to StockTickerPi[
theWolfram Data Drop (magpi.cc/2slL7hF). dev_DeviceObject] := (Module[{len,
price, str, stock, stockList},
db = CreateDatabin[] stockList = FinancialData["NYSE:*",
SaveReadingToDataDrop[ "Lookup"];
bin_Databin] := (Module[{dev, hum, temp, Do[stock = RandomChoice[stockList];
pres}, price = FinancialData[stock];
dev = DeviceOpen["SenseHAT"]; If[Head[price] === Real,
temp = DeviceRead[dev, "Temperature"]; str = StringDrop[ToString[stock], 5]
pres = DeviceRead[dev, "Pressure"]; <> "$" <> ToString[price];
hum = DeviceRead[dev, "Humidity"]; DeviceWrite[
DatabinAdd[ dev, {str, "ScrollSpeed" \
bin, <|"temperature" -> temp, [RightArrow] 0.05,
"humidity" -> hum, "Color" -> {200, 0, 0}}]], 100];]);
"air pressure" -> pres|>]; StockTickerPi[hat]
DeviceClose[dev];]);
cronTask = RunScheduledTask[SaveReading
ToDataDrop[db], 300] Lets play a game
The final demo run at the conference used the Sense
This function generates a new databin to store data, HATs LED array to runConways Game of Life
but what does that data look like once it has been (magpi.cc/2slDPKT), a famous cellular automaton.
recorded? Lets look at the recordings made at the For those unfamiliar with the game, imagine each lit
Wolfram Technology Conference (Figure 2). LED is a cell in a Petri dish. If a cell has too few or too
That data was available to be downloaded into many neighbours, it dies out. If an empty space has
Mathematica by anyone, at any time after the exactly three living neighbours, a new cell appears
conference, to show the changes in atmospheric there. When these rules have been applied to all of
conditions using DateListPlot. the spaces on the grid, a new generation begins,
and the rules are reapplied. This pattern can continue
DateListPlot[Databin["gwSkMvMW"]]["air indefinitely, given the right conditions. In the demo,
pressure"] a random array of lit and unlit LEDs constitutes the
starting pattern. The automaton then runs for a given
number of iterations.
Check out the code download to see how this was
done. The rounds, pause, and color parameters can
all be modified to change the way the automaton is
displayed, and to adjust how long Mathematica waits
before displaying the next iteration.

What next?
This is only a taste of what is possible with Mathematica
and the Sense HAT. Visit magpi.cc/2slJu3N to discover
more ideas for using them together. Once youve tried
some of the ideas, why not share your work on the
Figure 2: Air pressure readings taken by a Sense HAT at the
Raspberry Pi Wolfram group (magpi.cc/2slgvNo) to
Wolfram Technology Conference 2016 inspire other users? Well see you there!

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 55

 Tutorial WALKTHROUGH
MIKE COOK

MIKES PI BAKERY
Veteran magazine author from the old
days and writer of the Body Build series.
Co-author of Raspberry Pi for Dummies,
Raspberry Pi Projects, and Raspberry Pi
Projects for Dummies.
magpi.cc/259aT3X

ELECTRONIC
WIND
CHIMES
Youll
Detect a magnetic vector to ring
your chimes with Raspberry Pi
Need recent visit to a local garden centre saw us

> Magnetometer A musing on the collection of wind chimes. The

designs ranged from the naff to the awesome,
HMC5883L board
depending on how the sounds were generated, and
> 2 M2.5 brass
or nylon nuts that sparked the inspiration for this months project.
and bolts We had tackled electronic wind chimes many years
> Magnet back but we used individual reed switches under a
swinging magnet. This version uses a magnetometer
> Pendulum
assembly: to detect the pendulums movement, and software
aluminium to decide when a note is triggered. Of course, being
extrusions controlled by software, the sounds it could produce
are almost unlimited.

Magnet Sensor

Selected note

Magnetic vector

56 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 ELECTRONIC WIND CHIMES Tutorial

CREATING WIND CHIMES

>STEP-01
The sensor board

Solder the pin headers onto the

magnetometer board. Ours came with a
vertical header, so we swapped this for a
right-angled one; this allowed the pendulum
to swing much closer to the sensor. Make up
a five-way ribbon cable lead with a socket on
both ends to connect the sensor and the Pi.
Mark one end of each connector with a spot
of correcting fluid to make sure it is the right
way round. Fix two 10 mm long M2.5 brass
screws to the ready-drilled holes and loosely
tighten the nuts. They need to be brass,
aluminium or nylon screws so that they do not
affect the magnetic field we used brass.

A magnetometer is a popular sensor these days.

Often called a compass module, it is to be found Raspberry Pi
on the Sense HAT, micro:bit, and various low-cost 3V3 Vcc
modules from many suppliers. They are used in many
smartphones and tablets, but we always considered Gnd Gnd
their use on a fixed computer system to be a bit
GPIO 3 SCL HMC5883L
limited, as youre not likely to move your desk. The
sensor is based on the magneto resistance effect first GPIO 2 SDA
discovered by Lord Kelvin in 1856. He discovered that
the resistance of metals could change in a magnetic GPIO 4 DRDY
field. Magnetic fields are measured in tesla, but often
expressed in the more convenient unit of gauss,
10,000 gauss being equal to 1 tesla. The magnetic
field at the surface of the Earth is in the range 0.25 Wind chimes in action Figure 1 Wiring
the magnetometer
to 0.6 gauss. Fundamentally, magnetic fields are The magnetic vector is plotted onto a 9 9 square board to the
Raspberry Pi
defined by the force they exert on a moving charged grid, and each of these grid points may or may not
particle. Magnetic force acts as a field, and the fields trigger a sound sample. Whether it does or not,
strength is different in each of the three dimensions. and what sample it triggers, is selected by the user
Measurement of the force is in the form of a vector: a clicking on a grid square. The squares start off black,
value that describes the strength and direction of the
magnetic field.
The HMC5883L module is manufactured by
Magnetic fields are defined
Honeywell and can be used as a compass with a 1 to 2
heading accuracy. It can output a 12-bit reading from
by the force they exert on
a moving charged particle
fields of 8 to 0.8 gauss, depending on the software
settings. We are going to suspend a magnet from a
pendulum on a universal pivot, created by hanging
the pendulum from a thread. In this application it indicating no sound. Clicking on them will toggle
is important to understand that we are measuring an associated sound on or off. The sound you seed
the two-dimensional magnetic field vector, which in this way is set up by the number keys 1 to 9, each
is related to the position of the pendulum, but also corresponding to a different sound sample. The
depends on the orientation of the magnet and the magnetic field vector is plotted over the top of this
sensor. Then all we have to do is trigger the playing of a grid. When it ends in a coloured grid square, that
sound sample when certain field vectors are measured. squares sound is triggered.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 57

 Tutorial WALKTHROUGH

Language 15.00

>PROCESSING
1 Metre
DOWNLOAD: 15 x 15mm T - section aluminium
magpi.cc/1NqJjmV

PROJECT
VIDEOS M3 screws

Check out Mikes

Bakery videos at:
magpi.cc/1NqJnTz

15mm angle aluminium

113.00
ss
t tru T - Upright
por
Sup

Aluminum
25 x 15mm angle aluminium
M3 screws
15.00

M3 screws Base bracket

20.00
5mm base fixing holes
235.00

>STEP-02 (page 57) shows the wiring you need. We also added a
wire for the data ready signal, but we found that it was
Build the base
not needed for this project. Full construction details
are shown in the step-by-step guide.
The frame is built from various lengths and profiles of extruded
2mm aluminium. The base starts with a 235mm section of 25
15 angle aluminium. We used M5 nuts and bolts to attach it to Software
a 250 420mm, 12mm thick, painted MDF base. Counter-drill These days it is not necessary to run as the root
the other side of the board so the screw heads are flush with user to access the hardware just make sure the
the bottom of the board. The vertical upright is made from a I2C interface is enabled in the Interfaces tab of
one-metre length of T-section aluminium, and is attached to Preferences > Raspberry Pi Configuration.
the base bracket with two M3 screws. The vertical upright is The software, chimes.py, is written in Python 3 and
stabilised by two 160mm trusses made from 15 15mm angle runs under the Pygame framework. The sampleC list
aluminium. Note that the ends of these are cut off at an angle so determines the colour of each seed note and is easily
that they sit flush with the other brackets. The base bracket also
changed if you dont like our selection. The whole
has its corners cut off to be flush with the trusses.
display size is controlled by the variables gSpace and
gSide, making it easy to customise. An odd number
Just a word of caution: if you are buying a HMC5883L of squares ensures that you have a central square
module, there are some fake modules about on eBay position. The main loop is simple enough, but you
that claim they are HMC5883L devices but are in fact a might be puzzled by the small delay when a note is
QMC5883. While the latter is a magnetic sensor, it has a triggered. We thought it worked better like that, but
very different internal structure, different capabilities, you could remove it if you prefer an instant sound.
and will not work with the software here. On a real The magnetic vector has a large amplitude
HMC5883L, that the chip is marked L883, whereas the when the magnet is over the sensor, but a smaller
fake chip is marked DA5883. If you do get a fake, you magnitude when it is further away. To make the vector
should ask for a refund on the grounds that its not measurement easier to understand, we inverted the
what was advertised. value to match the movement of the pendulum. To do
The HMC5883L chip has an I2C interface and runs this, we took the reciprocal of the vectors amplitude
from 3V3, so is easy to interface to the Pi. Figure 1 when we applied the scale factors.

58 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 ELECTRONIC WIND CHIMES Tutorial

160.00

85.00 20.00
Cantilever

13 x 10 U channel

t
stru Pendulum
rt
po
l
ne

p 13 x 8 U channel
Su
an
ch
U
85.00

985.0
x1
13

0
2.5
12

12.00

18.00
Magnet

T - Upright
15 x 15mm T-section aluminium

>STEP-03
Build the top

The top of the frame consists of a cantilever to hold the

pendulum, and a supporting strut, both made from 13 10mm
U channel aluminium. The cantilever is mounted on one side
of the T upright, and the strut on the other. From about 20mm
from the end of the cantilever, remove the sides of the U
channel with a saw and file, and drill a 1mm hole about 3mm
from the end. Cut off the ends of the support strut at an angle of
45 and attach it with two M3 screws.
The pendulum is made from a 980mm length of 13 8mm U
channel aluminium. At each end, take out the final 12mm of the
channel sides with a file and round the ends. Then drill a 1mm
hole in the top, and use silicon sealant to glue a 12mm diameter
magnet to the bottom.

>STEP-04
Finishing off
Taking it further
You can play about with the scale factors and change Attach the pendulum to the cantilever with a strong but
the sounds by adding other samples. However, one big flexible thread, allowing the magnet to swing just clear of the
enhancement you could make is to turn on a fan when magnetometer and fixing screws. Make sure there are no sharp
edges that could cut through the thread as it swings. Screw the
you detect that there has been no note triggered for
whole structure to the base, sit it on a flat surface, and let the
ten seconds or so. This would be great for indoor use.
pendulum come to a rest. Position the sensor board so that the
However, you could add a bit more variety in the
chip is directly under the pendulum, and mark the positions of
swing by taping some reed switches to the base. This the two holes in the sensor board. Drill these out with a 2.5mm
will remove subtle amounts of kinetic energy from the drill. To mount the sensor board, slacken off the screws, push
pendulum as it passes, and produce a more chaotic them into the holes, and then tighten up the screws. This will
swing. We did not do anything with the Z axis of the provide you with a solid blind fixing.
vector, so maybe you can come up with a use for that.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 59

 Tutorial STEP BY STEP

ATTACH A SERVO
TO AIY PROJECTS Servo motors are used to perform fine motor functions,
Youll Need and with AIY Projects you can program them for voice activation
A servo motor has three wires.
9 g micro servo ne of the big hopes for AIY Drivers, is typically used for motors
O
Two provide power, while a
third is used to control the
4AA battery pack Projects is that Raspberry and has a 500 mA limit. You can position of the servo
Pi owners will integrate the connect wires directly to the Voice
AIY Projects
kit into their own projects. In our HAT hardware, but its easier to
Voice HAT
last tutorial for AIY Projects, we prototype your circuits by soldering
looked at hooking up the hardware the pins (supplied with the kit) to
to control an LED light (a typical the board.
first hardware project). Here, were
going to take things up a notch >STEP-01
and hook up a servo to the AIY Servo motors
Projects board. Servo motors move in a circular
On the Voice HAT hardware you motion to a set position. They are
will see two columns of pins. The often used to control robotic arms
one on the left (marked Servos) is and legs, grippers, and the position It is relatively easy to hook up
for servos, and has a 25 mA drive of surfaces (like elevators and a servo motor to a Raspberry Pi,
limit. The one on the right, marked rudders on an RC plane). but the AIY Projects Voice HAT
board makes it even easier, with a
dedicated column of pins designed
GET YOUR AIY to control servo motors. Connecting
PROJECTS KIT your servos using the Voice HAT
If you didn't manage allows them to be controlled using
to get hold of an AIY voice commands and the Cloud
Projects kit, don't Speech API
worry Google
hopes to have more >STEP-02
available soon. Sign Servo control
up for our newsletter, Servo motors are controlled using
and we'll let you pulses generated by a GPIO pin on
know when more the Raspberry Pi (were using GPIO
AIYProjects Voice 26 on the AIY Projects Voice HAT
Kitsare available: board). The servo motor expects a
magpi.cc/Email-me pulse (the GPIO pin to be turned on,
or high, and then off again) every
20 milliseconds. The length of the
pulse determines the position of
SERVO the servo arm. If its 1 ms then the
AA BATTERY The three wires from the servo
servo arm is rotated towards the
left; 1.5 ms puts it at the mid-point;
Provide a more stable power are connected to row 0 on
2 ms and its all the way to the
supply to the servo by connecting the Servos rail. Make sure you
right. The starting position from
a 4AA battery holder to the two connect the Pin, 5v, and GND
which servos rotate varies (and
power inputs on the board wires in the correct order
some move all the way around).

60 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 ATTACH A SERVO TO AIY PROJECTS Tutorial
Language
>PYTHON

add_to_action.py
# =========================================
# Makers! Implement your own actions here.
# =========================================

from gpiozero import Servo

from time import sleep
The code for detecting these pulses Above: A servo motor measures the length
between pulses (a GPIO pin being turned rapidly
and moving the servo around is on and off). When the pin is on for 1 ms, the class ServoMove(object):
provided with the GPIO Zero library, servo moves to the low position. When it's on for
2 ms, it moves to the high position. Other pulse
def __init__(self):
which works with AIY Projects. lengths are used to set it between low and high self.servo = Servo(26)
#self.value = value
>STEP-03 >STEP-05
Connect the servo Test it out def run(self, voice_command):
Were using a standard 9 g micro Before coding the servo to respond if 'maximum' in voice_command:
servo in this tutorial. These are to your voice commands, you can self.servo.max()
tiny 5 V servos with an operating test the circuit using GPIO Zero elif 'minimum' in voice_command:
voltage of 4.8 V. Each servo comes in Python. Open IDLE 3 and enter self.servo.min()
with three wires: usually these the code from servo.py. Save the else:
are red, brown, and orange. Red code and press F5 to run it. The self.servo.mid()
and brown provide power to the servo will move from its minimum
servo, and are live and neutral position to the mid-point, and # =========================================
respectively, while the third wire then to the maximum position # Makers! Add your own voice commands here.
detects the pulse. Make sure your with a pause between each step. # =========================================
Raspberry Pi is powered down, and Press CTRL+C to quit the program actor.add_keyword('change', ServoMove())
connect the servo wires directly and stop the movement. If the
to the Servos 0 row on your AIY servo doesnt work, double-check return actor
Projects Voice HAT. Many servos your connections.
GPIO ZERO
servo.py
have all three wires bundled into a
JR connector; this can be plugged >STEP-06 Our code uses the
directly into the Voice HAT board. Integrate with voice GPIO Zero Python
Be sure to fit it the correct way Now that the servo is working, its from gpiozero import Servo library to control
around, with the orange/yellow time to integrate it with the AIY from time import sleep the servo. You can
cable in the GPIO pin on the left. Projects code by modifying the
learn more about
action.py script. Open the latter servo = Servo(26) controlling projects
>STEP-04 inTextEdit: while True: with GPIO Zero in
Add Power servo.min() our Essentials book,
The 5 V running through the GPIO xdg-open /home/pi/voice- sleep(1) Simple Electronics
pins on the Raspberry Pi is enough recognizer-raspi/src/action.py servo.mid() withGPIO Zero:
to power a very small servo. sleep(1) magpi.cc/2bA3ZP7
However, with this model, you are Now add the code from servo.max()
likely to crash the Raspberry Pi, as add_to_action.py to the actions sleep(1)
it draws too much current to power and voice command sections
the motor and the Raspberry Pi (highlighted as comments in the Now everything is working, you
itself. You should provide power for code). Run src/main.py and press can attach the servo to the side of
the servo from an external battery. the button on your AIY Projects the kits cardboard box. On the side
Servos require 4.86 V DC power to Voice HAT board. Now say change of the kit, youll see an arc-shaped
the motor, which can be provided to minimum or change to hole. Most small servos will fit in
from a 4AA battery pack. Connect maximum to move the arm up this space. Twist the servo to lock
the red wire to the positive terminal and down. Saying change and it in place. Try adding a wooden
on the Voice HAT board, and the any other command moves the or 3D-printed arm to the servo so
black wire to the negative. arm back to the middle. you can clearly see it moving.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 61

 Tutorial STEP BY STEP

CONTROL A
DC MOTOR
WITH YOUR VOICE HAT
Connect a motor to your AIY Projects Voice HAT board
Youll Need
n our recent AIY Projects how to connect the Voice HAT >STEP-01
DC motor I tutorials, weve looked
at how to move beyond
hardware to simple circuits. So far
weve looked at how to control LED
Cut the power
The first thing you need to do is
4AA battery pack
using the Voice Assistant, and lights and servo motors, but in this isolate the Raspberry Pis power
Breadboard and towards using your Voice HAT tutorial well look at something supply from the power on the
jumper wires with basic electronics. a little more complex: using the Voice HAT board. This will prevent
Utility / If youve been following our AIY Projects Voice HAT to control the DC motor from draining too
Stanley knife tutorials, you will have discovered a motor. much power and shorting out your

DC MOTOR
The DC motor connects to the
positive and negative voltages
via two wires. The direction in
which the motor moves depends
on which way around the two
wires are placed.

EXTERNAL POWER
SOLDER JUMPER
You need to cut the
external power solder
jumper, located just to
AA BATTERY PACK
the left of Servos 5 on the
board. This isolates the The DC motor draws more power
than the Raspberry Pi can safely
Voice HAT power from the
provide, so a 4AA battery pack
Raspberry Pi. provides power for the DC motor.

62 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 ATTACH A SERVO TO AIY PROJECTS Tutorial

Language
add_to_action.py >PYTHON
# =========================================
# Makers! Implement your own actions here.
# =========================================

from gpiozero import PWMOutputDevice

motor.py
class MotorMove(object):
def __init__(self):
self.pwm = PWMOutputDevice(4)
from gpiozero import PWMOutputDevice
def run(self, voice_command): from time import sleep
if 'on' in voice_command:
self.pwm.on() pwm = PWMOutputDevice(4)
elif 'off' in voice_command: while True:
self.pwm.off() pwm.on()
sleep(1)
# ========================================= pwm.off()
# Makers! Add your own voice commands here. sleep(1)
# ========================================= pwm.value = 0.5
actor.add_keyword('motor', MotorMove()) sleep(1)
pwm.value = 0.0
return actor sleep(1)

Raspberry Pi. Locate the external this doesn't matter as it also manage the speed of the motor
power solder jumper marked JP1 controls the negative - pin (magpi.cc/2tnAGrz). We can use
(just to the left of Servos 5 on the that we have just connected to. the .on() and .off() methods
Voice HAT board). Use a utility This allows us to turn the motor to start and stop our motor.
knife to cut the connection in the on and off. Alternatively, we can set the
jumper (you can always re-solder value instance variable to a value
this joint if you wish to share the >STEP-04 between 0.0 and 1.0 to control the
power between the board and the Power up speed. Both techniques are shown
motor again). Finally, connect the 4AA battery in the motor.py code. You can
pack to the +Volts and GND pins also use pwm.pulse() to pulse
>STEP-02 at the lower left-hand corner the motor on and off.
Power off of the Voice HAT. This pack will
Make sure your Raspberry Pi ensure that the motor has enough >STEP-06
and Voice HAT board are powered power when you are using the Hook it up to
off. Now connect the positive leg Voice HAT, which will prevent the Voice Assistant
of the DC motor to the middle your Raspberry Pi from crashing. Now that weve seen how to
pin on Drivers 0. Notice that at Connect the power and turn on the control the motor using GPIO
the bottom of the Driver pins battery pack. Zero, it is time to integrate it
is a + symbol. with the Voice Assistant. Enter
>STEP-05 the code from add_to_action.py
>STEP-03 Turn on the Pi tothe relevant sections of
Wire for power Now turn on the Raspberry Pi /home/pi/voice-recognizer-
Next, connect the negative wire and boot into the AIY Projects raspi/src/action.py and run
of the motor to the - pin on software. Enter the code from src/main.py. Push the button
Drivers 0 (the pin on the right). motor.py to test the circuit. on your Voice HAT board and say
You may have noticed that We are using PWMOutputDevice motor on to start the motor
were not connected to the GPIO from GPIO Zero to control running; push the button again
Pin on the left (which is GPIO4); the motor. This enables us to and say motor off to stop it.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 63

 F.A.Q. YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
NEED A
FREQUENTLY PROBLEM
SOLVED?
ASKED QUESTIONS Email magpi@raspberrypi.org or
find us on raspberrypi.org/forums
to feature in a future issue.

Your technical hardware and software problems solved

THE BASICS
can probably ignore it, but if add-ons arent working
or programs are running very slowly, youll need to
upgrade to a 2.5 A micro USB power supply.

Whats the user name and password?

IM NEW TO RASPBERRY PI AND? The default user name on Raspbian is pi, and the
password is raspberry. This is the same on every
Does it run on Windows/Mac? Raspberry Pi running Raspbian, so you should change
The Raspberry Pi is a full computer so you dont need the password in the Raspberry Pi Configuration
to run it on another computer it runs itself. You can settings. These can be found in the menu in the top
use any other computer system to set it up, though, left-hand corner of the screen.
by installing operating systems to the SD card, or by
transferring files from one to the other with a USB stick.
HARDWARE QUESTIONS
Which Raspberry Pi do you recommend?
The Raspberry Pi 3 is the flagship model, and the What do I need to run a Raspberry Pi?
most powerful version. It also comes with built-in At the very least, you need an SD card, mouse,
wireless LAN and Bluetooth, as does the Raspberry Pi keyboard, monitor, and power supply. For older
ZeroW. The latter is very small, but not as powerful as Raspberry Pi models youll need a WiFi dongle or a
the Raspberry Pi 3. A lot of Raspberry Pi projects will wired internet connection. With some tweaking, if
work on both models. The other models are cheaper you need to, you can run your Raspberry Pi without a
than the Pi 3, but are not as powerful and dont have monitor, mouse, or keyboard.
wireless LAN or Bluetooth built in.
What size SD card should I use?
Do I need a case? Physically, you need a microSD card for almost all
Not necessarily. The Raspberry Pi is pretty tough, but versions of the Raspberry Pi. The original Model B and
dont use it on a metal table while its naked. Cases Model A require a full-sized SD card. We recommend
are generally very cheap and come in an assortment an 8GB card so that you have plenty of room to install
of styles for all types of Raspberry Pi, so theres no your choice of operating system.
reason not to get one.
What else do I need for a Raspberry Pi Zero?
Youll need a micro USB (male) to USB A (female)
TROUBLESHOOTING FOR BEGINNERS adapter. A small USB hub will allow you to connect a
few devices. You may also need an adapter for the mini
The light comes on but the screen is black HDMI port. Alternatively, look for cables that connect
The most common cause of a black screen is that the from mini HDMI straight to HDMI with no dongles or
SD card is blank, hasnt been written to properly, or is converters necessary.
just not pushed in all the way. Disconnect the power,
make sure the SD card is pushed in, and try again. If
that doesnt work, download the operating system
again and reinstall it.

Theres a rainbow square in the corner

If youre seeing the rainbow square, its the Raspberry
Pi letting you know that it isnt receiving enough
power. If the Raspberry Pi is performing well, you The Raspberry Pi 3

64 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED F.A.Q.

FROM THE RASPBERRY PI FAQ

RASPBERRYPI.ORG/HELP
Does the device have support resources for independent and informal learning. We also
for any form of netbooting or PXE? offer free online training materials for educators and other
Yes. The Raspberry Pi 3 can be set up to network-boot interested users. Find our resources at raspberrypi.org.
without an SD card present. Earlier models can PXE/
netboot with an appropriately set up SD card.
There is also PiNet, which is a free and open-source
GLOSSARY
community-based project initially designed for schools. BGA: Ball grid array. A type of surface-mount
Each Raspberry Pi boots from a small set of startup files packaging for electronics.
on an SD card, and fetches the rest of the data it needs Brick: To accidentally render a device inert by making
from the PiNet server, thereby allowing you to maintain changes to software or firmware.
a single operating system image for all the Raspberry Pis Distro: A specific package (flavour) of Linux and
on the network. PiNet also adds network user accounts, associated software.
shared folders, and automated backups. GPIO: General-purpose input/output. A pin that can
be programmed to perform a wide range of tasks.
What educational material is available? GPU: Graphics processing unit. The hardware that
For children, we particularly recommend Adventures in handles the graphics.
Raspberry Pi, a book by Carrie Anne Philbin, who works PoE: Power over Ethernet. Enables a device
with us at the Raspberry Pi Foundation. On our resources to be powered via an Ethernet cable.
pages we offer free educational materials; youll find PXE: Preboot execution environment. A way
complete schemes of work linked to the curriculum to set up a device to boot via the network.
for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as SoC: System on a chip. A computer on a single chip.

raspberrypi.org/magpi May 2017 65

 Feature

SUMMER
outsi d e
th is
Lets take

ummers here, so why a weather station, how to launch

S dont you unplug your
Pi and go outside? Use a
a high-altitude balloon with a
Raspberry Pi tracker, and how to
battery pack to take your Pi with photograph the wildlife in your
you, of course! In this issue, we garden with hidden Pi-powered
celebrate the great outdoors with cameras. If youre a sporty type,
twelve ideas you can use to make weve got some upgrades for
the most of the (hopefully) good your bike or skateboard too.
weather. Youll see how to build Lets go!

68 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 SUMMER PROJECTS Feature

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 69

 Feature
News PETER KODERMAC
Peter Kodermac is a technology
enthusiast from Slovenia. All of
his Pis are always hard at work.

BUILD A
raspberryweather.com

WEATHER
STATION or i s it h ot today?
Is it me,

Temperature sensor Pi Cobbler breakout cable

The DS18B20 is a waterproof temperature The Pi Cobbler breakout cable connects
sensor that gives consistent and fast all the GPIO pins to the breadboard, ome rain or shine, a
results. You could use the DHT22 sensor
instead, which also measures humidity
making it easy to connect the sensor
to the pins on the Raspberry Pi
C weather station makes
a great project for your
Raspberry Pi. With a budget of
around $100, Peter Kodermac built
a Pi-powered weather station
that captures temperature data,
graphs it, and publishes it online.
His website provides step-by-step
instructions to walk you through
the process, which involves some
simple wiring, and setting up the
Raspberry Pi as a web server.
For the sensor, Peter recommends
the DS18B20. Its waterproof and
comes with a long cable so you
can keep the sensor away from
the weather station, which might
generate heat. The DS18B20
doesnt measure humidity, so if
Plastic box
Protect your Pi from the rain. The plastic lid you want to track humidity, try
and wooden roof are not shown here. This the DHT22 instead. Peter warns
Pi is externally powered, but you could use that the DHT22 tends to give less
a sealed box with a battery inside consistent values and can take more
than one attempt to get a reading.

YOULL NEED Raspberry Pi

4.7 k resistor
Breadboard DS18B20 or DHT22 sensor
Adafruit Pi Cobbler breakout kit (26- or 40-pin)
Plastic box

70 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 SUMMER PROJECTS News
Feature

THREE WEATHER
STATION PROJECTS

MAKE A WEATHER MAP

Connecting the sensor to the Pi. Image: Simon Monk (CC-BY 3.0), made with Fritzing
Even if you dont have a weather station, you
v0.7.5. Image is creative commons cc-by (magpi.cc/2sxjBhu) from magpi.cc/2sYABdM
can access the database of Pi Weather Station
readings, and use it to plot temperatures
Peters code, available through 30 minutes. The whole process on a map using Python.
GitHub, is designed to compensate of setting up a web server can magpi.cc/2sebENH
for that, automatically retrying be a bit frustrating at times, but
where necessary. it is totally worth the time and USE THE WEATHER
Peter uses a Pi Cobbler breakout effort, Peter says. Its just STATION HAT
cable and a breadboard to make so great to build your site from The official Weather
it easy to connect the sensor to scratch and see other people visit Station HAT is being
the Raspberry Pi. Make sure you it and give you feedback! used by schools
buy the correct Cobbler cable for Peter has run the project to record data,
the model of Raspberry Pi you on almost all versions of the including humidity,
are using! Everything is housed Raspberry Pi. WordPress is a bit pressure, and air
in a plastic food box, with a hole of a memory hog, so the website quality readings,
for the power cable to go in, and loads more slowly on the Pi Zero, in an Oracle database.
for the sensor cable to come out. or older versions of the Pi. Thats magpi.cc/2tbMCvF
A wooden roof offers shelter, why I also included a neat caching
and Peter puts silica gel sachets trick to speed up things a bit. REPORT THE
inside the box to offer additional You can also monitor the WEATHER IN SCRATCH
protection from moisture. results on your Android phone, Use Scratch to display your weather data,
There were several stages using an application called My including a thermometer, along with a visual
involved in setting up the Weather Station. It displays the indicator for wind speed and direction. A Python
software for Peters project. latest data from an XML file, script is used to feed the data to Scratch.
First, he installed MySQL and which is updated in parallel with magpi.cc/2ssQCLK
used it to create a database for the main WordPress database.
WordPress, which he uses to Since Peter shared his weather
store the weather data. Then he station design, other makers have
installed and configured Apache added cameras, wind-speed and
and WordPress. He installed the air-pressure sensors, and are
Raspberry Weather plugin for calculating forecasts. If you build
WordPress, to generate a graph one, let Peter know. I have always
of the latest temperatures when felt great pride in publishing links
anybody viewed the webpage. to the people who have completed
Finally, he used a Python script the guide, he says. I get a nice
to query the sensor and put its fuzzy feeling when other people
data into the database, and Cron improve my code, too all thanks
to schedule the script to run every to open source.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 71

 Feature
News DAVE AKERMAN
Dave Akerman is a high-altitude balloonist
who, in his spare time, is a self-employed
software engineer working on PCs and

LAUNCH A
embedded solutions.
daveakerman.com

RASPBERRY PI
BALLOON Up, up and away : send your Pi sky high!

GET PERMISSION
s Neil Armstrong took a and the thin blue line of the
A giant leap for mankind,
he inspired one boy,
atmosphere separating the
ground below from the blackness
Before flying your balloon in the watching at home, to send a bear of space above, says Dave. On a
UK, you need to request permission into space. clear day, with a wide-angle lens,
from the Civil Aviation Authority As an adult, Dave Akerman Ive had the whole of southern
at least 28 days in advance. launched Babbage on a high- England from Cornwall to Kent in
Avoid areas near airports and altitude balloon with a camera, the same shot.
air shows, and send an email to sending the teddy bear 39 km A high-altitude balloon (HAB)
confirm (or cancel) your plans a above the Earth. In a stunt that flight works like this: the balloon
few days before launch. Outside replicated Felix Baumgartners is filled with hydrogen so it rises
the UK, try asking for advice on record-breaking skydive, at a speed of about 5 m/s. On
the #highaltitude IRC channel Babbage was released for the line between the payload
on Freenode. a free fall. and the balloon is a parachute,
Dont launch without permission: At that height, theres the which is pulled closed during the
you might endanger aircraft. slight curvature of the Earth, ascent. After a typical flight of

CAMERA
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO Using a Raspberry
BUILD A HIGH-ALTITUDE BALLOON Pi with the Camera
Module, you can
program the
PI IN THE SKY KIT camera to shoot at
You can build your own tracking certain altitudes
system, but the simplest option only. Dont use a
is to use the Pi in the Sky kit, case: it will trap
which includes the GPS antenna moisture and ruin
and a radio transmitter. your images.
magpi.cc/2rablQk magpi.cc/28IjIsz

72 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 SUMMER PROJECTS News
Feature

Arduino Pro Mini

This setup is a custom build, created
without using the Pi in the Sky kit.
The Arduino sends image data
from the Pi to one of two radios,
depending on which one is available.

Insulated case
Dave recommends plenty of insulation
to protect your components from the
cold, and from the impact when they
come down to earth. It also protects
anyone or anything your kit lands on!

GPS tracker
The GPS tracker has been positioned away from the Pi to
provide a clear signal. Put your GPS aerial near the top of
your container, and make sure it has an unobstructed view. two to three hours, the balloon With a well-tested radio tracker,
bursts at high altitude, and the the chance of not knowing where
payload drops. The parachute the payload has landed is pretty
opens, and the payload returns close to zero.
to the ground. The payload Dave started out building his
includes a GPS tracker and a radio own tracking and transmission
transmitter so you can follow its systems, but the Pi in the Sky
journey from the ground, and be (PITS) kit can now do this for you.
ready to recover it. You can also Among other things, it enables
receive images during the flight. data from the Sense HAT to be
There are several options for sent back during the flight.
the radio transmissions. Most Some of my flights have had a
people in the UK use RTTY (Radio 3G link at low altitudes (useful for
Teletype) transmissions, but streaming video to YouTube), or
some also use LoRa, a proprietary have predicted their own landing
long-range radio system that position during descent, Dave
g
erry Pi flyin
titude ph oto from a Raspb nw all
enables images to be downloaded says. My current project is to use
High-al and C or
ing over Devon
more quickly. In some countries a gliding parachute or parafoil to
win don , look
over S (but not the UK), APRS can be land at a particular target location,
used, if you have an amateur using wind data measured during
BALLOON radio licence. ascent to feed the guidance
The balloon (shown In the UK we have a algorithm during descent.
here bursting) widespread network of other Dave advises new launchers
carries your payload. hobbyists who will help during to read as much as they can
Use the online the flight, meaning that even if to avoid mistakes others have
calculator to work the chase car loses signal (e.g. already made. Read the UK
out which size you its in a tunnel or on the wrong HighAltitude Society website
need: typically 800 g side of a hill) then the rest of (ukhas.org.uk), read various HAB
or 1000 g, depending the receiver network will fill in blogs, and join the #highaltitude
on the weight of the gaps, says Dave. Data from IRC channel on Freenode and
your payload. flights is fed into a distributed introduce yourself, he says.
magpi.cc/2rRPZKr mapping system called Habhub. Doall three!

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 73

 Feature
News

GREAT
OUTDOOR
id
PROJECTS
e, and see the
our r
, pim py
Get close to nature
e b rilliant projects
ith thes
world differently w
Photo: David Schneider/IEEE Spectrum

SUPERSIZE YOUR BIKE COMPUTER

David Schneider replaced the tiny computer on
his bike with a Kindle Touch. Reed switches on
the wheel and chain ring are used to measure
the speed and cadence. The Kindle browser
displays the stats, which a GPS-equipped Pi
in the saddlebag uploads to a webpage.
magpi.cc/2tcc8ky GET THE BEST HARVEST
Whether youre growing flowers
or veg, Devon Brays PiPlanter
projectcan help. It automates
BUILD A MINIBEAST HABITAT watering, based on a schedule
Invite snails or your favourite insects to move or soil moisture levels. It also
into a new home. Computing teacher Allen Heard monitors light and temperature,
and his son Lincoln made a Minecraft-themed and creates a time-lapse video.
minibeast habitat from a cereal box. A webcam Relax on holiday, knowing the
connected to a Raspberry Pi streams video to the plants are cared for, and watch
iCamViewer iOS app. their progress on Twitter.
magpi.cc/2stfDq6 magpi.cc/2seoFqx

74 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 SUMMER PROJECTS News
Feature

BUILD A WEARABLE CAMERA FLY A KITE

With these glasses, you can capture everything Want a cheaper way to take
you see, automatically taking a photo every 30 aerial photos? Richard Hayler
seconds. A Raspberry Pi Zero inside the box sent a Raspberry Pi up on a kite.
controls a Camera Module, and an optional Blinkt! He used the Xtrinsic Sensor
module flashes when a shot is taken. Cherry-pick Board to measure altitude, the
your best shots, or turn them all into a film. Camera Module to take photos,
magpi.cc/2rhBbl6 and mapknitter.org to combine
the aerial shots. At maximum
resolution with image stabilisation,
the photos look great.
WATCH THE WILDLIFE magpi.cc/2s26F0a
Photograph passing squirrels,
woodpeckers, and partridges with
the Naturebytes Wildlife Camera
Kit (see our review in issue 48).
It uses a movement sensor to
snap pictures of passing birds and
animals, and has a green case so it
blends in with your foliage.
naturebytes.org

TAKE YOUR PI ANYWHERE MAKE

The Zero LiPo device (see our review in issue 51) SPINNING FLOWERS
enables you to safely power your Raspberry Pi If the weather forces you into
from a battery pack (sold separately). Despite the great indoors, you can bring
the name, it works with the Raspberry Pi 3, 2, nature inside by making your own
B+, A+, Zero, and Zero W. What will you make spinning flowers. Use the Explorer
with a portable Pi? HAT with a motor and mount your
magpi.cc/2coJyZ2 own flower design on the wheel.
The code is in Python, and this
BROADCAST BIG makes a great first motor project.
BROTHER FOR BIRDS magpi.cc/2ralmNy
Discover the secret life of birds,
with this project to add an infrared
camera to a bird box. When the
blue tits move in, the Pi NoIR
Camera Module can video them in
black and white, by the light of an
infrared LED. You can then stream
your footage to YouTube.
magpi.cc/2c8P2rr

MOTORISE YOUR SKATEBOARD

Put some zip into your trips around town with an
electric skateboard. YouTuber TheRaspberryPiGuy
used a Raspberry Pi Zero to control an Alien Power
System motor, and a Wii Remote to control the
speed and acceleration over Bluetooth. He hit
speeds as fast as 30 km/h, and he says the range
is at least 10 km.
magpi.cc/2oyuWrU

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 75

 Review OCTOCAM
magpi.cc/2t5PA5y

40 / $50

OCTOCAM
A complete camera kit with a fun design
he latest in Pimoronis Inside the box youll find a with a 50cm USB to micro USB
T growing range of Pi
Zero W project kits,
Raspberry Pi Zero W, a 5 MP mini
camera (more on this later), and
cable, a male 220-pin header (to
solder on), and a sticker sheet.
OctoCam provides everything an octopus-shaped acrylic mount Assembly of the main camera
you need to build your own with four suction cups and a desk kit takes around 30 minutes
cute camera. As with the other stand. The only things you need using a step-by-step guide
Pimoroni kits, the packaging is to add are a microSD card and a (magpi.cc/2srIv2q) and is fairly
excellent and the hinged plastic power supply. Bonus components straightforward, if a little fiddly
case can be reused to store other in the box include USB and HDMI at times. This is mainly due to the
components afterwards. adapters for the Pi Zero W, along tiny nylon nuts, bolts and spacers,

Related
ZEROVIEW
A neat custom
mount for the
Raspberry
Pi Zero and
official Camera
Module, which
can be stuck
to a window
using its two
suction cups.

7 / $9
magpi.cc/2e89hWt

76 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 OCTOCAM Review

Third-party camera Maker

Designed for small projects
Says
where space is at a premium, the A cute,
mini camera unit in the OctoCam
kit is an unofficial device, but connected,
features the same 5 MP sensor cephalopod
as the original v1 Raspberry Pi
Camera Module. Specs include a camera to
maximum 2592 1944 resolution
for stills, and 1080p video at 30
stick on your
fps. Its also available separately window or
(magpi.cc/2t1l50S), including a
version without the IR filter, which
sit on your
you could to use in the OctoCam shelf!
to make a night-vision camera. Pimoroni

one of which we managed to drop The quality of the images is

on the floor! These fixtures secure very good, as are captured videos
the Raspberry Pi Zero W to the (lacking sound, of course). Sticking
mount while keeping it far enough the OctoCam to a window, we soon
away from the camera to protect managed to capture a nice time-
the latter from overheating. We lapse of the setting sun although
found it a little tricky to keep the we ended up stitching the images
camera lens in the mount hole together on another computer, as
while folding over its short cable its a bit too much for the Pi ZeroW
to position the Pi, but it was still a to handle.
lot easier than the cable-twisting Another obvious use for the
shenanigans involved when OctoCam is as a CCTV security
assembling the rival ZeroView camera, using the motionEye OS
camera mount. The optional desk operating system. Pimoronis
stand is easily added, enabling you online tutorial (magpi.cc/2srz9n6)
to sit the OctoCam on a shelf. shows how to set this up, including
preconfiguring the wireless
Mini camera unit connection youll need to do
The camera itself is a third-party this instead of starting with a
model (also available separately) wired connection to the router, as
with compact dimensions the Zero lacks an Ethernet port. Above The OctoCams suckers stick it securely to a window
(6011.45.1 mm). Some of the We found the frame rate pretty
electronics are located on its flexible low (2-3 fps) at anything but the
cable, so the end with the camera lowest resolutions when using Last word
lens is a lot smaller than that of motion detection, dipping even
the official Raspberry Pi Camera lower when it started recording
With its compact dimensions and fun design,
the OctoCam is very appealing. The third-party
Module. As it uses the same 5 MP video. This appears to be due to the
camera unit performs well, although the whole
sensor as the original v1 official limitations of the Pi Zero and/or
setup struggles to handle motion detection
Camera Module, it has similar specs software, rather than the camera,
and recording in motionEye OS. Its also a little
and works straight out of the box, as we discovered when we tried
expensive, considering that you could buy a Pi
once youve enabled the camera using a v2 Camera Module instead.
Zero W and the standalone mini camera for under
in raspi-config on the Pi. You can Fortunately, if you just want to
24. Sure, you get a few extras in the box along
use the standard raspistill and stream live video, turning off the with the mount, but you might not want them all.
raspivid commands in a Terminal motion detection (by activating
window, or by SSHing in from a the Fast Network Camera option)
remote computer. results in a decent frame rate.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 77

 Review WEB BROWSER GROUP TEST

WEB BROWSER
GROUP TEST
What is the best way to surf the World Wide Web in Raspbian?

MIDORI
t is hard to overstate the importance of web browsers and how
I much we take them for granted. They are our access point to
a universe of information, and they do a lot of work to bring us all
this information in a readable format.
Raspbian has featured several default web browsers over the last The original Raspbian web browser, well known
five years, changing as internet access and power requirements have as a lightweight browser for the Linux community,
developed. Is the latest choice, Chromium, the best of the lot? We test is suitable for use on a (relatively) low-powered
some of the best browsers available to find out. system. It hasnt been included in standard
Raspbian releases since around the time of the
Raspberry Pi 2 launch, so we went into testing
Midori on our Pi 3 expecting it to outperform
everything else.
Unfortunately, we were surprised to find it
lagging as we used it. YouTube videos stuttered, and
scrolling was only smooth on low-resource websites
such as Wikipedia. Loading wasnt particularly fast
either. The lack of features, which should have made
it fast and lightweight, did not seem to help, and
this gave it a severe handicap.

midori-browser.org

EPIPHANY/WEB
As with Midori, we had high expectations looking back at Epiphany.
Known as Web in the GNOME desktop environment, its an often-
overlooked browser that is usually singled out for being far too
simplistic and basic.
Like Midori, it was once a default Raspbian browser, with a modified
version used until recently when it was superseded by Chromium.
Unlike Midori, it is optimised for use with the Raspberry Pi.
We expected our revisit to Epiphany would reaffirm our dislike for
it, but honestly it still works well on the Raspberry Pi. Scrolling is
relatively smooth, YouTube playback is fine, and juggling tabs is easy.
Its still heavily limited in what it can do, but it did a lot better than
we expected. magpi.cc/2rUHrmX

78 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 WEB BROWSER GROUP TEST Review

CHROMIUM
The current default browser for Raspbian,
Chromium is the open-source base of Googles
Chrome browser. Theres not a lot of difference
between the two, especially as Raspbians
version has Flash installed.
On a normal PC, Chromium is relatively
lightweight (especially if youre using only a
few tabs at a time), but even this slimmed-
down version of Chromium for Raspbian offers
good performance. The Raspberry Pi 3 has the
power to handle it, and with enough oomph
spare to run other software.
One of the benefits of running Chromium is

KWEB
that it also connects to your Google account. If
you use Chrome or Chromium on your main PC, it
lets you instantly copy over settings and apps, so
it is easier to set up the browser to your liking.
This is the only browser in this selection that has been made
chromium.org specifically for Raspbian, and in fact goes beyond the definition of a
web browser: kweb is designed to be part of a Raspberry Pi-powered
web kiosk.
Dont let that deter you though, as its still well suited to standard
web browsing. For people who are a bit more web savvy, kweb offers
a range of options to customise your web browsing experience for
maximum efficiency. This includes a button on the main interface
that lets you turn certain features on and off, such as JavaScript,
cookies, and more.
While it can be lightning fast, you do sacrifice many of the amenities
of modern browsers to produce this great performance.

FIREFOX ESR
Theres a bit of weird history behind Firefox
on Debian (the base of Raspbian), but the
important thing is that its here now, and its in
the form of an ESR.
ESRs are Extended Support Releases, slightly
different to the main version of Firefox. Firefox
usually updates every six weeks or so, but this
version is sent security updates only until the
next set of major updates arrives.
We were pleasantly surprised by the way Firefox magpi.cc/2rUZGbM
worked on the Raspberry Pi 3. It loaded quickly,
rendered pages well, allowed for smooth scrolling,
and even played YouTube videos well; but what
made it shine was one of its lesser-known features:
AWARDS
book reader mode.
Book reader mode takes a blog-style post and
strips the formatting down to a page with plain text
and pictures. It reduces resource use considerably
WINNER CHROMIUM
and works well with a Raspberry Pi, especially

MOST
when youre looking up tutorials or instructions.

mozilla.org/firefox SURPRISING FIREFOX ESR

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 79

 Review WD PIDRIVE FOUNDATION EDITION, USB FLASH
magpi.cc/2pJjBpT

19 / $19
Maker
Says
The ideal
storage
solution for
Raspberry Pi
WDLabs

WD PIDRIVE FOUNDATION
EDITION - USB FLASH
Tag-team a microSD card with a USB flash dongle for extra storage.
Lucy Hattersley looks at WDs latest offering

W
DLabs has produced some would be possible with microSD from a trusted brand, like SanDisk).
quirky and interesting card technology. However, what Even so, we expected the USB
storage solutions for the we have here is a microSD card thumb drive to be faster, and
Raspberry Pi recently. bundled with a SanDisk Cruzer benchmarks didnt let us down.
The idea is simple: WDLabs has 64GB USB drive, so things are
built a custom version of Raspbian a little muddier. Benchmarks
that boots to an external storage For example, you can pick up We benchmarked the WD PiDrive
drive. This external storage space a SanDisk 64GB microSD card for Foundation Edition, USB Flash (sda)
then acts as the primary drive, so around the same 20 price. You against an official 8GB Raspberry Pi
you only have to manage one single could keep a USB port free on microSD card (mmblk0).
storage space. your Raspberry Pi and get a more As you can see below, the USB

Related
There are other bonuses to straightforward installation. Flash read was marginally slower
WDLabs software: you can install What you do get, however, is with cached reads, but almost a
multiple instances of Raspbian OS a high-quality microSD card and third faster in buffered disk reads.
SAMSUNG alongside other OSes. a high-quality USB drive. And USB On balance, you are getting more
64GB EVO When WD bundles a 4GB drives are typically faster than speed for the same money.
PLUS microSD card with one of its large microSD cards (which vary in read
You can pick up
a high-quality
(250GB or 375GB) hard drives, and write speed tremendously Last word
microSD card the advantage is clear. You get a this is why you should choose a
with about the much bigger storage space than Class 6 or Class 10 microSD card The WD PiDrive Foundation
same amount of Edition, USB Flash is a good
storage space setup for a media centre or
for roughly the TIMING CACHED TIMING BUFFERED
same price. READS: DISK READS: retro games console. It offers
fast read times and more
1118 MB in 2.00 seconds = 100 MB in 3.01 seconds = storage than a stock card. While
/dev/sda
558.75 MB/sec 33.21 MB/sec it's not quite as impressive as
the other WD PiDrive offerings,
it's still a useful piece of kit.
1140 MB in 2.00 seconds = 64 MB in 3.02 seconds =
22 / $29 /dev/mmcblk0
570.02 MB/sec 21.19 MB/sec
magpi.cc/2rDv5v3

80 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

READ US ANYWHERE
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2017 81
 Review BOOKS

THE INTERNET OF
RASPBERRY PI RISKY THINGS
every possible device to the internet
medical devices, cars, the power

BESTSELLERS
grid and our Panglossian disregard
for the downsides.
Author: Sean Smith
Blunders (anti-patterns),
BERRETT-KOEHLER
Publisher: OReilly
Price: 23.99 including those from traditional
ISBN: 978-1491963623 internet-connected computer
Hit a roadblock in your maker project magpi.cc/2rSCfPE devices, are outlined, with truly
or business? BK have the answers. scary examples of connected
You can bury your devices vulnerabilities from recent
head in the sand years, and the case made for a more
EAT THAT FROG! or you can read
this book. IoT devices are
robust and systematic approach
by manufacturers. Identity and
Author: Brian Tracy
already permeating every aspect of trust, devices that outlive their
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler
Price: 11.99 our lives, yet the usual IT business cryptography, privacy cautions,
ISBN: 978-1626569416 excuses have left a vast installed business cases pulling in different
magpi.cc/2s38ZE8 base of unpatched and unpatchable directions from security cases:
software in devices we can barely every angle is carefully considered
Working hard without results? even access, or have forgotten including law, the digital divide,
Fighting creative blockage, and about entirely. and future human-machine
suffering from procrastination?
Tracy cuts through the clutter Forever-day exploits are zero-day relationships but Smith gives no
and gives you simple tools to exploits that remain permanent glib answers to the many questions
complete your projects. Take for several years (or indefinitely). and reflections. The beginning of
back control!
Patches are released, but who a very necessary conversation.
patches their ADSL router? Or

YOU DONT HAVE TO DO IT ALONE: their coffee machine? Sean Smith

outlines the very real risks were Score
HOW TO INVOLVE OTHERS TO taking with the rush to connect
GET THINGS DONE
Author: Dick Axelrod et al.
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler SCALA FOR programming and not as a bolt-

THE IMPATIENT
Price: 16.99 on afterthought. Scala has obvious
ISBN: 978-1576752784 appeal for modern enterprise
magpi.cc/2s2W992
projects with large codebases,
Author: Cay S Horstmann
and Horstmanns tutorial will
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
From bug fixing and testing quickly bring Java or C++ (and
through to crowdfunding, Price: 27.99
makers need others. From ISBN: 978-0134540566 C#) coders to appreciate its
intrapreneurs, through side magpi.cc/22tPmUY possibilities. Scala has many
projects, to startup maker other applications, from web
businesses, Axelrod et al.
will help you to get the right
Another month, programming to newer paradigms
people involved. another new edition such as probabilistic programming.
of a Horstmann classic: this time Since the first edition, there have

DONT JUST DO SOMETHING, the introduction to Scala written

to save readers from working
been several other books on Scala,
but Horstmanns strengths clarity,
STAND THERE! through the comprehensive but concision, and plenty of timely
800-page guide from language cautions about potential problems
Authors: Marvin Weisbord,
Sandra Janoff creator Martin Odersky. Following combine with the latest on
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Oderskys conventions, chapters futures, concurrency, and implicit
Price: 16.50 and subsections are classified by conversion of types, to make this a
ISBN: 978-1576754252 level for application and library good choice for readers with a Java
magpi.cc/2rj5BIh
developers, and difficult sections or C++ background. Brief but strong
can be skipped by the truly introductions on topics like pattern
Getting results is often
hindered by being in a room
impatient Scala learner. matching, and on annotations, add
(or worse, a virtual environment) Scala is a statically typed JVM to the books appeal.
with people who dont language, more expressive and
understand your aims, and are
powerful than Java, with good
hard for you to get a handle on.
Change your approach. concurrency; maintaining full OO Score
abilities, while adding in functional

82 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 BOOKS Review

PRO PYTHON community, and practice. Tools ESSENTIAL READING:

BEST PRACTICES
come to the fore in debugging, but
so too does the scientific method. MODERN PROGRAMMING
This section sees the introduction PARADIGMS
Author: Kristian Rother
of a maze runner program, used
Publisher: Apress Beyond OO and FP, coders need to be aware
throughout the book as the test
Price: 14.99 of reactive patterns, good APIs, and more.
ISBN: 978-1484222409 bed for the methods, tools, and
magpi.cc/2tdxRbY techniques taught.
The automated testing section Irresistible APIs
As your Python programs is a valuable introduction to a topic Author: Kirsten L Hunter
grow, so do your problems: that many newer programmers Publisher: Manning
Price: 27.99
debugging gets harder; the need put off learning. Starting simply
ISBN: 978-1617292552
for well-written tests becomes with writing and running test magpi.cc/2rnXCoi
more urgent; and maintenance functions with pytest, Rother soon
issues intrude; bringing the need builds through complex border Work across organisations to Create
Web APIs That Make Your Developers
for a better approach to version cases to more diverse test data,
Weep (For Joy!), backed by a strong
control, code organisation, and and then to writing a complete business case.
documentation. Pro Python Best test suite. Maintenance runs
Practices is a neat exploration of through project structure and Functional Reactive Programming
all of these topics, which starts by refactoring, to approaches like Authors: Anthony Jones,
making the case for best practices. defensive programming to prevent Stephen Blackheath
Here Rother compares and contrasts the unchecked propagation of Publisher: Manning
Price: 27.99
the approaches of hacking, software errors allowed by dynamic typing.
ISBN: 978-1633430105
engineering, agile, and software Essential material. magpi.cc/2rnzSkl
craftsmanship, coming down in
favour of the last. FRP intro for Java and JS programmers,
Craftsmanship emphasises Score which should help those still baffled by
functional programming.
purpose, planning, tools, skills,

Practical Probabilistic Programming

COMPUTERS Convolutional Neural Networks to
Author: Avi Pfeffer

AND GAMES
Publisher: Manning
MCTS for huge improvements in Price: 36.99
playing strength. Winning the Best ISBN: 978-1617292330
Paper Award at the conference, magpi.cc/2rSPHD8
Editors: Aske Plaat,
Walter Kosters, Lorentz and Isaacs research
No abstract concept, but a practical,
Jaap van den Herik concludes with promising strategies predictive paradigm with strong ML
Publisher: Springer
for further refinements. applications, from spam filtering to
Price: 37.99 data and image recovery.
We also find novel strategies
ISBN: 978-3319509341
magpi.cc/2rbgRlG and games modelling in Werewolf,
temporal difference learning in
Reactive Design Patterns
Author: Roland Kuhn
AI research and the game 2048, and Nash Equilibrium for
Publisher: Manning
of Go came to the publics attention better code-making choices in
Price: 27.99
recently when Googles AlphaGo Mastermind. A few papers require ISBN: 978-1617291807
program beat the worlds number some undergraduate maths (yours magpi.cc/2sUFV1C
one human player. Its combination via various MOOCs), and things
Reactive Manifesto co-author and
of move finding by Monte Carlo Tree get a little more theoretical in the
Akka lead Kuhn brings message-
Search (MCTS) and Neural Networks penultimate section. The final driven enlightenment in logical steps.
is the pinnacle of a huge amount of section contains a single paper
AI research, particularly in the field which asks Do People Think Like Visualizing Graph Data
of game playing. This collection of Computers?, and combines AI and Author: Corey L Lanum
20 academic papers from last years behavioural science work for a better Publisher: Manning
international Computers and Games understanding of human behaviour Price: 24.99
ISBN: 978-1617293078
conference, useful reading for any and approaches in adversarial
magpi.cc/2rjcdX8
curious reader, covers these topics combinatorial games like Go.
and more. Organise and present data in graph
MCTS dominates, including the format, highlighting relationships in
opening Using Partial Tablebases in Score data, and change the questions you
ask of the data.
Breakthrough, which applies Deep

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 83

Community FEATURE

THE MONTH IN
RASPBERRY PI
Everything else that happened this month in the world of Raspberry Pi

MORE AIY
ts been a couple of
I months since we released
issue 57 with the Google

PROJECTS!
AIY Projects voice kit, and
were still seeing people make
awesome stuff with it. One of our
favourite websites during that
time has been the Ktinkerer page
(magpi.cc/2sJlZ52), which lists
a lot of the cool mods theyve
People love the AIY Projects voice kit -
come across. Here are some
heres some of the excellent stuff theyve been making of our faves

MUSIC
magpi.cc/2rJygkY

A lot of people have asked us whether AIY can connect

to Google Music. Some clever people have worked out
how to make it work
magpi.cc/2sf5OuT GOOGLE MUSIC
Google with Google should be a natural pairing, so
this mod that lets you play music via Google Music on
your AIY kit is cool. This version also includes a little
scrolling marquee (using the Scroll pHAT) showing the
name of the current song!

magpi.cc/2sfegdF

PLAY MUSIC FROM YOUTUBE BBC RADIO

We do this on our PCs sometimes just have a soundtrack playing via Add the ability to listen to any of the major BBC Radio
YouTube while we work. With this mod, you can add this functionality to services via the internet. This mod uses VLC, which is
the AIY kit! You dont even have to preset any videos: it will automatically the established method. Theres even a workaround for
pick one for you. people wanting to listen to the BBC outside the UK!

84 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 THIS MONTH IN PI Community

BASIC COMMANDS BEST OF THE REST

Some basics that people have added Here are some other fun mods
to their AIY Projects boxes for the AIY Projects kit
magpi.cc/2rJTfnP magpi.cc/2sf7rcc
ADD REBOOT AND
SHUTDOWN COMMANDS
So good that Google has merged it into the main
AIY Projects repo, this command lets you reboot by
saying pi reboot, and lets you shut it down with pi
power off. Nice, simple, and you can add it yourself.

magpi.cc/2rJu0lM
ADD A TIMER AMAZON DASH TRIGGERS
One of the great things about a smartwatch is being Adding triggers to the AIY kit is a good way to expand
able to set a timer without having to dig your phone what it does. This allows you to activate the voice
out. This feature isnt in the AIY code, so this mod lets assistant by saying OK Google, rather than using
you add it. Smart! the button. This mod goes one step further and adds
additional buttons to the kit.
magpi.cc/2rJBOE7
SHUT DOWN magpi.cc/2sfb9m1

WITH SELF-DESTRUCT
Shut down with a twist. You can ask the AIY Pi to turn
itself off, or you can have it count down to turning it
off by asking it to initiate self-destruct. It obviously
doesnt actually destroy itself, but you know its fun.

BUY AIY REMOTE-CONTROL 433

MHZ SOCKETS
PROJECTS KIT
Home automation is great, especially when you
can make it work using voice activation, just like
Star Trek. This project lets you hack some 433 MHz
Wanted to get a copy of issue 57 and the AIY Projects sockets with your AIY kit to do just that.
voice kit, but found they were sold out? We hope to
magpi.cc/2sePqdZ
see more kits in the near future, and you can sign
up to our mailing list to find out when they will be
available at magpi.cc/Email-me.

VOICE CHESS
Play chess against the computer using only
your voice. You may need to lay out a real chess
board if you cant visualise the game in your
head. At least youll be prepared to answer
a chess move riddle so you can be beamed
aboard the USS Enterprise.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 85

Community FEATURE

Image credit ESA

EURO ASTRO PI
COMPLETE!
The European Astro Pi competition is over,
and the coders have the results of their experiements
ell have a lot more about this in future issues
W of The MagPi, but were really happy to report
that the second Astro Pi competition has come
to an end. French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet
looked after the Astro Pi units on board the space
station and kept an eye on the experiments as well
all 64 of them!

We can see that many

of the teams have been
Here we have the experiments from Astro Team (Italy, left)

successful in their missions and AstroShot (Greece, right). Image credit ESA

On 10 May, all the results were beamed back to

Earth, and the various student teams received them
a week later to analyse and release in their own time.
Weve looked at the results, Astro Pi organiser
Dave Honess wrote on the Raspberry Pi blog
(magpi.cc/2sft24g). We can see that many of
the teams have been successful in their missions:
congratulations to all of you! We look forward to
reading your write-ups and blogs.
Well show off some of the cool experiment results
in future issues, but for now here are some pictures The end of the experiment made the French papers!
from the competition.

86 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 THIS MONTH IN PI Community

KICKSTART THIS!
Raspberry Pi projects you can crowdfund this month

STAND FOR OFFICIAL AUDIO INJECTOR ZERO

TOUCH SCREEN kck.st/2su4LED

kck.st/2qG7SJi Another Raspberry Pi sound card, this one is a Zero-

sized version of the previous Audio Injector for other
This is a simple yet cool little Kickstarter project a Raspberry Pi models. You can even solder on an electret
stand specially made to hold the official touchscreen, microphone if you wish! The stretch goals determine
along with a Raspberry Pi. It is designed to be easy to whats going to be on the board, so you can help
assemble, and would look great as a specialised recipe determine how the final product turns out. Its a high-
computer in your kitchen, or for showing videos at quality audio add-on for the Pi, so if you enjoy good
events and shows. Theres even room to add a HAT! audio its definitely worth a look.

BEST OF THE REST Here are some other great things

we saw this month

RASPBERRY PI
LOOPER/SYNTH/
DRUM MACHINE
This is super-awesome. A fully
custom synth machine using a
Raspberry Pi, full of all the switches
and knobs youd need to synthesize
music? Musical instruments have
never been our strong point, but we
want to play with this.
magpi.cc/2sfl3nB

magpi.cc/2rwmSKf THE WORST CASE

EVER MADE
MINI SNES Were not sure whether this is
Waiting for the official Nintendo SNES Classic supposed to be bad because
Mini? Andrew Bougie made his own 3D-printed fitting it into an Atari 2600
SNES case for the Raspberry Pi, and shared the cartridge was a bad idea, or
design files on Thingiverse. Its probably much because its in a cartridge of the
smaller than the official version would be if ET game. Well leave that up for
only it wasnt the ugly American model you to decide.
magpi.cc/2sf4lEW

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 87

Community COMMUNITY PROFILE

COMMUNITY
PROFILE
ESTEFANNIE
EXPLAINS IT ALL
From automated gingerbread houses to
French press coffee at the touch of a button,
Estefannie is taking the YouTube maker
community by storm

Estefannie H
ey, world! Estefannie
exclaims, a wide grin across
explaining it. If she could teach a
topic successfully, she knew shed
her face as the camera retained the information. And so
Category: YouTuber
begins to roll for another YouTube her YouTube channel, Estefannie
Day job: Software engineer
tutorial video. With a growing Explains It All, came into being.
Web: magpi.cc/2sm6D5Z number of followers, and wonderful But YouTube isnt her only
estefannie.com support from her fans, Estefannie outlet. With nearly 30,000
twitter.com/estefanniegg is building a solid reputation as an followers, Estefannies Instagram
online maker, creating unique, fun (magpi.cc/2smasrZ) game is
content accessible to all. Its as if strong, adding to an increasing
she was born into performing and number of female coders taking to
making for an audience, but this the platform. Across her Instagram
fun, enjoyable journey to social grid youll find insights into her
media stardom came not from a daily routine, from programming
desire to be in front of the camera, on location for work, to behind-
but rather as a unique approach to the-scenes troubleshooting as she
Below Her first videos featured
pages of notes with voice-over her own learning. While studying, begins to create another tutorial
explanations of data structure and Estefannie decided the best way to video. Its hard work, with content
algorithm analysis; then she moved
in front of the camera, and expanded confirm her knowledge of a subject creation for both Instagram and
her skills in the process was to create an educational video YouTube forever on her mind as

As a thank-you to her Instagram fans for helping her reach

10,000, Estefannie created a free game for Android and
iOS called Gravitris: imagine Tetris with balance issues!

88 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 ESTEFANNIE EXPLAINS IT ALL Community
she continues to work and progress
successfully as a software engineer.
Estefannie was born and raised
in Mexico with ambitions to
become a graphic designer and
animator. However, a documentary
on coding at Pixar, and the beauty
of Meridas hair in Brave, opened
her mind to the opportunities for
software engineering in animation.
She altered her career path, moved
to the United States, and switched
to a Computer Science course.
While studying, Estefannie started
a Computer Science Girls Club at
the University of Houston, Texas,
and found herself eager to put more
time and effort into the movement approachability for all, regardless of create their own tech wonders. Above With a
constant desire
to increase the percentage of age, gender or skill. From exploring Using the Raspberry Pi, shes been to make and to
women in the industry. The club Scratch and Makey Makey with able to broaden her skills and, in learn, Estefannie
combines
was a success, and still is to this day. her young niece and nephew, to turn, her projects, creating a home- her software
automated gingerbread house engineering
profession

Estefannies videos are

at Christmas, and an internet- with her hobby
button-controlled French press. to create fun,
exciting content

essentially a documentary
And thats just the beginning of her for YouTube
adventures with Pi but we wont
spoil her future plans by telling you

of her own learning process whats coming next. Sorry.

While many wonderful maker
videos show off a project without
While Estefannie has handed over creating her own Disney Made with much explanation, or expect a
the reins, shes still very involved Magic backpack for a trip to Disney certain level of skill from the viewer
in the cause. World, Florida, Estefannies videos who hopes to recreate the project,
Through her YouTube videos, are essentially a documentary of Estefannies videos exist almost
Estefannie continues the her own learning process; produced within their own category. We
theme of inclusion, with every so the viewer can learn with her cant wait to see where Estefannie
project offering a warm sense of and learn from her mistakes to Explains It All goes next!

HIGHLIGHT
magpi.cc/2smk0mL
GINGERBREAD
HOME AUTOMATION
Estefannies automated gingerbread house project
was a labour of love, with electronics, wires and
candy strewn across both her living room and kitchen
for weeks before completion. While she is a skilled
programmer, the world of physical digital making was
still a fairly new concept for Estefannie. Having ditched
her hot glue gun in favour of a soldering iron in a
previous video, she continued to experiment and try out
new, interesting techniques that are now second nature
to so many members of the maker community. With the
gingerbread house, Estefannie was able to research and
apply techniques such as light controls, servos and app
making, although the latter was already firmly within her
skill set. The result? A fun video of ups and downs that
resulted in a wonderful, festive treat. She even gave her
holiday home its own solar panel!

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 89

Community EVENT REPORT

EVENT REPORT
Whats being going on at Jams, Clubs, and Dojos around the world?

CODERDOJO
COOLEST PROJECTS
nce a year in Dublin, a horde of coding ninjas
O gather to show off their finest making skills
at CoderDojos Coolest Projects event. This
year, the event was held on Saturday 17 June at the
Royal Dublin Society (RDS).
Raspberry Pi and CoderDojo have merged, so
this years event saw an increase in the Raspberry
Pi Foundation attendance. Pi people scoured the
show floor looking for the best and most awesome This teddy bear recognises
faces. Were worried that it
projects. Heres what they saw might be a Terminator, though

The Northern Ireland Raspberry Jam This LEGO robot makes the
team ran a conductive paint Minecraft cut because, unlike most
Pi activity using the DOTS board robots, it has a driver!

Its weird that this isnt the first beekeeping project This LEGO DUPLO house is fully automated like the
weve seen, but it is definitely the cutest house party scene in Home Alone

90 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 CODE CLUB STARS Community

CODE CLUB
STARS
Introducing a Code Club star from Brazil
WANT TO FIND
OUT MORE ABOUT
CODE CLUBS?
Head to
codeclub.org.uk

Luciana watch the students discovering

Bezerra
that they are able to develop
those games, and even to create
other ones based on their own
imagination. In some cases, the
Club: Code Club Casablanca, students can even discover an
So Paulo interest in pursuing IT as a job.
Web: magpi.cc/2rR9Ypz
Why is Code Club important
to you?
hat inspired you to Sharing my knowledge and
W volunteer for Code Club? knowing that it can change

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
I was inspired to share the future for some students is
my knowledge of computers and something priceless to me. Also,
programming. In Brazil, students I have plenty of fun with it!
in poor neighbourhoods usually Heres what went on at Jams and
dont have access to computer What has been your best Code other Raspberry Pi events around
or game design courses. It is Club moment?
inspiring giving them access One day, the mother of one
the world this month
to these kinds of activities. of the students went to Code
Club and she was amazed to see FAMILY JAM
Tell us as a bit about your her teenage son developing a Building robodogs is
Code Club complete game over the course all well and good, until
On the first day of class, I of two hours. She raised the they chase after the
usually show one of the games kid by herself and she doesnt robo-postman! The
that the students will make have enough money to pay for Family Jam sounded
during the course. Most of them computer/game courses for him. great, though.
do not believe they will be able to She was very grateful because
program something like that. It a team of volunteers was there SCIENCE WORLD
is extremely rewarding to me to teaching and support her son. Canadian Raspberry
Pi enthusiasts had a
good time at Science
World in Vancouver,
showing off their truly
excellent projects.

RASPBERRY
JAM GUIDE
The Raspberry Jam
starter kits are now out
in the world, seen here
with Giustina, Executive
Director of the
CoderDojo Foundation.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 91

Community EVENTS

RASPBERRY JAM
EVENT CALENDAR
Find out what community-organised, Raspberry Pi-
themed events are happening near you

HOUSTON RASPBERRY
2 PI USERS GROUP
Houston, TX, USA

FIND OUT
ABOUT JAMS
Want a Raspberry Jam in your
area? Want to start one?
Email Ben Nuttall about it:
ben@raspberrypi.org

MELBOURNE PI
8 USER GROUP
Warranwood,
VIC, Australia

HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS REGULAR EVENTS

FUKUOKA BECKFOOT THORNTON BLACKPOOL
RASPBERRY PI JAM RASPBERRY JAM RASPBERRY JAM
When: Monday 10 July When: Friday 14 July When: Saturday 8 July
Where: Hakataeki-higashi 1-12-17, Where: Beckfoot Thornton School, Where: Palatine Library,
Fukuoka, Japan Thornton, UK Blackpool, UK
magpi.cc/2rQbPL4 magpi.cc/2slbfbS magpi.cc/2slhMDp
Hands-on demos and learning A fun evening of coding. If you A place for parents and kids to learn
with the Pi in the first Fukuoka dont have your own Pi, there will more about computers, electronics,
Jam, near Hakata station. be equipment there for you to use. robotics, music, and art.

HOUSTON RASPBERRY PI RASPBERRY JAM STAFFORD RASPBERRY JAM

USERS GROUP MILTON KEYNES When: Tuesday 11 July
When: Tuesday 11 July When: Saturday 15 July Where: Stafford Library,
Where: TXRX Labs, Houston, Where: The National Museum Stafford, UK
TX, USA of Computing, magpi.cc/2sl6BKK
magpi.cc/2slyZMZ Bletchley Park, UK A big meetup where Pi
An evening event where you can mkraspberryjam.org enthusiasts get together to share
learn Pi basics and/or show off Learn about Pi at the home ideas, help each other, and most
your Pi projects. of the worlds first computer. of all have fun!

92 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 EVENTS Community
JAM HEAT MAP JAMS
EVERYWHERE!
FUKUOKA
1 RASPBERRY PI JAM
Fukuoka, Japan
WEVE HIGHLIGHTED SOME OF
THE AREAS IN NEED OF A JAM!
CAN YOU HELP OUT?

7 YORK WEST
RASPBERRY JAM
York, UK

3 BECKFOOT THORNTON
RASPBERRY JAM
Thornton, UK

COULD USE
MORE JAMS

5 BLACKPOOL
RASPBERRY JAM
Blackpool, UK

6 STAFFORD
RASPBERRY JAM
Stafford, UK

4 RASPBERRY JAM
MILTON KEYNES
Bletchley Park, UK

YORK WEST
RASPBERRY JAM
When: Monday 17 July
MORE WAYS TO LEARN
Where: Acomb Library Learning
Centre, York, UK RASPBERRY JAM
magpi.cc/2sl6UVU
STARTER KITS
NOW SHIPPING
Everyone interested in Raspberry Pi
computers should book a place to
learn more about the Pi!
Every Raspberry Jam can apply for a Jam
MELBOURNE PI USER GROUP starter kit, which includes magazine back issues,
When: Tuesday 18 July printed worksheets, stickers, flyers, and more. It
Where: Melbourne Rudolf Steiner also includes access to our new Raspberry Jam
School, Warranwood, branding, including logo and poster templates
VIC, Australia for you to use to promote your events. Kits have
magpi.cc/2mx2y7Y started to arrive with Jams and theyre going
The groups aim is to bring like- down a storm! As soon as youve published your
minded people together to talk about event, you can apply for your kit. You can also
how theyre using the Raspberry Pi. download the guidebook here: magpi.cc/2q9DHfQ.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 93

Community YOUR LETTERS

YOUR LETTERS
Live from Raspberry Pi
Could a Raspberry Pi be configured to be
used with Facebook Live instead of a phone?
It would make a great little project if we
could create a camera that streams straight
Left You will to Facebook Live, as phones arent always
hopefully be able
the best way to do it. Is this doable, do
to buy the AIY
Projects voice kits you think?
soon. Sign up to
our mailing list to
Joe Linderman
find out when!
Getting AIY Technically, yes, you can probably do this. At
I have been away for a while and Unfortunately we wont be the very least, you can bring up Facebook in
missed out on buying issue 57 of reprinting issue 57, and even if we the browser and run live video from there.
The MagPi with the AIY Projects did, it wouldnt have the kit with All you would need is a USB webcam, or a USB
voice kit. The store where I usually it. However, the AIY Projects Voice microphone and a Raspberry Pi Camera Module.
buy it was all sold out and onto HAT kit will hopefully be for sale Im guessing youre looking for a more
issue 58 of the magazine, but Id at some point, although we dont portable project, though like a video camera
still like to get it is there any know when that will be. you can point at something, hit record, and
chance of a reprint of issue 57 with The best thing you can do stream the output to Facebook. The API for
the kit attached? is sign up for our mailing list. Facebook Live is out there, but youd need to do
At the very least, Id be When Google confirms that its some serious hacking to get it all working with
interested if you end up selling the going to be on sale, we can let the Pi. It wouldnt be easy or intuitive. Let us
kit on its own in the future. Are you know. You can sign up here: know if you succeed! In the meantime, youre
there any plans for that at all? magpi.cc/Email-me. probably better off using a spare phone.
Stephen

AIY Projects power

I got the AIY Projects voice kit, but after an
inspection Ive noticed that the power port on
the Voice HAT, which can be seen in images in
the magazine, seems to be missing. Can I get a
replacement at all, or will the Raspberry Pi power
the Voice HAT properly?
Robin W

The Voice HATs with the power ports were the test
HATs we used. The power ports werent needed in
the final version of the AIY Projects voice kit, as the
Pi powers the Voice HAT, so they were taken off. You
can easily solder one onto the board - it is useful if
you need to supply power to accessories attached to
the board that use more than the Pi can supply, such
as servos and motors (see Page 62).
This power socket was removed Look out for a future video on The MagPi YouTube
from the final version as it wasnt
needed for the projects in the mag channel on how to program servos and motors with
your AIY kit: magpi.cc/MagPiYT.

94 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 YOUR LETTERS Community

FROM THE FORUM: As some people have pointed out in the forums, theres
a reason why people were saying it wasnt going to

X86EMULATION
work - but dont lose hope! You shouldnt expect to
play Crysis on your Raspberry Pi, but with a bit more
tweaking you should be able to get something working
using ExaGear.
The Raspberry Pi Forum is a hotbed of Otherwise, DOSBox is a good alternative
conversations and problem-solving for the (dosbox.com). You can use it on a Raspberry Pi to
community. Join in via raspberrypi.org/forums emulate Windows 3.1 and DOS, along with some other
older OSes and x86 games. Theres a great tutorial online
m trying to find a free way to emulate x86 on my Pi to see here to show you how to use it: magpi.cc/2rMmnea.
I what it can do game-wise. All Ive got is ExaGear and a lot

WRITE TO US
of people say nothings gonna work - so if youre gonna
tell me its not gonna work, please dont tell me that as its
annoying. Anyways, if you know of any free methods that work,
Have you got something youd like to say?
please tell me as I cant seem to find anything. Thanks! Get in touch via magpi@raspberrypi.org or on The MagPi
Bunchie section of the forum at: raspberrypi.org/forums

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 95

 News

THE NEW MAGAZINE FOR

COMPUTING AND DIGITAL
MAKING EDUCATORS
SUBSCRIBE

FREE IN PRINT AND DIGITAL

FIND US ONLINE:

www.helloworld.cc
@HelloWorld_Edu
fb.com/HelloWorldEduMag
96 July
xxxx 2017
2016 raspberrypi.org/magpi
 Review

A RASPBERRY PI 3
WITH AN OFFICIAL CASE
SIGNED BY EBEN UPTON
This is your chance to win an
incredibly rare prize! We have ten
Raspberry Pi 3 boards to give away,
with official cases signed by none
other than Raspberry Pi co-creator,
Eben Upton.

The Raspberry Pi is one of the most

important computers in the world.
Owning a model with a case signed by
its co-creator will make you the envy
of Raspberry Pi fans everywhere.

This is a prize that money cant buy.

Enter online today and you could be
one of the lucky winners.

Enter now! magpi.cc/WinJuly17

Terms & Conditions
Competition closes on 26 July 2017. Prize is offered to participants world-wide aged 13 or over, except employees of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the prize
supplier, their families or friends. Winners will be notified by email no more than 30 days after the competition closes. By entering the competition, the winner
consents to any publicity generated from the competition, in print and online. Participants agree to receive occasional newsletters from The MagPi magazine.
We dont like spam: participants details will remain strictly confidential and wont be shared with third parties. Prizes are non-negotiable and no cash
alternative will be offered. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram or Facebook.

raspberrypi.org/magpi July 2017 97

 Column THE FINAL WORD
MATT RICHARDSON
Matt Richardson is the Executive Director of the Raspberry
Pi Foundation North America and author of Getting Started
with Raspberry Pi. Contact him on Twitter @MattRichardson.

DEFINING
DIGITAL
MAKING
What exactly is digital making? Matt Richardson explains
he Raspberry Pi Foundations mission is so affordable that it can be dedicated to a single project,
T to put the power of digital making into the
hands of people all over the world. But what
no matter how simple that project is. Imagine creating
a computer-based project just 15 years ago; it would
does the term digital making mean? What kinds of have been very expensive!
skills and activities are included? Its an important The beauty of digital making is that when you
concept to understand in order to get a sense of practise it, not only are you learning through the
what we set out to achieve through our affordable process of making, as Papert theorised, but youre also
computers, our outreach programs, and our support gaining valuable STEM skills that are almost certain to
for educators and learners. come in handy in the job market. Developing a better
In Oliver Quinlans Young Digital Makers, a report understanding of code and electronics is a valuable
for NESTA which surveyed attitudes and opportunities skill in and of itself, and a skill that is likely to be
for digital creativity across the United Kingdom, digital increasingly in demand in the future.
making is defined as learning about technology While we tend to put a focus on learning among
through making with it. Therefore, its not just about schoolchildren, I should also note that learning
making something you want or need. At the core of through digital making doesnt only happen
digital making is the idea that an individual is learning with students in a classroom. Learning happens
when they create something with technology. in libraries, museums, scout meetings, and
The link between making and learning is well known makerspaces. It also happens in home garages and
and its implementation in education is widespread workshops. Learning through digital making doesnt
worldwide. MIT Media Labs Seymour Papert pioneered only happen with young people, but people of all ages.
the learning theory of constructionism in the 1980s When I try to define digital making in my own
in his book, Mindstorms. Constructionism is the words, I often tell people that its a blend of a lot of
concept that people learn about a subject by creating different subject matters: computational thinking,
something physical. In Paperts own words, learning coding, electronics, physical computing, design
is most effective when part of an activity the learner thinking, fabrication, project-based learning, and
experiences as constructing a meaningful product. sharing. I know thats a lot of big stuff packed into one
term, but digital making is a big thing and I suspect it
The first step is only getting bigger.
With technology like the Raspberry Pi becoming more When we say that we want to put the power of
accessible and affordable, it can become a material digital making into the hands of people all over the
for digital making. Computers are typically thought of world, were taking on an ambitious task, and we have
as tools for creating, but Papert had also envisioned a lot of work ahead of us. Thankfully, digital making
computers being used as a material in projects. is also a fun and fulfilling activity. We only have to
Products like the Raspberry Pi Zero are perfect as a provide the affordable computers and free resources:
material. The Zero is a powerful computer, and yet its the rest is up to you, digital makers!

98 July 2017 raspberrypi.org/magpi

 Tutorial

ESSENTIALS
LEARN | CODE | MAKE

OUT NOW IN PRINT

ONLY 4/$6 from
raspberrypi.org/magpi

From the makers of the GET THEM

ESSENTIALS
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raspberrypi.org/magpi April 2016 99