Bringing Star Trek to life: LCARS home automation with Arduino and Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

This LCARS home automation from YouTube user boltszmann138 a trekkies dream come true!

…I came to the conclusion that QT works fine for me. There are two programms running:

First, there is “ha_interface” on the raspberry which on the one hand connects to the arduino via usb and provides a tcp server for clients on the other hand. Clients can request sensor values by sending “request:sensortype:sensorid” over a simple QTcpSocket. If the arduino sends an interrupt (for example: reed contact 1 is now open), ha_interface sends a broadcast message like “broadcast:reed1:opened” to all connected clients. Parsing of these commands can easily be done via the QString::split(“:”) function. The biggest problem was: I dont want the clients to poll for the reed contact state, since they change very seldom. On the other hand, I didnt want to miss that event. So I had to find a way how recognize an interrupt (by emitting a signal) in the serial usb connection. This gave me the answer: http://www.webalice.it/fede.tft/seria… (part 5) and http://fedetft.wordpress.com/2010/04/… . Several connected clients can talk to each other via the interface and share for example their local “red alert on” or “system locked” bool variables.

The second program, “ha_gui” is the LCARS design you can see in the video (the final version will get a dedicated 24″ touch screen :-D). This program connects to the ha_interface programm via QTcpSocket. When switching an outlet, it sends “switchOutlet:syscode:groupcode:mode” to the interface, when requesting the temperature sensors, it sends “request:temperature:1” or something like that to the interface. If the main door is openend, the arduino will recognize that and send a message to the interface which then broadcasts that information to all connected clients. This LCARS client will play the “red alert” sound from Star Trek Voyager if that happens. Playing sounds is done via “QProcess::startDetached(“aplay PATH_TO_FILE”). The “analysis of sensor data” at the top is realized via 7 QLineEdits. There is a QTimer which is called periodically, it generates random numbers and sometimes highlights a row. The LCARS design was created in QT Designer. There are stylesheet options for rounded corners and you can find official LCARS colors via google. The different views are realized by a QStackedWidget.

Read more.


998Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Join Adafruit on Mastodon

Adafruit is on Mastodon, join in! adafruit.com/mastodon

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 36,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


Maker Business — “Packaging” chips in the US

Wearables — Enclosures help fight body humidity in costumes

Electronics — Transformers: More than meets the eye!

Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Silicon Labs introduces CircuitPython support, and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Guardian Robot, Weather-wise Umbrella Stand, and more!

Microsoft MakeCode — MakeCode Thank You!

EYE on NPI — Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — #NewProds 7/19/23 Feat. Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 CircuitPython Powered Internet Display!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.