Everything I didn’t have time to write about

Okay, we’re doing a quickfire round this time. I have a hard time writing short posts because I get caught up in the writing and want to share everything I’ve been working on, but then I run out of time with an incomplete post. But not today!

This is just a stop-gap until semester ends, just to get something out.

What have I been working on?

• University
  This has been the big thing eating my time. Today is the final day of semester, there’s exams over the next two weeks, and then I’ve got a three week break before semester two begins. I’m going to write so much once these exams are done.
• GPIO device for Bedrock
  I’ve been working on an auxiliary device for Bedrock that provides access to an array of GPIO pins. This isn’t one of the core devices, it’ll be accessed through one of the four custom device slots instead. The point of the device is to allow people to use the pins on hardware systems that have them, which will mean that a small Bedrock computer could be used to control robotics projects or whatever it is that people use a Raspberry Pi for nowadays.
• bedrock-stamp
  Related to that, I’m working on the design for a small, cheap Bedrock computer intended for controlling electronics projects. It’ll still be a fully functioning Bedrock computer though, so you’ll still be able to run any normal Bedrock program if you plug in a screen and a mouse. Picture a 40mm by 20mm sliver of PCB, with a microSD card slot, a couple of surface mount chips, and 16 header pins running down each side. The active components will cost NZD$5, and then maybe $5 more for the board, pins, and connectors. The goal is to make the smallest, cheapest computer that’s actually useful.
• bedrock-micro
  I’ve got a better idea of what I want from this system now. The original idea was to be a ‘minimum possible Bedrock system’, but that role is now taken up by bedrock-stamp. Instead, this project is now going to be a ‘minimum viable Bedrock system’. It’ll be the width and height of a credit card, maybe 15mm thick, with a 128x64 pixel monochrome screen, controller buttons, SD card slot, and a battery. Not super ergonomic, but you’ll be able to slip it out of a pocket and pull up the bus timetables or play a game. This is more of a personal project, I think it’ll be something useful to show off to prospective employers when applying for internships for uni next year, and it’ll be a good stepping stone for more complex electronics projects.
• Bedrock documentation
  I’ve had to put off working on the specification until the semester ends, it’s too complex of a document to just chip away on between assignments. I really need to just set aside a few days where I can hold the whole project in my head with no distractions. It’s sort of eating at me though, I can’t wait to lock it down.
• NightSky
  NightSky is a rules framework for tabletop role-playing games that’s been sitting in the background for years. I wrote an introductory article a year ago, but after trying it out I found that it’s too focused on ‘street level’ choices and play. I found myself wanting some structure around day-by-day resource management (for things like running a business or organising a scheme), and around ambitions and standing (goals to reach for, wealth, influence, at a coarser level than just ‘money in your pocket’). I want to make it easy to slide between levels of abstraction, so you could be working at a high level managing the staffing and resources of a medium-sized coal mine, but then if a cave-in occurs you can smoothly transition down to the lower level within the same framework, stepping out of the office to directly aid the rescue efforts. I’m in the middle of writing a new article for this, but it’s going to take a while.

Time’s up

That’s all I’ve got time to write about for now. I might do another scattershot list next week too, we’ll see how I go.

Thanks a bunch for your continued support while I’ve been busy with uni, I hope these glimpses are enough to sate your curiosity in the meantime. Have a great weekend, I’ll catch you next week with something more exciting.