Issue #42_SI: MakerSpace / Sep 2021

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Hands-On Projects for Makers

Dive into:

• Raspberry Pi
• Arduino
• Retro gaming

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.

Projects

WS2812 LEDs
Control a matrix of WS2812 LEDs with the Raspberry Pi.

Lunchbox Portable Pi
A lunchbox-style portable Raspberry Pi computer provides external control for a steampunk robotic skull.

Christmas Tinkering
Make your own Christmas music box with a microcontroller, servomotor, NeoPixel LED ring, and mini-MP3 player.

Escape Room Puzzle
A digital puzzle presents a challenge for young people in an escape room.

ioBroker + Rasp Pi
Control home automation devices from various manufacturers with a single interface by combining free software and a Raspberry Pi.

Kitchen Timer
A simple kitchen helper with two timers assists budding chefs in coping with dishes that are unlikely to be ready at the same time.

Instrumented Garden
Place long-range wireless sensors in a garden and keep track of ambient conditions with gauges and time-based graphs.

Tools & Development

CircuitPython
The CircuitPython run-time environment runs on almost all microcomputers and microcontrollers, making it perfect for cross-platform programming.

BerryLan
Control a headless Raspberry Pi from your smartphone.

Deep Dive

Pi Zero USB Gadget
Turn a Pi Zero into a universal USB flash drive that emulates storage, a serial port, Ethernet, and more.

Serial Communications
We explore serial communications, from the electrical specs to protocols and libraries and provide an example of serial communication with an Arduino.

Linux from Scratch on a Pi
The detLFS project helps you compile Linux from source code -- either to explore the system or to prepare for a project with special requirements.

Retro Computing & FPGA

RetroPie
Bring back old games from more than 50 classic game consoles.

Lakka
Lakka Linux comes with everything you need to play retro games -- and you can even install games directly in the user interface. All you need is a Raspberry Pi and, ideally, a simple gamepad.

FPGA Home Computers
If you're not satisfied with your current operating system, you can update to a new release or switch to a different distro. Imagine if you could do the same with your hardware, at zero cost. It turns out that you can, thanks to FPGA chips, which have become popular in the retro-gaming community.

MEGA65 Home Computer
The MEGA65, an FPGA-based C65 clone, promises to become a modern successor to the Commodore C64, one of the most successful machines of the 8-bit home computer era.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next
Back in the '80s, the Zilog Z80 was a powerful processor, and the home computers of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum series made good use of it. Today it can be hard to find a Speccy in good condition, but a specialized FPGA computer saves the day: We present the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next.