184 Pi: Sentient Pico "Spico" and TheSilentMonitor.com (184.html)

Keywords

ICH180RR Spico Python html s_pico.py ICH180 sentient robot LED thermometer power asychronous USB "morse code" Raspberry "Pi Zero W" "dead man switch" 'Sentient Pico "Spico" TheSilentMonitor.com' "Dead Man's switch" "Russia's Dead Hand system" perimeter 15E601 "Wikileak's insurance files" SETI morse finger TheSilentMonitor.com SilentMonitor "Silent Monitor" sumppump "Sump Pump" "power loss" "photo cell" Omniglot RP2040 PIO "state machine" I2C I²C IIC SPI UART Python "Programmable Input Output" HC MicroPython

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IX or DC (IX by DC) or "|><"

This article is a part of the IX family of software.

Introduction

What to call a silent device that monitors its local area? At the heart of this device is an inexpensive (US $ 5.00 ) computer from the Raspberry Pi Foundation called the Pi Pico (see image below left). The Pi Pico is controlled by a microprocessor chip called the RP2040. This chip costs only US$ 1.00 . The RP2040 itself has 8 state machines. Each state machine is a tiny speedy microprocessor, capable of Programmable Input-Output (PIO). Each PIO is designed to either produce high frequency waveforms or to read (sample) incoming waveformss. Each PIO itself is a tiny processor with 9 instructions to do the "bit-banging". These PIO interfaces can function as UARTs, controllers (SPI, IIC, PWM) or Digital ( HC compatible ) IO pins. USB and core-clocks are onboard the RP2040. A total of 30 pins link the RP2040 to the outside world. The Pico (datasheet in Source 02) makes the RP2040 programmable via MicroPython. MicroPython is a large subset of today's most popular (in 2023) programming language: Python. The Pi Pico is equipped with a push-button, that is used to boot up the Pi Pico in "flash" mode. After the Pi Pico is booted up in nornal (non-flash mode), the button can serve as a readable push-button for the Pi Pico. See Article 151 (Source 03) for a more detailled description of the PIO on the RP2040.

There is a need for a SETI-like computer/robot that will search for nearby "life". In this case, "nearby" means within meters or within miles. In a similar vein, "life" means an object that has bi-directional senses (but not human senses). Such "senses" include audio, visual, infra-red, wired electrical, very short-wave, thermal, power usage etc. Early Raspberry Pi Pico computers possess unidirectional senses "out of the box". Examples are its LED, its internal thermometer, its power source and its bidirectional asynchronous USB tether. If equipped with a solar panel as its power source, a Pico can become an independant stationary robot with unlimited power and an "unlimited" life.

Another device, the Wio Terminal, (see Source 04) (and the image below, right) provides even more input-output capabilities. It can send & receive infra-red signals. It can sense the amount of light shining on it. It has both wifi and Bluetooth communications capabilities in addition to UARTs, controllers (SPI, I²C (IIC), PWM) or digital ( HC compatible ) IO pins. It also has a microphone, a buzzer a 40 pin RPi GPIO interface and 2 Grove connectors. The Wio Terminal also has a full USB-C interface, a 3-Axis Accelerometer and a connector to read/write a µSD card.

The Pi Pico can easily and inexpensively be equipped with a "photo cell" and a "morse code key", both of which are in the Wio Terminal.. The "photo cell" is a bi-directional device that can sense the presense of light and can be used as a non-mechanical push-button that humans can use to communicate with it by simply covering it with a finger. The photo-cell can also detect diurnal sunshine or a passing object when the shadow of the object covers it. A simple resistor can be attached to the 5v power source and can serve as a "push-button" when connected momentarily to ground by a human or other external force. A simple microphone and/or speaker can detect and/or create audio waves that pass through a local atmosphere. The author believes that a simple photo-cell can be a very powerful non-mechanical bidirectional sensor when used with the LED on a Pi Pico.

Of course, the USB connector on the Pi Pico must not be ignored as another powerful bi-directional sensor. When connected to a Raspberry Pi computer via the USB, the Pi Pico can be connected to the World Wide Web and a local (or remote) keyboard/monitor as a human user interface. The simple US$ 5 Pi Pico can become sentient. All it needs is the appropriate software.

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Pi Pico

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Wio Terminal

Something That "Spico" Can Do (Out of the Box)

I envisage that "Spico" can "watch" its power source, its push-button and its internal temperature for fluxuations. It can communicate such fluxuations to an observer by flashing its on-board LED. Its internal temperature might normally be 26 degrees Celsius. If this temperature goes up to 27 degrees, the LED could flash the morse code equivalent of "T" (meaning Temperature) and "U" (meaning Up) followed by "2" and "7" and "C" in Morse Code, then wait a minute. A human who understands Morse Code could easily understand this message from the Pi Pico. The Wio Terminal can talk to the user more easily using its screen, buzzer, BlueTooth and/or WiFi.

Dead Man's Switch

The first use of a "Dead Man's Switch" was probably in a railway locomotive engine. If the "engineer" died or became incapacitated, the "Dead Man's Switch" was designed to stop the train to prevent an accident. This same concept has been put in place by Russia to launch nuclear attacks in case Russian leadership is eliminated. This Russian system is also known as "Dead Hand", Perimeter or 15E601.

Wikileaks reportedly arranged for a decryption key to be made public if it wasn't appropriately reset. The public could use this decryption key to decode important government information.

TheSilentMonitor.com

I have designed a way to use this concept to warn someone when a "sump pump" loses power. A simple LED powered by a "USB power source" could be connected to the power source of the "sump pump". The light from the led could be conveyed using a short fibre-optics cable to a US$15 Raspberry Pi Zero W computer. A US$1 photo cell on the Pi can sense the signal from fibre-optics cable. When "sump-pump" power is lost, the Pi Zero W can send an email to announce the loss of power. "TheSilentMonitor.com" website can sound the alert for the power loss. "TheSilentMonitor" website expects regular signals from the "sump-pump" monitor. The absense of the regular signal is the trigger.

There are many other uses for this "TheSilentMonitor". There are many situations where a Web Site or router is used to sound an alarm when a specific event occurs. Another use of "TheSilentMonitor" could be to verify that such "Web Sites" or routers continue to be operational. "TheSilentMonitor" could sound an alarm when a "regularly repeated" signal is absent.

Conclusions

Other Related Thoughts

The Tiny2040 (see Video 01 below) is another device similar to the Pi Pico and the Wio Terminal.

Sources

Video Sources

Video Source V184:01: First Look at the Tiny2040 (3:14 min) by Learn Embedded Systems c2021DApr


Web Sources

Web Source S184:01: Omniglot Morse Code in 2022GAug16
Web Source S184:02: Getting Started with Raspberry Pico W by RPi 2022 F Jun 17
Web Source S184:03: www Pi: New Raspberry Pi Products c2021 by D@CC 2022C Feb 12

WebMaster: Ye Old King Cole

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Date Written: 2022 H Aug 16
Last Updated: 2023 J Oct 10
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