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Welcome to the MakerSpace special edition. Although MakerSpace is a computer magazine, we’re not going to talk about Windows or Linux or the latest Apple computers, and we won’t be delving into the details of Android or iOS smartphones. Instead, MakerSpace focuses on technology that you can use to build your own stuff. Our goal is to help you turn your ideas into reality. If you’re interested in electronics but haven't had the time or the skills (yet), studying these maker projects might be the final kick you need to start that programming class, learn soldering, or do whatever else you’ve been thinking. But don’t worry about skills or time right now. Many articles in this issue only require that you own a single-board system such as a Raspberry Pi…

Smart homes with many computer-controlled devices are in vogue, with increasing numbers of manufacturers jumping on the bandwagon. Smart light bulbs and individually controllable sockets are no longer the only items available: Air conditioners, washing machines, ovens, and multimedia and alarm systems can also be integrated through smart home apps. Not all smart homes are created equal: Different specifications (e.g., the Zigbee and Z-Wave standards) render many components from different manufacturers incompatible. Ultimately, you can end up juggling several corresponding matching control devices and apps for the individual end devices. However, armed with just a Raspberry Pi and ioBroker home automation software [1], you can use components from different manufacturers intelligently, while bundling a wide variety of standards – including legacy WiFi – in a single device. You no longer…

The word “serial” in terms of computers might bring several things to mind. In modern times, it might be the universal serial bus (USB). Not too long ago, it might have brought to mind a 9-pin connector on the back of your desktop – or the even bigger 25-pin connector a bit before that. Different, still, the term might bring up memories of modems, printers, or peripherals connected to specialty computers. If you look at early mainframes, the serial port was the main interface to a text terminal and thus the human interface to the computer. Some of these usages have been superseded by newer or different technologies, but serial is still alive and well. Although not as common on today’s computer equipment, serial communication is far from gone, and…

In the pandemic, its not just Netflix series that are booming, but computer games, too. However, state-of-the-art gaming consoles like Nintendo Switch or PS5 are expensive, which makes Linux distributions like Lakka [1] all the more worthwhile. It even runs on the Raspberry Pi 3, which currently retails for $35 (EUR35, £34). In other words, you only pay a fraction of what you would have to fork out for a high-end console from Nintendo or Sony for a retro console that you can build yourself. DIY retro game consoles require very little manual work. You simply plug the Raspberry Pi into a suitable enclosure and connect it to the monitor or TV. With Lakka, you don’t even need a keyboard and a mouse; input can be managed with a gamepad…

Music boxes and Christmas pyramids are among the top sellers in Germany during the Advent season. Expensive, hand-carved items can fetch four-figure sums, whereas cheap imitations sell for €20 (~$17). Christmas pyramids are often powered by the heat of candles, and the cheaper ones in particular have such an unfavorable candle-to-propeller ratio that the pyramid will not turn without mechanical help. Music boxes are driven by fragile springs, but the constant need to rewind them spoils the fun. My idea of building a music box of my own design was born from these frustrations. In terms of the electronics, you do not need many components. The following sections are intended to give you some ideas for your own projects; the parts used in this example can easily be replaced by…

Not all the recipes you cook likely need to be ready at the same time, especially if everyone in the household has their own idea of how long you need to boil eggs for breakfast. A simple dual timer solves the problem. This project uses a Pi Zero and some cheap components sold by the usual mail order companies for a few euros, dollars, or pounds. In principle, it is possible to build the project from scratch on a breadboard without any soldering, which makes it perfect as a starter project for your own experiments. On the Pi Zero you need to install Raspberry Pi OS up front; the Lite version will do the trick. The only additional package you need to install for the time being is wiringPi [1]…

The Raspberry Pi OS can get the Raspberry Pi up and running – with or without a desktop environment. Starting with the standard installation, the system can be adapted to your own needs with very little effort. However, this requires a connected keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Even SSH access is a little more complicated because Pi OS has not started the SSH server automatically for some time now [1]. Building a headless Raspberry Pi (i.e., a computer without peripherals or even a network cable) requires more effort and a certain amount of know-how. Before Raspberry Pi OS starts for the first time, the/etc/wpa_supplicant configuration file has to be edited and the network access credentials entered. The BerryLan project seeks to handle this work for you wirelessly over Bluetooth with a…

We are always looking for good articles on Linux and the tools of the Linux environment. Although we will consider any topic, the following themes are of special interest: System administration Useful tips and tools Security, both news and techniques Product reviews, especially from real-world experience Community news and projects If you have an idea, send a proposal with an outline, an estimate of the length, a description of your background, and contact information to edit@linux-magazine.com. The technical level of the article should be consistent with what you normally read in Linux Magazine. Remember that Linux Magazine is read in many countries, and your article may be translated into one of our sister publications. Therefore, it is best to avoid using slang and idioms that might not be understood by…

You are probably familiar with the large colored LED strips in many shop windows. Often these light strips use WS2812 RGB LEDs. Ready-made controllers are available, but they usually have a very limited feature set. In this article, I show you how to control a matrix of WS2812 LEDs with the Raspberry Pi. Power Games The WS2812 is a programmable RGB LED that is driven by a small controller that has a data byte for each of the three basic colors (red, green, and blue). This arrangement makes it possible to display more than 16 million colors with one LED. Each LED has four connections: two for the 5V power supply and two (DI, data in, and DO, data out) for asynchronous serial data transmission. The output of one LED…

A teacher recently asked me to help create a couple of puzzles for an escape room she was designing for her classes. Escape rooms have a number of interpretations, themes, and implementations but ultimately comprise a series of puzzles designed around a theme. Solving one puzzle provides a clue to something else. Sometimes a puzzle is just an offthe-shelf combination lock, and as you play other parts of the game, you’ll discover the combination (or three numbers that you can try as the combination). One puzzle I designed starts with a number on a seven-segment display (see the “Seven-Segment Display” box), a bundle of leads clipped onto two rows of electrical connections, and an unfinished set of notes. A previous adventurer has started to decode the puzzle and left notes…

As any gardener knows, an understanding of local weather plays an important role in gardening success. Frost can kill off delicate seedlings, too much sun can frazzle shade-loving plants, and too much moisture can suffocate roots. I have relied for a few years on a single temperature sensor outside and an indicator inside for an overview of the conditions outdoors. Although it is a useful tool, it has several drawbacks: The wired sensor is at a single, fixed location, only measures current temperature, and is too close to the house. I wanted a system that provides multiple measurement types at multiple locations, requires no wires trailing around the garden, would provide seasonal data to better plan for planting, and has the capacity for alarms to warn of frost and high…