Project updates...

    Hey there, been awhile.

    I wanted to make a post detailing the progress I've made on several projects. I currently have four projects going: my "Pip-Boy" project, a Cyberdeck, a DM screen with a display panel, and an external Sensor Panel for my computer. I've been working on these off and on for the past few months. I hope I can post more regular updates in the future. 

"Pip-Boy" Project

    One of the things I've done is rewriting the Python code to use PyQt5 instead of Tkinter. The previous code was pretty sluggish and prone to freezing as things updated. Thankfully I was able to reuse a lot of code which made the rewrite only take a few days. For the physical design, I'm on my fourth iteration. It's been a little bit of a challenge trying to squeeze everything into as small of a space around my arm as possible. I'm also attempting to make it look less blocky and featureless while also trying to make it easy to print. Also, I'll need to think of a better name for it.

    At the moment I'm using a SGP30 sensor for tVOCs, SCD41 for carbon dioxide, temperature and humidity, PMSA003I for particulates, a Geiger–Müller tube kit for radiation, an LTR390 for visible and UV light, and a BN-190 GPS module. As a backup battery I'm using the PiPower board and battery. I am thinking of adding a dedicated temperature and humidity sensor as the one on the SCD41 updates pretty infrequently. The GPS sensor is also pretty useless indoors as well.

    I definitely want to finish this project, or at least have something I can tweak later, by the time the new Fallout show releases. So, in about a couple months?

Cyberdeck Project

    I was also inspired to try an create a Cyberdeck recently. It would most likely be used for writing, so a nice keyboard and long battery life are a must. I had a spare Le Potato board from a previous project that I scrapped that will work out nicely as it has a lower power consumption that a Raspberry Pi. One of the problems I have run into is that the Le Potato can't power the screen very well from it's USB ports. Using a USB hub powered by the power bank seems to have fixed the problem, although that means I have another part to try an fit into the case.

    The case for it will be 3D printed as I'm personally not a fan of the look of stuffing everything into a Pelican case. Also that would probably make it awkward to write with for long stretches of time. 

DM Screen

    I've been working on a custom DM screen with a display I can hook up to my laptop. It's three wooden canvas panels that I have painted with a DIY red stain made from watered down acrylic paint. The screen has a silver frame around it that I 3D printed and spray painted with chrome paint. The display shows a picture of the current location, or a picture of the current NPC my players are talking to. It also shows whose turn it is when they are in combat.

    The physical part of the project is pretty much done, it's really just the Python program that I've made that needs the most work. I will probably rewrite that as well, the program works well enough but could use some refining band maybe I will add more features as well. 

Sensor Panel

    I put a sensor panel in my old case to keep an eye on temperatures, which turned out to be a good idea as it got hot enough in the case to soften hot glue. Airflow was not optimal. I eventually got a new case and now there isn't really any good spot to put the panel inside without ruining the "clean" aesthetic that it currently has. I've opted instead to have it outside the case and using a Raspberry Pi Zero W running a custom Python program. Libre Hardware Monitor is running on my PC, which runs a web server the Raspberry Pi can grab sensor values from. It seems a little overkill doing it this way, and I think I can do something similar using AIDA64, but I'm also thinking of including LED indicators that will light up if certain values are reached. Could be interesting.

 

    Well, there it is. I have a number of other smaller projects as well, but those are the big ones. I will try to post more as I continue working on these projects.