Author Archives: BoB

Saying goodbye to an old friend

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One of my first Raspberry Pi projects was a Pi Palmtop. It was based on a build over at Adafruit and was my entry into building a self-contained device with a 3D printed case. It was fun, and got some decent use. One of the projects I did with it was incorporate Vernier sensors to make a RPi clone of their data acquisition system.

So long Palmtop, your parts will not go to waste.

Now, it’s time to say goodbye. I need the keyboard/mouse that is part of the build for my new Pi projector. Now that I’m pulling it apart, I see there’s a bunch of cool stuff in there (speaker with amplifier, still functioning Li-Poly battery, touchscreen) that will undoubtedly be harvested for future projects.

The Pi Projector

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In a week, I return to teaching classes, and my course is going to meet face to face. The pandemic has kept me indoors more or less since the week before Thanksgiving, so I am itching to see students. That said, I’m aware that the virus is not at all contained, and there’s little chance for me to get the vaccine in the near future. [Yes, as a faculty member, I’m allowed to get the vaccine, and I can get it … sometime in April … when classes will be essentially over.

Thanks, government.

Enough of my soap box. I wanted a way to interact with students during office hours, but was worried if we were trying to show work on a computer screen or piece of paper (and thus breaking social-distancing guidelines). I decided solve this problem as I normally do lately – with the help of a Raspberry Pi.

Enter – the Pi Projector.

The Pi Projector, complete with CNC case and a cooling fan!
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