So you’ve just purchased your first Raspberry Pi and you’re finally ready to set things up and get a project started: it’s an exciting situation and we’ve been there before! If you’ve done your research, then you already have the basics: a Pi with Jessie installed, some hardware, and just maybe a mind full of new project ideas.

Now imagine that you could fast forward into the future to when you’re a maker-pro: what advice would you give yourself? That’s exactly what we’ve done here. We asked veteran Cayenne users what tips they would give themselves as first-time project makers. We narrowed them down to the most helpful, so here it is: the top five tips for Raspberry Pi beginners.

1. Understand the hardware: even though you don’t need to know coding if you’re using Cayenne with your Raspberry Pi project, walking through some tutorials will make life a lot easier as you begin your maker projects. Get to know your Pi and its hardware through sites like Adafruit, or The MagPi magazine. You can also find documentation and tutorials on Cayenne for compatible hardware. The key thing is to make sure you know the limits of your hardware and understand how your Pi “thinks.”
2. Starter hardware kits are your friend: finding starter kits or robot kits for your Pi means saving money on bundled hardware that might include motors, sensors, and other hardware. Some great kits sell for as little as $12, and you’ll usually find the hardware less expensive in a package than by purchasing separately. Just about any activator that is compatible with Pi will work on Cayenne for sensors and extensions.
3. Know your resources: it goes without saying that RaspberryPi.org is an asset when it comes to getting to know your Pi and how it works. You’ll also find great help from the Community of makers who use Cayenne. They’re really active, so introduce yourself in the group to see what other users are doing, or to check out the latest product updates and tutorials, and, of course, to get help if you get stuck!
4. Always do controlled shutdowns: It’s a computer, albeit very small, so you’ll avoid many headaches if you shutdown or restart your Pi using the appropriate command on the desktop, or the sudo command (like sudo halt or sudo reboot) for more advanced users. This will keep your Pi and your SD card in top shape. Our pro-users also suggest shutting down and unplugging the Pi when connecting new hardware, just to be on the safe side.
5. Take breaks: If you hit a brick wall, take a break! It’s easy to overlook basic problems if you’re tired. You could encounter errors if you’re low on disk space, or if your SD card goes bad, or if a seemingly innocuous breadboard connection turns out to be the bane of your existence. When you come back refreshed and troubleshoot successfully, you’ll have even more reason to be proud of your project when (not if) it works.
6. Bonus: We couldn’t resist one more: the default username for the Raspian operating system is “pi,” and the default password is “raspberry”. Hopefully, we’ve just saved you some time on Google.

In a nutshell, if you know your hardware, save money with a starter kit, introduce yourself to the Community, do controlled shutdowns, and take plenty of breaks, you’ll become a Raspberry Pi expert in no time!

Want to try out our free drag and drop project builder for Cayenne? Whether you are new to making projects or a pro, all you need are just great ideas and your Pi hardware. You can sign up free here.

The post Top 5 Tips for Raspberry Pi Beginners appeared first on myDevices Cayenne.

In honor of Pi Day, myDevices is sponsoring a Call for Projects Competition in which the maker of the winning project using Cayenne, our IoT Project Builder, will be provided an all-expenses paid trip* to demonstrate their project in myDevices’ booth at Maker Faire in San Francisco on May 21-22.  To enter, interested developers should:

1) Sign up for Cayenne

2) Build a Raspberry Pi project using Cayenne to connect to the Internet and any variety of sensors, actuators, and extensions

3) Incorporate Cayenne features such as customizable dashboard, scheduling, triggers and alerts

4) Provide a 150-word description of how the project was made from start to finish

5) Provide a video or pictures of the completed project in use

Submit project with Cayenne username to projects@mydevices.com by April 28, 2016. Winners will be announced on May 2, 2016. Three runner-up presentations will also be selected to receive a Raspberry Pi 3 and a year’s supply of cayenne pepper.

*For rules and regulations, go to Cayenne Call for Projects folder located at community.mydevices.com

The post Win a Trip to Maker Faire Bay Area 2016 appeared first on myDevices Cayenne.

In just three weeks since its launch at the IoT Evolution Expo, adoption of Cayenne has grown dramatically—amassing thousands of users and continuously growing. The team behind Cayenne credits strong support from Raspberry Pi maker communities and media such as EDN Network, IT Business Edge, ReadWrite, Silicon Angle, the M2M Connectivity, and more.

Cayenne’s debut and award for Best IoT Edge Gateway Solution at IoT Evolution Expo’s Battle of the Platforms showcased its ability to make project building on single board computers accessible to non-coders and more streamlined for advanced users.

EDN Networks commented, “with a platform and front end like myDevices and Cayenne, starting development for the IoT is going to become incredibly easy, promoting an explosion of innovative ideas.”

Cayenne allows users to connect, visualize, and control sensors, actuators, and more—all without the need to code. Cayenne discovers and installs hardware connected to Raspberry Pis, allowing users to set up triggers and alerts using the drag-and-drop dashboard interface.

IT Business Edge said Cayenne’s dashboard is “a simple set of tools that enables the organization to jumpstart an IoT project quickly.”

Cayenne’s pairing with the low-cost Raspberry Pi and other hardware places IoT projects within reach for a larger base of makers. Readwrite magazine explains that “Cayenne’s support for Raspberry Pi could make it popular with tinkerers who like that cheap hardware platform for simple projects and prototypes.”

But the benefits of easy IoT project building aren’t reserved for makers and hobbyists. Cayenne also enables professionals to demonstrate proof-of-concept projects in minutes instead of hours or days.

Kyt Dotson of Silicon Angle wrote that, “on the business side, Cayenne makes it easy to do cost-effective prototyping,” which keeps costs and building times down so professionals can focus on innovation and building.

Given the progress that IoT has seen as an industry, M2M Connectivity magazine claims that “now is the time for companies that specialize in the IoT to step forward with solutions that will help bring the IoT forward. This appears to be exactly what myDevices, an IoT solutions company, is thinking as the company…announced Cayenne, a robust platform designed specifically for IoT projects.”

In just a short amount of time, Cayenne has been well received by IoT gurus and amateurs alike due to its: accessibility to makers of all levels, simplicity and ease of use, and business applications that help move IoT forward. We’re excited to be making a difference and we look forward to leading the evolution of “easy IoT”.

The post Cayenne In The News appeared first on myDevices Cayenne.

What if we told you that setting up a Raspberry Pi for IoT projects can be achieved in a matter of minutes. That connecting your Pi to an online or mobile dashboard, with a breadboard ready to connect motion sensors, lights and relays can be completed shortly after that? You’d probably think we are nuts. And yes, we are (in a total productive way), and we made it happen! Sure, you can go the long way and write an app, read tons of documentation, take the time to learn new programming languages, code, code and code some more. But why invest so much time in prepping your project, when you can be up and running in a fraction of a time and building your automation projects in minutes.?

So how is this all possible? myDevices IoT Project Builder called Cayenne. Cayenne was created for developers and makers eager to quickly build and prototype amazing projects with their Raspberry Pis. With your free Cayenne account, you can create an unlimited amount of projects. You also have full-fledged IoT maker capabilities so you can remotely control sensors, motors, actuators, including GPIO boards. Unlimited storage of data collected by your hardware components, triggers and alerts that provide the tools you need for automation and the ability to set up threshold alerts. You can create custom dashboards to showcase your project with drag and drop widgets that are also fully customizable.

Care to see if for yourself? Check out the Cayenne set up video with the mobile app.

Sign up and take Cayenne for a spin! Make sure to check out the “Getting Started” guide and join the Cayenne Community to share your thoughts. Remember we’re still in Beta and appreciate all your feedback and recommendations.

The post Who Puts Cayenne on a Raspberry Pi? appeared first on myDevices Cayenne.

myDevices wants the maker community to know that we’ve got your back. If you are new to maker projects utilizing Raspberry Pi or a total pro, we’re here to help you along your journey.

So your project requires temperature readings and you have your TMP36 temperature sensor ready to go, but how exactly do you plug it into your breadboard so Cayenne can automatically detect and add it to your project. Follow the steps below and you’ll be ready to go in no time.

A couple notes before you get started


• You will need to connect the TMP36 to an analog to digital converter in order for it to work with the Raspberry Pi. For this example, we will be using the MCP3008 A/D converter. This tutorial assumes that you already have the MCP3008 wired up and connected via the dashboard.
• Make sure Raspberry Pi is powered off when connecting wires.
• When using a GPIO ribbon cable, make sure the power wire (it’s a different color than the others) is connected to the corner of your Raspberry Pi and the top of your Pi cobbler.
• The provided diagram is just an example of how to connect the sensor. There are many ways to connect sensors and extensions, so try what works best for you!
• Some full-size breadboards (used in diagrams below) have a power line that is separated in the middle. If this is the case, be sure your sensors are connected on the same half of the breadboard as your Pi Cobbler.

Step 1 Connect your power line to the TMP36.

Step 2 Connect your ground line to the TMP36.

Step 3 Connect the TMP36 Vout to one of the 8 Channels on the MCP3008. For this example, CH0.

Step 4 You’re done! You can now add the TMP36 sensor to your dashboard, using the MCP3008’s Channel 0.

The post Tutorial: Connecting Temperature Sensor TMP36 to a Raspberry Pi appeared first on myDevices Cayenne.

At IoT Evolution, attendees will learn how IoT technologies can be utilized to significantly improve business processes, minimize risk, spur innovation and drive revenue.

We’re stoked to be participating in the “Battle of the Platforms” where we’ll be competing against other IoT solutions from leading companies in the space. Our CEO, Kevin Bromber will be speaking on two different panels, one totally geared to the maker movement:

• Does the Maker Movement Make Product?
• Complimenting or Competing with Cellular
  

Best of all, we’ll be on the expo floor demonstrating Cayenne to attendees at booth #1921. We know it’s a stretch, but if you’re in the area, stop by to say hello and get a one-on-one demo. You can get your free Expo Plus Pass on us here. Hurry, they are free until January 26th.

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