Kits & Systems

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 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..

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

Nwazet Pi Media Center (Raspberry Pi not included)

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 01:21:00 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. All you need to add is your own Raspberry Pi to complete the kit, which includes:

Pi XBMC kit (w/o Raspberry Pi)

Pre-installed media center software (Class 6, 4GB SD card)
Works with any Raspberry Pi (even your original rev. 1)
Nwazet Pi Tuxedo case
Nwazet Pi Power Supply
USB power adapter
HDMI cable
Ethernet cable
9V 1A power adapter

If you don't already own a Pi, check out our Pi-included kit: Nwazet Pi Media Center (Raspberry Pi included)

Assembly Instructions

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

See also

Nwazet Go Pro Upgrade Kit

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 07:46:00 GMT

Get serious building solutions on the .Net Micro Framework with this superb kit! Be proud to showcase your work, presenting an image of quality from concept to finished product: your work deserves the polish of our black acrylic plates, laser-cut to exquisite precision around the best Netduino Go modules available today. All you need to bring is your own Netduino Go (the Netduino Go microcontroller is not included in this kit).

Composition

The Touch Screen will take complex user input and will display rich graphical feedback.
The 7-segment module will show essential numeric data that must be visible at a glance.
The Data Acquisition module will handle high volume inputs and outputs, serial communications, sensors, data storage and time.
The potentiometer is equipped with a heavy metal knob providing a very satisfying user feedback and blending perfectly with the look and feel of the kit.
A powerful Netduino Go (not included), juiced by our USB power supply, orchestrates your show.

Prototyping

The black acrylic plates feature two main prototyping areas, ready to receive two breadboards (included in the kit). Additionally, a third mini breadboard can be placed between the DAQ module connectors.
The kit includes two clear auto-adhesive breadboards, each providing two power rails and 400 connection points. The kit also includes forty 6" M/M premium jumper wires.

Value

If you wanted to put this exact kit together yourself, you'd have to spend over $250.
By carefully selecting our parts and designing for manufacturing, we were able to offer it for $199. Our hope is that you'll invest the difference in building your next idea with us :)

Assembly Instructions

To assemble your kit, please follow these detailed instructions.

Nwazet Go Tinker Upgrade Kit

Thu, 10 May 2012 05:02:00 GMT

Our Netduino Go! Tinker Kit is a solid value containing everything you need to get started in style with this fantastic plug-and-play electronics platform. All you need to bring is your own Netduino Go (the Netduino Go microcontroller is not included in this kit).

The simple button and potentiometer input modules, together with the RGB LED, will let you discover and experiment on a very gentle learning curve, and the comfortable, powerful, TFT LCD touch display will accompany you as you grow into more elaborate projects. The modular nature of the system ensures that you will never feel constrained: just add some new modules and be on your way to new adventures in Making.

A Clean Building Slate

The large prototyping plate coming with the kit will provide a clean surface on which to organize your project as you build it. It's also a beautiful showcase for your finished creation, worthy of being displayed on your walls. It comes with clear rubber feet providing an excellent grip and enough aluminum standoffs, screws and nuts to fasten all your modules.

Nwazet PIX-6T4 Game Console Kit

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:49:00 GMT

The goal of the PIX-6T4 kit and its companion web site is to teach you how to use 'Electronic and Software Building Blocks' to become a Skilled Maker and, optionally, a Mad Scientist.

This little console can be programmed in C# and is a perfect learning tool for an initiation to both microelectronics and game programming. It is also a development board, with easily accessible pins.

The kit comprises the following parts:

Netduino Mini: this is the heart of the system, a micro-controller running the .NET Micro Framework
AS1100PL LED Driver: this little chip receives the data to display from the Netduino and uses it to turn the LEDs on and off.
LED Matrix (8x8, red): this little and cost effective display may not have color or high definition, but the great thing about it is that you can actually understand exactly how it works.
SD Card Socket: the PIX-6T4 console uses standard SD card as mass storage. SD cards are game cartridges, with each card containing many games. The SD card itself is not provided.
2 x Analog Joysticks with built-in switch: when we designed the console, we thought a lot about minimalism. This is why we did away with buttons entirely, replacing them with two clickable sticks.
Speaker
2 x 24 PIN DIP Socket: each integrated circuit is mounted on sockets so that you can replace them should anything bad happen.
Power LED (any color)
Voltage Regulator (3.3v)
Power Barrel Jack, Inline DC Power Plug & 9V Battery Connector
Printed Circuit Board
Acrylic Case Bottom
4 x Stand-Offs & 8 Screws
Power Switch
Break Away Header: gives easy access to all the Neduino pins for easy testing and extensibility. This makes it possible to use the PIX-6T4 as a development board.
2N4403 PNP Transistor
6 x 10K Resistors
1K resistor
2.1K resistor
54.9K resistor
100µF Electrolytic Capacitor
0.1µF Ceramic capacitor

We chose the Netduino over other types of microcontrollers simply because the programming skills that you will learn on the .Net Micro Framework, as you discover the Netduino, will also be applicable to the full-featured .Net Framework used to build professional applications, large scale web services, mobile applications running on phones and web applications. Our hope is to empower you with life skills that can help you build a career or just build anything you can think of.

We strive to provide RoHS / Pb-free products. However, on occasions, due to temporary supply chain constraints and component availability, it may be that some parts aren't RoHS compliant. In this release, the 54.9K and 2.1K resistors aren't RoHS compliant.

The Netduino community and the .Net Micro Framework, like us, embrace the open-source / open-hardware philosophy.

More information on PIX-6T4 can be found on http://www.pix6t4.com.

Kits & Systems

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 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

Nwazet Pi Media Center (Raspberry Pi included)

Nwazet Pi Media Center (Raspberry Pi *not* included)

Nwazet Go Pro Upgrade Kit

Composition

Prototyping

Value

Assembly Instructions

Nwazet Go Tinker Upgrade Kit

Nwazet PIX-6T4 Game Console Kit

Nwazet Pi Media Center (Raspberry Pi not included)