Arduino/RPi/Etc + Glowforge projects

RetroPie is my next project with my 13 yo son. We went to a big show a while back and they were selling Arcade Tables for crazy prices…

I have an old LCD monitor for the screen and a RPi2 (potentially will upgrade to a RPie3 for the Wifi) but still trying to work out what to do for the controllers/buttons. Just buying some USB controllers seems the easiest, but would prefer to go for the retro joystick and buttons. What are you planning for the controllers?

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As seen here…

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I’m planning to use both, arcade stick and big buttons on the console and two wireless controllers to get rid of cables.

https://smile.amazon.com/Wireless-Bluetooth-Controller-Classic-Joystick/dp/B014QP2H1E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1482967094&sr=8-2&keywords=super+nintendo+wireless+controller

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Wow, that is fantastic accuracy for printed gears with that small a pitch!

I has completed my afore-mentioned 1st incredible Arduino project!

Next up? TWO buttons.
Shoot, electronics are easy! I’ll have my BMOs and a Butter-Passing Robot going in no time!:upside_down:

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Good job! Now as you add the second button make the light light if and only if both are pushed. Then make one turn it on and the other turn it off…

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Thanks! I just did the two buttons in series (project 1.2 in my kit) and the two buttons in a parallel circuit (project1.3), but my kit only came with momentary pushbutton switches, so for now I can’t quite do one for on and one for off.

I’m pretty excited to get further into it. I can’t wait until I get to the LCD display.
Funny, but playing with these itty bitty components makes me feel like my thumbs are enormous!

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I like the wireless controllers I hadn’t seen those before - much better than having cables come out of the system.

I’ve seen the joystick/button kits before, but not sure of the wiring. Have you see any good guides for a Retropie setup?

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I’ve just seen this page by now, but apparently is just connect positives and negatives in a row, the rest of the process should be plug and play.

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Project number 2 in the bag. This one had coding!

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Great. Will start reading…

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OMG, that is SO cute! You are an intelligent and talented person but in this case, you are like a kid handed a lightsaber and thinks it is a club! Work through your lessons and if you can’t do it by the end of them we’ll get it worked out. Momentary switches are all you’ll ever use for user input with Ardio, everything will be handled with code.

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I’ve built a Raspberri Pi-based entertainment center for the car to keep the kids quiet. The Honda Odyssey has an AC outlet and HDMI input in the back row. I don’t want to leave it sitting out exposed, so I plan to build a case to hold the RPi + UPS shield + USB drive + cords so it’s not so obvious.

For anyone curious, I’m using Kodi for the software, and the Kore app on an old cell phone as a remote control. I have the RPi set up an ad-hoc network that the old phone can join.

I’ve got the same setup (less the UPS and USB drive) velcro’d to the back of all TVs in my house. Can’t beat it for the price.

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Where are you getting the projects to do??

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My parents gave me the 15-project (beginner) Arduino Starter Kit For Christmas, it comes with a project guidebook. There are step by step instructions, schematics, and lots of encouragements to play with parts of the code. Each project builds on the last, I have just barely scratched the surface.
@markevans36301 heh can you tell I’m still thinking in terms of physical circuits and not digital commands? I’ll keep trying to wrap my thought process around that as I continue with my lessons. For now… I know how to kill a watt; club it with a lightsaber.

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Cool I’ll have to look that up…our kit didnt come with a booklet or instructions…lol

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Looking at the list of components that came in the kit you bought vs the one I was given, I have a feeling that the instruction book accounts for a lot of the price of the official Arduino Brand kits. My kit came with far fewer components.

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While it may not tie into the materials that came in your kit, there are tutorials and learning resources on Arduino.cc and Adafruit… and I’m sure plenty of others.

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage
https://learn.adafruit.com/category/learn-arduino

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Oh thanks…my son found several too. Lots of fun stuff to do!!

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I have enjoyed the podcasts from Know How on the TWiT TV network.

They do a lot of projects and sample coding for Raspberry Pi and Arduino.

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