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My Raspberry PI Setup

Whenever I get a new Raspberry PI to setup I have to go through the same motions every time. Time for a post to remind myself exactly what steps I go through to get that perfect setup.

Disclaimer: This is MY idea of a good setup, if you like it follow along, if not. Go have a soda pop!

Tasks

Install Raspbian on SD Card

  • Grab Rasbian image from raspberrypi.org
  • Download Etcher (if you don’t have it)
  • Follow etcher directions to write image from raspberrypi.org to your SD card.

Configure headless options

In this section we need to create a couple of files on the boot partition of the SD card we just created. The first file called ssh will enable ssh, the second file wpa_supplicant.conf will configure wifi.

  • Open the boot filesystem on your computer
  • Create an EMPTY file called ‘ssh’. Do not allow any file extensions. If you are unsure how to do that, google ‘show file extensions’
  • Create another file called wpa_supplicant.conf and put the following in it.
country=US
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1

network={
    ssid="NETWORK-NAME"
    psk="NETWORK-PASSWORD"
}
  • Save that file
  • Eject SD Card
  • Cram it in Raspberry PI
  • Boot the pi.
  • You should be able to find the IP address by rooting around through your router.

Login

If that all went well, we can now log into the raspberry pi.

  • Use your favorite ssh client / terminal. On windows mine is Putty. For mac os and linux (or any unix variant) you can most likely just use a a terminal for this. Google “how to ssh into a linux computer”
  • Default user name is: pi
  • Default password is: raspberry

Configure pi with built in utility

We will use the raspi-config utility to configure some basic options.

  • Run sudo raspi-config
  • Change User Password
  • Network Options -> Hostname
  • Localization Options -> Change Locale (Dont forget to deselect the default en GB setting
  • Localization Options -> Change Timezone
  • Localization Options -> Keyboard Layout
  • Advanced Options -> Expand Filesystem
  • Finish (A reboot will be required)

Upgrade and Upgrade

Here we make sure that the pi is as up to date as possible before starting a project. 

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get upgrade
$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Install Packages

Install basic packages that I use all the time.

  • Build Essentials
    • sudo apt-get install build-essential
  • GIT
    • sudo apt-get install git
  • VIM
    • sudo apt-get install vim
  • SMASH (this is my own custom setting BS that I have had on every unix type box I have worked on for decades.
    • git clone https://github.com/KalebClark/smash.git ~/.smash
    • cd ~/.smash
    • ./install.sh
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DIY ATX Bench Power Supply

We build a bench top power supply from an ATX computer power supply. These bench top power supplies can provide quite a bit of current at 3.3, 5, and 12 volts. We 3d printed a panel that houses a switch to turn the unit on, a switch to silence the fan, an indicator LED and three sets of terminals for the three voltages mentioned above.

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3D Printing Star of Life

My son is now an EMT and I thought I would make something for him to celebrate. I found an SVG of the “star of life” and imported into fusion360, made some tweaks and printed it in 4 colors. The model will be available on Thingiverse on 12/27/2018. I just created a thingiverse account for MD, and its making me wait 24 hours before I can publish. Check the link on the 27th if you want the models!

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How to Modify Servo for Continuous Rotation

Learn how to modify a standard servo for continuous rotation! In this video we cover removing the physical stop and replacing the potentiometer with static resistance. We also have a look at the code needed on Arduino & Raspberry PI, as well as how to calibrate your code for your newly modified Servo!