Me Shield for Raspberry Pi

Description

Me shield for Raspberry Pi is attached on the Raspberry Pi to give Me Baseboard or Makeblock Orion access with hardware serial communication. 

Features

• No soldering needed and ready to use
• Support Python programming
• Compatible with Model A,B, B+
• With a RJ25 connector for Me Baseboard or Makeblock Orion
• Come with header, without occupying GPIO pins

Specification

Dimension: 45 x 35 x 27 mm (Length x Width x Height)

User Guide

Getting started

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Suggested Reading

What is Raspberry Pi?
How to install operating system images on Raspberry Pi?

step 1 Wiring

Make sure you have installed operating system images on Raspberry PI and connect your Raspberry Pi to the internet via Ethernet cable. Slide the Me Shield for Raspberry Pi on your Raspberry Pi, and connect the shield to Me Baseboard Port 4(Leonardo) or Makeblock Orion Port 5(Uno). Next, power on the Me Baseboard or Makeblock Orion with 12V power supply. (the shield already supplies 5V voltage to raspberry, so it is not necessary to power raspberry separately)

Step 2 Login Raspberry Pi

If you are under windows, then you need to download a free SSH software(Windows) here. Then click button “Quick Connect” to log in. Type the IP, user name, password(user name: pi, password: raspberry).

If you are on Mac or linux, then open a terminal with samba service installed on raspberry pi. Type the following command in the terminal window.

ssh pi@<your-rpi-ip>

More useful document http://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/remote-access/ssh/unix.md.

 Step 3 Disable the occupied hardware serial ttyAMA0.

Make sure that pyserial is installed on your rip, if not, type the following command and wait until the process done.

sudo apt-get install python-serial

On your Raspberry Pi, disable the login prompt.

Step 4 Install python library for Makeblock

Type the following command to install the library.

sudo pip install megapi

The initial code for Python:

from megapi import *

bot = MegaPi()

bot.start() #if using usb cable, need to call bot.start(‘/dev/ttyACM0’)

python your code

Step 5 Upload an Arduino firmware to Me Baseboard or Me Orion.

Download the Arduino library for Makeblock https://github.com/Makeblock-official/Makeblock-Libraries/archive/master.zip

Copy the makeblock folder to your Arduino default library. Your Arduino library folder should now look like this:

• (On Windows): [x:\Users\XXX\Documents]\Arduino\libraries\makeblock\src
• (On Mac OSX): [\Users\XXX\Documents]\Arduino\libraries\makeblock\src

Open Arduino IDE, choose the firmware from File>Examples according to your board type (Orion in this case).

 

Step 6 Connect a motor to port M1 on Me Orion.

Make sure that board is powered by external power.

Step 7 Run the demo script on raspberry Pi

Go to the directory where the demo script located and run the motorRun.py

cd PythonForMegaPi

cd examples

python motorRun.py

Everything should be fine here, have fun!

 

Python API

• Start
  • MegaPi()
  • start()
• GPIO
  • digitalWrite( pin, level )
  • pwmWrite( pin, pwm )
  • digitalRead( pin, def onResult )
  • analogRead( pin, def onResult )
• Motion
  • DC Motor
    • motorRun( port, speed )
    • motorMove( leftspeed, rightspeed )
  • Servo Motor
    • servoRun( port, slot, angle )
  • Encoder Motor
    • encoderMotorRun( port, speed )
    • encoderMotorMove( port, speed, distance, def onFinish )
    • encoderMotorMoveTo( port, speed, position, def onFinish )
  • Stepper Motor
    • stepperMotorSetting( port, microsteps, acceleration )
    • stepperMotorRun( port, speed )
    • stepperMotorMove( port, speed, distance, def onFinish )
    • stepperMotorMoveTo( port, speed, position, def onFinish )
• Sensors
  • Ultrasonic Sensor
    • ultrasonicSensorRead ( port, def onResult )
  • LineFollow Sensor
    • lineFollowerRead ( port, def onResult )
  • Light Sensor
    • lightSensorRead ( port, def onResult )
  • Sound Sensor
    • soundSensorRead ( port, def onResult )
  • Temperature Sensor
    • temperatureRead ( port, def onResult )
  • PIR Motion Sensor
    • pirMotionSensorRead ( port, def onResult )
  • Touch Sensor
    • touchSensorRead ( port, def onResult )
  • LimitSwitch
    • limitSwitchRead ( port, slot, def onResult )
  • Humiture Sensor
    • humitureSensorRead ( port, type, def onResult )
  • Gas Sensor
    • gasSensorRead ( port, def onResult )
  • Flame Sensor
    • flameSensorRead ( port, def onResult )
  • Button
    • buttonRead ( port, def onResult )
  • Potentiometer
    • potentiometerRead ( port, def onResult )
  • Joystick
    • joystickRead ( port, axis, def onResult )
  • 3-Axis Accelerometer and Gyro Sensor
    • gyroRead ( axis, def onResult )
  • Compass
    • compassRead ( def onResult )
• Display
  • RGB Led
    • rgbLedSetColor ( port, slot, index, r, g, b )
    • rgbLedShow ( port, slot )
    • rgbLedDisplay ( port, slot, index, r, g, b )
  • 7-segment Display
    • sevenSegmentDisplay ( port, value )
  • Led Matrix Display
    • ledMatrixDisplayMessage ( port, x, y, msg )
    • ledMatrixDisplayRaw ( port, buffer )
  • Serial LCD Display
    • lcdDisplay ( string )
• Others
  • DSLR Shutter
    • shutterOn ( port )
    • shutterOff ( port )
    • focusOn ( port )
    • focusOff ( port )

Schematic