The Raspberry Pi was built as a cheap, educational computer platform for students. But it’s exposed GPIO pins, linux support and prices comparable to an Arduino, have all contributed to it’s meteoric rise as an ‘internet of things’ style embedded computer. Many projects have used it’s small form factor to control all types of things. For example, the Cloud Lamp project, that I recently built!
In the past, when I’ve wanted to connect a hardware project to the internet, I’ve gone with Arduino and an ethernet shield. The problem with this solution is that the price was high and the available space for software was limited. This is where the Raspberry Pi really shines! But in order for the Raspberry Pi to provide these great benefits, you’ll need your program to be able to communicate. In particular, a web-based API will make it a snap to communicate with. Python is a popular language for using the GPIO pins and so pairing that with the Twisted networking module makes for a powerful program.
First check out what I was able to accomplish using this technique, then, after the video, stay tuned for a simple, pared down and detailed tutorial of the basics. After that I jump into the code that powers the actual lamp!
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Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: A Fabulous Year for Python on Hardware and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit, be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Have you tried the new “Adafruit Raspberry Pi Educational Linux Distro”? It’s our tweaked distribution for teaching electronics using the Raspberry Pi. But wait, there’s more! Try our new Raspberry Pi WebIDE! The easiest way to learn programming on a Raspberry Pi.