Events, Raspberry Jams

Four upcoming Raspberry Jams – Preston, Ipswich, Cambridge, Belfast

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Preston

First up is the long-running Preston Raspberry Jam. This event, which runs on Monday, 3rd August from 6-9pm at the Media Innovation Studio on Kirkham Street is for anyone interested in the Pi and includes hands-on sessions, demos and the option to get support from experts. Tickets are available here.

Ipswich

Next, we have the inaugural Ipswich Raspberry Jam, taking place on Saturday 8th August at Ipswich Library. It’s split into two sessions – the morning for beginners and the afternoon for more advanced users. It would be really great if you’re able to support this one – they’re just getting going and it’s just what that part of the East of England needs. Read more and get tickets here.

Next, we have two Jams on the same day! It’s okay, though, they’re certainly far enough apart!

Cambridge

The Cambridge Raspberry Jam is on 12th September at the Institute of Astronomy. CamJam is full of talks, workshops and show and tell, as well as a marketplace for you to buy your Pi bits! Tickets and more details are available here.

Northern Ireland

The second Jam on 12th September is in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the Farset Labs. Andrew Mulholland, who created the fantastic Pi Net is organising this one. They have a huge number of activities to choose from and it looks to be a great afternoon for anyone interested in the Raspberry Pi. More information and tickets from Eventbrite.

3D printing, Cases, Games, Making, Retro

Hardcore 3D printed retro gaming console with a Raspberry Pi

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James Drachenberg, founder of Dragon Mountain Design decided he wanted to build his own “Gameboy” retro gaming console. He decided, though, to 3D-print his case and make it a bit different to the norm, as you can see from the picture. The end result, the Drachenberry Pi, is a great example of how you can elevate something that has become fairly normal into something beautiful and functional at the same time. You can find more details over at 3dprint.com.

Education, Events, Raspberry Jams

Cambridge Raspberry Jam – 12th September – Tickets now on sale

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Tickets for the next Cambridge Raspberry Jam, which will be held on 12th September at the Institute of Astronomy, are now on sale. Just press the big blue “Book tickets” button on the CamJam homepage to be taken to Eventbrite!

Following feedback we have received, we are making workshop tickets available at the same time. Workshops at this Jam are as follows:

  • Breadboards, Buttons and Bombs: using GPIO in Scratch game development
    Join the team from HackLab as they lead you through the creation of a fun ‘Space Invaders’ style game in Scratch which responds to the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO pins to destroy an alien menace: wire up your own ‘Big Red Button’ to fire your doomsday weapon and save the planet! Aimed at kids 8-14, but anyone can come along.
  • Explore the Minecraft API with Javascript
    Controlling Minecraft through Python is a great educational exercise. But what is going on behind the scenes? This workshop will introduce the communication channels software uses to exchange information locally or over the internet. We will explore the Minecraft API using the Node-RED flow-based programming environment. At the end of the workshop, you will be able to write small Javascript programs to control Steve and the world around him. There’s fun to be had! Age range and experience level: 10+, ideal for people who want to see the technology behind their previous experiments with Minecraft and Python.
  • Proximity Tracking with Bluetooth Beacons
    In this workshop you will write a JavaScript program to scan for Bluetooth beacons and display their proximity relative to your Raspberry Pi using a series of LEDs. There is no age limit although this is targeted at an intermediate level as ideally attendees would be comfortable entering text code and debugging it. No previous experience of JavaScript or Bluetooth beacons is required.

There will be some other, smaller workshops running as well and more details on these will be released sometime next week.

Go to the Cambridge Raspberry Jam website.

3D printing, Accessories, Games, Making, Wearable

Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV can take a Raspberry Pi

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Yvo de Haas at Ytec3D previously worked on the Pip-Boy 3000 which was a wearable personal assistance device inspired by a device with the same name from the Fallout series of computer games. With the advent of Fallout 4 being announced, de Haas has updated his version of the device to the “Mark IV” which even includes a working tape deck, built into the wrist-mounted device. It’s currently using a Nexus mobile phone to power it, but can be modified to take a Raspberry Pi for better hacking opportunities. You can read more about the build and even download the files to 3D print your own here. See it in action below. This is, of course, great news for those who wanted Fallout 4: Pip-Boy Edition and missed out.

3D printing, Accessories, Camera module, Photography

3D printed Raspberry Pi instant thermal printing camera

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Arvid Larsson has always been fascinated by Polaroid cameras, and considered buying one. Then he worked out how much each print costs! So, he took a Raspberry Pi, a camera module and a thermal printer and made his own. A smart 3D-printed case completed the project and, I think you’ll agree, it looks lovely. More details here and see it in action below: