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Quorten Blog 1

First blog for all Quorten's blog-like writings

Let’s discuss the Raspberry Pi hardware that makes general measurement of a house not only possible, but accurate. It’s clear that what it comes down to for this use is using JST connectors to (1) make things easy to plug and remove in different combinations and (2) allow using arbitrary wire ends that are easy to solder together.

Okay, so new definitions for my Raspberry Pi sensor array. Okay, fine, I’ll list this in order, and try to group various sensors into practical applications, sorted by some order of their technical complexity and cost.

Tiny core sensor pod:

  1. JST connectors for GPIO push buttons
  2. PWM buzzer
  3. Weight sensor, force sensor, motor resistance sensor
  4. Microphone
  5. Environment temperature sensor (Raspberry Pi GPU temperature)
  6. Environment humidity sensor
  7. Temperature probe sensor

Barcode reader:

  1. Laser line illuminator
  2. Optical line sensor, 1D image sensor… where to get these?

Robot:

  1. Motor control IC
  2. Motors
  3. Rotation speed sensor, “resolver”

Camera:

  1. Optical viewfinder
  2. NoIR camera
  3. IR cut switch
  4. Visible and infrared illumination LEDs

Mobile device:

  1. Battery power
  2. Laser range finder (phase shift preferred, else time-of-flight). Also doubles as a laser pointer.
  3. Accelerometer
  4. Gyroscope
  5. Magnetic compass

User interface:

  1. PCM audio output
  2. Indicator LEDs
  3. digital LED/LCD screen with switchable backlight, passive matrix
  4. Keyboard
  5. Graphics touchscreen
  6. Mouse
  • Raspberry Pi optical viewfinder
  • Raspberry Pi multimeter

Remote control:

  • Infrared transmitter
  • Infrared receiver

Networking:

  • Serial communications: CMOS serial, RS-232, RS-422, RS-455
  • Ethernet
  • Wi-Fi
  • Blutooth
  • Cellular communications
  • Satellite communications

Field work devices:

  • Metal detector
  • Electric field detector, stud finder, live wires
  • Multimeter, electrical conductivity, resistance, diode polarity, voltage, current
  • Thermal conductivity
  • Electronic nose, photosensitive chemical detector
  • NEXT GEN: Electronic tongue, sense chemical surfaces by touch. A multimeter is kind of like this, but only electronics.

Scientific:

  • Thermal camera
  • UV camera
  • Radar imager
  • LIDAR imager
  • X-ray imager
  • Scanning by heating
  • Sonar imager
  • Ultrasound imaging, underwater
  • Geiger counter, radioactivity sensor
  • UV light sensor
  • Colorimetry, spectral sensor
  • DNA scanner
  • Neutrino detector

Electronic interfaces:

  • Composite video
  • SCSI
  • Apple Desktop Bus
  • PS/2
  • USB

Internal computer electronic interfaces:

  • ISA
  • PCI
  • PATA
  • SATA

Electronic media:

  • Phonograph record
  • Movie film reel
  • Audiocassette
  • VHS videocassette
  • Magnetic stripe
  • Floppy disk
  • Optical disc

Vehicles/avionics:

  • GPS receiver
  • Air pressure sensor
  • Wind speed sensor

Okay, this is bordering on science fiction to include some of these sensors.

Important! So why would you want to use a calculator-style LCD screen and keypad in preference to a full graphical touchscreen? For battery powered devices, the answer is obvious: a calculator-style LCD screen and keypad consumes less energy than a full graphical touchscreen. That means more battery life for your mobile device.