LED Counter in Python on the Pi

Just a quick post to show a video clip of my Raspberry Pi controlling a seven segment LED via the Pi's GPIO port. I plan to extract the code into a reusable library. One possible use will be to display status / error codes whilst controlling other devices. Must stop playing with hardware and get back to the software.

DevWeek 2013

Well it’s that time of year again, they seem to fly by these days. I’ll be off to DevWeek again soon. I’m booked in for the three day’s so looking forward to some interesting sessions. I get to travel into London by train so that’ll give me forty minutes of thinking time for new programming projects. I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel with all the work I’m doing at home at the moment. In about a month’s time I should be able to concentrate on some game programming. I need to get started with some proof of concept ideas I have for my new Spectrum game. I’ll release more details once I’ve got enough code to produce a video or demo. If anyone reading this is going to DevWeek and wants to talk Z80 then let me know.

From one LED to seven

Another weekend and another hour spent with my Raspberry Pi. After a rummage about in my junk box I located a seven segment LED. Annoyingly the device was too small to span the gap on my breadboard. About ten minutes later I had fabricated a suitable socket. Once the Pi was fired up I wrote a quick bit of Python to check that I could control all the segments. As you can see from the photograph, this was a success. Next Sunday’s coding session will be to allow me to pass in a number via the command line and have the device display the correct number.

Controlling an LED from a Raspberry Pi

Whilst fleshing out ideas for my new ZX Spectrum game, I’ve also found some time to work with my Raspberry Pi. A while ago I bought a breakout board kit for the Pi. This was easily constructed so I needed to then test it. The board connects via the i2c bus and exposes several ports that can be used as inputs or outputs. The controller chip only costs about a £1 so if things went wrong it is a lot cheaper to buy a new chip than it is a new Pi. By default the Pi has the i2c support turned off. This can be enabled by commenting out the i2c line in the blacklist file. A few supporting files need to be download and then it’s ready to work. I adapted some Python code and wired up a LED and resistor to my breadboard. I could then switch the LED on and off from the command line. This isn’t exactly rocket science but it proves that everything is installed correctly and I that can still solder properly. The next step is to look at controlling my amateur radio kit remotely. Here are some pictures of the board and a screen shot of the Python program. I am still using VNC to connect to the Pi so I can program from the comfort of my lounge.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas

Well that’s me done for another year. This hasn’t been a spectacular year for retro related stories on this blog but hopefully next year will be better. What I can say is that over the last month I’ve been working on a new design for a ZX Spectrum game. I don’t want to give too much away bit it will contain ghosts and a multi levelled mansion (no it’s not an Attic Attack remake). I don’t plan on linking it to my Iron Sphere character but I’m not ruling out a tentative link as the game design develops. As it is rare for me to have any spare time so don’t expect to see this game finished until this time next year. Hopefully I’ll be able to show some video clips of something working by the second quarter. Just like my other games, this will be released through Cronosoft (assuming they want it). 

Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a retro rated New Year.

Secret Santa

My colleagues know my interests and hobbies so well. This year my “Secret Santa” got me a short wave radio kit. That’s me sorted Christmas afternoon after a massive dinner.

Sweets at Christmas

By popular demand, here is a picture of a tin of sweets provided by the company for Christmas. As a bonus, one my colleagues brought in a cake made by his wife. We don’t go short on food here at work.