Competitions, Events, Robotics

Pi Wars 3 – 1st April 2017 – Raspberry Pi challenge-based robotics competition

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Pi Wars returns!

Our Raspberry Pi challenge-based robotics competition will be back on 1st April 2017 at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory.

To register your interest as a competing team, please fill out this form on the Pi Wars website.

To be kept “in the loop” if you’re interested in attending, please join our Pi Wars mailing list.

Further details are being worked out and will be released soon including how to apply to enter, what challenges will be at the competition this time and how to get hold of spectator tickets.

General information about Pi Wars, and details of last year’s competition, can be found on the Pi Wars website.

We really hope to see you at the event!

Magazines

New issue of The MagPi is now out for Raspberry Pi enthusiasts

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The good ol’ MagPi is back again with another issue. This issue‘s main feature is a collection of articles that help you get started with electronics projects. (I know I’m biased, but I reckon the easiest way to get the components you need for most of these is by getting hold of CamJam EduKits 🙂 See, I can do subtle!) Also featured are some Zero projects and a gravity experiment with the SenseHAT. I’ve had a flick through the paper copy (I subscribe) and it looks like another great issue. I’ve merely picked out a few of the articles – there’s loads more!

There’s a competition this month to win a RasPiO Analog Zero which is currently on Kickstarter.

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Head over to The MagPi website to download the latest issue or buy it either online or in print from various outlets.

Also of note is that you now get a free Raspberry Pi Zero and camera cable (as well as other necessary connectors) if you subscribe to the magazine – it’s well worth doing anyway, but that’s just the icing on the cake!

Charity, Fund-raising, Sport

Buzz a Raspberry Pi-powered marathon runner by donating THIS SUNDAY!

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On 29th May (this Sunday!), Lee Bowyer will run the Liverpool Marathon in aid of Addaction – a UK-based drug and alcohol treatment charity. Whilst on the run, he will wear the Raspberry Kiss. The Kiss is a small Raspberry Pi-powered device (pictured) that allows people to track Lee as he runs the marathon (via a map on his website). At the same time, the device will be checking his home server (also a Raspberry Pi) to see if anyone has donated to his cause. If it picks up a donation, the worn Pi will be notified and will trigger a vibration alarm via an Adafruit motor. So, if you make a donation on Sunday after Lee has started, you will trigger the notification and give him a buzz and propel him onwards!

It’s a fantastic idea and I wish Lee all the luck in the world with his run. If you’d like to donate, follow this link. Obviously, it’s best if you wait until Sunday and that’s why Lee has put up a sign-up form for a mailing list (scroll down a bit) that he will send out to shortly before he starts. If you want to send Lee a supporting tweet, this link will take you to his profile.

Big hug to Raspberry Pi for supporting him with this blog post.

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3D printing, Accessories, Education, Making, Research, Science, Sensors

International background radiation research project uses Raspberry Pi

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A group of UC Berkeley students working with researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed devices that will measure and report levels of background radiation. Called DoseNet, the open-source project aims to get school and university clubs to create Raspberry Pi-powered devices that will take readings from a radiation-watch.org board (the white board with the copper foil around it) and then report back the data to a central repository. The whole device is kept inside a 3D-printed case. Currently, the project stretches from California to Japan! You can read much more about the project here and visit the DoseNet website here.

Crowdfunding, GPIO boards, Sensors

Read analog sensors on the Raspberry Pi with the Analog Zero – Kickstarter!

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A couple of weeks ago, I received from Alex Eames a new board he’d been working on called the Analog Zero. I blogged about it then and have continued to think about it and I really believe it’s the best solution currently out there for reading lots of analog inputs. It gives you everything you need to read the inputs without the fairly intricate wiring you need to do with an analog-to-digital converter chip. It works brilliantly, in particular with GPIO Zero, and really is simple to get going.

Alex has now launched a Kickstarter to develop the board into full production. You can get hold of an Analog Zero for £7 (super early-bird), £8 (early-bird) or £9 (standard) (plus cheap postage). Be aware that this campaign is running for 7 days only so pledge sooner rather than later!

This is really terrific value for the board which gives you eight analog inputs, a small prototyping area and all the other pins broken out, all in a Raspberry Pi Zero form-factor. The board works on all models of the Raspberry Pi.

If you’d like to pledge to get hold of one or more of the Analog Zero, head over to Kickstarter!