Wear Your Future

“During a Formula 1 race, a driver experiences wrenching forces of more than 4.5G. His heart rate may exceed 180 beats per minute and his blood pressure could rise by half. With soaring temperatures inside the cramped cockpit he will also dehydrate, typically losing 2-3 litres of water during the race. Yet the driver must concentrate well enough to achieve lap times that might vary by just a tenth of a second. This is tough, on both mind and body. Hence it is not just the performance of the car itself which an array of sensors keeps an eye on, wirelessly transmitting data about the engine, suspension and so on to the pit crews. The drivers’ own vital signs are constantly monitored, too.” —Economist

DEEPAK HALAN

What are wearable computers all about

Way back in 1961 two mathematicians, Edward O. Thorp and Claude Shannon, developed miniature computerised timing devices to help them cheat at the game of roulette. Later, The Eudaemonic Pie - a book written by American author Thomas A. Bass in 1985 tells the story about a few University of California, physics graduate students. They develop very-small-size computers which are clandestinely worn on modified platform soled shoes, to predict casino roulette games.

In the early 1980s, Steve Mann, one of the forerunners of wearable technology, produced a backpack-mounted computer to control photographic equipment. Later in 1994 he developed a headset that was able to send images to the Internet. A few years later IBM carried out some trials on wearable computing on the ThinkPad, and by 2001 it presented the first model of a wristwatch computer known then as the WatchPad. Thereafter several interesting developments took place in the field of wearable computing.

Wearable computers, or body-borne computers, are small electronic devices which are worn by the user under, with or on top of clothing. This type of wearable technology is especially useful for applications that demand advanced computational support, that is, more than hardware-coded logic. Since there is continuous communication between the wearable device and user, it is ‘always on’ so that there is no botheration of switching off. Wearable-computer-based devices seamlessly merge with our daily lives in the sense that we don’t need to stop doing something to operate the device. Rather the wearable devices act more as an extension of our mind and body and sometimes also in a way like an artificial body part.

IBM Linux Watch (IBM Linux Watch, 2000) & IBM watch pad 1.5 (IBM WatchPad 1.5, 2001) (Source: http://www.itworld.co.kr/)

Anaesthesiologist keeps his attention on the patient while viewing vital signs via Google Glass (Source: http://www.medical.philips.com/ main/about/future-of-healthcare/)

War with wearable technology

Since the mid-1990s, the US military has been refining prototype soldier

A US Army Land Warrior soldier (Source: http:// www.army-technology.com/projects/land_warrior/)

Wearable electronic sensors on a finger (Source: http://jasminepark182.com/)

systems under its Land Warrior programme. A computer manages a daylight video electro-optic sight, a thermal sight mounted on the soldier’s M-4 carbine, a multichannel wireless communications system, a helmet-mounted display system and lightweight body armour. From the helmet-mounted display, a soldier can view his environment through the sensors mounted on his rifle. Using GUI, he can switch to a zoom-able map, where he can plot his own position, determine the locations of his squad members and locate suspected and confirmed enemy positions.

These positions are funnelled into the squad leader’s maps from intelligence sources like the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle. The computer also ties into the soldier’s communications system, from which he can read and send real-time text messages via a voice interface to other squad members and view still images from his rifle camera. As a result, Land Warrior-equipped soldiers are able to cover more ground with fewer men, see farther, shoot with greater accuracy and communicate more covertly.

DARPA has also developed lightweight, low-cost electronic yarns that can be woven into a network of sensors, actuators, logic algorithms and power sources, and can be twisted and crumpled as any other clothing. These smart uniforms are an example of how the newest technologies are improving the efficiency, safety and power of the oldest weapons platform of all—the foot soldier. It can also relay GPS information, and the design includes Interceptor body armour, designed to stop small fragmentation munitions.

Transforming healthcare

Wearable technology will enable surgeons to monitor a patient’s vital parameters and react to variations at the same time—without ever having to lose sight of the procedure or the patient. Hence, doctors will have all the key information and facts, handsfree, in split seconds, when they need it most, say in the operation theatre.

Google Glass is a wearable technology device that has a tiny prism on the right side to display information by means of a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection to the MyGlass app on Android and even iOS devices. Researchers from Philips, in collaboration with Accenture Technology, have been experimenting to discover the possible uses of Google Glass in healthcare since it allows doctors to ‘virtually’ be in two places simultaneously, thus making patient care so much more efficient. Imagine a surgeon or nurse attending to a patient and carrying out a procedure that needs both hands. Suddenly an alarm is sounded in the next room, but the doctor does not have to immediately abandon the current procedure. He communicates with the patient monitoring data system that has sent the alert and then takes a call if what’s happening in the adjoining room can wait or needs immediate action.

The other area where wearable computing is transforming healthcare is sensors-based tools. These are generally made up of gold conductive lines and ultra-thin sheets of silicon, and can transmit electric signals to the skin. Sensor-based tools enable doctors to feel the pulse rate, pressure and other vital signs more accurately, resulting in a more precise surgery. This novel tool is based on three basic ideas: 1. Using a special process, thinner flexible silicon can be developed which is more elastic 2. Semiconductor devices and arrays of the micro materials can be printed instead of being forged 3. Good flexibility can be provided by stretchable interconnects that connect arrays about 200 micrometres apart.

This results in ‘flexible electronics’ and is behind monitoring devices that include LED and photo sensors as well as components. These sensors are so powerful that they can identify if there is a disease or not, and the intensity, from samples of blood, urine, etc itself, without the requirement of any lab equipment. These sensors can be put on catheters to sense heart conditions in real-time basis, sewn into gloves so that surgeons can use their fingers as sensing instruments during surgery and even be placed on body parts, such as arms, like a bandage. This new technology could yield surgical robots that can network with their environs via touch.

Hence we are moving towards incorporation of multifunctional silicon semiconductor device technologies in the shape of soft, 3D, form-fitting skins, apt for wearing not only on the fingertips but also other body parts as well. For example, a device could encase the complete 3D surface of the heart to facilitate different sensing and stimulating functions, thus allowing advanced surgical and diagnostic possibilities.

The powerful powered exoskeleton

Rewalk exoskeleton: Wearable robotic legs (Source: http://www.glorysurgery.com/) The MindMesh, an EEG-based ‘thinking cap’ (Source: http://www.interaction-design.org/)

In the movie Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 2, Batman puts on a powered exoskeleton for his combat with Superman. This enables him to lift the Batmobile easily with one hand and fight on equal terms with Superman. A powered exoskeleton is a mobile machine and also goes by the name of powered armour, exoframe,

or exosuit. It basically consists of an outer framework which is put on like a dress, and a powered system of motors or hydraulics contribute some or complete energy for limb movement. Since it very much resembles the external skeleton that supports and protects bodies of insects and other animals, it has earned the name exoskeleton.

The main purpose of a powered exoskeleton is to impart more strength and fortitude to the wearer. These machines are mostly used in Defence to aid soldiers lug heavy items and sometimes more than that. The US Army is in process of creating an Iron Man-like suit that imparts superhuman strength to the user. This exoskeleton is called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) and will have strata of smart materials built-in with sensors as well as a wearable computer very much like Google Glass. It can keep an eye on soldiers’ critical parameters and multiply the available strength using hydraulics.

Powered exoskeletons also enable firemen and other rescue workers endure hazardous conditions. In the healthcare sector their application ranges from carrying out very accurate surgeries to enabling nurses to shift bulky patients. And then there are several other very important uses for people with disabilities and special needs. ReWalk is a commercial exoskeleton and a bionic walking assistance device that uses powered leg attachments to enable paraplegics to stand straight, walk and climb steps.

The system is power-driven by a backpack battery and controlled by a simple wrist-mounted remote which detects and enhances the user’s movement. There are several challenges that need to be overcome before powered exoskeletons can become popular. One of the most potent issues is creation of a high yet compact power supply that is large enough to enable an exoskeleton to function for long periods without any external power source. Right now multiple industries have pooled in their expertise and are working in close collaboration with R&D organisations, government labs as well as academia to overcome the hurdles.

‘Wear’ do we go from here

Today, we use corneal transplants to mend defective eyes. In the future, we may simply be able to insert artificial eyes with zoom capabilities, infrared sensors and night vision. We already have The MindMesh, an EEG (electro encephalo gram)-based ‘thinking cap’ that allows the user to hook different gadgets to their brain.

For example, a blind person can plug in a camera and use it as an ‘eye.’ In time to come, wearable will evolve into ‘embeddable,’ which could be sensors placed under the skin or swallowed. Today, the Proteus smart pill is capable of communicating a text to a doctor or some well-wisher from within the body to convey that the medicine has been consumed. Some years from now, we are likely to have reached a stage wherein ingestible devices will be transmitting images from inside the human gastrointestinal tract to help doctors diagnose the cause and bring down the need for surgery and other invasive procedures.

The market potential for wearable computing stems from its diversity— from watches and fitness trackers to sensor-filled clothes and Google Glass. In December 2013, Google Glass informed us via its Google+ social network page that users of its Internet-linked eyewear will now be able to click photos merely by winking. Now there are speculations that soon you and I will be able to pay the taxi driver simply by winking at the cab meter, and what not. As per Credit Suisse, a leading financial services company, the market for wearable technology will rise tenfold to as high as 50 billion US dollars by 2016 or 2018. The next big revolution in information technology will not reside in your pocket or on your office table; you will be wearing it! 

The author is currently associate professor at School of Management Sciences, Apeejay Stya University

Raspberry Pi: A tinkerer’s Dream Come true

The Raspberry Pi has spurred so much interest in last one year that we decided to uncover what makes it such a great catalyst for innovation

hdmi/dvi

TV or Monitor

camera expansion

Using the CSI Connector

hdmi-dvi-d adaptor

1428271

hdmi cable

1841275

sd card reader

Write your OS to SD Card 1336744

tft touch screen Using the DSI connector

micro usb power

5V from mains

sd card

Class 2, 4, 6, 10* > 2 GB

linux os

Debian Squeeze Arch Linux Fedora ARM

10/100 ethernet

Connect the Raspberry Pi to the Internet

stereo audio

3.5 mm jack 3712242

usb peripherals

Mouse / keyboard / 1826382

jtag

Test/Debug

gpio

It’s up to you

powered usb hub

Expand your ports 8704341

tv

Composite video to older TVs

These endless possibilities with a Raspberry Pi, is how every Tinkerer’s dream comes true!

Dilin AnAnD AnD SnehA AmbASthA

The Raspberry Pi board, lovingly called ‘the Pi,’ is not just a developer board but also a small easy-to-work with computer at a rockbottom price. You can use it to connect peripheral devices, or even to control entire systems. It gives you the power to convert an idea into reality in a snap.

The thought behind the creation of the Pi was to replace expensive computers from schools’ science labs. What happened, however, was that it evolved into a board now used by hobbyists, startups and researchers, and even in industrial applications!

P. Chow Reddy, managing director, Interleaved Technologies informs that the Raspberry Pi initially faced a problem in its entry into industrial applications because of the ‘Made for gaming console of 2001.

One little hack that users of the Pi have been doing is to overclock the device from its normal 700MHz clock speed to speeds of 800MHz or, in some cases, even 1000MHz.

This lets you run applications faster, by making use of the higher compute power now available on tap from the board. There have been users who have clocked the Pi at such high speeds that they needed to use an additional heat-sink and cooling to keep the CPU (a Broadcom system-on-chip used in mobile phones) from burning up.

Connect electronics lying around to your Pi

This little ` 3500 computer can do a lot of the things your desktop PC can do for just a fraction of the price. Some of its hottest features include being able to work with peripherals that were previously the sole property of a traditional computer.

USB keyboards, mice, HDMI monitors and projectors, music systems, memory cards—everything fits in. It even supports an RCA connector to be able to output video to your older TVs. It means you can use your Pi with most IT and consumer electronics devices without having to seriously re-engineer the board.

Some exciting enhancements

From interfacing through inter-integrated circuit and display serial interface buses to slapping on IR receivers, sensors and camera boards, the Pi is built to handle a lot of additional hardware without breaking a sweat. Some of the things you can do with it are:

Move your Pi. Lift things, open

Kids’ caption it carried. This later turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The fact that this board is so simple that even kids can work on it has led to it becoming the numero uno choice for rapidly prototyping ideas that keep popping up in innovators’ heads all over the world.

P. Chow Reddy adds, “At the EFY launch of Raspberry Pi during the first Electronics Rocks session by Eben Upton through video conference, a few demos on applications were mind boggling. The most interesting demo over there was controlling of Raspberry Pi with wrist watch ez430 from Texas Instruments.”

Lets you squeeze out every bit of CPU power

The Pi comes with a CPU that performs similarly to the Pentium II which was introduced in 1997. Its GPU performance is comparable to a XBOX

doors and windows, mess around with robotics and sense temperature using the Gertboard (a board that plugs into the Raspberry Pi and enables you to interface your Pi with other devices).

If you want something more serious, check out the DoodleBorg—a threehorse-power robot made available from PiBorg. They have a lot of other addon boards available for the Pi, mostly targeting robotic applications. Their collection includes motion and direction sensors, motor controllers and an LED board that they call LEDBorg. Apart from these cool accessories, PiBorg gets brownie points from us, as their name is an offshoot of the amazing Borg civilisation from Star Trek! See the Pi. The possibilities available for a Raspberry Pi that can observe visual images are amazing. While previous tinkerers and hackers used webcams to give the power of sight to their Pi, the Raspberry Pi Foundation decided to empower its board’s users with their in-house camera board.

Thus the Rpi Camera module was born. With a 5-megapixel sensor on a board, the module is a much-awaited accessory that connects to the Pi via a ribbon cable. While there are many other webcams available that can be connected to the Raspberry Pi via USB, the module launched by the foundation has the benefit of delivering excellent video and imaging quality.

Another interesting module is the Pi NoIR version, which comes in a black PCB and has the IR filter removed from the camera system. What this means is that your Pi can now see near-IR wavelengths, enabling it to

mimic features of a security camera at a much lower cost. Hear the Pi. Raspberry Pi has certain limitations when it comes to audio. It has an audio peripheral connection which is limited in a number of ways, resulting in the problem that there is no Engineer’s Choice (Courtesy: Poll conducted by EFY at way to capture audio using a Pi alone. different social networking sites) Audio output is limited to two parts—analogue via on-board 3.5mm stereo output jack and digital only via on-board HDMI output. While HDMI provides the potential for high-quality audio rendering, it cannot be used to capture voice. The analogue option gives an output quality that is only decent at best, which cannot be compared with digital quality output. This creates a necessity for Audio Pi, which has many audio features. It extends the audio output analysis of a Raspberry Pi beyond the HDMI output through its on-board HD codex and processor. It has on-board 24-bit voice processor that users can use with their PC to record the audio events, or to build some kind of a karaoke system with the

built-in powerful audio codex engine.

That is why many people now immediately think of using their Wolfson/ Raspberry Pi setup as a more flexible, lower-cost wireless media streaming system.

Pi on Air. Low-power RF module is an addition to its existing wireless protocols. A member from DesignSpark. com—an online community sponsored by RS Components—says, “The RF module is a USB device to provide bidirectional link to any device supporting serial communications, like another Raspberry Pi. Frequency, bandwidth, power output and data rates can be configured to allow multiple devices to communicate with each other and to other RF devices without any interference.

“The RF technology employed in Pi board enables significantly greater range (up to 300m depending on the terrain) and lower power consumption than other wireless protocols such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The host device can send and receive up to 180 bytes of data per packet to other hosts within range, making it particularly useful for ‘sense and control’ applications.”

What is the Raspberry Pi Foundation up to?

The foundation recently announced Compute module designed for engineers so they can harness the complete power of the Raspberry Pi for embedded applications. It is quite small and comes in a 3.5cm×6.5cm size. The module is compact enough to be mounted on a SO-DIMM socket, which is found in most motherboards these days. Once this module is plugged into a motherboard it would act as a stand-alone system and could be used as an add-on card for any particular application that customers might be developing.

A member from DesignSpark.com— an online community sponsored by RS Components—says, “Most of the times in final applications a designer may not need a complete Pi (complete Raspberry Pi board with all its connectors and interfaces), he may only need a slice of it. Compute module may be that slice, with a very small form factor of SO-DIMM.

“The good thing about the Compute module is that it retains the processing power of BCM2885 SOC with 512MB RAM and on-board Flash storage but outsources all its peripherals to companion I/O board. This makes it very easy for many Raspberry Pi users to switch to Compute module for their final applications.

“The Compute module lets designers explore full flexibility of BCM2885 SOC because of the availability of more GPIOs and interfaces. And the companion I/O board provides access to processor interface in much better manner, giving liberty to designers to make custom systems with ease. Besides, the compute module will encourage many designers to come up with a variety of companion I/O boards having different interfaces, peripherals and applications.”

Pallab Maji, senior research fellow, NIT Rourkela says, “While we were working on a robot project based on Pi, we found that certain gesture-controlled applications were required for which we had to connect an Arduino board to Raspberry Pi for a better performance. I think the Compute module is going to bring many different in-built capabilities for the designing aspect, like the increased number of interfacing options along with a better processing speed.”

Is Raspberry Pi the only one capable of fueling innovation?

There is great competition between the different development boards available today, and this forces us to question ourselves: Which development board should be used and why?

Major contributors to this report

Abhishek R. Rao

technical marketing manager, element14

P. Chow Reddy

managing director, Interleaved Technologies

Pallab Maji

senior research fellow, NIT Rourkela

Abhishek Rao, says, “One competitor, the RIoT board, mainly focuses on markets like mobile and tablet whereas BeagleBone is looked up to for more of industrial applications due to its ability to provide more number of I/O (input or output) functionalities required for such applications. If we look at the Raspberry Pi, its compatibility with Arduino enables more than 300 add-on shields which can be used to give this board an edge over all the other boards in terms of cost, and in terms of applications that can be realised.”

A report by Mouser Electronics suggests that the Galileo, a product of Intel’s effort with Arduino, does not allow us deeper control of the processor. This report also suggests that ARM is the most popular processor with multiple tools and licensed by many, which is not the case with Intel’s products.

But Michael Leonard in one of his reports at Makezine suggests that despite built-in graphic support, BeagleBone Black is not powerful enough to support 1080p. However, if we look at the facts and features of Raspberry Pi, it has an integrated graphical Video core processor, composite video output and a full-size HDMI connector. Its capability of HDMI audio output and addition of Arduino compatible shields and components leaves no options for Michael Leonard but to support Raspberry Pi over others in a report by him.

Pallab says, “I have an old monitor, and when I connect that monitor to BeagleBone, certain things need to be taken care of. Whenever I connect the Beagle board to a VGA converter for a display on the monitor, I do not meet with much success. Since Beagle board does not provide the necessary +5V power to the device connected to the HDMI port, I have to provide an external power to the converter. Second, special cable needs to be considered as Beagle board has a micro HDMI port whereas my monitor has an HDMI port.”  Sneha Ambastha is a technical journalist at EFY and Dilin Anand is a senior assistant editor at EFY

Mind-Reading Pets and Hijacking Planes: RPi innovations Go into Overdrive

In the two years since its release, the Raspberry Pi has literally gone places—from reaching near-space in a balloon to crossing the Atlantic. let us take a look at the latest slew of crazy innovations powered by this little board

Dilin AnAnD

Aboard designed to be used by students, the Raspberry Pi (RPi) ended up being the love affair for an entire hacker community—nerds and geeks with a penchant for tinkering with technology. While the previous article in this section looked at what the Pi itself has evolved into, this article looks to see if there is any similar maturity in the applications that it powers.

Almost every project powered by the RPi has one thing in common. It very rarely uses high-tech components, yet the applications that come out of the lab are mind-boggling! Here are some examples:

Your dog can talk. Imagine if your dog could talk to you, like we saw in the movie UP. Well, now dogs actually can. Aptly named, ‘No More Woof’ is a headset built by the research lab Nordic Society for Invention and Discovery. Perhaps one of the best examples of using existing technology in newer fields, this headset reads the dog’s mind using electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors. This product taps the minor fluctuations in brain waves as your dog thinks of you, love, food, squirrels and you again. The device comes with an EEG reader, a processing unit and brain-computer interface, all built into the headset, with its aim to further strengthen the connection between man and man’s best friend.

Your home can hear. Since your dog can already talk to you, getting your home to understand English should be easier than before. The numerous voice-recognition homeautomation systems currently in the market lack the soul with which Apple’s Siri responds. That is where the RPi comes in with Siri’s mind, in the form of SiriProxy. This is a combination of Siri’s soul in the body of an RPi—getting us that much closer to Hal 9000. Once your dog learns to speak, this could be the easiest way to take care of things around the house. Want to take out garbage? Ask your dog and he will pick up the bag, pass the voice-recognition security lock, ask your RPi to disable the garden’s sprinkler system and get rid of that garbage in the neighbour’s lawn.

A drone that can hijack drones

Your drone can hijack drones. What could be worse than a drone that has the capability to hijack other drones? Well, one that could do it autonomously, without a human to control it. And that is exactly what the SkyJack does. Running on a Parrot AR.Drone quadcopter with the RPi on board, it can easily hack other Parrot drones nearby, hijacking their wireless connections and even taking over their flight pattern. If your Mumbai pizzeria drone did not deliver their pizza in 30 minutes, look to the sky and you might possibly see it flying behind a SkyJack.

Raspberry Pi gets professional

Apart from all these wonderful hobbyist creations, did you know that the RPi also has its share of cool in-

dustrial applications? Have a look at some of them:

Test labs for electronics engineers.

A web-enabled RPi and a programmable test and measurement device called the Red Pitaya have come together to create this awesome utility. The Red Pitaya is a portable, programmable, multifunctional test and measurement device. It serves as an oscilloscope, a function generator and a frequency and spectrum analyser, all in one go! The Red Pitaya is connected to a network as a web server, and users can connect to it by simply entering its IP address in the web browser. Interfacing with the RPi allows access to the Red Pitaya console. This application was started at KickStarter and is now shared in a step-by-step approach on DesignSpark.com community by one of their community members.

Command and control microbrew-

ery. The microbrewery business just got a whole lot easier and productive with the RPi-powered brew environment control. It does away with the fancy and expensive equipment that you traditionally need, and instead allows you to brew your first batch of beer with a couple of sensors and a web-enabled RPi. This little set-up allows the brewer to connect to his brewing room from anywhere in the world through the Internet and monitor the temperature and humidity, both of which are very essential to ensure that the beer is drinkable.

Pi joins the Army. There seem to be an increasing number of RPi’s featuring in military applications. Reddy explains, “The developer has taken proper care in the PCB design and could not observe any emissions from the traces too. This suggests that the devices and components used on this board are of industrial grade, can sustain extreme conditions and thus can be used for defense applications. The catch here is that boards other than the Raspberry Pi do not pass this test, and so engineers can start using the Raspberry Pi in their applications confidently. ”

One person from LiveATC has built an RPi-powered military mode-S logger that automatically decodes mode-S messages through an RTL-SDR dongle using a RPi. Since there are hundreds of messages every second, the RPi takes the brunt of the computing power needed to sift through those messages and log only the new ones to the database. A lot more serious industrial applications can be expected soon with the launch of the modular RPi Compute Module, which specifically targets industrial applications.

RPi projects breaking R&D ground

The RPi’s biggest achievement is connected to its roots. Being a board primarily designed for kids to learn with, it inherently becomes the number one choice for interdisciplinary engineers who have very little idea about electronics. What does this mean? It means, scientists and researchers opt for the RPi whenever they need to tinker with electronics.

Going Pi high. The AirPi is an automatic air-quality and weathermonitoring device capable of monitoring information about temperature, humidity, air pressure, light levels, UV levels, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and smoke level through the Internet. Chasing high-altitude balloons is a sport for those sending RPi GPS-enabled gear to the outer limits of the Earth’s atmosphere. Dave Akerman outfitted his balloon’s payload with a custom RPi computer that sported a GPS radio, a webcam and various sensors and trackers. His latest set of flights was done at St Alban’s School in Ireland on the 7th of June 2014. It flew high with trackers ALBANFLOAT with live image downloads from the sky, and ALBANDATA with a number of environmental trackers.

Life of Pi. A floating research station that is based on top of an autonomous vehicle for long-term datalogging operations, this RPi-powered innovation is definitely a catch. Named the FishPi, it communicates through satellite and is able to make navigational and environmental measurements and observations. Sitting within an unmanned marine surface vessel is the RPi built to cross the Atlantic Ocean while taking scientific measurements. Additionally, a drone project uses the RPi as its sole navigational computer to ensure that the mission is successful.

Seeking crabs. David Soriano, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford, has been using an RPi-controlled webcam to monitor fiddler crabs. As part of the research project, these are being offered thermal polypeptides, rich in the amino-acid tyrosine. Tyrosine starts the pathway to melanin pigment production in the crab, and David is watching for colour changes that result from it.

Pi for social sciences. In the AixMarseille Université in France, Sebastiaan Mathôt, from the Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, has been running his graphical experiment builder, OpenSesame, on RPi. OpenSesame is a graphical, open-source experiment builder for the social sciences, which allows you to build complex experiments with minimum effort. The plug-in framework and Python scripting allow you to incorporate external devices, such as eye trackers, response boxes and parallel port devices, into your experiment. 

BrewPi brewing beer The author is a senior assistant editor at EFY