Using BlinkStick with Raspberry Pi

Productivity Sauce
Hooking up LEDs to Raspberry Pi's GPIO pins and controlling them using Python scripts is a great and fun way to learn the ropes. For more advanced projects, you might want to consider investing in BlinkStick, an open source USB LED kit that works with Raspberry Pi, or any other machine for that matter. BlinkStick plugs directly into a USB port, which eliminates the need for a breadboard and wires and makes the setup more tidy. The accompanying software can control multiple BlinkSticks, which you can hook up to a USB hub. More importantly, BlinkStick supports a long list of options, and you can put it to a variety of practical and not-so-practical-but-fun uses.
To get started with BlinkStick on Raspberry Pi, you need to install the BlinkStick Python interface first. To do this, run the following commands:
sudo apt-get install python-dev python-pip sudo easy_install pip sudo pip install blinkstick
Run then the sudo blinkstick -h command. If everything works properly, you should see a list of all available options. By default, you have to execute blinkstick commands with root permissions. To fix that, run the following command and reboot Raspberry Pi:
sudo blinkstick --add-udev-rule
So what can you actually do with BlinkStick? For starters, you can use it to visualize CPU usage, and the blickstick command has a dedicated option for that. Run the blinkstick --cpu-usage command, and BlinkStick will change its color depending on the CPU usage (Green = 0%, Amber = 50%, Red = 100%).
Of course, you can put BlinkStick to other uses, too. I'm using BlinkStick with Pygmyfoto running on my Raspberry Pi. Every time someone visits the gallery, BlinkStick blinks with random color. This solution consists of a simple Bash shell script which controls BlinkStick and logs visitor access to the blinkstick.log file:
#!/bin/bash blinkstick --set-color random --blink --repeats 3 blinkstick --set-color random DATE=$(date "+%F %T") echo "Yay! Someone visited your site on" $DATE >> blinkstick.log
The shell_exec ( './blinkstick.sh > /dev/null 2>/dev/null &' ) command embedded into the index.php page triggers the script.
For further info on using BlinkStick and more ideas on how to use this nifty kit, visit the project's GitHub repository. In the meantime, drop by dmpop.dyndns.org/pygmyfoto/ and blink to me. :-)
comments powered by DisqusIssue 244/2021
Buy this issue as a PDF
News
-
Another New Linux Laptop has Arrived
Slimbook has released a monster of a Linux gaming laptop.
-
Mozilla VPN Now Available for Linux
The promised subscription-based VPN service from Mozilla is now available for the Linux platform.
-
Wayland and New App Menu Coming to KDE
The 2021 roadmap for the KDE desktop environment includes some exciting features and improvements.
-
Deepin 20.1 has Arrived
Debian-based Deepin 20.1 has been released with some interesting new features.
-
CloudLinux Commits Over 1 Million Dollars to CentOS Replacement
An open source, drop-in replacement for CentOS is on its way.
-
Linux Mint 20.1 Beta has Been Released
The first beta of Linux Mint, Ulyssa, is now available for downloading.
-
Manjaro Linux 20.2 has Been Unleashed
The latest iteration of Manjaro Linux has been released with a few interesting new features.
-
Patreon Project Looks to Bring Linux to Apple Silicon
Developer Hector Martin has created a patreon page to fund his work on developing a port of Linux for Apple Silicon Macs.
-
A New Chrome OS-Like Ubuntu Remix is Now Available
Ubuntu Web looks to be your Chrome OS alternative.
-
System76 Refreshes the Galago Pro Laptop
Linux hardware maker has revamped one of their most popular laptops.