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Getting your Raspberry Pi to output the right HDMI resolution

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:45:45 GMT

Bertrand wrote a short and sweet tutorial explaining how to get the correct resolution on any HDMI TV with a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian. If you've ever struggled trying to get your pixels to look perfectly square, this article is for you :)

Cases and enclosures for the Raspberry Pi computer

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:19:00 GMT

Kristen Turner of Ponoko.com has written a nice blog post about how we apply Ponoko's laser cutting services to the production of our Raspberry Pi cases. Drop by the Ponoko blog and read all about the inside story

Nwazet Key Lime Pi - Wire Scorpion

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:26:00 GMT

The 'Pi Wire Scorpion' kit is designed to provide a practical enclosure for our 'Nwazet Key Lime Pi' breakout board. Use it as you build your project or as part of a final installation: it will do a great job at securing wires in place thanks to nine built-in zip-tie cutouts. The 'Pi Wire Scorpion' kit accommodates all the features of the 'Nwazet Key Lime Pi', works well with right-angle and straight pin headers and includes all the essential cables and connectors needed to complete your project quickly and neatly and your choice of premium jumper wires.

Bill of Materials

2x 'Pi Wire Scorpion' plates (Fluorescent green)
1x Raspberry Pi GPIO cable
1x JST-PH power cable
1x JST-PH power connector
40x Premium jumper wires
8x 4" x 0.10" zip ties
4x rubber feet
3x short black screws (bottom plate)
3x long black screws (top plate)
3x hex F/F standoffs (Key Lime Pi breakout support, bottom plate)
3x round spacers (top plate support)

Board dimensions

Width: 6cm (2.36")
Length: 8.8cm (3.46")

Mouting holes

The following distances are expressed from center to center of the mounting holes:

Width: 4.75cm (1.87")
Length: 7.50cm (2.95")

Assembly time

~5 minutes

Nwazet Pi Head Case - 'Classic Black' Series

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:32:00 GMT

Nwazet's 'Pi Head Cases' are designed to give your Raspberry Pi computer a unique look and personality. 'Pi Head Cases' are customizable with a choice of passive color filters which really come to life when illuminated by our LED backlight. The backlight itself features two big 10mm LEDs available in five different colors. That's dozens of unique combinations to choose from!

Every so often, we will create limited editions of a new design featuring rare colors and materials, special lighting features and a unique serial number.

Last but not least, you can design your own face plates using the blank SVG template that we provide and have them cut at a local shop or you can request a quote from us to have it cut.

Now, meet the characters of our 'Classic Black' series:

Tyler

Tyler is a colorful character who has a bit of a problem with authority and Scandinavian home furnishings. He's a resourceful maker, renowned for his high-quality soap and persuasive people skills. To relax, Tyler likes working out, boxing and fixing his home on Paper Street where he lives with a few room mates.

Cheshire

Cheshire is a philosopher, a scholar, an entertainer and a world traveler. His baffling intellect and witty conundrums have earned him access to the most regal courts and tea parties. He often makes appearances and disappearances at exclusive croquet events with Alice, his life-long friend.

Shaun

Shaun had his hands full managing relationships between his girlfriend, his mother and his stepfather when a zombie apocalypse happened. Now, things are much simpler and Shaun only cares about raspberry pies and brains...

Edvard

Edvard is a controversial artist who relentlessly explores his own emotional and psychological states, transcribing his discoveries into intense paintings. On occasions, all this creative self-searching leaves Edvard a bit tense and screaming out loud whenever he runs out of art supplies.

Design Gallery

If you like these kids, meet the parents and grand parents :)

Head Case Assembly Guide

Assembling a 'Pi Head Case' is easy and takes about ten minutes.

Bill of Materials

PCB: 'Mean Crafty Pi Monster' permanent prototyping board
LED1-2: 10mm diffused LED
PD1: 10K ohm resistor (part # CF14JT10K0)
BR1: 100 ohm resistor (part # CF14JT100RTR)
LR1: 100 ohm resistor (part # CF14JT100RTR)
SGD: MOSFET N-CHANNEL 60V 200mA (part # 2N7000)
LED_CTRL: 0.1" pin header (3 positions)

This kit also includes the following connectors and fasteners:

3x female / female jumper wires to connect the backlight circuit to the Raspberry Pi's GPIO connector. The jumper wires will be of three different colors, typically red (3v3), black (GND) and yellow/blue/green (PWM).
2x 1" hex aluminum standoffs
2x 1/4" hex aluminum standoffs
2x 1/4" screws

Assembly Directions and Time

LED 1 & 2: align the LED lens against the edge of the PCB. Ensure that the shortest leg of the LED is on the side of the hole with a square shape (LED cathode indicator). Using a permanent marker, make a line on the LED's leads where the leads align with the soldering holes in the PCB. Gently bend the LED's leads downward at a 90 degree angle. The LED should now be ready to be inserted into the PCB with its shortest lead going into the square-shaped hole.
LED_CTRL: the 0.1" pin header should be inserted on the bottom of the board, with the long portion of the pins pointing downward.
Connect the female / female jumper wires as follows:
- red (3v3) -> GPIO pin #1 (first from the left on the bottom row)
- black (GND) -> GPIO pin #6 (third from the left on the top row)
- yellow/blue/green (PWM) -> GPIO 18 (GPIO 18 is pin 12 on the GPIO connector, 6th pin from the left on the top row of the connector)
Standoffs: add or remove the 1/4" standoffs as needed to align the LEDs with the eyes of the face plate.

For best results:

Use a 30 Watt soldering iron
Use a fine soldering iron tip
Use fine rosin-core solder (0.022")
Use masking tape to hold parts in place as needed while soldering
Assembly time is about 5 minutes

Sample Code

Pulses the Raspberry Pi's GPIO # 18 (PWM0) with a breathing effect.

To use this sample:

Install wiringPi
Download and uncompress the mcpm.zip archive to your Raspberry Pi

wget nwazet.com/Media/Default/Sample/mcpm/mcpm.zip
unzip mcpm.zip

You can either compile the code by typing 'make' or you can simply use the 'mcpm' binary that's including in 'mcpm.zip' by making it executable.

chmod +x mcpm

As root (or using sudo), run './mcpm&' from the shell and enjoy the pretty lights ;)

Auto-starting the creeper head lights on boot

If you want the creeper to light up automatically when the Raspberry Pi boots up, follow these directions. It is assumed that you're running as 'root' or use 'sudo' as needed.

Create the auto-start script

nano /etc/init.d/mcpm.sh

Paste the script below in the editor and save it. The script assumes that 'mcpm' was compiled in the '/home' folder. Adjust the auto-start script according to the actual location of the executable if it's not in '/home'.

#! /bin/sh
# /etc/init.d/mcpm.sh
# http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts

### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          mcpm
# Required-Start:    $local_fs $syslog
# Required-Stop:     $local_fs $syslog
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Basic startup & shutdown script
# Description:       Starts and stops an application on boot & shutdown
### END INIT INFO

# Commands listed below will always run

# System command handler
case "$1" in
  start)
    # start the application
    echo "Head case lights on"
    /home/mcpm&
    ;;
  stop)
    # stop the application
    echo "Head case lights off"
    killall mcpm
    ;;
  help)
    echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/mcpm.sh {start|stop}"
    exit 1
    ;;
esac

exit 0

Make the script executable and test the commands

chmod +x /etc/init.d/mcpm.sh
/etc/init.d/mcpm.sh help
/etc/init.d/mcpm.sh start
/etc/init.d/mcpm.sh stop

Add mcpm.sh to the list of programs to start on boot

update-rc.d mcpm.sh defaults

If you want to remove it from the list of programs to start on boot, do:

update-rc.d mcpm.sh remove

That's it! Now, the head lights will turn on and glow as soon as the Raspberry Pi boots up :)

Nwazet Key Lime Pi: GPIO - Analog - FTDI - Power

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 06:15:00 GMT

GPIO, analog inputs, FTDI serial connector and external power? Oh My!

The 'Key Lime Pi' kit breaks out the Raspberry Pi's GPIO connector, adds eight 10-bit analog inputs, converts the Pi's serial interface into a standard FTDI connector and allows for external power headers to be added if desired (standard 0.1" pin headers and JST-PH vertical header).

Analog readings are as fast and accurate as possible, thanks to the Pi's SPI interface (hardwired to CE0), a proper ground plane and a stabilized ADC power supply. If more than eight analog inputs are needed for a project, chaining to another 'Nwazet Key Lime Pi' board is possible by interconnecting the GND, MOSI, MISO, SCLK and CE1 lines with jumper wires.

For prototyping, the 'Key Lime Pi' board maximizes the real-estate available on small breadboards by hugging the center divider, leaving four rows out of five available for wiring.

For embedding a project into a permanent fixture, the board features three mounting holes, placed on a standard 5mm grid.

Bill of Materials

1x Nwazet Key Lime Pi PCB
1x 16 position DIL IC socket (649-DILB16P-223TLF)
1x 8 channel SPI ADC (MCP3008)
1x 1uF 10V ceramic capacitor (FK18X5R1A105K)
2x 0.1" pin header (40 pins)

Assembly Directions and Time

PCB Designator

C1: ceramic capacitor
MCP3008: IC socket / ADC

For best results

Use a 30 Watt soldering iron
Use a fine soldering iron tip
Use fine rosin-core solder (0.022")
Use masking tape to hold parts in place as needed while soldering
Assembly time is around 15 minutes

PCB Specifications

Height: 38mm (1.49")
Width: 85mm (3.34")
Material: FR4
Thickness: 1.57mm (0.062")
Plating Finish: ENIG
Copper Weight: 2oz

Sample Code

See tmp36.py for a Python sample using the Key Lime Pi's ADC to read temperature data from a TMP36 analog sensor.

Nwazet Mean Crafty Pi Monster

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:51:00 GMT

Nwazet is celebrating the launch of Minecraft for the Raspeberry Pi with an appropriately themed enclosure:

Fixing popping/clicking audio on Raspberry Pi

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 00:55:00 GMT

"I’m working on a security-related project with the Raspberry Pi and have encountered an annoying problem with the on-board sound output. I’ve managed to work around this, so thought it might be helpful the share my experiences with others in the same situation."

Pop-free sound from a Raspberry Pi running XBMC

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:36:16 GMT

Nice post by Dave Townsend about eliminating audio 'pop' sounds when using the Raspberry Pi's stereo ouput. We use XBMC every day @ nwazet, streaming music from KEXP radio so we're delighted about this improvement.

"I’ve been in the process of setting up a Raspberry Pi in my office so I can play my mp3 collection through my old stereo. It’s generally gone well and I have to take my hat off to the developers of Raspbmc which makes setting up XBMC on the Pi ridiculously easy and fast. It didn’t take me long to have Airplay set up and running as well as being able to use my phone to remote control XBMC to play things direct from my music library sitting on my Synology NAS. Quite a nice setup really.

Just one problem. I play the music out through the Pi’s audio jack which doesn’t have a fantastic DAC. The big noticeable issue is audible pops every-time XBMC starts and stops playing. For Airplay this isn’t too bad, you get a pop when it first starts but only another after you stop playing. Playing direct on XBMC though you get two pops between each track as it stops playing one and starts the next. Very annoying. It’s a pretty well known problem and the best solution so far is to simply never stop playing. If you have a player that uses pulseaudio then you can configure it to keep the audio stream going even when idle. Of course it isn’t that easy, XBMC doesn’t use pulseaudio on the Pi. There is some work going on that might change that but for now it is very buggy to the point of being unusable. It seemed I was stuck … or was I?"

Nwazet Pecan Pi Relays

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 04:44:00 GMT

The Pecan Pi Relays kit is designed to be interfaced with the Raspberry Pi's GPIO connector and features six normally open relays, each capable of switching up to 16A @ 250VAC. The relays are rated for at least one million cycles. The Pecan Pi Relays kit requires an external power supply capable of providing ~800mA @ 5V, such as the Nwazet Pi Power Supply, since the Raspberry Pi cannot supply enough current through its GPIO connector. The relay board can optionally power the Raspberry Pi. The kit is designed so that other boards can be chained through it. It is also easy to solder, even for a beginner.

Kit features

6x 16A @ 250VAC relays
6x relay ON LED
2x identical Raspberry Pi GPIO connectors allowing chaining of other devices and boards
1x 0.1" external power pin header (GND, 5V)
1x JST PH through-hole power connector (optional)
1x 0.1" external Raspberry Pi power pin header, allowing the Raspberry Pi to be powered through its GPIO connector (optional, jumper required)

Relay Specifications

TE | Schrack model # RZ03-1A4-D005
1 pole 16A, (NO) contact
DC coil: 400 mW
5kV/10mm coil-contact, reinforced insulation
Ambient temperature 85°C (clear cover: 70°C)
Product in accordance to IEC 60335-1
Datasheet

PCB Specifications

Copper weight: 2oz
Material: FR4
Board thickness: 2.3622mm (0.093")

Bill of Materials

PCB Designator  Description                     Part #                  Quantity
N/A             Schrack Relay                   RZ03-1A4-D005           6       
R1-6            Wire contacts                   Phoenix Contact 1935174 4
SGD1-6          MOSFET N-CHANNEL 60V 200mA      2N7000                  6
PDR1-6          10K OHM 1/4W 5% CARBON FILM     CF14JT10K0              6
LR1-6           1K OHM 1/4W 5% CARBON FILM      CF14CT52R102J           6
BR1-6           100 OHM 1/4W 5% CARBON FILM     CF14JT100RTR-ND         6
L1-6            Red 3mm Round LED (2v, 35mA)    LED3R                   6
D1-6            1N4001 Series 50V 1A            1N4001-E3/54            6
PCB             FR4, ENIG, black / yellow       Nwazet Pecan Pi Relays  1
N/A             40 0.1" pin headers             N/A                     1

Assembly Directions and Time

About orienting the LEDs on the board: the shortest leg of the LED (cathode) corresponds to the ground (GND) as indicated by a dot on the silkscreen.

For best results:

Use a 30 Watt soldering iron
Use a fine soldering iron tip
Use fine rosin-core solder (0.022")
Use masking tape to hold parts in place as needed while soldering
Assembly time is around an hour

Sample Code

The following Bash script shows how to use the wiringPi gpio command to switch the relays ON / OFF indefinitely. We used this script for stress-testing the board and relays ;)

For reference, the relays are mapped to the GPIOs of the Pi as follows:

Relay # 1: GPIO 25
Relay # 2: GPIO 17
Relay # 3: GPIO 27
Relay # 4: GPIO 22
Relay # 5: GPIO 23
Relay # 6: GPIO 24

#!/bin/bash
# Export the pins as outputs using the BCM pin numbering
# The script assumes a Raspberry Pi Model B GPIO Rev. 2 connector
# For Raspberry Pi Model B GPIO Rev. 1 connector, replace GPIO 27 by GPIO 21
gpio -g mode 25 out
gpio -g mode 17 out
gpio -g mode 27 out
gpio -g mode 22 out
gpio -g mode 23 out
gpio -g mode 24 out

count=0
while true
do
        echo "Count=${count}"
        count=$((count+1))
        #ON
        gpio -g write 25 1
        gpio -g write 17 1
        gpio -g write 27 1
        gpio -g write 22 1
        gpio -g write 23 1
        gpio -g write 24 1
        # OFF
        gpio -g write 25 0
        gpio -g write 17 0
        gpio -g write 27 0
        gpio -g write 22 0
        gpio -g write 23 0
        gpio -g write 24 0
done

Loading I2C, SPI and 1-Wire drivers

If you need to control these relays through an I2C or SPI I/O expander, you may need to ensure that the appropriate drivers are loaded on your Raspberry Pi. Please check this tutorial for details..

Raspberry Pi Model B

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:19:00 GMT

Quoting the Raspberry Pi Foundation's FAQ page: "What’s a Raspberry Pi? The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn programming.". We also think that the Raspberry Pi is a fantastic platform for hacking Internet-connected hardware projects :)

Specifications

Raspberry Pi 'Model B'
512MB RAM
1x Ethernet port
2x USB 2.0 ports
1x SD card reader (required for booting)
1x GPIO connector (2x13 0.1" pin header)
Broadcom BCM2835 SoC (system on a chip), composed of:
- ARM 11 CPU
- Hardware Floating Point support
- 700Mhz clock; easy to overclock
- Videocore 4 GPU capable of BluRay-quality playback, using H.264 at 40MBits/s, featuring a fast 3D core accessed using supplied OpenGL ES2.0 and OpenVG libraries

See also

Nwazet Pi Media Center (Raspberry Pi included)

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 02:20:00 GMT

The 'Nwazet Pi Media Center' is a tiny yet powerful media player, powered by a Raspberry Pi, running the media center software of your choice: XBMC OpenElec, Raspbmc, RasPlex or XBian. It ships as an easy to assemble kit and includes all the essentials out of the box. The kit can be secured on the back of a monitor with standard VESA 75 mounting holes.

This kit includes a Raspberry Pi. If you already have a Pi, check out our Pi-less kit: Nwazet Pi Media Center (Raspberry Pi not included)

Pi XBMC kit

Raspberry Pi 'Model B' computer
Pre-installed media center software (Class 6, 4GB SD card)
Nwazet Pi Tuxedo case
Nwazet Pi Power Supply
USB power adapter
HDMI cable
Ethernet cable
9V 1A power adapter

Assembly Instructions

A step-by-step guide to assemble the kit can be found here.

See also

Raspberry Pi? It’s delicious!

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 07:01:00 GMT

Last week, we released a new line of products supporting the Raspberry Pi and we’re super excited about it! If you’re not familiar with the Raspberry Pi, you should consider investigating it because it packs a great deal of power in a package the size of a credit card, all for $35 (or $25 without Ethernet). At a glance: 700 MHz ARM A processor, 512MB of RAM, GPU, HDMI & composite video outputs, stereo output, 10/100 Mbps Ethernet jack, 2 USB ports, a GPIO port (standard 0.1″ pins, 3v3 tolerant only), an SD card reader (required for booting). Amazing, isn’t it? We think so too...

Nwazet Pi Power Supply

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:19:00 GMT

This power supply is designed to provide the Raspberry Pi with a clean and stable power source from a 9V wall-wart. As you may know, the Raspberry Pi can become unstable when used with power-hungry USB devices and this power supply will provide the head room needed to keep your setup running smoothly. For Raspberry Pi hackers out there, this power supply also features two additional voltage regulators, respectively outputting 800mA at 3.3v and 5V on power rails conveniently accessible through vertical JST connectors, as well as a standard 0.1" pin header. The center position on the power connectors (JST and pin header) is reserved for ground and it is common with the Raspberry Pi's ground. The power supply ships as shown on the main picture and does not include any other related items.

Specifications

Requires a 9V power adapter (not included)
1x DC power connector, 5A input current rated, 2.1x5.5mm, center-positive barrel
2x MC33269 voltage regulators supplying 800mA @ 5v
1x MC33269 voltage regulator supplying 800mA @ 3.3v
2x JST PH connectors, top entry, 3 circuits (5v, GND, 3.3v)
1x 0.1" pin header connector, 3 circuits (5v, GND, 3.3v)
1x power indicator LED (red or white)
Eagle design files: coming soon on Github

Related items

FAQs

Q: Why is one of the voltage regulators warmer than the others? A: There are 3 voltage regulators (5v x 2, 3.3v x 1) on the power supply board: one of the 5v regulators powers the Raspberry Pi when connected over USB, which is the regulator closest to the USB receptacle on the board. The two others don't do anything until they're used with the JST connectors or pin headers to power external projects or powering the Pi through the 5v pins of the Pi's GPIO connector. So, it's expected that only one of the 5v regulators will get hot when powering the Pi from a 9V wall-wart.
Q: Why are copper heat sinks changing color over time? A: It is a natural phenomenon with copper, which oxidizes in the presence of oxygen. If the copper is heated in the presence of oxygen, the heat speeds up oxidation and copper(II) oxide (black in color) is formed. Copper(II) will initially give the copper a darker red tint and, if given enough time, it will turn black. You can read about this process here.

Nwazet Pi Infrared Receiver

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:00:00 GMT

This little board plugs right into the Raspberry Pi's GPIO connector and decodes infrared signals sent to it from just about any generic IR remote control. This IR receiver is tuned for a 38kHz carrier frequency but it will accept IR frequencies slightly above or below that at the cost of a reduced range. The IR stream is fed to the Raspberry Pi on GPIO #18, which is the default pin used by the Raspberry Pi's LIRC GPIO driver. If you're not familiar with LIRC, be sure to check out the project page. We offer a tiny little IR remote which works great with this receiver and already has a LIRC configuration file ready to go. It is designed to fit perfectly into our 'Nwazet Pi Tuxedo' case.

Specifications

IR decoder: Vishay TSOP75238W
Carrier Frequency: 38KHz
Transmission Distance: 30m (98.4 feet)
Output Current: 5 mA
Operating Voltage: 2.5V to 5.5V (3.3V on the Raspberry Pi)
Supply Current: 0.35 mA
Power Dissipation: 10 mW
Maximum Operating Temperature: +85 Celsius
Minimum Operating Temperature: -25 Celsius
Beam Angle: 75 degrees
Eagle design file: coming soon on Github
0.1" pin header friendly for hacking the Raspberry Pi's GPIO connector

See also

Nwazet Pi Tuxedo Case (Black Matte)

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 23:20:00 GMT

This beautiful black matte laser-cut case is specifically designed to house a Raspberry Pi (Rev. 1 or 2) with an optional 'Nwazet Pi Power Supply'. It also accommodates our right-angle stereo cable as well as the 'Nwazet Pi IR Receiver'. The vents ensure that the electronics within the case will have sufficient air flow to stay cool. The case ships with the fasteners required to secure the Raspberry Pi and the optional power supply, a clear light pipe and rubber feet. Assembly time is about 15 minutes. The back of the case has four standard VESA 75 screw holes that make it possible to mount your device on the back of a monitor. Last but not least, it has been scientifically proven to pass the 'Living Room Aesthetics Test' 99.99% of the time (a.k.a 'The Spouse Test') ;-)

Specifications

Black matte acrylic
Stereo cable routed to the back of the case
Features vents above the power supply and below the Raspberry Pi
Works with any Raspberry Pi (even your original rev. 1)
3mm thick black acrylic case (6 pieces)
3mm thick clear acrylic light pipe (1 piece)
4 hex nuts
16 screws
8 hex aluminum standoffs
4 corner / edge nylon standoffs
4 rubber feet
VESA 75 mounting holes
GPIO ribbon cable slot

Assembly Instructions

Please follow this step-by-step guide to assemble the case

See also

Nwazet Pre-Installed Pi Distro - SD Class 6

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:22:00 GMT

Freedom of choice is a beautiful thing! With the Raspberry Pi, there are several different Operating Systems that you can choose from, each one with its own strengths and specialized features. It's like being able to pick the 'best tool for the job' when putting an application together or being able to learn new skills with something entirely new and exotic. Regardless of your goals, we'll make it fast and easy for you to get started with your Raspberry Pi by pre-installing and testing the latest version of your distribution of choice before shipping it to you. We also give you the freedom to choose the performance of the SD card you want to use: a classic 4GB Class 4 SD card (4MB/sec) which works well for most applications or a faster 4GB Class 6 SD card (6MB/sec) when a low I/O latency really matters. Class 6 SD cards are recommended for media-intensive applications.

Raspberry Pi Operating Systems 'A La Carte'

Raspbian "wheezy": If you’re starting out, this is the image recommended by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Based on the optimized version of Debian, it features the most packages out of the box, including the LXDE Window Manager, Midori for web browsing, many development tools and languages as well as example source code for multimedia functions. Raspbian is also considered the most up-to-date and maintained Linux distribution for the Raspberry Pi.
Arch Linux ARM: Arch Linux ARM is based on Arch Linux, which aims for simplicity and giving full control to the end user. Note that this distribution may not be suitable for beginners. In fact, it's the Spartans' Linux distribution of choice: it boots to a command prompt in about ten seconds and contains only the bare essentials to be functional. It's perfect when you need to build your very own lean and mean distribution.
XBMC OpenElec: If you ever wanted to run a Media Center on your Raspberry Pi, this is the build that you want. It's extremely responsive, well maintained, supports WiFi, IR and smartphone remote controls, network discovery and media sharing out of the box. It's highly customize-able, thanks to a large library of community-contributed add-on modules supporting music, HD video, applications and tools. Yet, for all of this power, XBMC OpenElec remains one of the smallest, fastest and most user-friendly Linux distribution out there. If you're into Python development, you'll also find that XBMC OpenElec is highly fun to hack too.
RISC OS: "RISC OS is a computer operating system designed in Cambridge, England by Acorn. First released in 1987, its origins can be traced back to the original team that developed the ARM microprocessor. RISC OS is owned by Castle Technology, and maintained by RISC OS Open. This version is made available free of charge to Raspberry Pi users.". RISC OS is a definite departure from the traditional Linux distributions on the Pi and it is a pleasant surprise to see it re-surfacing on the Raspberry Pi after so many years. If you have never experienced the original RISC OS, you will be amazed by this responsive, polished and fun distribution. Be sure to visit the RISC OPEN OS download page for more applications, ROMs and development tools.
Adafruit Occidentalis: quoting the good folks at Adafruit, Occidentalis is "Our tweaked distribution for teaching electronics using the Raspberry PI". What this means is that Occidentalis is derived from the Raspbian distribution but includes and pre-configures a few extra kernel drivers supporting SPI, I2C, 1-Wire, WiFi, network discovery and features a bunch of sample code to turn your Raspberry Pi into a microcontroller on steroids. Adafruit is also investing a great deal of effort into the development of their Raspberry Pi WebIDE for Python, which includes a debugger, making it easier than ever to learn about hacking electronics on the Raspberry Pi.
Plan 9 from Bell Labs: Plan 9 is an open-source Unix-type operating system, which was originally developed at Bell Labs as a research OS. It describes itself as "More UNIX than the UNIXes themselves": with Plan 9, everything behaves like a file, whether it’s a local or a network resource or a display manager. To learn more about this truly exotic OS, we invite you to read the fascinating "Plan 9 Beginner's Guide" before you try it out.

See also

Nwazet Pre-Installed Pi Distro - SD Class 4

In memoriam...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 20:53:00 GMT

Scientific knowledge must be freed.

In memory of Aaron Swartz 1986-2013

Nwazet Data Acquisition Module

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 08:45:00 GMT

Our Data Acquisition module (DAQ for short) is designed for Netduino Go! users looking for a simple, cost-effective platform for integrating analog and digital I/Os, off-the-shelf I2C sensors, time tracking, SDHC storage (up to 16GB) and serial communications to their projects.

Nwazet DAQ Module vs. Shield Base | Buyer's Guide

Since the release of the DAQ module, we have received multiple requests to "compare and contrast" the DAQ's features with the Shield Base module produced by Secret Labs. You can find the comparison sheet here and we hope that it clarifies any confusion that may have existed between the two products.

Background

When we set out to design the DAQ module 5 months ago, we put a great deal of thought into the real-world scenarios shared by our customers when Netduino Go! launched and how many wanted to apply the power of the .Net Micro Framework in the context of rapid system prototyping, light industrial control systems, home automation, hydroponic growing systems, security systems, UAVs, robots and of course, Internet-connected devices.

The first design choice we made was to choose an extremely robust spring-loaded wire connection system, providing power, data and ground on every port where they're needed. On ports that are 5v and 3.3v tolerant, both power types are available. Because each wire is held securely in its place with strong springs that can only be released by applying pressure with a very small screwdriver, communications are more reliable and power to sensors and analog devices is more stable than in conventional systems using female pin headers. In addition, our spring-loaded wiring system enabled us to design a smaller and lighter board than would have been possible with screw connectors.

Our second design choice was to enable our customers to leverage the large array of existing I2C-compliant sensors on the market today without having to wait long development cycles for similar Go! modules to be brought to market. To this end, we have partnered with Adafruit to provide a variety of useful I2C sensors that work 'out-of-the-box' with our DAQ module in order to help you get started quickly with your designs. We are also committed to developing a comprehensive driver library for popular sensors from Adafruit and other vendors over time.

Our third design choice was to place user-controllable status LEDs on each I/O port of the DAQ module, allowing for a simple and effective method of providing user feedback from an application at no additional cost and without consuming the DAQ's digital I/Os for that purpose alone. We also embedded extensive sub-system diagnostics into the DAQ, available on-demand, in plain English through the serial port to help with troubleshooting issues in the field as well as easing the development of custom application drivers.

Our final design choice was to provide a complete, easy to hack system, with SDHC storage, a real-time clock, optional external power, and above all, capable of being used as a stand-alone 48Mhz ARM-Cortex M0 micro-controller programmable in C/C++ using a standard 0.1" JTAG/SWD pin header. In fact, an STM32F051 Discovery board, costing less than $10, was used for its embedded STLink/V2 interface throughout the entire development of the DAQ module firmware.

We believe that you'll find this module extremely useful in unlocking the full potential of Netduino Go! and building amazing applications right now. We also have a feature road map for the DAQ module and you can expect to see more smart functions, performance improvements and your very own feedback embedded in upcoming versions of the firmware. Last but not least, the DAQ module will be ready to leverage Go!Bus protocol advancements when the time comes.

C# Software Library

GPIOs (inputs, outputs, pull-ups, pull-downs, open-drain, push-pull, PWM)
PWM timer frequency configuration
Analog input sampling with automatic time stamp function
Interrupt (rising, falling, both), interrupt count-tracking and roll-over count tracking
FAT File system operations
I2C communications
USART communications (TTL)
Real Time clock (date, time, milliseconds, battery-backed)
Ability to read / write multiple or a single GPIO with one call
Status LED controller
System and user configuration registers (battery-backed)

Driver library supporting Adafruit and other I2C sensors

TSL2561 digital luminosity / lux / light sensor
BMP085 Barometric Pressure/Temperature/Altitude sensor
INA219 High Side DC Current Sensor Breakout
Honeywell HIH-6130 temperature and humidity sensor

Documentation

Wire connection map
1. A tiny flat-head screwdriver or similar tool is required to release wires from their spring-loaded cage.
2. See BOM for complete specifications.
Release notes
1. A battery is required in the battery-holder for the DAQ module to operate properly
2. If the DAQ module is in storage and is not going to be used for an extended period of time, remove the Lithium battery (unless you need to keep track of time) and remove the SD card for the reader.
3. The USART port is configured by default at 115,200 bps.
4. The USART must be explicitly configured by the application before serial data can be read.
5. Digital GPIO D4 is 3v tolerant only: it is internally connected to the ADC / DAC.
6. Digital GPIO D4 cannot be used in "Input Interrupt" mode.
7. Sensirion sensors are not fully I2C compliant and aren't supported in the initial release of the DAQ module firmware.
First-time boot procedure (and required when replacing the real-time clock battery):
1. Insert the 3v Lithium battery into the battery holder, positive side up
2. Connect the DAQ to a Netduino Go! socket that is powered
3. Wait for the white LED on the DAQ to turn ON and wait a second
4. Power the Netduino Go! board OFF, then back ON
5. Your DAQ module is now ready to use

Tutorials and Code snippets

Cables

We offer cables of various lengths: be sure to select the one that best fits your project and mounting requirements.

Mounting hardware

Our medium-size plate is ready to accommodate the DAQ module

SD Card Storage

We carry a 4GB SDHC card which works nicely with the DAQ module.

Data Acquisition Module Specifications

1.0 firmware release (September 7, 2012)
Go!Bus 1.0 compliant interface
Dimensions: 100mm x 80mm x 10.5mm, and 90mm x 70mm hole to hole
16 Mhz Go!Bus SPI communication
18 spring-loaded wire connectors
- Prevent unintentional disconnections and faulty contacts
- Wire release requires using a tiny screw driver
8 Analog Input connectors
- 12-bit precision
- 3.3v-tolerant only
- Each connector provides a 3.3v power rail, data, and ground connections
- Internal voltage reference monitor
- Internal battery voltage monitor
8 Digital I/O connectors, configurable as any combination of:
- 8 digital inputs
- 8 digital outputs
- 8 PWM outputs
- 7 Interrupt-driven inputs (D0, D1, D2, D3, D5, D6, D7)
- 7 5v tolerant connectors (D0, D1, D2, D3, D5, D6, D7)
- 1 3.3v tolerant-only connector (D4)
- Each connector provides a 5v power rail, a 3.3v power rail, data and ground connections
I2C port
- Connect multiple I2C sensors on the same bus
- 10, 100 and 400 kHz support
- Provide SCL, SDA, GND connections
USART port
- RTS / CTS Hardware flow control support
- Baud rate from 110 baud up to 921600 baud
- Configured for 115200 baud by default
- Provide RX, TX, RTS, CTS, GND connections
SD card reader
- SDHC cards supported up to 16 GB
- Embedded FAT12/16/32 file system
- Short file name (8.3) support only
- SD card sold separately
Real Time clock
- 32,768 kHz external time-keeping crystal
- Year, month, day, hour, minute second, millisecond
- 4 user-defined 32-bit configuration registers
- Battery backed
- A 3v Lithium battery is included with the DAQ
19 red, user-controllable status LEDs
- 8 analog input status LEDs
- 8 GPIO status LEDs
- 1 SD card reader status LED
- 1 USART status LED
- 1 I2C status LED
Built-in system diagnostics
- User-configurable output to serial port
Optional 0.1" power pin headers (5v, 3.3v, GND)
Optional 0.1" JTAG/SWD pin headers
MCU
- ARM Cortex-M0 (STM32F051R8T6) clocked @ 48 Mhz
- 16 Mhz external crystal for precise PWM, USART, I2C timing
OSHW design
OSS C# drivers
OSS C firmware (built with IAR Systems Workbench)

Downloads and Code Samples

Sample code, drivers and schematics

Nwazet Touch Display Module

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 08:13:00 GMT

Product Description

Designed from the ground up for Netduino GO! boards, the [nwazet Touch Display Module is a bright, fine-pitched, 2.8", 240 x 320 TFT LCD screen capable of displaying up to 262K colors and features a resistive touchscreen.

Powered by an ARM Cortex-M3 processor running at 120 Mhz, our Touch Display Module is extremely responsive and ideal for building graphical user interfaces for your Netduino GO! applications.

C# Software Library

We wanted to offer more than raw power and bright colors: we wanted our Display Module to be incredibly simple to use too. To this end, we provide a lean and easy to use C# interface for driving the Touch Display Module with basic drawing commands, bitmap display commands, touch events handlers, keyboard entry and custom user interface widgets.

[nwazet nutshell: free visual screen designer and C# code generator for your Touch Display Module

We all know that designing a polished user-interface by crafting code can be a slow and tedious process. So, we created a visual design tool called [nwazet nutshell for our Touch Display module: Nutshell offers access to most of the features supported by the Touch Display's API and generates the corresponding C# code on the fly for you. Just copy/paste the resulting code in Visual Studio when you're done! You can try out Nutshell right now without having to install anything since the tool runs JavaScript in your web browser. We promise you that you'll never go back to the old way of crafting a user interface on your microcontroller after you discover Nutshell. Nutshell is easy and intuitive: check out our tutorial and hit the ground running with your Touch Display.

The Nutshell source code is on GitHub.

Cables

We offer cables of various lengths: be sure to select the one that best fits your project and mounting requirements.

Face Plates

Our face plates (sold separately) are designed to protect the edge connector of our Touch Display module while providing a comfortable hand rest when using the touchscreen. Available in black acrylic and natural bamboo, the face plates will give your projects a polished fit-and-finish touch.

Datasheet

C# library, code samples, C Drivers and Eagle schematics
STM32F2 ARM Cortex-M3 processor @ 120 MHz
2.8 QVGA TFT Module from Displaytech SDT028ATFT * 16-bit per pixel (65K colors) default * 18-bit per pixel (262K colors) possible
ILI9341 IC display driver
Resistive touchscreen
SPI interface up to 40 MHz
Native C driver derived from the MicroBuilder codebase

Assembling Procedure

This simple tutorial describes the 3-step process for assembling a Touch Display Module.

Home

Getting your Raspberry Pi to output the right HDMI resolution

Cases and enclosures for the Raspberry Pi computer

Nwazet Key Lime Pi - Wire Scorpion

Bill of Materials

Board dimensions

Mouting holes

Assembly time

See also

Nwazet Pi Head Case - 'Classic Black' Series

Tyler

Cheshire

Shaun

Edvard

Design Gallery

Head Case Assembly Guide

See also

Nwazet Mean Crafty Pi Monster - Lighting Board

Bill of Materials

Assembly Directions and Time

Sample Code

Auto-starting the creeper head lights on boot

See also

Nwazet Key Lime Pi: GPIO - Analog - FTDI - Power

Bill of Materials

Assembly Directions and Time

PCB Specifications

Sample Code

See also

Nwazet Mean Crafty Pi Monster

Fixing popping/clicking audio on Raspberry Pi

Pop-free sound from a Raspberry Pi running XBMC

Nwazet Pecan Pi Relays

Kit features

Relay Specifications

PCB Specifications

Bill of Materials

Assembly Directions and Time

Sample Code

Loading I2C, SPI and 1-Wire drivers

See also

Raspberry Pi Model B

Nwazet Pi Media Center (Raspberry Pi included)

Raspberry Pi? It’s delicious!

Nwazet Pi Power Supply

Nwazet Pi Infrared Receiver

Nwazet Pi Tuxedo Case (Black Matte)

Nwazet Pre-Installed Pi Distro - SD Class 6

In memoriam...

Nwazet Data Acquisition Module

Nwazet DAQ Module vs. Shield Base | Buyer's Guide

Background

C# Software Library

Driver library supporting Adafruit and other I2C sensors

Documentation

Tutorials and Code snippets

Cables

Mounting hardware

SD Card Storage

Data Acquisition Module Specifications

Downloads and Code Samples

Nwazet Touch Display Module

Product Description

C# Software Library

[nwazet nutshell: free visual screen designer and C# code generator for your Touch Display Module

Cables

Face Plates

Datasheet

Assembling Procedure