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  • Dec 20, 2023 • @brent

    WipperSnapper Updates Wednesday: A New Component Picker, Beta 74, and More Sensors!

    ws-update-banner

    This past month, a lot has been going on with our Adafruit.io platform and WipperSnapper firmware – let’s take a look:

    🪄 A Better Component Picker

    With 81+ components (at the time of writing) supported by Adafruit IO WipperSnapper, we needed a better way to filter through components and parts. As a result of the growing list of components, we’ve redesigned and updated the Adafruit IO component picker. The new component picker performs much better than before, with numerous optimizations under the hood. But by far the biggest addition is search! Knock yourself out searching for various keywords, like:

    • component names: aht20, servo, buzzer, button, etc
    • sensor types: light, temperature, pressure, humidity, etc
    • interface: i2c, uart, ds18x20, etc
    • vendor: Adafruit, ASAIR, Infineon, Bosch, etc

    We’ve also added product and documentation links to every component. The documentation links will often lead to one of our high-quality Learn Guides, terrific! And for folks browsing for components to buy, the product links are a handy shortcut to the Adafruit Shop or wherever the component is sold. If you’d like to see a video of the new component picker in action, you can watch Loren walking through it on a recent episode of Show & Tell! Read more…

    🆕 Latest Version of WipperSnapper: Adafruit.io WipperSnapper 1.0.0 Beta 74

    Adafruit WipperSnapper Firmware 1.0.0 beta 74 has been released on GitHub. This is the latest version of WipperSnapper and a stable release. Read the release notes here…

    🚢 “Works with WipperSnapper” - New Sensors for Beta 74

     WipperSnapper Beta 74 launched with support for 6 new sensors:

    • IKEA VINDRIKTNING AQI Sensor
    • LTR329 Sensor
    • LTR303 Sensors
    • LTR390 Sensor
    • HTU21D/DF
    • TU31D Sensor
  • Dec 12, 2023 • @brubell

    Adafruit.io WipperSnapper 1.0.0 Beta 74 Released!

    Adafruit WipperSnapper Firmware 1.0.0 beta 74 has been released on GitHub. This is the latest version of WipperSnapper and a stable release.

    Install WipperSnapper 1.0.0 Beta 74

    Follow this learning system guide to learn how to install Adafruit IO WipperSnapper.

    Upgrade a device already running WipperSnapper

    Locate the device you’d like to upgrade on io.adafruit.com/devices. Then, click “Update”.

    Major Changes

    🐛 Bug Fixes

    🆕 New Components

    🛠️ Tooling

    Full Changelog: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Wippersnapper_Arduino/compare/1.0.0-alpha.75…1.0.0-beta.74

  • Dec 5, 2023 • @lorennorman

    WipperSnapper Component Magic

    update-banner

    Happy December from the Adafruit IO team!

    Today I’m bringing news of not one but two big improvements to WipperSnapper: our no-code IoT platform interface.

    More Components, Better Picker

    As I write this, WipperSnapper now supports 82 unique components! From servos to NeoPixels, I2C to UART, analog, digital, PWM… how can we keep it all organized???

    Behold, our redesigned component picker:

    component-picker-redesign

    Faster, Searchable, and More Detail

    This picker update performs much better than before, with numerous optimizations under the hood. But by far the biggest addition is search! Knock yourself out searching for various keywords, like:

    • component names: aht20, servo, buzzer, button, etc
    • sensor types: light, temperature, pressure, humidity, etc
    • interface: i2c, uart, ds18x20, etc
    • even I2C addresses: 0x77, or just 77
    • vendor: Adafruit, ASAIR, Infineon, Bosch, etc

    We’ve also add product and documentation links to every component. The documentation links will often a lead to one of our high quality Learn Guides, terrific! And for folks browsing for components to buy, the product links are a handy shortcut to the Adafruit Shop or wherever the component is sold.

    If you’d like to see a video of the new component picker in action, you can see me walking through it on a recent episode of Show & Tell!

    Working in the Sun

    At Adafruit, we’re dedicated to open source. All of our WipperSnapper-compatible components are created and maintained in the Wippersnapper_Components open-source JSON repository. We’re proud to be able to work in the open. In fact, the work for this update was iterated openly on this Pull Request!

    If there’s a component you’d like to see supported by WipperSnapper, head over and check the Request Issues page to see if it’s already in the works. If not, feel free to open an issue requesting your favorite component! And, if you’re handy with code, you could even get involved and contribute to the project. After all, the microcontroller code that drives WipperSnapper is open-source as well.

    Magic Configuration

    Not to be outdone, we’ve also made some updates on the board side of things. With WipperSnapper up to 21 compatible boards (and counting!), and thousands of user boards active right now (and growing!), we knew it was time to make it easier to configure them.

    Export, Import, Magic

    The next time you take a look at one of your devices you might notice a new button at the top of the screen labeled “Auto-Config”:

    auto-config-button

    Upon clicking it, you’ll be presented with various auto-configuration options:

    auto-config-menu

    Quick overview of each:

    Export: Got a device configuration you’d like to recreate later? This will let you save a file that does just that. Maybe you want to delete and recreate this device? Or perhaps a friend wants to clone a setup of yours? Use export to get a file that can be imported later, instantly re-configuring the device exactly as you have it, now.

    Import: The opposite of export! This is where you take export files you’ve created, or received from a friend. Uploading a valid file here will provide an interface for rapidly creating a fully-configured device. Each component can be selected/deselected for import, individually. Any possible import errors will also be shown.

    Magic: Finally, the best part: MAGIC! For supported boards, Magic Config will jump straight to the import interface mentioned above with every built-in component on this board configured for import. That’s right, even boards with truly insane numbers of components onboard are ready to go in a one click (I’m looking at you, Funhouse!)

    To see a video of the Funhouse getting configured (almost instantly!), check out this clip from Show & Tell. Here’s an image of the Funhouse’s Magic Config import screen: so many components!

    funhouse-magic

    More Open Source

    Of course, we also built the board additions in the open, here’s some quick links for the curious:

    As always, if you have any suggestions or bugs to report about these new features, please let us know in the forums.

  • Dec 1, 2023 • @brentru

    Adafruit IoT Monthly: Internet of Skulls, Ethernet Turns 50, and more!

    IoT Projects

    Internet of Skull: An Internet Status Monitor

    skull

    Maker Emily Velasco is known for her unique projects and the Internet of Skull is no different: “I live in a neighborhood with an internet provider of so-so quality. When the service works, it works well, but it goes down more often than it seems like it should for the $75 a month I have to pay for it.” This project monitors Emily’s home network status and displays it using an RGB LED for visual feedback. The project is mounted inside a fake skull, giving it a unique, biological, look. -MLE-Online

    Text to update this RGB LED Matrix

    scroll

    Send text messages that magically scroll across a RGB LED matrix in bright colors. Update the sign from anywhere, or give the control to your employees or family members, since there’s no coding or computer needed to update your sign. -Adafruit Learning System

    CAN Bus Sniffing with ESP32

    can

    The CAN bus, accessible through your car’s OBD-II port, is a channel holding real-time data from your car. EQMod developed an ESP32-powered dongle that plugs into an OBD-II port and can be used to sniff CAN bus data. Data is displayed on a self-hosted webpage. -HackADay

    Antique (Internet) Radio

    radio

    Craig Lindley built a vintage-style radio that plays music from an internet radio station. The enclosure is made from 1/8” baltic birch and the radio itself is powered by an ESP32 WROOM. -HackADay

    IoT News and More!

    How Raspberry Pis Were Used to Protect NASA Telescope Data

    telescope

    The Register explains how scientists used the power of Raspberry Pis saved data from the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope. - Adafruit Blog

    Ethernet is still going strong after 50 years

    ethernet

    Ethernet has become the standard wired local area network around the world, and it is widely used in businesses and homes. It was honored this year as an IEEE Milestone, a half-century after it was born. - IEEE Spectrum

  • Nov 2, 2023 • @brentru

    Adafruit IoT Monthly: TODO, TODO, and more!

    IoT Projects

    PeggyBoard: An Interactive Climbing Wall

    peggyboard

    The PeggyBoard is “a Raspberry Pi project developed to be paired with your home “woody”/climbing wall. It features an easy-to-use web app that anyone on your network can open up and begin setting a custom route that will then light up the respective holds on your wall. These routes can also be saved so they can be revisited later.” - GitHub

    A Loud Phone Ringer for the Elderly

    ringer

    Giovanni Aggiustatutto built a custom base for an elderly friend. The cordless landline phone’s base contains a loud ringer and flashing lights to alert the friend of an incoming call. - HackADay

    HydroCleaner: River Cleaning Robot

    hydrocleaner

    A low-cost, ML-powered, robot that attempts to capture trash in small waterways. - HackADay.io

    Using Meshtastic and OwnTracks to Kick A Google Location Habit

    meshtastic

    Jonathan Bennet was searching for an alternative way to share location data with their wife and business travel. They combine Meshtastic, a LoRa-based mesh network, and OwnTracks, a GPS location tracker, to create a private (self-hosted) location-sharing service. - HackADay

    Screen Time Monitoring with Adafruit IO

    screentime

    Using an HLK-LD2410B human detection sensor and Adafruit IO to monitor the amount of time an engineer spends staring at their computer screen. - Hackster.io

    LoRaWAN Birdhouse

    birdhouse

    A birdhouse with a weight scale inside to detect a bird. The birdhouse is powered by solar energy and can transmit the scale’s data via LoRaWAN to the Internet. - HackADay.io

    IoT News and More!

    Millions of UK Smart Meters will Brick

    smartmeter

    Millions of smart meters in the UK will become “bricked” as 2G and 3G mobile networks are turned off across the country. - The Register