Carrie Anne Philbin has written a lovely new resource for the Raspberry Pi Learning Resources website. It uses the recently-launched SenseHAT to create a Magic 8 Ball. You ask it a question and then shake the whole Pi and HAT (triggering the accelerometer) to get an answer on the LED display. It’s a simple concept but is a lot of fun and a good weekend project. Get started here.
PiBorg, who make the fantastic Raspberry Pi-powered Diddyborg and high-end robot controller boards, are looking to expand into new premises soon. As part of this, they are looking to grow their workforce. So, all you engineers listen up! This is a terrific company based in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, full of great, enthusiastic and technically-savvy people. They are looking for 2 x Electronics Design Engineers and 1 x Mechanical Design Engineer to start October-ish.
You can find out more details, including how to apply, here.
Lots of us followed the exploits of the recent Skycademy on Twitter and on the HabHub tracking website. Although we were basically following icons on a Google Map, I found it enthralling and it was great to hear the constant updates from the teams as they prepared, launched and then chased their balloons across the East of England countryside.
Richard Hayler (pictured) was one of the lucky participants and has now blogged extensively about his experiences over the three days. Read his account here.
Boris Adryan is running a workshop at CamJam on 12th September and, ahead of this, he’s published his learning material. The workshop is all about how you can use Javascript and NodeRED to interact with the Minecraft Pi Edition API. It’s fascinating stuff – take a look here.
A couple of weekends ago, Tim Richardson and I (having recovered from the local chilli festival) were interviewed by the guys over at The Pi Podcast about Pi Wars. It was a great experience and I’m really happy these people in particular have taken over the mantel of providing a regular audio series about the Raspberry Pi. They’re knowledgeable, approachable and, vitally important, enthusiastic. The podcast this time is just over half an hour in length and you can listen to it here. It’s not just about Pi Wars, either – they cover the SenseHAT, Skycademy, the CamJam EduKits and all kinds of things!
If you want to get tickets to Pi Wars, head over to the website for more details. Tickets are £3.50 for adults and free for kids 16 and under.
Dexter Industries, who have really been making their mark on the Raspberry Pi community with their GoPiGo robotics kit, have just launched a new crowdfunding campaign. The GoBox is a 12-month subscription during which you receive a full robotics kit (starting with the new GoPiGo 2) and then monthly instalments of sensors (such as ultrasonic, sound and light) and accessories to extend the kit. There are Earlybird deals to be had with impressive discounts, so head over to the Kickstarter to take a look.
I wish the Dexter team good luck with their campaign – it’s a lovely idea for ongoing learning and their kit is top-notch.
