Community – 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 Community Made: Groboy is a DIY Gaming Handheld Powered by C.H.I.P. Pro https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/community-made-groboy-is-a-diy-gaming-handheld-powered-by-c-h-i-p-pro/ Tue, 24 Oct 2017 21:51:16 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1616

Groboy, created by Groguard, is a C.H.I.P. Pro-powered handheld system designed to run retro console emulators and games on the go.

It’s also a testament to the open source community, readily available data sheets and manufacturing houses, and the tenacity to teach yourself engineering. Groguard, like many of us, is self-taught and pursuing his passion for making through custom projects.

The Early Days of Groboy

C.H.I.P. Pro Dev Kit running GadgetOS with SPI TFT display

The Groboy project goes back several months to early summer when Groguard first received his Dev Kit. As he tells it:
I’ve always wanted to build my own handheld. I had seen people using Raspberry Pi’s to do it, but I wanted something a little more custom. I wanted to make my own PCB and make it thinner and more pocketable. I didn’t want mine to just be another iteration on something that had been done. I wanted it to be my design from the ground up.”

The first big success came early in the process, “I got the SPI stuff going and had DOOM running on the devkit pretty quick.” At the time, there were very few project that used SPI displays with C.H.I.P. Pro and seeing a working example shared on the forum was exciting.

But the early successes slowed and the custom Groboy hardware took a bit longer to get right.


Groboy Hardware Iteration

After 4 revisions of the board, Groguard had the design where he wanted it. The custom OSH Park PCB at the heart of Groboy routes signal lines from the 2.8″ TFT display, headphones jack, internal 2500mAh LiPo battery (he estimates 3-5 hours of battery life, though he’s not rigorously tested it), and the PCA9555 I2C GPIO expander, which manages inputs from the 11 onboard buttons, to the respective input and output pins on C.H.I.P. Pro.

Hand assembly of the PCB takes about 10-15 minutes and Groguard figures he can build about 20 per day. The custom 3D printed enclosures, however, take about half a day to print. Once the final revision of the board and enclosure are complete, he plans to release the design files as open source hardware.

Rear and front of two Groboys


Groboy Software: Yes, it Runs DOOM

Groboy runs GadgetOS, a Buildroot Linux system with support for running Docker containers. In GadgetOS, multiple containers can be run simultaneously. This allows for containers to isolate each of the subsystems of the software. In the case of Groboy, RetroArch, the SSH server for transferring software and game files, the GPIO_keys for interacting with the PCA9555 IC, and the module-loader for loading the TFT display driver, are each in seperate containers. This make it easy to test, deploy, and share portions of the software stack during prototyping.

The console currently supports RetroArch RGUI with Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Doom. Additional game files and software can be transferred from a laptop to the Groboy using SFTP, but WiFi setup is still done using the command-line. Grogouard is quick to point out there’s some polishing left to do with the software, and he’s looking to add new contributors to the project. To help attract developers, he’s planning to sell Groboy developer kits, so everyone can work with the same hardware.

When I asked Groguard about his background and how he learned the various software and hardware skills necessary to pull of Groboy, he seemed a bit surprised by the question. “Well, with the internet, you can figure out how to do anything really. 🙂


Do you have a custom C.H.I.P. Pro project to share? Have a question or two for Groguard about his work? We want to hear about it. Share your questions, your latest prototype, or your final project revision with the rest of the community on Twitter or in the forum. We can’t wait to see what you’re up to.

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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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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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A Scanner PocketC.H.I.P. https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/a-scanner-pocketc-h-i-p/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/a-scanner-pocketc-h-i-p/#respond Fri, 24 Mar 2017 18:36:49 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1451 A PocketC.H.I.P. and a flatbed scanner walk into the woods...

A PocketC.H.I.P. and a flatbed scanner walk into the woods…

Armed with only a PocketC.H.I.P. and a flatbed scanner, panicrun ventured into the woods. The resulting images are a thing to behold.

Scanography is the digital art of using a flatbed scanner to create images. Turns out, PocketC.H.I.P. works with these scanners pretty much out of the box. With this knowledge, panicrun‘s venture into the woods resulted in some ethereal scanographs. 

32648142913_f9f2ba81e4_o 32648141433_e3ac1013a4_o 33421835576_4dfd91f1d4_o

Luckily for us, panicrun posted a great walkthrough. No coding or soldering skills required! Just a few simple commands to set up the scanner and to offload your images.

To explore more PocketC.H.I.P. scanographs, check out on panicrun’s flickr!


chipLogo64x64

Are you working on an art project with your C.H.I.P. or PocketC.H.I.P.? We want to see! Share your projects on the forum and make sure to tweet at us!

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Robot Arms, WetterBot and Pocket Operators! https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/robot-arms-wetterbot-and-pocket-operators/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/robot-arms-wetterbot-and-pocket-operators/#respond Fri, 17 Feb 2017 17:00:01 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1429 Meet WetterBot.

Meet WetterBot.

The C.H.I.P.ster community continues its 2017 hot streak with Jan Van den Brink’s C.H.I.P.-powered Robot Arm, @RobertKatzki’s WetterBot and a PocketC.H.I.P. + Pocket Operator Collaboration by @emdkay. Let’s dig deeper!

WETTERBOT – Your friendly neighborhood weather robot

At Next Thing Co., we LOVE robots. When Wetterbot hit our Twitter account, it was very quickly circulated around the office to much excited giggling. Housing a C.H.I.P. in a rad robot shell complete with blinking eyes,  Robert Katzki created his own weather robot. With the Dark Sky API, Wetterbot fetches the current weather along with the next day’s forecast.

wetterbot-3

The code is available on Github and you can learn more about the project at Robert’s website.


MeArm – Your friendly neighborhood DIY C.H.I.P.-powered Robot Arm

C.H.I.P.-powered Robot Arm!

C.H.I.P.-powered Robot Arm!

When Jan Van den Brink and his son applied their new 3D printer to his son’s graduation project, a C.H.I.P.-powered robot arm was born. Prints from Thingiverse provided a wonderful way to calibrate the printer, while C.H.I.P. proved more than capable of running the servos with a simple python script and a web server for control. With their 3D printer already set up, the total cost of the project was under $20!

Instructions can be found at Hackerster.io, complete with python script. Make your own and tweet us your results!


PocketC.H.I.P. + Pocket Operator!

PocketC.H.I.P. and Pocket Operator play well together!

PocketC.H.I.P. and Pocket Operator play well together!

Even before using them for PocketC.H.I.P. product research, we had Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operators floating around the office. We never expected they’d play this well together.

By connecting the pocket companions with just a 1/8 cable, @emdkay used SunVox on PocketC.H.I.P. to generate samples on the fly for the Pocket Operator. Twitter was just as excited as we were. We’re definitely going to give this one a shot.

A sampling of the twitter reaction. We agree with the sentiment.

A sampling of the twitter reaction. We agree with the sentiment.


chipLogo64x64

If you have a C.H.I.P. project, we want to see and share it! Snap some pictures, record some video and tweet your projects to @nextthingco, post in the NTC forums, or write them up at Hackster.io!

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PocketC.H.I.P. Keyboard Mods, Mini Apple II, and Dial-a-Grue! https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pocketc-h-i-p-keyboard-mods-mini-apple-ii-and-dial-a-grue/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pocketc-h-i-p-keyboard-mods-mini-apple-ii-and-dial-a-grue/#respond Fri, 10 Feb 2017 17:00:58 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1408 Very Impressive PocketC.H.I.P. Keyboard Cover by Dichstudios!

Very Impressive PocketC.H.I.P. Keyboard Cover by Dichstudios!

The first C.H.I.P.ster projects of 2017 look great! Dichstudios has created a fantastic new PocketC.H.I.P. keyboard case (we have one on order!). Cupcakus created what may be the smallest Apple IIe ever in existence. Pneumatic is porting Zork, the classic text-based adventure game, to be played with only voice interaction, all encased within an old rotary phone! Let’s get to it!

DIY PocketC.H.I.P. Keyboard Mod!

Jutley was one of the first to get their hands on Dichstudios work.

Jutley was one of the first to get their hands on Dichstudios’ work.

One of our favorite forum posts to keep an eye on is this one about PocketC.H.I.P. custom cases. When Dichstudios released images of his new PocketC.H.I.P. keyboard cover, the forum went crazy.

xTHETRINCHOx was excited for the new keyboard cover.

Needless to say, xTHETRINCHOx was excited for the new keyboard cover.

Dichstudios sells the cover as a DIY kit on his website for $25. Check it out! We can’t wait to get ours!

Ready to order!

Ready to order!


Apple IIe Mini!

Cupakus' Apple IIe Mini. Powered by C.H.I.P. Quarter for scale.

Cupakus’ Apple IIe Mini. Powered by C.H.I.P. Quarter for scale.

We’ve seen our fair share of emulations on C.H.I.P. and PocketC.H.I.P., but Cupcakus when a step further. In addition to emulating the Apple software, he built the hardware around it.

With a series of 3D prints along with a 3″ LCD screen from Adafruit and a 12V drone battery, he created a portable Apple IIe workstation that gets 10-hours of battery life!

UPDATE: Cupcakus released his files on Github!

CONGO BONGO!

CONGO BONGO!


DIAL-A-GRUE

This phone is more than just a phone. It's a voice-driven adventure game powered by C.H.I.P.!

This phone is more than just a phone. It’s a voice-driven adventure game powered by C.H.I.P.!

A huge fan of Zork, the classic text-based adventure game, Mitch Patenaude is porting it’s text interaction to voice interaction using a C.H.I.P., ultimately encasing the project in an old Dutch phone. In honor of the game’s villain, he dubbed the project Dial-a-Grue.

 

Just pick up the phone, listen to the scenario, and speak what you want to do next. It’s a wonderful concept, and one we can’t wait to see progress further. You can learn more at dail-a-grue.com or hit up Pneumatic on the NTC forum!

Pneumatic's C.H.I.P. set-up.

Pneumatic’s C.H.I.P. set-up.


chipLogo64x64

Have a project you want to show off? Post in the forum or tweet it at us. We want to see how you’re using your C.H.I.P.s!

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Our 5 Favorite Products From CES 2017 https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/our-5-favorite-products-from-ces-2017/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/our-5-favorite-products-from-ces-2017/#respond Wed, 11 Jan 2017 22:48:57 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1386

LAS VEGAS—The Consumer Electronics Showcase is the first big tech event of the year, and we were there to take it all in.

Every January, 170,000+ attendees ranging from retail buyers scouting for the next homerun product to industry analysts hunting for new trends to journalists sent to cover the new gadgets and pitches from exhibitors big and small, trek to Vegas for the enormous show.

While we were there to showcase C.H.I.P. Pro and two new third-party products powered by it, we did find a few minutes to walk the show floor. Though we didn’t see everything, we did see some exciting products. Here are 5 of the highlights.

Customizable Keyboards

Sensel makes it easy to swap keyboard layouts on the fly

Sensel makes it easy to swap keyboard layouts on the fly

The Sensel Morph is a customizable keyboard that uses flexible rubber overlays to change the keyboard’s physical design and how your computer uses it for input. Underneath the overlay is a highly sensitive multi-touch pad that the company says is made up of 20,000 individual sensors. It looks a lot like a big trackpad and can detect tapping of fingers and even brushstrokes.

Each overlay contains small magnets arranged in a unique pattern that identifies its function and layout to your computer. Overlays range in purpose from a drum pad and easel design to the more familiar QWERTY and DVORAK keyboard layouts. In total, Sensel offers 10 different overlays.

The multi-touch pad sells for $249.99 and keyboard overlays are $24.99 each. Morph is currently available for preorder and projected to ship in February 2017.


The Internet of Hugs

Send a hug to a distant friend with Parihug

Send a hug to a distant friend with Parihug

Parihug brings distant friends and loved ones closer together with internet connected hugging teddy bears. Each Parihug comes with two soft teddy bears and a smartphone app. Once the bears and phone app are configured, let the hugging begin.

Hug one bear and the other bear expresses the same type of hug you gave the first bear. Give a quick squeeze or a long embrace, and these bears will know and show the difference. Hugs can also be sent to bears using the smartphone app.

The creators, Xyla Foxlin and Harshita Gupta, hope to be in production by Q1 of 2017 and are currently looking for product testers. Send ’em a message on their site if you think you have what it takes.


LEGO Boosts its Programmable Kits

The Lego TKTK

The Lego Boost kit

The Lego Boost is the latest programmable brick-system from the classic building kit company. Designed to get kids interested in building and programming, the kit includes 840 standard Lego pieces and introduces the new programmable Move Hub brick.

The new Lego Move Hub, motor, and sensor for color and distance

The new Lego Move Hub, motor, and sensor for color and distance

Move Hub features two built-in motor encoders, a button, a tilt sensor, and Bluetooth Low Energy for communication with other devices. It’s basically a small computer that’s enclosed in a big Lego brick. Programming Move Hub is done using a free tablet app and an icon-based programming language. Once a program is written, upload your new code to Move Hub over a BLE connection, and your program will begin to run.

Boost is expected on stores shelves in August 2017, and it’s sure to be a hit.


Stay focused with Freewrite

Golden Freewrite

Golden Freewrite

The Freewrite is a connected keyboard that’s reminiscent of the AlphaSmart of the late 1990s. Freewrite combines an e-ink display, mechanical keyboard, and cloud services with the hope that people will be less distracted writing on a product that only has one main application and no notifications.

While the $499 price tag is not cheap, the Freewrite is comfortable to type on, and the eink is sharp even in a poorly lit convention center. If you’re looking for a single purpose device to help remove clutter and distraction from your writing, the Freewrite might be for you.


Print Circuit Boards Even on Flexible Material

The Squink PCB printer from Botfactory

The Squink PCB printer from Botfactory

The Squink PCB Printer from New York-based BotFactory can operate as a PCB printer to create a circuit board or as a pick-and-place machine to maneuver electronic components onto an existing PCB.

Working as a PCB printer, Squink can extrude a conductive ink or solder paste (depending on the mode it’s in) at a rate of 5 in² of pad area per hour. Printing can be done on traditional circuit board material like FR4 or flexible material like Kapton tape.

As a pick-and-place machine, Squink is much slower and only able to place 4 parts per hours. Arguably, this is slower than someone with a steady hand, but Squink doesn’t take lunch breaks or sick days.

The entry-level Squink Basic will set you back $3200, but it’s worth spending $800 more for the version that can print multi-layer PCBs. No question, Squink comes with a big price tag for an individual buyer, but it’s primarily intended for small businesses, shared workshops, or academic settings. If you need PCBs made in a hurry, Squink is one product to consider.


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Ultimately, CES is too enormous to see everything. If you were there and saw something cool we missed, let us know in the comments below.

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PocketC.H.I.P. Goes to Middle School https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pocketc-h-i-p-goes-to-middle-school/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pocketc-h-i-p-goes-to-middle-school/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2016 14:58:06 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1290

Earlier this week, students at West Oakland Middle School learned how to create their own video games using PocketC.H.I.P. and PICO-8!

In honor of Computer Science Education Week, Salesforce.org was hosting three one-hour lessons at a local school and they needed volunteers. Being a newbie to NTC, with admittedly only a little PocketC.H.I.P. experience before my first day of work, I realized I could learn and help at the same time!

Before getting there all I knew about the event was that middle school students would be taught how to code using PICO-8 on PocketC.H.I.P.. And that we would be assisting up to 60 students in one lesson!

At first, that worried me a bit. I have experience teaching hands-on coding workshops and currently teach a semester-long class at California College of the Arts. But the max amount of students I’ve had in those classes have been around 18. This was not only going to be my first time learning how to code on PocketC.H.I.P. but also my first time being around this many young students.

The lessons were lead by the fantastic family duo of Mare and Jessica. Together, they make up Sparkiverse, a group that focuses on after-school programs to creatively introduce kids to STEM. Any worries I had about students not getting their questions answered quickly vanished when I saw how many helpers had shown up to assist the students.

The student’s first task was to create a character sprite (computer graphic in video-game speak) and learn how to display it on their screen. Luckily, I’m familiar with programming, so when it came to helping the students, I could troubleshoot indentations that were missing or loops that were not closed.

But when it came to the PICO-8 interface and how to interact with it I was learning right along with the students. With Jessica’s clear instructions they—I mean WE—learned how to create a background for a sprite to live on and how to move the sprite around with arrow keys.

Some of the students had not coded before and were a bit intimidated at first. But once they typed 3 lines of code and watched their sprite whiz across the screen, they felt excited and encouraged. Coding wasn’t hard. The instant visual result of their code that PICO-8 provided was invaluable to the student’s learning experience. The kids were making games in no time and having a blast at it.

I was surprised and delighted by how many students raised their hands when Jessica asked, “Who has coded before?” I remember typing lessons and trying not to die of dysentery on the Oregon Trail but when I got to middle school there weren’t any programming lessons being taught in the classroom.

For the experienced coders, there were additional steps with the code printed out so they could work ahead. I really appreciated the students having that option since I’ve witnessed varying levels of skills in my own teaching experiences. For more resources on learning PICO-8, check out one of our previous blog posts.

One student from earlier that day was interested in learning more about programming and asked me if he could purchase a PocketC.H.I.P.. We also chatted about how getting better at programming was about practice and having fun. Shortly after telling him he could indeed purchase one Salesforce.org announced that they were donating pocketC.H.I.P.s to the teachers! I was thrilled that the students would have the opportunity to continue to craft their coding skills.

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Honestly, I thought teaching younger kids would be scarier than it was. Instead, it was a rich experience where I could teach the kids while they and Sparkiverse taught me. I left imagining of opportunities that would get me back in the middle school classroom. Luckily, I come from the land of PocketC.H.I.P.s and am focusing on education here at NTC. So, watch out C.H.I.P.sters and Pocketeers!

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