After completing my last project, the "Rice Krispies Loader", I thought that a further use for my robotic arm could be turning it upside so that it became a robotic leg. If you could print four of these and attach them then you'd h...
Yesterday I attended a Meetup organised by "Internet of Things Innovators UK" we had two talks, one on the micro:bit from the BBC and the other on Ubuntu Core from hosts Canonical. Howard Baker works for the BBC Learning team and he ex...
I have been working on a sunrise project that is heavily inspired by Ken Murphy's amazing History of the Sky project. I loved what he did, and I decided to use a Raspberry Pi to do something similar using the Chicago Skyline and our daily s...
Rakshak-1: An attempt to create an open source system for data gathering in situations hazardous for directly accessing by humans. I thought of creating an open source system for data gathering in a hazardous situation not fit for directly acce...
After we all enjoyed such a deeply nostalgia trip down through the circuits of time over on the micromemories blog, MicroMemories of a Silicon School Day, I thought you guys would love to join me in wishing the wonderful 16-bit sensation, the Commodo...
IntroductionUp until yesterday, I’d not seen a programming language which would go from a graphic oriented (pseudo Scratch-like) environment to a conventional source code view, from browser based execution to microcontroller execution, to mobile phon...
Access Raspberry pi GUI and command line from your windows machine using SSH and VNCAt times you might face a situation when you cannot connect your Raspberry pi to a monitor ,like in a situation when you actually don't have a monitor or when you hav...
#MicroMemories Commadore 64 Plug and Play competition Terms and Conditions 1. This prize draw is run by Premier Farnell plc (Premier Farnell or we (including our or us) on the following terms and conditions. A...
To mark the launch of the new BBC Micro:Bit we're giving away one Commodore 64 plug in and play! Step 1: Think about your own memories of the BBC Micro or any other retro computer like the ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64 Step 2: Reg...
Today the BBC unveiled the design of the BBC micro:bit, part of the BBC’s Make it Digital initiative, at an event for its partners in London. element14 is a major partner in the project to produce one million BBC micro:bit to be gifted to each ...
Python has really entered the embbedded domain very strongly,with products like pyboard,Raspberrypi,Edision. Learning python is now becoming a necessasity if somebody want to create something innovative. Its easy learning curve and good density...
On Tuesday, June 16th students from the City Colleges of Chicago participated in their first balloon launch. This is supported by a grant from NASA and the Illinois Space Grant. With this award we support students with scholarships and st...
As many of you know, I am working with my colleagues at the City Colleges of Chicago and DePaul University on some high altitude balloon (HAB) launches. This activity has been funded by NASA, and we really excited to to do some launches, and sh...
Since its original publication in 1980, The Art of Electronics has been regarded as a masterpiece of electronic engineering. Engineers have hailed it as an indispensable, life-altering work which has greatly deepened their understanding and love of c...
How can the Printerbot Simple Metal be used in the classroom? After all, I am a teacher and the whole point of getting the machine in the first place was not to make enough trinkets to rival a box of Kinder Surprise rather it was to have a lasti...
With the rise of the #selfie movement more and more people are taking there own videos and photos. Not all of these photos are great and could some some help like the one below: There are some options on the market similar to these, but the cost...
With the school year behind me, I finally have some time to work on projects that I have been dreaming up all year. The abundance of free time also means that I am saying 'yes' to a lot of things, and I will soon start to run out of time again....
My college recently received a grant from NASA that allows us to pursue high altitude balloon projects. I have written about this before, and asked about some potential ideas for experiments and sensors. Today, in Lexington, IL we launched...
It has been an exciting few months. Don't let the lack of blog posts fool you. I have honestly just been too busy to write anything. Earlier this year, the City Colleges of Chicago received a grant from NASA to do some high-altitude ...
A while ago, I posted an instruction sheet for temperature sensing with the waterproof DS18B20 probe. At the time, I was really interested in how quickly my coffee would cool off depending on the kind of cup I was using. The program I use...
Code Red: Computing in schoolsHave you seen coding hit the headlines recently? There are lots of reasons why it’s top of the agenda at the moment. Research has found that around half of young people think they know more about computing than their tea...
Not that long ago, I got a Pi camera, and I quickly became excited about all of the wonderful time lapse projects I could attempt. I mean the script is so simple and easy to understand, how could anyone not be interested in making time lapse mo...
The Raspberry Pi Camera is surprisingly good and easy to use. I am very happy with how simple it is to take pictures and use other free software to make time lapse movies with it. During this winter break, I asked the Chicago Children'...
