PocketC.H.I.P. – Blog. by Next Thing https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com News & Notes. Process & Projects. No BS. Srsly. Thu, 09 Nov 2017 03:16:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.5 Shipping Continues: Shipping Status Update for PocketC.H.I.P. https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/shipping-continues-shipping-status-update-for-pocketc-h-i-p/ Thu, 09 Nov 2017 02:53:22 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1627

We want to give you an update on shipping and fulfillment. Some orders are currently delayed. We are working on a solution to the delay, and for the majority of PocketC.H.I.P. orders, we are excited to announce that the solution is already here: over 800 will ship out within a week.

You’re probably wondering what caused the delay, how we plan to fix the problem, and what we’re doing to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Customs Delay

The first part of the problem occurred when a large batch of product was held in customs out of China during the Golden Week holiday. This meant that we did not have the inventory at our shipping partner when we estimated we would.


Miscalculated Shipping Cost

As we were trying to solve the customs issue, we discovered that we had been miscalculating and mischarging you for the cost of shipping. After investigating, we found it costs us more to ship you your order than we were charging you. This was true for domestic orders but was even more pronounced in countries that charge DDP: Brazil, Canada, all of the EU, Mexico, and Norway.

For DDP PocketC.H.I.P. orders, we have the inventory in stock for your order but are still in negotiations with our shipping partner to determine the accurate rate. But don’t worry, we’re covering the cost of the mistake, and you won’t have to pay any additional money to get your order.


Inaccurate Automated E-mail

Additionally, an automated email message was going out with each new order that set the expectations that you’d receive your order in 3-5 days. When we first setup our computer to send these estimates, they were accurate. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of not instructing the computer to stop when these estimates become inaccurate.


Not Happy With the Delay

If you’re not willing to wait out the delay, we are more than happy to provide you a refund for your order. To request a refund, please e-mail us at ahoyahoy@nextthing.co and we will process your request. Please be aware that we are dealing with a high volume of support tickets. We will get to yours as soon as possible.


Going Forward

To show you how serious we are about shipping you your PocketC.H.I.P. order, we are temporarily suspending the sale of PocketC.H.I.P. and all accessory products on our website until we ship the outstanding orders. It’s a big move, but we hope it shows you just how serious we are about getting you the products you’ve ordered. C.H.I.P. Pro and C.H.I.P. Pro Dev Kit orders will continue to ship and continue to be available for sale on our website, as with all B2B orders.

We are also adding 2 additional people to our customer support team to help with the high volume of tickets. We will continue to answer every ticket and believe adding more resources will reduce the time you have to wait for a response. If you have submitted a ticket more than 2 weeks ago and have not heard from us, please feel free to send us a new message. We will answer every ticket.

Your trust and participation in our community are of the utmost importance to us. We realize we need to improve communication and transparency with shipping and fulfillment. We hope that you’ll see this as a step in the right direction.

❤ everyone at NTC

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Go Back To School with PocketC.H.I.P. and 3 New PICO-8 Lessons https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/go-back-to-school-with-pocketc-h-i-p-and-3-new-pico-8-lessons/ Fri, 22 Sep 2017 23:29:13 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1608

Last week Thomas and I led PocketC.H.I.P. activities at a very special event hosted by Salesforce.org. We debuted new learning materials that you too can use for a PocketC.H.I.P. and PICO-8 workshop!

We’ve teamed up with Salesforce in the past, at Dreamforce and during Computer Science Education Week, but this time it was to celebrate a 5-year philanthropic relationship between them and the San Francisco and Oakland Unified School Districts. We were one of three local companies to join the event at Visitacion Valley Middle School in S.F. and shared with students the fun of PocketC.H.I.P. + PICO-8.

This was not just any event, but one in which some big-money grants were given. All totalled, this year Salesforce announced a $12.2 million donation to Bay Area STEM education programs: $7.2 million to San Francisco and $5 million to Oakland.

As you’d expect with a big grant presentation, there were many local celebrities in attendance, and when I say celebrities, I mean superintendents, principles, teachers, and politicians. The speeches were kicked off by Joe Truss, the principle of Visitacion Valley Middle School and Salesforce co-founder Parker Harris followed by the mayors of San Francisco and Oakland, Ed Lee and Libby Schaaf respectively. The speeches were closed by Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff where he announced the grants.

My favorite speeches were the ones from Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammel and San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews, who both really connected with the crowd of students while talking about the importance of STEM in middle school.


PocketC.H.I.P. + PICO-8 = STEM Fun!

For our part of the event, we created three student activities, all using PICO-8, the 8-bit fantasy console for creating, playing, and sharing tiny video games. Two of them involved editing Celeste, our favorite game that comes with PICO-8.

One exercise had students dive into Celeste‘s source code and change the gravity to make Celeste jump higher to advance to level two. The second introduced students to PICO-8’s sprite editor by having them edit the look of Celeste. The third exercise was one that included the physical world. Students used PICO-8’s code editor to turn on and off LEDs while learning how to prototype a simple LED circuit.

I have uploaded all the materials into a Github repo and linked to them on the PocketC.H.I.P. documentation page. They are all free to use under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Creative Commons license.


chipLogo64x64

Do you teach using PICO-8? We’d like to hear about it! Tell us about it on our forum or send us a tweet.

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Switch It Up: A Desktop When You Want It, PocketHome When You Don’t https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/switch-it-up-a-desktop-when-you-want-it-pockethome-when-you-dont/ Thu, 07 Sep 2017 22:20:10 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1593

With a few taps of the screen, Allgray’s PocketDesk lets you switch between the feature-filled PocketHome GUI from marshmallow and the standard NTC C.H.I.P. desktop. It’s the perfect setup for the Pocketeer who wants to change graphical context on-the-fly.


Setup Your PocketDESK

PocketHome

The first thing you’ll need to do to get PocketDesk on your PocketC.H.I.P. is to flash it with the Desktop GUI 4.4. That’s right, don’t use a PocketC.H.I.P. image if you want to use PocketDesk, use the C.H.I.P. Desktop GUI 4.4 image.

Next, you’ll need to decide if you want your PocketC.H.I.P. to run PocketDesk Lite, which installs only the Desktop GUI. Or, if you want to go all in with PocketDesk Full: a combination install of the Desktop and PocketHome GUIs. Can’t decide? Go with the full version.

Desktop GUI on PocketC.H.I.P.

Because PocketC.H.I.P. is running a C.H.I.P. image, you won’t have a working touchscreen until you run the installation script for PocketDesk. To access a terminal session, either SSH into your PocketC.H.I.P. or connect it to a monitor using a composite cable. It’s also handy to have a USB keyboard and mouse, but it’s not required. After the install script runs on PocketC.H.I.P., both PocketHome and the Desktop GUI will be properly configured for the touchscreen and keyboard.


Switching from Desktop GUI to PocketHome & Back

Switch GUIs using the drop-down menu in the upper right

Switching between the PocketHome and Desktop GUI is done by logging out of the X session. In PocketHome tap on the Change to Desktop icon. In the Desktop GUI tap on the Computer Things menu, scroll down to Log Out, and then click the Log out button. You’ll then see a login screen like the one pictured above. Select which GUI you want to use from the drop-down menu in the upper right, then enter your username and password.

For full instructions on how to install Allgray’s PocketDesk, browse on over to his git repository.


How are you modifying your PocketC.H.I.P.? Make sure to share your latest hacks on the forum and send us a tweet. We can’t wait to see what you’ll make next.

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Learn How to Diagnose Your Car’s Performance, Control a Drawing Robot, or Even Chill with Kodi https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/learn-how-to-diagnose-your-cars-performance-control-a-drawing-robot-or-even-chill-with-kodi/ Wed, 06 Sep 2017 22:51:50 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1588

PocketC.H.I.P. is a versatile handheld Linux computer. Whether it’s diagnosing car trouble, drawing custom pen and ink prints, or helping you kickback and relax, there’s always a fun use for PocketC.H.I.P.!

These are just 3 of the most recent projects created by the community and shared in the NTC forum.

DIY Car Repair with PocketC.H.I.P.

These aren’t the RPMs for Linux

Way back in April, slipcougar bought a new car and figured PocketC.H.I.P. would make the perfect handheld tool to stay alert of any maintenance needs.

Using nothing more than PocketC.H.I.P., an OBD-II adapter, and pyOBD, slipcougar is able to review the car’s engine computer unit (ECU) codes which cover everything from vehicle speed to engine RPM. While this project won’t do the manual labor of the repair for you, it will tip you off to what parts will need a bit of elbow grease next.

Here’s how to set up your PocketC.H.I.P. to read your car’s ECU. Just remember, don’t use PocketC.H.I.P. while driving!


Robotic Drawing

Sketching with PocketC.H.I.P.

JKW, most well known for a number of C.H.I.P. DIPs he makes, turned his attention to the finer things in life: robot drawing.

In his setup, JKW uses PocketC.H.I.P. to control a CNC machine by streaming G-code to move the X, Y, and Z-axis of the gantry. Each print takes about 2 hours to complete and you can see more of his build and his robot’s drawing skills here. And don’t be shy, post any questions you have about the project in the forum thread.


PocketC.H.I.P. & Chill

And finally, Pocketeer krnr shared details on how to install and set up Kodi, a wildly popular entertainment center software package. Kodi makes it easy to stream videos directly to your PocketC.H.I.P. from a variety of different services.

While krnr details the setup for a particular a service called Zattoo, you can set up whichever one you like. Once Kodi is installed, click on the Video tab, then Add-ons, and then Get More. After a few moments, you will see a long list of the available add-ons for Kodi. Select the one you want, install it, and get ready to relax.


Got a use for PocketC.H.I.P. you haven’t seen covered on the blog? Head on over to the forum and share your story. And don’t forget to send us photos of your project on Twitter. We love to see what you’re working on!

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PocketC.H.I.P.s of Instagram https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pocketc-h-i-p-s-of-instagram/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pocketc-h-i-p-s-of-instagram/#respond Wed, 23 Aug 2017 15:14:14 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1371

Whether you’re coding with Worf, kicking it with BMO, or cruising at 30,000 feet, we love to see how you are using PocketC.H.I.P. and where you’re taking yours. Out of the 924 #PocketCHIP posts, these are some of our favorite. Keep on posting and don’t forget to #PocketCHIP.

Nerd! #startrek #tng #pico8 #pocketchip

A post shared by Tyler Davison (@tylerisforthebirds) on




Lチカ

A photo posted by ゾンビタロット占い師 TAZN (@tazn_zombietarot) on





Oh snap! I just made my roaming #podcast studio even smaller! 😁 #audacity #ntc #pocketchip

A post shared by Fred SanJuan (@chosanjuan) on


Using the #pocketchip as a hardware hacking platform

A photo posted by swee meng ng (@sweemeng) on



#retrogaming #retro #nintendo #pocketchip #gba #finalfantasy6 #ff6 pocketchip is amazing

A photo posted by Serdar Aylanc (@ssaylanc) on



Programming on #PocketCHIP to kick off #CSEdWeek. #OaklandIsBeyond West Oakland MS, 12/05/2016

A photo posted by @oaklandcodes on


I had my new #pocketchip for like 5 seconds before i didn't. #Opensource #computer #9dollars

A photo posted by Tariq Krim (@tariqkrim) on


Benefits of doing it over? Cleaned up the cables on the back.. #hackchip #pocketchip

A post shared by El Kentaro (@elkentaro) on





Doing weird things at the beach with a scanner & my #pocketchip

A post shared by John Biehler (@johnbiehler) on



See a project you want to build? Don’t be shy. Reach out and say, “Hi!” And don’t miss the knowledge exchange on the forum. Ask a question, share a tip, or show off your latest, greatest project. See you there.

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Here’s How to Mechanize Your PocketC.H.I.P. Keyboard https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/heres-how-to-mechanize-your-pocketc-h-i-p-keyboard/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/heres-how-to-mechanize-your-pocketc-h-i-p-keyboard/#respond Mon, 21 Aug 2017 19:12:00 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1569

Fully assembled PocketC.H.I.P. “mechanical” keyboard.

You might not be able to fit the classic Cherry MX Blue keyboard switches on PocketC.H.I.P., but you can definitely 3D print and install Anthony DiGirolamo’s amazing PocketC.H.I.P. “mechanical” keyboard.

View of Clippy paper clips threaded through the case bezel and keys.

You read that right! This keyboard has a mechanical action thanks to paper clips that thread through the case bezel and keys. While the action isn’t spring loaded like the Cherry switches (pictured below), the paper clip provides a pivot point and makes it easy to depress the keys.

Innards of Cherry MX Brown and an intact Cherry MX Blue.

Anthony’s bezel is based on the work of another Pocketeer, Vincent John, whose keyboard implemented a D-pad style button for the arrow keys. It’s perfect for those intense PICO-8 speed runs of Celeste.

Give your thumbs a break with a proper D-pad!

Want to find more cool case modifications for your PocketC.H.I.P.? Head on over to the forum mega thread on case mods and join the conversation. And make sure to share your PocketC.H.I.P. creations with us on Twitter!

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Be the Boss with PocketC.H.I.P. Karaoke https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/be-the-boss-with-pocketc-h-i-p-karaoke/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/be-the-boss-with-pocketc-h-i-p-karaoke/#respond Tue, 06 Jun 2017 15:24:21 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1532

No need to wait for your song to come on at the local karaoke joint anymore. You can now queue up all those hair metal ballads, Britpop hits, and good ole American heartland rock ‘n’ roll you’ve dreamt of belting out with your friends on PocketC.H.I.P. Karaoke!

I ❤ karaoke. It brings so much Satisfaction and adds to my Lust for Life. Whether you are in Funkytown, the local dive bar (you know the one) or a Love Shack, it always livens up the party. When I found Pykaraoke in the Debian repositories, I knew this was the software PocketC.H.I.P. was Born to Run.

The best part is this build takes a minimal investment of energy with a maximum return of good times. Enough chit chat, Let’s Get It Started!

Materials


  • 1. Setup USB Sound Card

    Plug in the USB sound card, your speaker (or a pair of headphones) and the microphone. Fire up Terminal and open AlsaMixer:

    alsamixer

    Here you can manage the USB sound card and any devices plugged into it. Following the menu at the top, press F6 and select your USB sound card. Mine is called C-Media USB Audio Device… very descriptive. Toggle the speaker and mic on and off by pressing m. Use the up and down arrows to adjust the volume levels to your liking.

    When everything sounds good, exit AlsaMixer by pressing Esc.


    2. Install PyKaraoke

    If you aren’t already, connect to a WiFi network in PocketC.H.I.P.’s settings (hit the gear in the lower right corner of the screen).

    On Pykaraoke’s website the author lists different ways to install Pykaraoke depending on the OS you’re using. For PocketC.H.I.P.’s Debian based image I found it easiest to use apt-get to install it and all it’s dependencies.

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install pykaraoke -y

    Note: If you do download and install the dependencies as instructed on the website the package listed as libwxgtk-python has since been updated to python-wxgtk3.0.

    That’s it! Pykaraoke is ready to use. Your karaoke dreams are close to coming true. To start the application type:

    pykaraoke


    3. Upload Karaoke Songs to PocketC.H.I.P.

    Pykaraoke can play several different file formats designed for karaoke machines. I mostly used CDG and MIDI formats. CDG files can be purchased online and you can download MIDI files from various online sites for free.

    Pykaraoke also has a suite of tools that manage CDG files and even has a utility to create your own playble files from CDG discs. It makes for a good excuse to go hunting for karaoke CDs at your local thrift store.

    Once you have acquired a collection of song files it’s easiest to upload them by connecting to PocketC.H.I.P. via SSH from a host computer then transferring them using an FTP client like FileZilla. To SSH into PocketC.H.I.P., you first need to install a tool that will enable you to remotely connect such as OpenSSH.

    sudo apt-get install openssh-server

    To connect via SSH to PocketC.H.I.P. you need it’s IP address. Use the following command and find the address:

    ip addr show wlan0

    Next, create a directory for all your karaoke songs to live in:

    mkdir ksongs

    Open your FTP client and plug in the IP address a.k.a. host, username, password and connect. Transfer all your glorious song files into your new directory.


    4. Load Songs in Pykaraoke

    Pykaraoke has a convenient feature of creating a searchable database. All you need to do is tell Pykaraoke where to look. There are two ways to load songs: either by searching for a compiled database or by navigating to song files and loading them manually. By default, Pykaraoke will open in Search View which will be indicated in the upper right corner.

    To create a database navigate to File > Add New Songs to Database.

    A window that is not sized correctly will open. You will not be able to see the option of adding a directory for your database, but you still can! Hit TAB once and press Enter. This will highlight and select the option you can not see.

    Another window will pop open, this is where you navigate to your song directory. After you’ve done that, click Scan Now which will scan for karaoke files and compile a database of found songs. Then click Save and Close.

    Now when you type an artist or song title and press Search any songs that match your keywords will pop up. Add a song to your playlist by highlighting it and clicking Add to Playlist. If some of the buttons are hard to see or cut off, drag the middle bar right or left to adjust the size of the search and playlist windows.


    5. Press Start and Sing Your ❤ Out

    Add as many songs as you like. To start the playlist highlight the first song and click Start. Pick up the mic and get ready!

    When you are done (which you never really are with karaoke) hit Esc to stop the playlist.


    What’s your favorite way to karaoke? Let us know in the comments below. Plus, make sure to tweet us your favorite photos from your very own PocketC.H.I.P. Karaoke sessions, and don’t forget to join the conversation in the forum.

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Watch YouTube Live Streams, Cat Videos, and Much, Much More on PocketC.H.I.P. https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/watch-the-nba-finals-cat-videos-and-much-much-more-on-pocketc-h-i-p/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/watch-the-nba-finals-cat-videos-and-much-much-more-on-pocketc-h-i-p/#respond Thu, 01 Jun 2017 16:28:53 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1527

Recently Pocketeer Jet Jaguar posted an image on Twitter showing a PocketC.H.I.P. playing a video segment from a professional sports-ball halftime show (known to sports fans as the TNT NBA halftime show – Go Dubs!). Since the image was just a still people, including me, wanted to know what the video performance was like and how Jet Jaguar managed to get it working.

After a bit of tinkering with PocketC.H.I.P., I was able to get YouTube streaming working too. Video playback is smooth, and the audio is in sync with the frame rate. Of course, to hear this you’ll have to add a speaker to PocketC.H.I.P. (here’s how) or use headphones. Anyway, here’s how to get your PocketC.H.I.P. setup for binge watching cat videos.

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated to include installation instructions for playing YouTube live streams in addition to regular YouTube videos. See Step 4. for details.

1. Install SMTube

Use the Terminal to install SMTube

First make sure your PocketC.H.I.P. is connected to WiFi (here’s a refresher), then tap on the Terminal icon on the Home Screen.

Once the application loads, type the following apt commands, then press enter. These commands will update the list of packages available to PocketC.H.I.P. and then install SMTube to your system.
sudo apt update && sudo apt install smtube

Note: If it’s been a long time since you’ve upgraded you PocketC.H.I.P., run sudo apt upgrade to make sure you’re using the latest software and follow the onscreen instructions.


2. Configure SMTube

SMTube configuration with the proper settings for PocketC.H.I.P.

In order for SMTube to work correctly, you’ll need to change the default video player it uses to MPlayer. You can do this in the SMTube GUI, but it’s a bit tricky.

An easier option is to launch SMTube and then quit. This creates a configuration file that you can edit by hand with Nano. At the Terminal command prompt, type in the following command and pressing enter.

Launch SMTube to create the configuration file.
smtube

Then quit by holding CTRL and pressing q.

Now edit the configuration file.
nano ~/.config/smtube/smtube2.ini

Scroll down in the file until you see the the section [players] and change all the lines that start with player_0 to what’s below.

player_0\name=MPlayer
player_0\binary=mplayer
player_0\arguments=%u -title %t
player_0\directplay=false
player_0\supported_media=1
player_0\quality=-1

Once you’re done with the edits, hold CTRL and press x, then press y and then press enter. This flurry of keystrokes will save your changes and quit Nano.


3. How to Find Cat Videos

The best type of videos on the internet

Let’s be honest, you’re setting this up to watch cat videos. Me too!

Launch SMTube by typing smtube in the Terminal, then pressing enter. This launches a YouTube browser that lets you search for content–just tap on the hamburger menu in the top right of the screen. When you find a good video, either tap the video preview icon or tap on the video name to start it.

Note: Linux is case sensitive. Even though the name of the program is SMTube, the Linux application uses all lowercase letters in its name.


4. Watching YouTube Live

Watching YouTube live broadcasts isn’t possible with SMTube. For that type of stream, I found a Python program called Livestreamer. Here’s how to install it from the Terminal.

sudo apt install python-pip && sudo pip install livestreamer

Livestream doesn’t have a fancy GUI, so you’ll need to know the URL of the stream you want to watch. The command below instructs livestreamer to use MPlayer and set the resolution at 240p. If you run the command without specifying the resolution, livestreamer will output the available resolutions for the stream you’re trying to play.

livestreamer --player=mplayer URL_OF_LIVE_STREAM 240p

Note: The command above assumes you have MPLayer install on your PocketC.H.I.P. from Step 1. But, if you skipped steps, run sudo apt install mplayer.


Now that you can stream videos to your PocketC.H.I.P., what do you plan to watch? Make sure to let us know in the comments below or tweet at us, and don’t forget to join the conversation in the forum.

And thanks again to Pocketeer Jet Jaguar for inspiring this post!

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Light Up Your PocketC.H.I.P. Cyberpunk Style https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/light-up-your-pocketc-h-i-p-cyberpunk-style/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/light-up-your-pocketc-h-i-p-cyberpunk-style/#comments Fri, 26 May 2017 19:08:41 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1491

In the wake of Cyberpunk Your Summer campaign, we’ve been repeatedly asked one question: How do I make my PocketC.H.I.P. glow like that? By popular demand, here it is, your Cyberpunk PocketC.H.I.P. LED & El Wire tutorial!

I had seen the EL Wire PocketC.H.I.P. project by Pocketeer 5t4rw1nd in the forums and decided to give it a go. It was rad, but I needed a bit more case illumination for our planned night time cyberpunk photoshoot. That’s when it hit me. I made a few tweaks and threw LEDs into the mix. With the combination of EL Wire and LEDs the hack really took off. Plus, I used a power inverter and DC step-up, so I made it all glow using only PocketC.H.I.P.’s internal battery.

Materials

Note: The step-up is for the 12V LED strip which can be powered by as little as 9V, though it will be dimmer. The adjustable module is a handy dimmer for the strip, or you can purchase a step-up module that supplies a steady 9V-12V. The LEDs will pull about 170mA, so any module that provides 1A output is more than enough.

  • Double-stick tape such as VHB (foam and otherwise)
  • Wire – the thinner the better

Tools

  • Soldering iron
  • Power drill and 764 bit
  • Small flat-head screwdriver
  • Wire snips and strips
  • X-Acto blade

1. Prep LED Segments

Cut on the line between the solder pads.

Cut the LED strip into segments of 4″ which will give you 12 LEDs per section. With an X-Acto knife carefully cut the very end of the plastic casing off to expose the two solder pads. You only need to cut it away on one end. The strip is thin, and the pads are fragile so be careful going in with a sharp blade.

Lift up and cut plastic from solder pads.

Ready to be soldered to wires.

2. Solder Step-up and LEDs to PocketC.H.I.P.

Make sure the wires are long enough for each segment to reach to the front.

Solder these connections:

LED strip 1 power ↔ LED strip 2 power
LED strip 1 ground ↔ LED strip 2 ground
LED strip 2 power ↔ Step-up VOUT+
LED strip 2 ground ↔ Step-up VOUT-
Step-up VIN+ ↔ PocketC.H.I.P. 3V
Step-up VIN- ↔ PocketC.H.I.P. GND

Solder strips to VOUT and 3V and Ground pins to VIN.

3V and Ground pins on PocketC.H.I.P. are used as power source.

3. Extract Inverter

Carefully pry open battery holder to get to inverter.

Use a small flat-head screwdriver to pry the inverter case open. Be careful not to damage anything, including yourself! Take out the inverter and take note of the two connections that go to the battery for DC input and the two output wires that will connect to the EL wire.

Use a pair of angled cutters to snip off the ground coil and wire that connect to the battery holder. Place the inverter on the back of PocketC.H.I.P. to get a sense of how long the output wires should be. You want to make as much room as possible in the back so keep wires as short as possible. When ready, shorten the output wires that will connect to the EL wire.

Tip: Mark the wires before you forget which one is ground and which is power.

Clip off negative and positive input leads and trim the length of output wire.


4. Solder EL Wire and Inverter to PocketC.H.I.P.

Solder EL Wire to the output of the inverter.

Splice two wires in with PocketC.H.I.P.’s GND and 3V that are wired to the DC step-up. Solder these wires to the input of the inverter, where the battery used to be connected. Then, solder the EL Wire to the ouput wires, in my case these are the two black wires.

Note: The inverter transforms the DC power coming from PocketC.H.I.P. into AC power that the EL Wire runs on. The inverter used here is made for one AA battery which is 1.5V, but it also works with 3V. I used the 3V output since PocketC.H.I.P. makes it conveniently accessible.

Solder these connections:

EL Wire power ↔ Inverter power out (black wire)
EL Wire ground ↔ Inverter ground out (black wire)
Inverter ground in (where the battery coil was) ↔ PocketC.H.I.P. GND
Inverter power in (where the white wire was) ↔ PocketC.H.I.P. 3V

The power and ground pins go to both the inverter and step-up.

Solder power and ground to the input of the inverter.


5. Downsize Battery (Optional)

Downsize battery to make more room in back.

This step is optional but recommended because it makes more room for the EL Wire and modules. You will find that for everything to fit under the back case you will need to move around parts and use your best puzzle problem-solving skills. If you have a smaller battery lying around I recommend using it. I put in a 1000mAh LiPo instead of the stock and it’s lasted at least an hour with lights on and playing games. You may even want to use a smaller diameter of EL Wire although the high-bright variety is recommended. You can find EL Wire diameters as small as 2.1mm.


6. Snip the PocketC.H.I.P. Bezel

Snip off the upper right and lower left (when the bezel is on PocketC.H.I.P.) tabs with angled cutters. This will make room for the LED strip wires to reside.

Clip off one tab on the bottom and one on the top of the screen to make room for the LED strip wires.


7. Attach LED Strips to Front

Position LED segments right above and below the screen and tab holes.

To keep the wires in the back of the PocketC.H.I.P., the LED segments get pushed through two of the holes the screen frame snaps into. Use strong double-stick tape, like VHB, to attach the segments to the front above and below the screen.

Stick the strips down with a strong tape like VHB.

Thread one LED segment through a tab hole below the screen and one above the screen.

Push the wires out of the way of the pins once the segments are fixed to the front.


8. Install EL Wire

Stick the EL Wire down to the board with cut strips of VHB.

Use strips of VHB (or strong tape) to attach the EL Wire to parts of PocketC.H.I.P.. Don’t be afraid to bend and kink the wire to make it fit around the modules and battery. The randomness of the EL Wire also ends up looking cool.

Tip: The two main areas you want to keep the EL Wire away from are the center of PocketC.H.I.P. above the battery and the area where C.H.I.P. plugs in. Take a look at the back of PocketC.H.I.P. to see where it hits the board and is tight on space to help you plan where the EL Wire can go.

After the EL Wire has been placed, pop the back case back on. Shift things around as needed. The highest part will always be the inverter, but wires can get in the way of the case snapping closed.

Tip: A flat-head screwdriver can be a handy tool to poke wires in with as you snap the back closed.

A beautiful mess.

9. Drill Holes

The output voltage of the step-up is changed by turning a screw which dims the LEDs.

The inverter has a switch on it, which you can replace or extend so that it sticks out of the case. I kept things simple and didn’t do either of those options.

Instead, I chose to use a flat-head screwdriver as a key to all the glowy goodness. I made it so if slip a screwdriver through a small hole drilled into the back of PocketC.H.I.P., I can adjust the screw which changes the output voltage from the DC step-up. Since this build was used in a photoshoot, the fact that the LEDs could be turned up or down was super valuable. Lighting is everything!

Mark where to drill with a permanent marker. Drill using a 764” bit or similar to the diameter of the screwdriver you plan on using. Start from the inside of the case and then come from the outside making sure to get the angle right so the screwdriver can get to the switch and screw.

Mark where to drill with a permanent marker.

The on/off switch can be flipped using a screwdriver.


Going Further

Ready for a challenge? A great way to take this project further would be to control the EL wire or LED strips from C.H.I.P.’s PWM pin.
Tip: Use a transistor with the PWM pin and the external power sources to make sure the LEDs or EL wire gets the power they need while maintaining analog-like control.

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Made a EL Wire PocketC.H.I.P.? Take a picture and post them on the forum or tweet at us. And don’t forget to tell us about your favorite PocketC.H.I.P. mods in the comments below. We can’t wait to see them!

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The PocketC.H.I.P. Cyberpunk Adventure Guide https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/the-pocketc-h-i-p-cyberpunk-adventure-guide/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/the-pocketc-h-i-p-cyberpunk-adventure-guide/#comments Thu, 18 May 2017 16:00:04 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1472

The Year 2017An underground community of Pocketeers are creating their own cyberpunk future, hacking their PocketC.H.I.P.s far beyond a traditional game console. What follows is a guide to join their ranks. Jack in. Hack the Planet. Dream of Electric Sheep.

Change the Game with PocketC.H.I.P. & PICO-8

The PICO-8 fantasy console features hundreds of free community made games so there’s always a new game to play. But playing a PICO-8 game is just the beginning. Get into the code and change the game, or start from scratch and make your own! Here are some of the best PICO-8 resources to get you coding.


Phase into PocketC.H.I.P.

Thomas rocks the PocketC.H.I.P. with a lanyard strap.

Your cyberpunk summer requires appropriate music. Score your adventures with Phase, a synth created for PocketC.H.I.P. by Humbletune. Making use of PocketC.H.I.P.’s touch screen and keyboard, any Pocketeer can make beautiful music in a matter of seconds. Make your own song of the summer, accept no substitutes.


LAN Party Way the Hell Off the Grid

Cyberdemons are no match for Mitch and Crunch.

Host a LAN Party on your PocketC.H.I.P. and get your game on way off the grid. Battle through hell and back with DOOM in co-op mode, frag each other in Quake III Arena, and play countless other multiplayer classics. No additional cost, no router, no ethernet connection, and no internet required (after installation).


A Scanner PocketC.H.I.P.

Ari’s scanograph shows this log is all bark and no bite.

Go beyond traditional photography and embrace the strange with PocketC.H.I.P. scanographs. Armed with a PocketC.H.I.P. and a flatbed scanner, you’ll be creating images to make your smartphone photographer friends jealous. Welcome to the scanner PocketC.H.I.P.; a community project kicked off by Pocketeer panicrun while on a walk in the woods outside Berlin. Be sure to share your scanographs with us via Twitter. We’re @nextthingco!


Venture into the Virtual

PockulusC.H.I.P. – Strap it to your face!

PockulusC.H.I.P. is Virtual Reality. Breakout of this world by 3D printing a custom bezel for your PocketC.H.I.P. and DIY VR: here’s how. Play all your favorite homebrew Virtual Boy games in glorious monochrome three dee!


Block off time for Minecraft

With Minecraft on PocketC.H.I.P., adventure is in the palm of your hands. Strike out on your own or grab a Pocketeer friend and play cooperatively. You can even create new buildings and terrain with the Minecraft Python API!


Hack a Speaker into your PocketC.H.I.P.

Examining PocketC.H.I.P.’s back, you’ll find a super secret hidden prototyping area perfect for adding a speaker. Designed as a simple intro to hardware hacking, it’s perfect for beginners and takes less than 20 minutes. Get your hardware hack on here

For those looking to go further into hardware hacking, check out klundry’s addition of Qi wireless charging and community case mods here and here. The PocketC.H.I.P. case mod forum post is also a fantastic (and in depth) read.


Blast from Systems Past

Colecovision on PocketC.H.I.P. – One of many emulators the Pocketeer community has running.

Nostalgic Pocketeers can adventure into systems past. With Playstation, Gameboy Color, MacOS and ColecoVision, DOSBox, and TI-99 emulators running on PocketC.H.I.P., you can relive (or explore for the first time) the history of computing, gaming, and calculators.


Make the Call from PocketC.H.I.P.

Tony using a PocketC.H.I.P. cell phone that Dave built

Clever Pocketeers Juve021 and Rob Baruch transformed PocketC.H.I.P. into a cell phone with the addition of an Adafruit cellular module. With well-documented tutorials, you too can make calls from PocketC.H.I.P.. Headphones port included; no dongle required!


Find Your Way with the PocketC.H.I.P. Navigator

Turn-by-turn navigation with navit

Never get lost with the PocketC.H.I.P. Navigator mod. By adding a GPS module to PocketC.H.I.P., you have access to your location, points of interest and turn-by-turn directions without relying on your phone. Learn more here


PocketC.H.I.P. Tweets!

The RainbowStream Twitter client running on PocketC.H.I.P.

Keep up with the Twittersphere with the RainbowStream twitter application by @dtvd88 on PocketC.H.I.P.. With complete configurability and custom themes, you can do pretty much anything you would from a traditional twitter client. Set it up and get your tweet on! (Tag us! We’re @nextthingco.)


Arduino in a Flash

With one simple command, you can turn your PocketC.H.I.P. into an Arduino flashing machine! Great for flashing in the field where a laptop would be unwieldy.


Customize Your PocketC.H.I.P. Home Screen(s)

Pocketeer Marshmallow wrote the de-facto software for adding icons to your PocketC.H.I.P. home screen. Widely used by the community, this is a must for new PocketC.H.I.P. owners. Simply follow Marshmallow’s tutorial and add custom icons for any application you install heretofore. Those looking for more PocketC.H.I.P. software mods can check more tutorials here.


PocketC.H.I.P. & A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Start your Star Wars Episode VIII preparations today by watching Episode IV on PocketC.H.I.P. presented in ASCII, it’s a must watch for any fans of everyone’s favorite space opera. Shout out to Pocketeer Meowter_space for the heads up!


Behind the Scenes

We’ve made PocketC.H.I.P open source so you can make it anything you want or learn how products are made. If you’d like to learn more about PocketC.H.I.P.’s development, complete with unprecedented behind the scenes footage, check out the PocketC.H.I.P. Time Machine .


More Fun on the Forum

These tips are only scratching the surface. There is a ton of fun to be had in the PocketC.H.I.P. forum. The Pocketeer community is always working on new projects and tips like case mods and new software features. Heck, BrianTheBuilder made his PocketC.H.I.P. draw with a robot arm!!! 

Send us your PocketC.H.I.P. Projects!

We love seeing what Pocketeers are up to. Whether its a case mod or a game made specifically for PocketC.H.I.P., we want to know! Tweet at us or post on the forum!

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