About six months ago, I bought a Raspberry Pi. For those of you who think that’s a dessert, this might not be the article for you. But for those curious about the Internet of Things and how it really works, read on!
A Raspberry Pi is a small computer, about 3 inches by 4 inches. The inventor built it as a low-cost computer for students to learn how to code. It doesn’t have the design of an Apple or Microsoft product. In fact, it looks like an incomplete product, something that dropped off the assembly line prior to being packaged up.
It has no keyboard and no monitor, something I learned when I opened the box. So, after scurrying off to the store to buy those items, I started it up and watched as an unknown but vaguely familiar language scrolled down the monitor. I have been a Chief Technology Officer for over a decade and, while I try to keep some coding skills, this felt pretty raw to me, especially if you are just learning to code. But, I was determined to create something unique with my Pi, so I kept at it. So far, this was just regular computer programming in Python. The Internet of Things piece came next.
Included with my Raspberry Pi kit were some LED lights, some wiring and a breadboard. The breadboard is supposedly an easy way to wire up multiple “things,” although I thought it appeared rather daunting. But, once you get the hang of it, it really does make things easy. For example, you don’t have to solder anything together. Since I have never owned a solder gun in my life, a breadboard was the way to go.
A simple instruction sheet told me how to wire the LED light to the breadboard and then wire it into the Raspberry Pi. The wires you use are very simple. One end goes into your breadboard and the other normally goes right into your Raspberry Pi.
If this seems like a cross between a computer programmer, electrician and some type of magician, that’s what it felt like!
Next, I had to tell the Raspberry Pi what to do, so I input a simple Python program into the computer, took a deep breath and hit “run.”
Nothing. Nada. No LED lighting up.
I rewired the LED light. Ran the code again.
Still nothing.
I searched the internet and found a ton of YouTube videos showing me EXACTLY how to do it.
Nope. Not working.
Convinced I was a complete idiot, I unhooked everything, then rewired it again.
Magic. The LED lit up like a Christmas tree. You would have thought I invented electricity.
Within days, I was hooking up motion detectors, alarms, more sophisticated lights, a battery pack and any other sensors I could order off the internet. I bought a car robot, wired it all up and chased my Jack Russell terrier with it. My office looked like an evil inventor lived there. I invented things to scare my neighbor’s cat from pooing in my yard. I invented more things to chase my dog. I bought a servo motor and am now thinking of making one of my dog’s stuffed toys bounce up and down to completely freak her out. I’ve been reading articles on how to embed sensors into a sweater.
I have often heard that our imagination is limitless. And with IoT, you can watch that imagination come to life.
Edited by
Ken Briodagh
