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I have a (basically non-existent) side business selling LED strips and RPi lighting controllers for surfboards! If you've seem some viral videos with guys surfi

I have a (basically non-existent) side business selling LED strips and RPi lighting controllers for surfboards! If you've seem some viral videos with guys surfing around at night, they were probably using my gear :-) Briefly put, I use the Glediator and Jinx! control software on an RPi, which communicates with an Arduino, which drives the LEDs. I put them in a permanently sealed box, water proof it as much as I possibly can, then cut some IP68 RGB LED strips to size and strap them to the rails of the board. I can remotely access the RPi via Wi-Fi to change lighting schemes, and there's a wireless charging coil inside the box which I can use to charge the batteries, so I never have to open it up after waterproofing. It's basically bomb-proof, and simple enough that I can teach a surf bum how to use it in about half and hour. Start thinking of the RPi as more of a powerful microcontroller and suddenly a world of opportunities open up. I did my dissertation on it! Titled 'Home Automation and Monitoring using a Raspberry Pi', I basically used an RPi as a master node to control a bunch of Arduino slave nodes, using I2C protocol. With just two wires and an Pi, I run about 20 Arduino's all over my house, doing everything from feeding my fish, to monitoring air quality, to starting my coffee maker. I can access it remotely via Wi-Fi too, so I can do things like water my plants while I'm away. Aiming for a full Wallace and Grommet home in the near future. Raspberry Pi's are awesome.

petercooper 7y ago
Is it this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqgLaMc9IVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqgLaMc9IVA
- Aromasin 7y ago
  No, but very similar! I made mine as a product you could attach to any board, as opposed to the strips being embedded and shaped into the board like the one in this video (which normally cost thousands to buy...) A few of my friends rode them at a contest in France though [1] Alas, at the moment it's just a kick-starter pipe dream I'll never have the time to put into production. [1]https://www.adventuresportsnetwork.com/sport/surf/night-surfing-contest-france-surfers-rode-led-boards/ https://www.adventuresportsnetwork.com/sport/surf/night-surf...
  - ryanolsonx 7y ago
    Those look way cool!
tmaly 7y ago
Curious if you have any watering solutions for external gardens using a Pi?
- Aromasin 7y ago
  Sure! You can buy electric water pumps fairly cheap online. They normally come as 12V devices so you'll have to use a relay and a 12V supply, and some sort of circuit to drive the relay using the 3.3V GPIO from the Pi. You can control the pins using Python and the RPI.GPIO library. I personally use a Zerodis DC 12V Homebrew Beer Pump (although there are about 50 other types on Amazon) and a length of hose pipe which goes to a rain water bucket that I've put beneath my drain pipe. The other end goes to a sprinkler. Super simple system that took only a day to set up, so I highly recommend something similar for all you absent gardeners.
  - tmaly 7y ago
    have you seen any GPIO devices that can multiplex a water pump onto many water lines? I have many rose bushes peonies that cannot be watered very frequently, but when you do water them, they need a good amount of water.
    - Aromasin 7y ago
      If you're looking for some serious power, that system I described will still work. The Raspberry Pi is just there to control a relay to complete whatever circuit you're powering. You could get something like a Draper 56225, which manages ten's of litres of water a minute; something I've been considering getting for a hydroponic setup I'm looking to build. Then you can pick up something like an Energenie Raspberry Pi-mote, which is basically a mains power controller you can address with your Pi. Plug your pump into that, and then power the pump with the Pi whenever you want to water your plants!
kimball 7y ago
This is so cool! It's an amazing idea and it's probably more than a non-existent business market. I am a complete surf noob (went only thrice for a week or so to a surfing site in the north of Spain), but this sounds like it's probably an important need for some and otherwise it looks so rad you could probably sell them for good money. Props to you, really impressed and from the video it looks like you've done them very robust too

petercooper 7y ago

Is it this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqgLaMc9IVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqgLaMc9IVA

Aromasin 7y ago
No, but very similar! I made mine as a product you could attach to any board, as opposed to the strips being embedded and shaped into the board like the one in this video (which normally cost thousands to buy...) A few of my friends rode them at a contest in France though [1] Alas, at the moment it's just a kick-starter pipe dream I'll never have the time to put into production. [1]https://www.adventuresportsnetwork.com/sport/surf/night-surfing-contest-france-surfers-rode-led-boards/ https://www.adventuresportsnetwork.com/sport/surf/night-surf...
- ryanolsonx 7y ago
  Those look way cool!

tmaly 7y ago

Curious if you have any watering solutions for external gardens using a Pi?

Aromasin 7y ago
Sure! You can buy electric water pumps fairly cheap online. They normally come as 12V devices so you'll have to use a relay and a 12V supply, and some sort of circuit to drive the relay using the 3.3V GPIO from the Pi. You can control the pins using Python and the RPI.GPIO library. I personally use a Zerodis DC 12V Homebrew Beer Pump (although there are about 50 other types on Amazon) and a length of hose pipe which goes to a rain water bucket that I've put beneath my drain pipe. The other end goes to a sprinkler. Super simple system that took only a day to set up, so I highly recommend something similar for all you absent gardeners.
- tmaly 7y ago
  have you seen any GPIO devices that can multiplex a water pump onto many water lines? I have many rose bushes peonies that cannot be watered very frequently, but when you do water them, they need a good amount of water.
  - Aromasin 7y ago
    If you're looking for some serious power, that system I described will still work. The Raspberry Pi is just there to control a relay to complete whatever circuit you're powering. You could get something like a Draper 56225, which manages ten's of litres of water a minute; something I've been considering getting for a hydroponic setup I'm looking to build. Then you can pick up something like an Energenie Raspberry Pi-mote, which is basically a mains power controller you can address with your Pi. Plug your pump into that, and then power the pump with the Pi whenever you want to water your plants!

kimball 7y ago

This is so cool! It's an amazing idea and it's probably more than a non-existent business market. I am a complete surf noob (went only thrice for a week or so to a surfing site in the north of Spain), but this sounds like it's probably an important need for some and otherwise it looks so rad you could probably sell them for good money. Props to you, really impressed and from the video it looks like you've done them very robust too