Got my PICO W

My PICO W devices arrived today. They look really nice. I’ve soldered a bunch of pins onto one of them and plugged it into my PICO Display Pack with the intention of making a tiny wireless message board. Unfortunately the Pimoroni image with the drivers for the display on it doesn’t support WiFi just yet. I’ve tried using this library with the WiFi enabled Micro Python firmware but I can’t get it to work. With a bit of luck Pimoroni will catch up soon and I can make something that displays a message each time I make a new blog post….

Raspberry Pi PICO W brings Bluetooth and WiFi to the PICO

The shiny box is the wireless antenna

The Raspberry Pi PICO is an awesome device. Super cheap, super easy to program and super easy to connect to stuff. The only thing about it that I didn’t like about it was the lack of any wireless connectivity. That’s changed now, with the launch of the PICO W. This adds a Infineon CYW43439 wireless chip to the PICO which brings Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity. The new PICO W is physically compatible with the old one. The pins are pretty much the same, although three of them (ones you don’t use much) are now accessed slightly differently.

At the moment there are no drivers for Bluetooth and you can only use the WiFi from Micro Python programs (not C++ or Circuit Python). But I expect that to change pretty quickly once folks get to grip with the device.

There’s a really good description of the new PICO W plus sample code in this month’s MagPi magazine which you can find here.

Write the introduction first?

I’m working on the introduction chapter for “Begin to code: Building Apps and Games with the Cloud”. It was suggested that I should write the introduction when I’ve finished the entire text. That way I’ll know exactly what ended up in it. I quite like this idea, but I think I’ll try and write the introduction first. I think it is better to have an idea where you are going before you start. And I can always revise it later…

Flower Pictures

It turns out that I can take any number of flower pictures. I hope you can too.

Play Mantis

Mantis is a nice little game. Except that it isn’t nice. And it isn’t little. There are loads of cards, each of which poses the question “Which of the three colours on the back is on the front?”. Gameplay involves either scoring “I’m going to user the colour on the other side to match with cards I have and score points” or stealing “I’m going to use the colour on the other side to match with cards I don’t have and steal them from someone else”.

Get ten scored cards and you win. And that’s it. There really isn’t much else to tell. The game is beautifully presented, with an entire back story that will tell you a lot more about shrimps that you thought there was to know. The rules are simple, but how you apply them and what you do is up to you and can get surprisingly deep. This is not a game that you will spend the entire evening playing, but it is a great way to get the party started.

I really want to build a Magna-Doodle Clock

I’ve got all these things to do. I need to write the introduction chapter for the new book. I’ve got an article about the Chocolate Synthbox to finish. And, since reading HackSpace magazine yesterday, all I can think about making is a Magna-Doodle clock….

Tag Jousts now in Hackspace Magazine

I’ve got an article in Hackspace magazine this month. This is good news for readers, but also good news for me as I need to buy some new shoes…..

Anyhoo, this article is all about making a 3D printed game. It tells you how to run Python code inside the FreeCAD modelling tool and create game pieces programmatically. You find the magazine in shops and there is also a free pdf download here.

Playing with the Chocolate Synthbox

I’m quite enjoying making silly sounds and tunes with the Chocolate Synthbox. It’s still a bit unreliable. I’m having problems getting some of the components to wake up in a correctly configured state, but when it is working it is great fun.

You’ll be able to find out all about the device and what it does in an upcoming Hackspace article.

Connected Humber Meetup Dates

We’ve set the dates for the next Connected Humber Hardware Meetups. We meet at Hull Makerspace in person on the first Wednesday of the month. Then, 15 days later on Thursday evening we meet online - link here. I look forward to seeing you if you fancy dropping in.

July Meetups:

Wednesday 6th July from 5:30 pm in Hull Makerspace

Thursday 21st July from 6:00 pm online

August Meetups:

Wednesday 3rd August from 5:30 pm in Hull Makerspace

Thursday 18th August from 6:00 pm online

September Meetups:

Wednesday 7th September from 5:30 pm in Hull Makerspace

Thursday 22nd August from 6:00 pm online

October Meetups:

Wednesday 5th October from 5:30 pm in Hull Makerspace

Thursday 20th of October from 6:00 pm online

November Meetups:

Wednesday 2nd November from 5:30 pm in Hull Makerspace

Thursday 17th of November from 6:00 pm online

December Meetups:

Wednesday 7th December from 5:30 pm in Hull Makerspace

Thursday 22nd of December from 6:00 pm online

Windows 11 on the cheapest computer I own

Which one is running Windows 11?

When I bought my super-cheap laptop I noticed that xsonly had an even cheaper one that had a processor flagged as Windows 11 compatible. What the heck, it was only sixty quid. So I bought one. True to their word, Microsoft have now released an upgrade for the device and I installed it.

It works. Windows 11 runs perfectly. I’m not sure that I’d recommend the cheaper notebook though. I think it is cheaper for a reason - which is that it only has a dual core processor. The GeoBook 140 has a quad core device. The difference is noticeable when using the laptop, things are a bit more slow to arrive.

I rather like the Windows 11 experience though. Putting the task bar in the middle of the screen makes perfect sense after a while - you don’t have to move the mouse to the corner to do everything. Everything looks like it has had a spring clean and tidied up. Very nice.

If you want to run Windows 11 on a machine that is cheaper than a video game it is still available at the moment.

I hate buying train tickets

I don’t have a very good record buying train tickets. The Trainline app that I use looks very easy to work with until you try and use it. And then the fun starts. It didn’t help that I was getting repeated “Only four tickets left at this price” messages all the way through the process. There was definitely pressure to complete the transaction as quickly and smoothly as possible. And the app did nothing to help this.

It turns out that if you forget to do something, back out of the action and then go back in the context is subtly changed. The first time this happened I nearly ended up buying tickets from the wrong place. The stupid application changed back to the previous transaction details when I popped back out of a new transaction to change the number of passengers. Then, having fixed that, I went back in to complete the purchase only to discover I’d only bought one seat rather than two. At no point did the application say “Hey! You’ve selected the couples discount but only bought one ticket”. So I had to frantically jump back into the app “Only three tickets left at this price” and buy everything again. And I missed out on my couples discount.

Number one son says I should just buy my tickets from somewhere else. I’m thinking he might be onto something. I just hope there will be trains on the day we want to travel.

and so to the dentist

Going to the dentist is starting to remind me of piano lessons from years ago. Then I used to turn up nervously hoping that the teacher wouldn’t notice that I’d done no practice. With the dentist I turn up hoping she won’t notice I’ve done no flossing. As if.

I’m not sure why I worry about this so much. After all, the dentist gets paid whether I floss or not. In fact you could argue that me letting my teeth get into a mess just means more paid work for her. In which context the filling I need could be counted as a win.

I’m really going to start flossing more…

I love my family...

Look what they got me for Father’s Day. Thanks so much folks.

Sneaking up on a problem

Not sure this will work every time, but I pass it on as a tip that has worked for me. If you are stuck trying to solve a problem it is sometimes a good idea to go off and try solving a totally different one for a while. I have a number of “background niggles” which are things that I would like to fix when I get round to it. I keep a list of these in my diary.

When I get stuck on a “foreground” problem in something I’m working on I will go off and have a look at one of my “niggles” for a while. If I’m lucky (and I have to be lucky) I’ll fix the niggle, come back to my original problem, take another look at it and then solve that too.

Forcing the brain to switch from one issue to another and back again sometimes allows it to pick up on something you didn’t spot first time around.

If you haven’t got any “background niggles” (lucky you) then you can do something different for a while and then come back.

Yet another book

I’m writing another book. You might wonder why I’ve just signed up to spend 6 months of my life thinking about nothing but JavaScript and deadlines, but I happen to like writing. So there.

The new book has the title “Begin to Code – Building Apps and Games in the Cloud”. It’s a follow up for “Begin to Code with JavaScript” with the aim of turning the reader from a programmer to a programmer who knows how to use the cloud.

I’ve already had a lot of fun putting together the overview and roughing out the sample projects. And I’m really going to enjoy turning out the text. Really

The Party Printer Lives

This is the latest “thing” I’m building. It is intended to serve as a “party printer”. It detects when people stand in front of it and offers to take their picture. After a countdown the picture is taken and then sent via Bluetooth to a printer that makes a hard copy of the image. You can see the tripod socket on the bottom of the device.

I’ve just about got the code working. The biggest problem has been getting the lens to focus. You have to do this by turning the lens in the camera. I was having a lot of bother screwing the lens in tight enough to get a sharp image. “No problem” I thought to myself, “I’ll use those really expensive angled pliers that I bought a while back to grip the lens and turn it”.

That didn’t end particularly well. As you can see by the massive scratch across the lens. The good news is that the scratch itself gave me something to grip on as I tried to rotate it. And it doesn’t look as if the image quality has been affected too much.

Now I just have to finish off the software and write up the device for a Hackspace article.

Fixing the Theta S

A while back I bought a Ricoh Theta S camera. I’ve used it on and off since. More off than on recently though. I thought it might be fun to take it to emf, but when I got it out I discovered that it was dead. The battery would not hold a charge.

It turns out that this is a common problem and there is even a guide to replacing the battery with an Olympus one which is a perfect match. The instructions refer to special tools that you need to get the back off, but I made do with a penknife and a thumbnail. My pro tip, the cover on the bottom is actually a very thin sticker so you don’t have to get far behind it to get it off. Once you’ve done that, remove the four screws and then pull open the cover at the bottom right hand corner, stick something (your thumbnail or the corner of a credit card) into the gap and then run it round the edge to pop open all the clips holding the cover on. You only have to take the cover off one side, the one facing you when the three buttons are on the left hand side.

The old battery was a bit tricky to get out as it is stuck to the case, but if you give it a gentle prise with a wide blade it will pop out. There is no need for any soldering, the new battery just drops in. My replacement battery is now in and seems to be accepting charge and the camera is working well. It can transfer pictures to my phone over WiFi or over usb to my computer. To say that it is six or so years old the quality of the images holds up quite well.

It works!

Update: It turns out that the latest Ricoh Theta cameras use the same battery - the DB-110. You can buy a DB-110 here - although I reckon the Olympus one I got is the same thing with a different label.

Radius vs Diameter: The eternal battle

An important feature of the thing I’m building now is a tripod fitting on the base. I’ve decided that the best way to implement this is to get an adapter that converts a 3/8ths inch hole into a 1/4 one. If I make the right sized hole in the case I can just screw the adapter into the hole and it will provide the socket that I want.

I carefully converted 3/8ths of an inch into millimetres, added the hole to the design and printed it. However, as you can see above the hole is much too big. Twice as much too big. I’d used the value as a radius, not a diameter. The thing that amazes me is that I managed to check the diagram, look at the enormous hole and then say to myself “Yep, that looks like 3/8ths of an inch”.

Oh well.

Back on the road

Earlier this year I had a little surgical procedure which meant that I had to stop driving. When I got back from hospital I gathered up all the information, filled in a form and sent everything off to tell the authorities I was broken but had been mended. Then began the long wait for the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency to contact my surgeon, convince themselves that I was fixed and then decide to let me drive again.

They’ve just done this. I’m very pleased. I’ve spent the thick end of three months walking past my lovely little car but not being able to drive it anywhere. I’m not sure where I’m going to go just at the moment but I’m really looking forward to going there.

Everything is better with a big button on the front...

I’m working on a design for a new device and I’ve just decided to put a big green button on the top of it. I see this as definite progress….