A few months ago I setup a web browser based dashboard running on a Raspberry Pi, displaying weather, time and transit information.  It worked out well, but it’s success revealed another problem.  Turning the screen on and off multiple times a day was getting old.

So I did what any technically inclined person would do.  I decided to create a device to turn the screen on and off by responding to dramatic changes in ambient light.  The device would also provide a manual power toggle and button to refresh the browser.

This is part 3 of 3 describing the final hardware that was built from the prototype.

• Arduino Screen Controller for Raspberry Pi Part 1 Hot Keys
• Arduino Screen Controller for Raspberry Pi Part 2 Hardware Prototype
• Arduino Screen Controller for Raspberry Pi Part 3 Hardware Final

Although intended to be used with a Raspberry Pi, the screen controller can be used to emulate a USB keyboard and send any desired keystrokes.

(more…)

A few months ago I setup a web browser based dashboard running on a Raspberry Pi, displaying weather, time and transit information.  It worked out well, but it’s success revealed another problem.  Turning the screen on and off multiple times a day was getting old.

So I did what any technically inclined person would do.  I decided to create a device to turn the screen on and off by responding to dramatic changes in ambient light.  The device would also provide a manual power toggle and button to refresh the browser.

This is part 2 of 3, describing how to use an Arduino to build a USB keyboard emulator to call the hot keys.

• Arduino Screen Controller for Raspberry Pi Part 1 Hot Keys
• Arduino Screen Controller for Raspberry Pi Part 2 Hardware Prototype
• Arduino Screen Controller for Raspberry Pi Part 3 Hardware Final

Although intended to be used with a Raspberry Pi, the screen controller can be used to emulate a USB keyboard and send any desired keystrokes.

(more…)

A few months ago I setup a web browser based dashboard running on a Raspberry Pi, displaying weather, time and transit information.  It worked out well, but it’s success revealed another problem.  Turning the screen on and off multiple times a day was getting old.

So I did what any technically inclined person would do.  I decided to create a device to turn the screen on and off by responding to dramatic changes in ambient light.  The device would also provide a manual power toggle and button to refresh the browser.

This is part 1 of 3, describing how to create a script to turn on and off the screen and hot keys to call this script.

• Arduino Screen Controller for Raspberry Pi Part 1 Hot Keys
• Arduino Screen Controller for Raspberry Pi Part 2 Hardware Prototype
• Arduino Screen Controller for Raspberry Pi Part 3 Hardware Final

Although intended to be used with a Raspberry Pi, the screen controller can be used to emulate a USB keyboard and send any desired keystrokes.

(more…)

After building my Raspberry Pi dashboard, I decided to go for the geek double crown and use an Arduino to build an Ethernet attached thermometer.  Then I would know how cold it was outside my window, not at Pearson International Airport.

(more…)