Pygame is a set of libraries for Python providing graphics sound, keyboard, mouse and joystick support. I don’t have a keyboard, mouse or joystick in my project, but graphics and sound are exactly what I need to assist my project. Originally it was written for …
When I started to think about the Akiniscope, it was of course just an idea. It first became a possibility when I bought the display. It felt like a big step, spending money on something that I was not sure would make it to reality. …
Rather than write everything from scratch, it’s easier to use a framework or libraries, written by people far cleverer than me. Akiniscope needed video and audio processing to be provided. Processing was the first I looked at, but I found this required more processing power than my poor little Raspberry Pi Zero W could provide.
Next I looked at pygame which provides video and audio tools for Python. I’ve used python a bit, professionally, but not much, so learning a bit more appealed. pygame could not provide all that i needed, so I next checked there were Python libraries for the other things needed.
picamera gives good control of the Raspberry Pi camera with it’s Python library, and also provides some graphic effects, using the GPU, which eases the load on the processor.
For digital inputs and outputs, I started by using RPi.GPIO, which did most of what I wanted, but then swapped to gpiozero. It was mainly to provide smooth brightness transitions for the LEDs that prompted the swap.
Debugging code is so much easier with a good log, so I was pleased to see how comprehensive the standard Python logging facility was. I’ve used the multi-level facility, where I can put logging in verbose, but detailed ‘debug’ mode, or the everyday ‘info’ mode.
The next thing is more a general programming practice, rather than just Python. I like to use finite-state machines (I’ve always called them ‘multi state machines’, when did they change that?) It sounds more complicated than it actually is. The principle is, rather than have a whole bunch of boolean variables, use one variable to reflect the current state. This can simplify a design a lot. I only use a couple: the current display state; and the current proximity sensor state. I’ll write a fuller blog about all this.
Finally, I want the machine start up and shutdown to look right. A lot of this is configuration, rather than written software, and some bits I’ve not worked out how to do, yet (how do I hide the desktop from appearing? probably use a light weight graphics framework, maybe?) I’m also writing a Plymouth theme, so startup will match the look and feel of the rest of Akiniscope.
I’ll write blogs on each of these elements, some time in the future…
The Akiniscope is based around the Raspberry Pi Zero W. I chose this, because it’s low power, small and cheap. You can also get a tiny camera for it. The W at the end means it has Wi-Fi connectivity, as well. The only drawback, is …
I’d been trying to find the right mains hum for a while. Synthesised versions didn’t have enough variation in them: they were too perfect. But, experimenting made me think what I did want. While practicing juggling (I am a very, very bad juggler), one of …
For a while the project was called Kinescope, The ‘Kine-‘ part was from the Greek kínima, meaning movement. Cinema also uses this.
The ‘-scope‘ part, is again from greek, meaning to inspect or examine. I liked it’s use in ocilloscope, so, after trying other endings, like ‘-meter‘ and ‘-graph‘, -scope stuck.
I then realised, that, of course, the equipment does not take a moving image, it is a still. So, what do greek or latin offer for that. I very briefly used Akomiscope, then realised that I was using the wrong meaning of still. ‘akómi‘ means still, as in ‘I’m still here’, not the absence of movement. ‘Akinitos‘ was the word I was looking for, so, I took the begining of that work.
Apologies to anyone who actually knows their languages, I know I’ve probably mashed words in a way they were never meant to be. But, it sounded about right.
I want Akiniscope to hum, click and whir, like all sorts of gizmos are working inside. But subtly, so you only realise, once close, I don’t want it to dominate a space it’s shown in. Having worked in an Arts centre, I don’t want it …
The design of the box, currently, before I’ve started building it, is based on a piece of equipment I used to use when I first started in electronics. It was a big wooden box, with a duck egg blue painted metal front panel. It had …
The Akiniscope will be a box on wall that take a photograph when someone stands in front of it for a certain time. The photo will be a composite of several photos, taken over time, each part gradually revealed.
The box will look like an old piece of electronic test equipment, with a display and multiple buttons switches and dials, with obscure labels. All switches will work, well, they’ll have an effect on what is displayed. The box will hum and clunk, will glow and, hopefully, smell of old electronics.
This is the type of kit, that I used to work with, and the look and feel I’ll try to emulate.
