Raspberry Pi + PWM RGB LED Strip

January 15, 2013 - 3 mins read

This tutorial demonstrates how to easily use a Raspberry Pi to drive 12V RGB LED strips using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). Out of the box, the Raspberry Pi has only one GPIO pin that is capable of pulse width modulation (PWM). However, thanks to the efforts of Richard Hirst and his servoblaster kernel module, standard GPIO pins can be used to perform PWM. Note: The flashing of the LED strip due to PWM is only noticeable in the uploaded video; in reality, the colors progress smoothly without any visible flashing.

Easily connect Raspberry Pi to Gmail, Facebook, Twitter & more!

August 24, 2012 - 6 mins read

Easily connect your Raspberry Pi to web services and social networks! This tutorial demonstrates how to painlessly send and receive Gmail on the Raspberry Pi from Python, which in turn, allows you to easily connect it to web services and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and more! This would normally be well beyond the abilities of most users due to the inherent complexities of programming through social media APis, client/server authentication, etc.

Raspberry Pi + MSP430 + SPI

August 13, 2012 - 2 mins read

This tutorial will explain how to communicate from the Raspberry Pi to an MSP430 Launchpad board (M430G2553 chip) using SPI. Requirements 1 Raspberry pi (running Raspbian) 1 MSP430 TI Launchpad 3 wires Your raspberry pi should be running the newest version of Raspbian. To ensure your system is up-to-date please download and run rpi-update. Wiring MSP430 Flash the below code to your MSP430 chip. Please see this tutorial for information on compiling and programming your MSP430.

Raspberry Pi + Arduino + SPI

August 11, 2012 - 2 mins read

This tutorial will show you how to communicate from your raspberry pi to your arduino using 3-wire SPI. Requirements 1 Raspberry pi (running Raspbian) 1 Arduino 4 wires Your raspberry pi should be running the newest version of Raspbian. To ensure your system is up-to-date please download and run rpi-update. Wiring Arduino Open your Arduino ide and flash the below code to your Arduino. Arduino code Raspberry Pi With your updated rasbian system you should have the drivers that you need.

Arduino Poor Man's Oscilloscope

August 6, 2012 - 2 mins read

This tutorial will show you how to use your Arduino as an oscilloscope. We end the tutorial with a verification portion that uses the Arduino to generate a square wave, requiring a single wire. lxardoscope Lxardoscope is another Arduino + real-time graphing project that has the potential to turn an Arduino into an oscilloscope. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any readings (the visual graph remained static). Poor Man’s Oscilloscope First, download processing.