NERP

Overview

Not Exclusively Raspberry Pi (NERP) is an interest group focused on demonstrations and open discussion of embedded systems. There is currently an emphasis on the Raspberry Pi, but all embedded platforms are within the scope (BeagleBone/Board, ARM Cortex M series, MSP430, Arduino, etc).

Participants

• Ed Bennett
• Jay Hopkins
• Drew Fustini
• Eric Stein
• Add yourself

Meetings

• Bi-weekly, Monday, 7pm-9pm
• Meetup.com group

Past

• Meeting #0: July 30, 2012
• Meeting #1: August 13, 2012
• Meeting #2: August 27, 2012
• Meeting #3: September 10, 2012
• Meeting #4: September 24, 2012
• Meeting #5: October 8, 2012
• Meeting #6: October 22, 2012
• Meeting #7: November 5, 2012
• Meeting #8: November 19, 2012

Upcoming

• Monday, December 3rd: RSVP on Meetup
• (recurs every other Monday)

Reference

Projects

• Brewing beer with Raspberry Pi - Chillmon
  • Eric did a Google+ hangout with Eben Upton of Raspberry Pi during Maker Faire
• Autonomous car
• Automation system for Aquaponics
• Using embedded vision for autonomous car obstacle avoidance
• Pi Clip: Joe Walnes created brace to better support the Adafruit Pi Plate
• Pi Crust: GPIO breakout for the Pi by Joe Walnes
  • Google group
• Quick2Web: Joe Walnes is working on an easy-to-use web interface for the Raspberry Pi
• Pumpkin Pi: a Halloween project for Raspberry Pi by Drew
• glint: Jeff Lunt's project to make Raspberry Pi retro gaming accessible to everyone
  • Marshmellow Entertainment System: demo of very fast booting Raspberry Pi distro

Wiki

• Allwinner SoCs
• eLinux

Mailing lists

• ARM Netbook
• OLinuXino
• CubieBoard Google Group

Embedded device news

• CNX Software
• Liliputing

Software / Services

• Upverter: Web-based EDA suite features schematic, layout, part library & manufacturing along with real-time collaboration
• OHS Park: inexpensive batch-based PCB manufacturing service (formerly Dorkbot PDX)

Microcontrollers

• TI Stellaris (ARM Cortex M4F) $5!
• Teensy 3.0 (ARM Cortex M4)
• Galago (ARM Cortex M3)
• MSP430 & FRAM: Presentation from NERP #5 by Matt Cashdollar

Android

• MK802 Android Mini-PC
  • Amazon

Single Board Computers (SBC)

• Olimex OLinuXino
• BeagleBone
• CubieBoard
• APC
• RhombusTech
• Raspberry Pi (see section below)

Raspberry Pi

Hardware

• Raspberry Pi (Model B)
  • Newark element14: in stock (2012-Sep-17)
  • MCM Electronics: in stock (2012-Sep-17)
  • Note: Model A not been released yet, only Model B exists
• Gertboard: I/O expansion board
• Pi Box by Adafruit: clear acrylic case that Drew has shown at meeting
  • design files are open source and could be made with the PS1 laser cutter.
• Adafruit's full line-up of Raspberry Pi accessories
• Sanoxy HDMI to VGA converter $27 converter Drew bought on Amazon works well
• 3.5" TFT LCD: $20 composite-input display Drew has
• RCA male-male coupler: very handy for connecting composite LCDs to the Pi
• Atrix Lapdock: Cheapest way to get a portable HDMI display for the Pi
  • Atrix lapdock tricks: documents how Jay has tried a super cap and a USB battery pack to buffer power to the Pi

Software

Linux

• Raspberry Pi Foundation downloads page has instructions on flashing the SD card
• Raspbian "Wheezy": recommended for general purpose
• Raspbmc: recommended for media center usage
• Adafruit Occidentalis: based on Raspbian "Wheezy" with improved hardware interfacing and wi-fi support
• Upgrade Raspbian for overclocking without reflashing

Applications

• Arduino IDE runs and uploads ok USB-connected Arduino with Raspbian "Wheezy"; just install via "apt-get install arduino".
• WiringPi is a Python library which aims to make electronics interfacing as high-level as Arduino
• GPIO examples in many languages
• Quake for the current Raspbian "Wheezy" image
• "hello world" programs in /opt/vc/src especially the 1080p HD playback demo: /opt/vc/src/hello_pi/hello_video/
  • More details in recorded webinar by Eben Upton

Support

• RaspberryPi.org Forum is a good resource
• Raspberry Pi group on element14 Community is quite active too and another place to ask questions
• The eLinux wiki troubleshooting guide
• Listing of verified equipment add your own once tested!
• WiFi adapter testing done by Drew

Tutorials

• Adafruit Learning System: excellent tutorials for the Pi by Adafruit
• element14 Raspberry Pi blog where Drew posts his tutorials
  • I2C interfacing: details of temperature sensor and real-time clock that Drew demo'd
• LED Clock: details of the LED 7-segment module clock that Drew demo'd
  • Adafruit has now made their own tutorial

Technical Reference

• GPIO protection circuits: different approaches to safely interfacing with RPi pins
• SparkFun sensor interfacing: general tutorial for logic level conversion
• Max current for GPIO pins
  • GPIO pads control: documentation by SoC engineer Gert van Loo
    • All the electronics of the pads are designed for 16mA.
  • Understanding Output: explains relationship between voltage, current and impedence
    • A maximum of 16mA per pin with the total current from all pins not exceeding 51mA.

Links

• Adafruit blog posts about Raspberry Pi
• Libraries, codecs, OSS: an informative post on the media playback architecture
• A Raspberry Pi, hosting a Raspberry Pi: for those wondering how well it would do as a low-power server