Raspberry Pi Official Magazine #141

Artificial Intelligence remains the hottest topic in technology. Especially generative AI, a new piece of tech that promises to do all the creative work for us while we sit on the beach. Hurrah! Of course, it's never that simple. There are ethical conversations surrounding generative AI, something that – as a technology – is both complicated and opaque. Who knows what is going on inside? KG does, that's who. Our Raspberry Pi AI Made Clear feature (page 30) demystifies artificial intelligence by showing you how to develop generative technologies using Raspberry Pi and open-source software. Create personal image diffusers, generate large language models, and assemble intelligent-acting robots, cameras, and speech assistants. All while keeping one eye on the ethics at play! With The MagPi magazine you will understand AI without…

MAKER Oscar, 56, lives in Switzerland and likes to spend his time dabbling as a Maker. He has been collecting vintage computers for the last 30 years, going back further and further in computer history. obsolescence.dev Over the years, maker and retro enthusiast Oscar Vermeulen has wowed us with his faithful scale models of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) hardware. First came the PiDP-8, which paired a Raspberry Pi-based emulator with a meticulously recreated front panel to recreate the ‘blinkenlights’ experience. A few years later a more ambitious PiDP-11 project introduced a custom injection-moulded case for the PDP-8's big brother. Now, Oscar has completed his most ambitious project yet, a two-thirds replica of the PDP-10. Before we get to the project itself, we wondered why the PDP range had been recreated…

01 The PCB is a simple design, but there are a lot of components. Getting LEDs to line up perfectly is challenging, so Oscar has included an extra board that holds them all when soldering. 02 Once the lights and the switches are soldered, it's time to connect them up with a small ribbon cable. This is a good time to test everything before mounting the PCBs. 03 In this step we see the keys mounted into the injection-moulded case. Now the light board will be mounted and Raspberry Pi 5 can be installed using a further backplate.…

MAKER Rolf Jethon enjoys using hardware and software to overcome problems as well as perfecting his clever ventriloquist designs bechele.de Puppets and play are always popular at children's parties, and the concept struck maker Rolf Jethon as an equally fun diversion for his father's birthday celebration. The hand puppet he made for the occasion was a hit, but Rolf found himself tongue-tied, somewhat muting his own experience: “Though I thought I was prepared well, I forgot part of the text, couldn't master the ventriloquism and the performance stuck several times.” As a technical engineer of many years, Rolf decided to use Raspberry Pi to add motion and speech to the existing doll, named Mr Bechele, and have it make another appearance, this time at his mother's 80th birthday party. Although…

01 The Bechele blog (magpi.cc/becheleblog) explains how to 3D print, assemble and install code to animate a doll or puppet, as well as how to learn the process yourself. 02 Seven servos are used to animate the eyes. Rolf suggests this version (magpi.cc/eyemechanics) is simpler to replicate than the one in his main setup demonstration video. The background audio files are used under a Creative Commons licence. 03 Raspberry Pi fits in the base and connects to the 16- or 24-servo configuration via GPIO. Rolf provides downloadable Bechele 3.0 software for models up to Raspberry Pi 4B.…

MAKER Rich Mellor, a former solicitor from Walsall, is completely selftaught in computer programming having learned on the Sinclair ZX81 and QL. retroprinter.com Many people hate printers and that's putting it mildly. With every paper jam, every automatic update and every message that a single ink colour has run out forcing you to replace the lot, comes much gnashing of teeth and an uncontrollable urge to throw the contraption out of the window. It's why there are rage rooms inside which you can smash the things up with sledgehammers. And yet printers are still useful and that makes them even more annoying. Acknowledging the printer's worth – grudgingly, we'd suspect – is Rich Mellor, who has had handson experience with so many of them over the years, from the humble…