Tag: gpio

  • Eugene’s fishing line header hack for Raspberry Pi Zero

    0.38 mm / 5.4 kg test Trilene threaded through Raspberry Pi Zero header holes
    0.38 mm / 5.4 kg test Trilene threaded through Raspberry Pi Zero header holes holds jumper wires snugly without soldering

    Eugene “thirtytwoteeth” Andruszczenko (of Game Boy Zero – Handheld Edition fame) posted a neat idea to help your Raspberry Pi Zero take jumper wires without soldering. He threaded fishing line through the 40 hole header, making an interference fit for header pins. I tried it with 0.38 mm Trilene, which worked rather well.

  • VM-CLAP1 👏 sensor + gpiozero on Raspberry Pi

    Well, that was easy!

    Since the Verbal Machines VM-CLAP1 sensor is an open collector type — that is, it sinks current when triggered — it behaves like a simple button to gpiozero, the Raspberry Pi Python GPIO library. If you attach a callback function to the sensor’s when_pressed event, your Python script will call that function every time it registers a clap.

    The wiring is as simple as it could be:

     VM-CLAP1: Raspberry Pi:
     ========= =============
          GND → GND
          PWR → 3V3
          OUT → GPIO 4
    

    This example code just prints clap! when the board picks up a 👏:

    #!/usr/bin/env python3
    # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
    
    # Raspberry Pi gpiozero test for
    # Verbal Machines VM-CLAP1 clap sensor
    #   scruss - 2017-06
    #
    # Wiring:
    #
    #  VM-CLAP1:    Raspberry Pi:
    #  =========    =============
    #    GND     →   GND
    #    PWR     →   3V3
    #    OUT     →   GPIO 4
    
    from gpiozero import Button
    from signal import pause
    
    def clapping():
            print("clap!")
    
    clap = Button(4)
    clap.when_pressed = clapping
    pause()
    

    This is a trivial example, but at least it shows that anything you can do with a button, you can also do with this hand-clap sensor.

  • Clap Sensor part for Fritzing

    I have no idea if this wiring would work, but it’s pretty …

    For work, I blogged about Verbal MachinesHand Clap Sensor VM-CLAP1 (“Clap on 👏👏, Clap off 👏👏 – Elmwood Electronics”). I’ve made a preliminary part for Fritzing for the board: VM-CLAP1 Clap Sensor for Fritzing.zip

    It should work in Breadboard and Schematic mode, but absolutely doesn’t work in PCB mode. This shouldn’t be a problem, as it’s only available as a standalone board. Fritzing doesn’t have any way to create new parts from scratch any more, so I had to base it on a somewhat similar-looking board, the SparkFun Electret Microphone Breakout.

    I’m looking forward to see what I can do with gpiozero and the clap sensor.