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  • Author Author: ninjatrent
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Raspberry Pi Zero with the Pimoroni EnviroPHAT, Adafruit PiOLED, and Zero4U

ninjatrent

I recently purchased the Pimoroni EnviroPHAT and Adafruit PiOLED display for use with the Raspberry Pi Zero v1.3. I currently have the EnviroPHAT and PiOLED display connected to the RPi Zero and the Zero4U 4 Port USB Hub with the Pimoroni Mini Black Hat Hacker. Here are a few images of everything connected. I access the RPi remotely with SSH via WiFi. In the captured images I have the RPi Zero powered with the Adafruit PowerBoost 1000C and LiPo battery. There is also a USB Voltage Meter with OLED Display to monitor the power consumption.

 

These images and video were captured with a Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera I found at a used video game shop. I will explain in another post how to configure a Raspberry Pi 3 for use  with this specific Microsoft Live Vision Camera.

 

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           With only the PiOLED, Zero4U, and Wifi Dongle connected to the RPi Zero

 

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        And now with the EnviroPHAT, PiOLED, and Mini Black Hat Hack3r with moderate cpu usage during apt-get update && upgrade

 

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        Let's see those LEDs ! Show me the OLED!!

 

 

                               * Legos not included

 

 

After making some modifcatitons to my primary everyday camera (removing the scratched protective lens from my mobile phone's aging but useful 5MP camera)

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Before with damaged protective lense cover, photos would have a cloudy appearance and unnatural artifacts in captured images.

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And now the quality of the camera sensor can shine. Get back to work.

 

 

Let's have a closer look at the Adafruit PiOLED  display and the Pimoroni EnviroPHAT under better photographic conditions.

 

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The Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi Foundation 7" Touchscreen in a SmartiPi Case is my favorite. By using SSH we can update, upgrade and install necessary software with the Wifi USB Dongle. Important note, purchase Wifi USB Dongle from source that has confirmed the dongle is compatible with Raspbian.

 

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Installing the Zero4U 4-Port Hub is very simple. It attaches to the RPi Zero with included 4 poly screws,spacers, and nuts. The Zero4U is powered via 4 gold pogo pins that contact with PP1 and PP6 for power, and PP22 and PP23 contact pinouts located on the bottom side of the Pi Zero. When the RPi Zero W was released, the makers of the Zero4U released an important hardware update which is the of the addition of a special ferrite ring to protect the PP22 and PP23  connected data carrying pogo pins from unwanted RF interference. This specific ferrite ring has been made available for purchase by the manufacturer for customers who purchased the Zero4U before the Pi Zero W was released.

 

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The Pimoroni Mini Black HAT Hack3r GPIO Breakout Board is very helpful in testing multiple Pi Zero HATs as long as there are no conflicts in pin usage.

 

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Power is supplied with the Adafruit PowerBoost 1000C and a 3.7v 2500 mAh Lithium Ion Polymer Battery Pack in a protective case made from foam board, recycled foam packing material and Duck Tape.

 

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Here is a nice close up of the new Adafruit PiOLED with its tiny yet highly visible OLED display. I have not removed the protective film yet.

 

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The Pi OLED retains visability and clearity in various lighting conditions. The Dual RGB LEDS of the Pimoroni EnviroPHAT become visible after I decrease the amount of ambient light in my office.

 

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darkside

 

 

Here are links for where these items may be purchased.

 

  Authorized Adafruit Industries Distributor | Newark element14

 

   https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/enviro-phat

 

  https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/mini-black-hat-hack3r

 

  https://www.adafruit.com/product/3194

 

  https://www.adafruit.com/product/3527

 

  https://www.adafruit.com/product/3298

 

  https://www.adafruit.com/product/2690

 

  https://www.adafruit.com/product/2465

 

I am currently working on Python code and in my next update I will be attaching a Raspberry Pi 8MP Camera v2.

 

Thank you for checking out my blog. Stay tuned for updates on this and other projects I am working on.

 

Trent Pfeiffer

  • in reply to DAB

    Hi DAB,

        Thank you for checking my project blog. The EnviroPHAT has been an interesting Pi Zero HAT to work with. So far I have not ran into any issues with obtaining readings from the many sensors with a few rough draft python scripts. I will be posting the code as soon as get things put back together.

     

    The EnviroPHAT and PiOLED work great together. I have made the decision to use the PiOLED with another Pi Zero.

      

    I would like to add a motor driver and pwm/servo driver to control for control of a robotics platform. That will be a great addition to this EnviroPi.

    Unfortunatly it will be a few weeks before I can purchase anymore parts for this Pi Zero. I will post some images and video of my results in a few days. It has been fun testing the EnviroPHAT in the field image.

     

    Thank you again for your interest in this project. I have a few planned for this summer. Instead of buying a box of fireforks for the 4th, I purchased a box of Raspberry Pi parts. Here comes on of them now.

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      Happy 4th of July

     

      Trent

  • Interesting project.

     

    I am really interested in seeing how well you can exploit the EnviroPHAT with Python.

     

    Please take some time to explain your implementation and highlight any issues encounter.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to fvan

    Thank you for your interest. That's a very good question.

        I originally intended to just configure the Pi Zero and the EnviroPHAT as a remote environment sensor. As the Pi Zero that I am using is the non wireless version, I decided to connect it to the network with a LB-Link USB Wi-Fi dongle. Thankfully I have found that most of the sensors on the EnviroPHAT us the I2C bus. This is a great feature that allows for easier configuration of other components. The Adafruit PiOLED also uses the I2C bus so most of the GPIO pinout is still available for use.

         I have found the EnviroPHAT to be a wonderful collection of sensors on a single Pi HAT.

           Another great feature of the EnviroPHAT is that the sensors chosen for design are fairly standard and readily available.

          Given that most of the GPIO pins are still available for use, there are more tasks that can be assigned to this Pi Zero. With the addition of a RPi 8MP Camera v2, the potential for this tiny Linux Computer is great.

          The purpose of this blog post is to share my progress with the community, and hopefully will inspire others in the development of project ideas they might have. I have a few projects and ideas that I have been working on, and have found the Element 14 community to be a great place to share them.

          I am a new member to the to the Element 14 community, and I have found it to be an amazing society of extraordinary people. It's a great honor and privilege to be a part of this community. The contributions of members such as yourself are what make this community great. Thank you very much for checking out my blog, it is truly an honor.

       As far as the direction of this project and blog, I am open to suggestion. My original intention was to create a remote device capable of logging environmental conditions. This project has reached that goal but I feel it has the potential to be more. I have been doing some research on Alexa with the Pi Zero and Raspberry Pi robotics projects. Currently my idea is a Pi Zero Robot designed for environmental data collection and material sample collection.

         Thank you again for your interest in this blog. Please feel free to make any suggestions you might have for this idea. One of my goals for this blog post was to network with members of the community, and discuss Raspberry Pi robotics and IoT related projects.

     

          Trent

  • Good start, what exactly are you building?