Custard Pi 6 8 Relay Card for the Raspberry Pi

This post describes the Custard Pi 6 circuit. It shows users how to customise this PCB assembly for different purposes. For example, the board can be fitted with fewer relays to save cost or supplied from a single 5V supply.

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) - a brief for electronic engineers

All electronics engineers involved in product development should have an appreciation of EMC. Many product designs have hit problems due to an inadequate understanding of this. The most recent example of this was the delay to the launch of the Raspberry Pi in 2012. The product launch was delayed for many months while all the required EMC testing was carried out.

(This is a chapter from the book "From Prototype to Product". For more information or to buy the book, follow the link.) 

From Prototype to Product - book aimed at graduate electronic engineers

Electronic product development is a specialist field. It requires not only a good understanding of the technology - it demands a thorough knowledge of the whole process of taking an electronic design through the various stages and making it available for sale. 

Using functions in Python to control the Custard Pi 6 relay card for the Raspberry Pi

Having designed an 8 relay card for the Raspberry Pi using the IIC bus, I had to come up with a way of testing this and providing users with a way of easily using this. I am not a programmer - but as an electronics engineer I have had to work alongside programmers and even had to make minor modifications to programs. This post describes my experiences with this project using the MCP23008.

Sending an E-mail from the Raspberry Pi

When the Raspberry Pi is used in monitoring applications it can be useful if it can alert you when a particular event occurs. For example, when a sensor indicates that the temperature has fallen below a certain level, the Raspberry Pi can alert you by e-mail.

Autostarting a Python program when a Raspberry Pi is powered up

When developing an application using Python, it is essential to have the Raspberry Pi connected up with keyboard, mouse and monitor. However in most control applications, once it has been debugged and is working OK, one does not need these peripherals to be connected. This blog pots outlines how to do this.

Arduino versus Raspberry Pi

When I first started getting interested in the Raspberry Pi, I came across a few comments on blogs about how the Rpi was not as good as the Arduino. I soon realised that this was like comparing apples and pears.