Last week, I was working on a C++ application on a remote machine in the cloud, and I didn't want to install all the compiling and debugging tools/libraries/dependencies on the host OS, but I wanted to have all of them in a container. I found that VSCode has the capability to target a container for application building and/or debugging :).

This article is a documentation for me that I will use every time that I need to compile a C++ application. The steps are divided in three main groups:

• You need to build a Docker image with the tools/dependencies/libraries etc.. A container will be started...

M5Stack has just launched the M5Stack CORE2, an ESP32 based IoT development kit, with a capacitive touch screen that brings users a smoother human-computer interaction experience. As usual, the development kit is compatible with Arduino, MicroPython, and UIFlow.

The M5Stack CORE2 has an ESP32 D0WDQ6-V3 with two Xtensa® 32-bit LX6 microprocessors that can be individually controlled. The clock frequency is adjustable from 80MHz to 240MHz.

M5Stack sent me an early sample to play...

I've just upgraded the MicroPython camera module for ESP32. The OV2640 uses I2S and two months ago, I wrote/updated the I2S connector to support more boards (check the hardware and software section below).

This time with the help of @joerggollnick, the driver was extended to include the following camera settings: frame size, white balance, saturation, brightness, contrast special effects, image quality, vertical flip, and horizontal flip.

Hardware and Software

DIY: Instructions

I've i...

There are already many tutorials that explain how to boot the Raspberry Pi 4 from an SSD disk without any MicroSD card. This is just another one; but, it includes some tips that I founded on Google, because the other tutorials didn't work, nor did they explain the details.

Let's start with some technical details. The Raspberry Pi 4 has an SPI-attached EEPROM, which contains code to boot up the system and more. The firmware of this EEPROM can be updated to include more functionalitie...

Two months ago, I wrote a tutorial that explains how to get DRM support on Chromium on the Raspberry Pi. If you follow the steps of that tutorial:

• Raspberry Pi: Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. and a DRM solution!

you can use the Chromium web browser to play videos from Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Pandora, and many others (see Fig. 1 & 2).

Fig. 1: Playing videos on Amazon Prime
using Chromium on the Raspberry Pi OS.

Fig. 2: Playing music on Spoti...

The M5Camera is a camera unit based on ESP32 chip has an OV2640 and also includes a PSRAM. As you may already know, M5Stack is an open-source modular toolkit for IoT developments based on ESP32. There are four versions of this camera (see Fig. 1). I got the M5-Camera B and this is a tutorial to use the camera to generate timelapse videos. However, this module doesn't have a microSD slot. Therefore, the application will publish the photos on an MQTT Broker, so that an MQTT subscrib...

This tutorial updates the article: MicroPython: Taking photos with an ESP32-CAM, in which I described the steps to add support to the ESP32-CAM on MicroPython. In this tutorial, I've updated the driver, and more cameras/boards are now supported. I tested the driver on the ESP32-CAM and the M5CAMERA (model B). It should also work with every board that has an OV2640, and it can be extended to support the OV3660 (I didn't find any board with an ESP32 that uses this camera)....

Last year, Elecrow sent me the CrowPi and I used it in some of my projects, including this video:

Together with the Corel USB accelerator, I programmed a YOLOv2 object detector, etc.

The CrowPi kit is magnificent and has everything you need to start playing with the Raspberry Pi. Furthermore, you get everything in a suitcase, that you can close and clean your "mess" in seconds. :)

Support the CrowPi2 on Kickstarter

Today, Elecrow is announcing a Kickstarter campaign to support the Crowpi2. This time, they integrated the Raspberry Pi in a notebook-like case (see fig. 1), and I think it i...

It is a rainy day and you have a Raspberry Pi, which is running Raspberry OS (Raspbian), and you think: I can make a media center to watch some movies/series. You configure everything, and then you see something like the next picture, every time that you want to watch Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. using the Chromium Web Browser:

Fig. 1: Trying to play Amazon Prime videos on the Raspberry Pi running Raspberry OS.

You could install Kodi, LibreElec or OSMC, and you'll be able to watch your series or movie without any problem (using some plugins). But, if you still want to use Raspberr...

Last week, I've received a brand new M5Stack ATOM Echo parallel to the market launch (see Fig. 1). You might already know the M5Stack company. They make robust and open-source development kits with stackable modules. The kits allow you to make rapid and high-quality prototypes.

Today, the M5Stack launches the ATOM Echo. Check out this video, and see how it works with MicroPython:

M5Stack ATOM Echo

M5Stack ATOM Echo is a tiny programmable smart speaker and is part of the M5...

As you may have noticed in my past videos, I've been using a self-made rotating platform to display the projects. In this article, I'll describe and present it to you. It is still in its baby step, and I need a case to put everything inside. However, the code is available. The microcontroller is an ESP32, which is connected to Wi-Fi and hosts a website to configure the angle, speed, and direction of rotation. The ESP32 is programmed using MicroPython. Check out the following video!...

I've never used my blog to criticize a company. But this time, I need to express my complete disappointment with Gearbest. The last days, I have had the worst shipping experience, and I do have extensively worked with companies in and outside of the EU. In a nutshell, I ordered a home appliance on Feb. 21, and I'm still waiting to receive it. They've extended the shipping deadline twice (each time for one month), and now the tracking number has expired.

2020-05-07 15:00:09
Hungary, Customs clearance processing complete.
2020-03-04 10:00:03
Hungary, Parcel is in clearance.
2020-02-28 17:00:36
...

I've just updated the LoRa/LoRaWAN repository for MicroPython and added a configuration that works on the M5Stack Fire using the LoRa868 Module. Therefore, this will help you connect the M5Stack Fire to the "The Things Network (TTN)"!

If you're new to MicroPython read this tutorial: Tutorial: Getting Started with MicroPython on ESP32, M5Stack, and ESP8266If you want to know more about the LoRaWAN and MicroPython, read this article: Tutorial: ESP32 running MicroPython sends data o...

This tutorial is about exporting data from Google Firestore to Google Data Studio to visualize it; or to import it on Google Colab to analyze it and train a machine learning model.

Fig. 1: Data diagrams on Google Data Studio

This is the third tutorial from the series "implementing real-time data pipelines - from generation to models" and the other tutorials are the following:

• MicroPython: GCP getting air-quality data from an M5Stack ATOM
• GCP: Implementing Re...

Last year, I bought a Timeular tracker and I've been using it the past months to check the time I spent on my activities and plan my days better. Furthermore, on work-from-home days, it's hard to track how many hours I work per day, and the tracker helps me a lot with this! Therefore, I still recommend it.

I also wrote an article about the tracker and the Timeular application: Timeular: Tracking your time using an Octahedron. Both work great on Windows, Mac OS, and Android....