Hello, fellow challengers!
I've decided to join this project. I've been designing different projects around Raspberry Pi computers for about 4 years now, and this contest seems to be aligned with what I've been planning to implement this summer as a hobby project. Let me introduce my goals for a little bit.
I depend on many things around me and belonging to me. I expect my belongings and tools to be there when I need them, and I expect my workplace (which incidentally is the room I reside in) to be in a working condition and be as adaptable to my needs as possible. I expect my bike to not be stolen when I'm away from it, I'd like it to record my trips, as well as track its location. Also, I'd like to have a set of sensors I could set up at a temporary workplace if I happen to work somewhere else. Is that IoT? Maybe not fully. Is it going to be fun? Hell yeah!
I've got a small room automation system. It's based on a Raspberry Pi, OpenHAB and some RS485-connected Arduinos (I'll introduce you, RS485 is wonderful). However, it's a hack and a hack that worked unreliably lately, which is what you don't want in a home automation system. Therefore, I'm dismantling it and trying to design a new system, again, using OpenHAB, but adding many more sensors and capabilities. I'll also transfer my Pi2 portable desktop install to a Pi3, adding more capabilities and integration with my new home automation setup and improve portability by designing a custom battery pack. I hope my documentation of all it helps. Next things next - I'll introduce you to the interface I'll be using!
It's pyLCI, an external interface for Raspberry Pi and other Linux boards I've designed and implemented, which is open-source and can be integrated in many Raspberry Pi projects to dramatically include their usability and configurability. It uses character LCD displays (the simplest ones you can get, HD47780-compatibles, screens from 16x2 are supported) and buttons to create menus you can navigate to configure&control your system and running applications. It's very accessible and tackles many problems encountered when working with Raspberry Pi computers, as well as greatly reduces the necessity to use command-line, web interfaces or another devices to configure your Raspberry Pi, as a nice side-effect =)
pyLCI supports many ways to connect a screen and buttons to your Raspberry Pi, including, but not limited to, PiFace Control and Display shields. You can see more information about it here, on Hackaday, check out the documentation and see the code. Here's .
So far, this is a project I'll start in about 2-3 weeks, as right now I'm now working on pyLCI and the Pip-Boy. Until that, expect about one update a week outlining my plans and telling about hardware I'm planning to use.
