NullP01nt / PiMatrix

PiMatrix

Authors

• Xander Bos
• Nikolaj Iversen

About

PiMatrix is a project in which we combine the concepts of distributed computing with external IO by use of Raspberry Pis, a messaging library called ZeroMQ and wiringPi.

This combines to be a system where input is given by remote input publishers and a single subscriber by the use of a Message Broker.

Inside the eagle folder, there is a design for an add-on board suited for a Raspberry Pi 2+. This add-on board includes 2 8x8 LED matrices to form a complete 16x8 LED matrix display.

The software side of things is partly managed by the following services:

• Avahi-daemon (mDNS)
• DNSMasq (DHCP)

To be on the safe side, both Avahi-daemon and DNSMasq have been set to only use local ethernet devices. Documentation can be found in the relevant man-pages.

The source folder includes the following applications:

• MatrixSnake
• MessageBroker
• Mousepublisher
• JoystickPublisher

Our setup consists of the following systems: The setup consists of the following systems:

• Laptop
  • Avahi-daemon (broker.local)
  • DNSMasq
• Raspberry Pi 2 with add-on board
  • Avahi-daemon (screenpi.local)
• Raspberry PI 2 with mouse
  • Avahi-daemon (mousepi.local)

Setup guide for the project

On the laptop

su
apt-add-repository ppa:segf4ult/zeromq
apt update
apt install build-essential git-core qttools5-dev \
  libqt5core5a avahi-daemon pkg-config cppzmq
exit
git clone https://github.com/NullP01nt/PiMatrix.git
cd PiMatrix/src/MessageBroker
qmake
make
./MessageBroker &

If a PS3 controller is desired, connect it to the laptop

[check out setup guide] (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Sixaxis)

echo "
[publisher]
host=broker.local
topic=CTRL
port=55554
[device]
device_name=/dev/input/js0
" > ~/.config/SDU-EMB4/P3_JOYPUB.conf
cd -
cd PiMatrix/src/JoystickPublisher
qmake
make
./JoystickPublisher &

on the pi's

sudo su
apt-add-repository ppa:segf4ult/zeromq
apt update
apt install build-essential git-core qttools5-dev \
  libqt5core5a avahi-daemon pkg-config cppzmq
exit
git clone git://git.drogon.net/wiringPi
cd wiringPi
./build
cd -
git clone https://github.com/NullP01nt/PiMatrix.git
cd PiMatrix

On the MousePi

cd src/MousePublisher
qmake
make
##### plug in mouse #####
MOUSE=/dev/input/$(ls -lc /dev/input/by-path/ | 
                   # l to see symbolic links, c for sorting
                   grep event-mouse | # select the event-mouse
                   head -n 1 | # if there is more than one, 
                               # pick the one most recently plugged in.
                   rev | # reverse to get the last
                   cut -d '/' -f 1 | #entry of '/'
                   rev ) # reverse again to make it readable
sudo chmod +r $MOUSE
echo "
[device]
mouse=$MOUSE
[publisher]
host=broker.local
topic=CTRL
port=55554
" > ~/.config/SDU-EMB4/P3_MOUSEPUB.conf
echo "PATH=\$PATH:$pwd" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
MousePublisher

On the ScreenPi

cd src/MatrixSnake
qmake
make
echo "
[subscriber]
host=broker.local
topic=CTRL
port=55555
" > ~/.config/SDU-EMB4/P3_MATSNAKE.conf
echo "PATH=\$PATH:$pwd" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
MatrixSnake