Design Challenge Summary, Week Ending May 29

Sci Fi Your Pi

Anyone who follows me on the several sites I post my projects on will know that I love awesome DIY projects that are built with out of the box concepts, and that is why I have become enamored with the Sci Fi Your Pi challenge. We are about five weeks into the challenge at this point, and the competition is really beginning to heat up. Because of this, I have decided to begin writing a weekly summary of the challenge updates from the past seven days.

Over the last seven days we have seen new updates on several of the projects, and a few of those updates really caught my eye. These updates are really beginning to impress me, and I have decided to write a weekly blog series that will highlight what I think the best updates of the week are. Before we get started with my top three from this week, lets look at all of the updates.

• Project: Meditech - This was a big week for project Meditech as it saw four updates including the addition of a display unity, prototyping an enclosure for the project, and assembling the projects prototype.
• Project: Virus -  Much like the Meditech Project, [Project Virus] has seen four updates in the last week as well. Inderpreet Singh has updated us with a few tutorials including Python & Remote Control, OpenCV and a RPi Camera, and how to live stream and create timelapse with Open CV.
• Project: PiDesk - Update #7 includes information on how to get the Touch Board communicating with a Raspberry Pi via USB and Serial data.
• Project: Prince Dakkar's patent log taking chart compass - In this third update, Neil Bizzell lays out how he plans on handling route selection and indication for this project.
• Project: The Picorder - This week Michael Han brings us up to speed on how the Picorder will handle the audio portion of this project.
• Project: PizzaPi - This week PizzaPi saw an update that cover multiple Raspberry Pi communication using  MQQT.
• Project: CP31 - Rounding the week out, Project C3P1 posted its first update confirming the arrival of the Sci Fi Your Pi kit. Aparently shipping times to Brazil are longer than expected.

All of this weeks updates were wonderful, informative, and really showcased a lot of talent, but I only have time to post about my favorite three updates from this week, so I apologize if I do not cover your project this week. Remember that next week could always be the week your project gets featured!

Part of the imaging setup for Project Virus by Inderpreet Singh.

My favorite update of the week is from Project Virus as I actually learned a few things from his tutorials that I have been trying to figure out over the last few weeks. Inderpreet Singh ( ipv1)  really goes above and beyond when it comes to providing code examples and clear descriptions of what he is trying to do. The project's use of OpenCV really impressed me and actually helped me solve a few issues I have been having with a project of my own.

Speaker Prototype for Project Picorder by Michael Hahn.

This weeks update on Project Picorder is one of my favorites from the whole contest so far. I really dig projects that incorporate sound, and the fact that Michael Hahn (saturnv) is using perfboard for his prototyping work really makes me smile. Posting vide content in his update is quite awesome as well, but the fact that he is hacking the project together using recycled parts from old electronics is pretty dang cool as well!

Project Enclosure Prototype for Project Meditech by Enrico Miglino.

This weeks last spot goes to Project Meditech by Enrico Miglino (balearicdynamics), and is definitely one of my top 5 favorite projects of this challenge. This week was especially impressive due to the progress that has been made. I love the use of Eagle for his schematic and board work, as well as the large LCD display unit. Most importantly though is how Enrico modified a standard off the shelf storage container to serve as his project enclosure. This project is shaping up to be pretty amazing, and I can not wait to see his next updates.

Enchanted Objects

Creating interesting solutions to bring old electronics back to life is an art form, and can truly be considered a bit of magic at times, but "enchanting" non electronic objects to do "magical" electronic things is what I live for! I have been following the Enchanted Objects design challenge for a few weeks now and the progress on its projects are really beginning to blow my mind! The creativity that is flowing from the challengers is equal only to the amount of ingenuity and engineering they are putting into each of the projects.

Over the past week we had a grand total of nineteen updates posted across seven different projects, with Project: 1958 Turntable from the Black Forest by Jan Cumps (Jan Cumps) boasting a whopping seven updates in just one week! Below is a list of all of the Enchanted Objects Project's updates from the past week.

• Project: Enchanted Cottage -  This week the Enchanted Cottage by Andy Clark (Workshopshed) took another couple of steps forward with the addition of a DHT22 Temperature and Humidity sensor and some code examples to help get the sensor running on an Arduino Yun. The project also got some new the Arduino Yun's Wifi status and a Piezo sensor for detecting door knockers.
• Project: Enchanted Windows - There was not much progress made on the Enchanted Windows project this week, but Parth Pandya (coolbox) asked his readers for advice on using a servo or a DC motor in his project.
• Project: Enchanted Wardrobe - Much like Enchanted Windows, there was not much progress on the Enchanted Wardrobe either. The good news is that Ayan Pahwa (iayanpahwa) has finished his university exams and is laying out his plan for the project!
• Project: Magic Hat - This week was fairly productive for Project Magic Hat as Ambrogio Galbusera (amgalbu) posted two updates to the project. The first update filled us in on his plans and chosen hardware to add sound to the Arduino Yun for the project. The magic happened in his second update of the week where he shared the code that helped give a voice to the Magic Hat.
• Project: Enchanted 50's Record Player - A mountain's worth of progress has been made on the Enchanted Record Player, with Jans Cumps (Jan Cumps) designing his own C++ Buffered Sampler on the SAMA5D4 MCU. Jan also got a lot of work done on the record players sub-chassis, and rounded the week out with work on the motorized light organ.
• Project: Smart Key Hooks - Christoph Rieder (crjeder) became inspired by Jan Cumps post #21 on his Enchanted Turntable project to finalize the plans for his project and to look back on the project's achievements thus far.
• Project: Mini-Tasks Automator - This project seems to have gained some momentum this week as Parker Ellwanger buckled down and began finishing some of the LED code he needed for the project.

Building the buffered sampler on the SAMA5D4 by Jan Cumps.

This week one Enchanted Objects project really stood out to me and really showed signs of major progress. Jan Cumps 1958 Turntable from the Black Forest took several large steps forward with the work completed on the C++ Buffered Sampler on the SAMA5D4. The work that Jan put into this was incredible and his documentation is some of the best I have seen in this challenge. The handicraft work to make the foam core base was quite impressive as well, and I can not applaud Jan enough for it. Its details like a true sub-chassis that make the engineer in me smile when I see projects like this. Finally, the thought and time Jan has put into the light organ is beginning to show in his last update of the week. His project work this week has really inspired me to try to better engineer a project I am working on at the moment.

Well that’s it for this weeks Sci Fi Your Pi challenge highlights. I will be posting one of these wrap-up style blog post every week until the challenge is over, so stop back every Monday to get your summary of the last weeks project updates. Leave a comment below to let me know which project updates were your favorites, and which aspects of each project you liked best!