@projectgus@aus.social
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projectgus

@projectgus@aus.social

Purveyor of fine artisanal magic smoke.

Toots shall disappear after a while.

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projectgus, to random
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Australian Hardware Startups Not Sell A Raspberry Pi In A Box Challenge 2024

projectgus, to random
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projectgus, to RaspberryPi
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I needed a small Linux computer to run rtl_433 and remembered these Pi Model As, left over from some long ago client's project.

I guess it's admirable that the Pi foundation still supports 10+ year old hardware, unfortunately it's a real struggle in 256MB of RAM.The Debian Bookworm-based minimal install actively swaps to the SD card whenever it does anything at all..

OpenWRT to the rescue! Has pre-built images for the Pi SoCs[*], serial console by default, uses a fraction of the RAM and an impressive amount of software is packaged for it. โœจ

https://openwrt.org/toh/raspberry_pi_foundation/raspberry_pi

[*] For Ethernet on the A then you probably need to build a custom image with the right kmod-usb-net-XYZ module for your adapter.

#raspberrypi #openwrt

projectgus,
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@jpm We embedded programmers all grumbling up the back about uphill both ways in the rain, etc, etc ๐Ÿ˜†

projectgus, to esp32
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So impressed with the progress of the ESP32 open source Wi-Fi MAC efforts: https://zeus.ugent.be/blog/23-24/esp32-reverse-engineering-continued/

Had similar long term ambitions on ESP8266 when I started esp-open-rtos a decade ago, but ended up being hired by Espressif instead. ๐Ÿ˜…

From inside we always had theoretical support for open sourcing more of the WiFi stack, but it was never going to become a priority unless some high tier client demanded it...

I look forward to seeing where this effort lands!

projectgus,
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Its also just neat to see European governments funding this kind of thing (this one from the Netherlands, I believe MicroG gets some German government support.)

I know its peanuts of funding relatively speaking, and hardly a sustainable model by itself, but its hard to.imagine the Australian government (for example) going anywhere near this kind of thing.

projectgus, to Electronics
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Looking forward to the next instalment of this 1983 vintage cable modem teardown and reversing by Jared Boone https://youtube.com/watch?v=8IflOWH8fzY

jpm, to random
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Microchip: weโ€™ve released a new PIC32! https://www.microchip.com/en-us/products/microcontrollers-and-microprocessors/32-bit-mcus/pic32-32-bit-mcus/pic32cz-ca#

Me: all you did is crossed out SAMS70 and scribbled PIC32 over the top in crayon

projectgus,
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@jpm Wow, I would love to know the internal politics that led to this decision!

projectgus,
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@jpm @azonenberg Yeah, that makes sense from the sales perspective of telling customers "keep your existing codebase, no upgrade cost and unexpected delays".

I feel like there's probably some big company politics in the mix too. If SAM and PIC32 are separate internal departments then it practically incentivise it. Middle managers trying to defend their patch, Conway's Law splitting up the internal development teams, etc, etc.

(Also wild speculation, on all counts.)

gsuberland, to random
@gsuberland@chaos.social avatar

if anyone's got some spare time, I'd very much appreciate some technical review of the mk2 CO2/AQI sensor board design for EMF Camp.

full schematics, top/bottom copper, renders, and BoM are in the PDF: https://poly.nomial.co.uk/junk/CO2SensorBoardMk2_20240426.pdf

relevant info:

  • ESP8266 devboard plugs in underneath, board is either powered by USB Micro on devboard or USB-C on mainboard
  • fab & assembly by JLC
  • 4L board, inner layers are solid ground planes
  • 4P header is for SSD1306 OLED
projectgus,
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@gsuberland Is it too late to talk you into an ESP32 family devboard instead of 8266?

It'll be fine but switching gives you better firmware options, hardware I2C and PWM, and overall less rough bits. Although if you have a mature ESP8266 firmware stack in mind then that probably trumps any of this.

projectgus,
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@gsuberland Also, I assume you are all over this as your depth of MOSFET knowledge trumps mine, but the AO3400 level shifters look like they'll be still in their linear region when 1.8V side pulls low. I don't see a section of graph in the datasheet that covers it, but I assume it'll still be much more conductive than the small current they need to pass to pull down a 10K pullup quick enough?

projectgus,
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@gsuberland Very neat board, btw. Is the idea to read from all three sensors and do some comparative analysis / "sensor fusion"? I'll be interested to see what you find.

projectgus,
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@gsuberland Ah yeah, my mistake. Somehow missed that one on first glance!

projectgus,
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@gsuberland Yeah I saw that and then went looking for where it transitions to On, missed figure 2 somehow.

I think something in my brain still hasn't accepted how good modern FETs can be.

projectgus,
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@gsuberland Really interesting, and a very worthwhile goal!

jaseg, to Electronics
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I just found an interesting genre of weird but potentially useful chip: System support PMICs for large SoCs such as BD71805 (2$, i.MX SoCs), RK809 (2$, Rockchip SoCs) or WL2868 (50ct, Omnivison SoCs). These chips provide between 7 and around a dozen DC/DC or LDO channels with digitally configurable voltage(!) through I2C, battery charge measurement, and configurable power-on sequencing. Some even have fun bonus features such as an RTC, or a built-in audio codec(?!).

projectgus,
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@jaseg AXP209 (Allwinner) is another interesting one, has a battery charger in it! https://linux-sunxi.org/AXP209

projectgus,
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@jaseg Although I've pondered this before too, and wondered if they might have weird glitches or load response behaviours that made it to mass production because they only really care about their one target SoC.

(Probably not though, especially for the ones that are bundled with a range of SoCs.)

projectgus, to random
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So pleased to hear Framework is spinning up their own firmware and drivers team: https://frame.work/au/en/blog/enabling-software-longevity

This has been my only significant concern with Framework laptop ownership thus far. (There hasn't yet been a stable firmware release for Linux users in the 13+ months I've had my laptop.)

projectgus, to random
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Every time I go to my local rubbish tip, a small part of me dies.

"I've got one bit of e-waste, this LED headlight has a bunch of electronics in it.

"No worries mate, just chuck that in the general waste."

๐Ÿ˜ฟ

So, naturally, I brought it back home and stripped it down (1/2)

A headlight with the lens removed and various pieces of broken plastic sitting around it, plus screwdrivers and pliers

projectgus,
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@jpm Not according to my tip guy!

(The worst thing is I think he figured he was doing me a favour by saving me the extra charge, as I had a ute full of other general waste - mostly pieces of car interior with no consumer recycling marks on the plastic. ๐Ÿ˜)

arturo182, to random
@arturo182@mastodon.social avatar

You had literally one job!!

projectgus,
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@arturo182 18650++

projectgus, to tv
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PSA for Aussies who watch SBS on Demand:

SBS is trialling a feature where you opt out of one category of advertising. Register here:

https://help.sbs.com.au/hc/en-au/articles/360002023835-Information-on-ads-and-ad-preferences-on-SBS-On-Demand

This information brought to you by my partner writing to complain about the relentless and mind-numbing gambling ads they show. (Although not I noticed, top shelf advertisers on that programme!)

projectgus,
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(In b4 standard Fediverse reply of "piracy has no ads, torrenting everything is the only ethical choice, etc, etc.")

projectgus,
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@ibk Yeah, if we couldn't have the government fund it fully again (can dream) then I'd probably pay for it too

projectgus, to cycling
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Our household finally has a working electric vehicle!

Picked up this Benno 46er e-Cargo bike today and brought it home from Melbourne on the train. (It just fits in the V-line bike area!)

Manufacturer calls this an "etility" bike, normal-ish bike size with bigger carrying capacity. We're intending for it to replace much of our small town car use.

(I often don't ride because either I need to move something biggish/heavy-ish, or because I don't want to arrive somewhere sweaty. This should help with both.)

The same e-bike squished into the "heavy luggage / bike" area on a v-line train

projectgus,
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Two months into e-bike ownership, and have joined the annoying club of "I didn't think this thing would change my habits as much as it did". ๐Ÿ˜†

One frustration, it came due for first (free) service and I learned only a bike shop with the approved software tools can reset the service indicator. ๐Ÿ˜ก

https://git.cccfr.de/bosch-nerds/ebike ๐Ÿ‘€

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