Category: Technology

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ESP32-S2 Has Arrived!

esp32-s2-wrover rendering

Received a few of my ESP32-S2 chips and modules this weekend. Pretty excited to update some designs I have for the new chip. Crazy that the module is half the cost of the ESP32-PICO-D4 chip I’ve been using religiously. I’m a bit bummed that it no longer has Bluetooth, but I’m hopeful that it’s lower cost and USB interface makes up for that.

While I was at it, I quick whipped up a 3D model of the ESP32-S2-WROVER chip and published it on GitHub and SnapEDA. Made in Fusion 360, so feel free to change it up. Would appreciate a PR if you do!

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Thermal Camera

Made my own DIY thermal camera using a Raspberry PI and a FLIR Lepton module. Has great resolution for the price point and works quite well. Started working on a Node.js module that can interface directly with the module, which seems to be somewhat working.

I nabbed the LeptonModule source and hacked up some additional features for locking the temperature range scale, which is super useful for getting a visual on something, locking the range, and then looking at other objects for comparison to what you locked on.

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Raspberry Pi Box

Took some time this last month to work on trying to make a box out of bloodwood for a Raspberry PI with integral recessed area for the LCD touch screen. The idea was to mount the screen / PI to the top block and then figure out how to latch it to the box underneath.

So far, I’ve managed to break a slew of 1/8″ router bits, even being as delicate as I can and doing many shallow passes. Perhaps the wood is super hard or I’m just being careless. Who knows.

The project was a fun excuse to practice box joinery techniques using a router jig. Had some reasonable success there, though there was some occasional tear out. A table saw jig would be better but I used what already have.

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WeaselVision™

Made a baby-monitor camera system using a Raspberry Pi, Node.js, and WebSockets to stream still images of what our little weasel is up to when she should be sleeping. Works fantastically well, even in low light, due to to using the RPI camera without the IR filter, so the room can be lit with IR for better night vision.

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Umbraco and Mono: Can it be done?

Recently, I’ve been dreaming about writing a next-generation .NET content management system (CMS). The CMS would incorporate a great feature set that my, as well as a ton of other organizations, would require out of a great CMS. After creating a project plan and set of documents, a friend of mine referred me to Umbraco, an open-source .NET content management system that claims to be as flexible as what I had imagined my CMS to be. My ambition for starting a brand-new project subsided since Umbraco incorporates a great number of the features I required. However, the main feature that my CMS had was platform independence. Umbraco, in its current state, is not ready. Neither is Mono. This article explains why. Continue reading “Umbraco and Mono: Can it be done?”