Arduino, Nature, Research, Sensors

Oxford Flood Network uses Raspberry Pis to detect rising water

by  •  • 0 Comments

The Oxford Flood Network uses a network of ultrasonic sensors in a flood-prone area to detect water levels and broadcast their data over short distances to Raspberry Pi-based gateways; these aggregate the data and pass it to an open online database.

The detection devices are Arduino-based. They then communicate to the Raspberry Pi via RF and the data is shared via ethernet to a house or business router via ethernet cable.

They are looking for people to contribute to the project by hosting devices on river overhangs so that the ultrasonic sensor can point downwards and detect the water level. If you are able to help, fill in this online form.

You can read more about the project on their website.

Thanks to the Raspberry Pi Foundation for spotting this one.

Audio, Nature, Research

Listening for bats using a Raspberry Pi

by  •  • 0 Comments

The Raspberry Pi Foundation have blogged about this great project from Germans Holger and Henrike Körber. They are using a USB high-sensitivity microphone to pick up on bat calls. This is plugged into a Raspberry Pi which records the data and allows them to graphically represent the calls and manipulate the sound waves into something which can be heard by humans. Read the blog post at the Foundation’s site or head over to the German-language project description.

Events, Raspberry Jams

Egham Raspberry Jam – 11th October

by  •  • 0 Comments

The organisers of the long-running Egham Raspberry Jam have just announced their ninth event, which will take place on the Sunday 11th October at Gartner HQ from 2-5pm. You can book free tickets to the event here. Part of the Jam is a Show and Tell competition – you can win prizes by taking along your project including an official case signed by Eben Upton (pictured)! Read more about the Jam on Albert’s blog.

Accessories, Crowdfunding, GPIO boards, Picademy, Programming, Research

RPi.GPIO Python library for the Raspberry Pi undergoes a change

by  •  • 1 Comment

Alex Eames has been looking at recent updates to the Python library everybody uses, RPi.GPIO, and has noticed something. The old variable RPI_REVISION has been deprecated (replaced) by something more useful: RPI_INFO. This new variable outputs a Python dictionary detailing the revision of GPIO pins, the amount of RAM onboard and various items to do with the Pi’s design revision. You can read more about his investigation of the new variable over at RasPi.TV.

Also of note GPIO-wise is that Alex’s current Kickstarter is coming to an end in a few days. The GPIO reference ruler is a 15cm long ruler filled with RPi.GPIO reference material as well as a place-it-over-the-pins GPIO reference guide. It’s cheap at £4 and is just what you need to remind yourself about the RPi.GPIO commands if (like me) you forget all the time! You can take a look at the Kickstarter here. It recently hit a stretch goal which means that Alex will be donating a bunch of rulers to the Raspberry Pi Foundation to use on their educational course Picademy.

Accessories, Programming, Sensors, Software, Tutorials

Create a Raspberry Pi iBeacon and iPhone app

by  •  • 2 Comments


Shea Silverman has blogged about creating a bluetooth iBeacon by using a Bluetooth dongle with a Raspberry Pi. He’s written comprehensive, though brief, instructions for setting up the iBeacon and then gone on to explain how to alter the downloadable software to define your beacon data and read it using a custom iPhone app. Read the instructions here. A more comprehensive guide is available over at Adafruit. As Barry Byford has pointed out on Twitter, though, it’s worth noting that there are some restrictions around using the iBeacon name. The new Eddystone format is open and supports similar functionality. There is a Python implementation of the Eddystone URL beacon here.

Home automation, Programming, Sensors, Tutorials

Raspberry Pi burglar alarm for your home

by  •  • 0 Comments

Over at TechRadar, the guys and girls from Linux Format have blogged about creating a burglar alarm for your home. The system uses a PIR sensor to detect movement and then takes a picture and a video then uses an online service to send this to a mobile phone via SMS. They’ve included all the code you need to replicate the system. Read all about it here.