Top 5 Design Tools of the Week

5-Megapixel Camera Module for your Raspberry Pi

Do more with your Raspberry Pi with the new camera add-on.

The new camera board shares a similar imaging engine as the 12-megapixel Nokia N8 smartphone and acts as a capable fixed-lens camera that can take some great photos and videos. You are now able to:

Capture stills at up to 2,592 x 1,944 pixel resolution
Shoot videos in either 720p or 1080p at 30 frames per second

Set up is easy, simply plug the camera’s flex cable into the computer’s Camera Serial Interface port and grab the latest firmware update. You can then enable the camera in Raspbian and manage your photos via the “raspistill” app.

Blink Stick

The BlinkStick is a DIY RGB USB device that plugs into your computer and allows control over the color. It acts as a HID (Human Interface Device) and uses an ATTiny85 microcontroller with V-USB firmware. Features include:

Blinking, color animations, and notification logic
Control via Smartphone, tablet, or desktop web browser
A visual display of CPU usage.

The hardware and software is open source so you are able to tinker with is as you please.

Parallax Propeller Activity Board

Do more with 8 cores! With built-in sockets and pre-written C libraries, the Parallax Propeller Activity Board can help you bring your idea to life.

Built-in 8-core Propeller P8X32A microcontroller, 64 KB EEPROM, and 5 MHz crystal oscillator
Breadboard, sockets for power and I/O access, and 6 servo ports with power-select jumpers for easy prototyping
Automatically selects between USB and external power sources and provides USB over-current protection
6 to 9 V center-positive 2.1 mm barrel jack for external power supplies
Convenient reset button and 3-position power switch
Onboard mini stereo-audio jack
Built-in microSD card slot for datalogging, WAV files, etc.
XBee wireless module socket simplifies advanced applications
Dedicated analog header sockets provide four A/D 12-bit inputs and two buffered variable-resolution D/A outputs
4-pin header for connecting I/O pins to the XBee RF socket

Digital Paper
Sony has introduced a grayscale “Digital Paper” device that has a 13.3-inch touch capable screen which takes touch screen input, is less than 7 mm thick and provides up to 21 hours of continuous use. Features include:

A Wi-Fi connection, 4GB of internal memory, and a microSD memory card slot
A pen-shaped stylus that clips onto its side
Electromagnetic technology for detecting scribbles and touches using the pen
Optical technology for detecting other taps and presses

The flexible screen will be manufactured by E Ink, based in the U.S. It has a resolution of 1,200 x 1,600 pixels and can display 16 shades of gray.

Linux Mint 15 Olivia

New updates for Linux Mint are now available. MATE 1.6 is greatly improved and Cinnamon 1.8 offers a ton of new features, including a screensaver and a unified control center. The login screen can also now be themed in HTML5.

New features at a glance: