micropi

Creating a game and making a genetic algorithm to play it

Recently I’ve been using the Phaser JavaScript game framework to create a game with a friend. I thought that it would be interesting to use what I’ve learned to create a basic game that a genetic algorithm can play. I ended up with a simple game where the player has to jump over rocks floatingContinue reading “Creating a game and making a genetic algorithm to play it”

Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning Course

I recently finished the free online machine learning course by Stanford University professor Andrew Ng on coursera. It gives a grounding of the core concepts of machine learning such as cost functions and gradient descent and explores how different supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms such as linear regression, neural networks, support vector machines and K-meansContinue reading “Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning Course”

Simulating a 555 timer in JavaScript with p5.js

The 555 timer is the most popular integrated circuit ever produced – in 2003 it was estimated that a billion units are manufactured every year. It is used for many applications involving oscillating, pulse generation and timing. Recently I was set the challenge of simulating a 555 timer circuit using JavaScript. this is what IContinue reading “Simulating a 555 timer in JavaScript with p5.js”

CyberStart Essentials

For the past month or two I have been completing the 48 modules of CyberStart Essentials, part of the government’s free online extracurricular cyber security programme. Each module was made up of several sub-topics and a half hour test. They covered things such as networking, computer hardware, Windows, Linux, exploitation, forensics and much more. IContinue reading “CyberStart Essentials”

Repairing a HP 54502A oscilloscope

My Physics teacher recently acquired some old electronics equipment from a company that was throwing them out, and said that I could have some. I ended up with a Hewlett-Packard digitising oscilloscope from the early 90s. The display turned out to be broken, but before taking it apart I wondered whether I could fix itContinue reading “Repairing a HP 54502A oscilloscope”

Using JavaScript to create Lewis structures

Recently I watched the Crash Course Chemistry video about Lewis structures, and I thought it would be a fun project to try and create a way of displaying these diagrams using the p5.js graphics library. You can see the finished product here: https://brychanthomas.github.io/lewis/ . It only works on a desktop computer rather than a mobileContinue reading “Using JavaScript to create Lewis structures”

Creating a JavaScript gravity simulator using p5.js

Recently I came across p5.js, a JavaScript library that specialises in graphics. It’s designed to be easy to use, so I thought it would be a good way to develop my JavaScript skills. You can see the online in-browser version here: https://brychanthomas.github.io/gravity/. You can click on the canvas to add an object in a specificContinue reading “Creating a JavaScript gravity simulator using p5.js”

Hacking a Bigtrak with an Arduino

The Bigtrak was a programmable electric six-wheeled robot popular in the 80s. It used a keypad on top to allow the user to enter instructions, which it would then carry out sequentially. In 2010 it was relaunched. I had one of these lying around from years ago as well as a spare Arduino Mega soContinue reading “Hacking a Bigtrak with an Arduino”

Using a neural network to predict future CO2 levels

I’ve recently been experimenting with Keras neural networks for basic example problems and I’ve been wanting to try and apply one to real-life data. While exploring I came across the NOAA’s data about carbon dioxide concentrations. They have been measuring the CO2 concentration in Mauna Loa, Hawaii regularly since 1958. As well as this theyContinue reading “Using a neural network to predict future CO2 levels”