If you haven’t been in the museum recently, you’ve missed a huge project!
Our little non-profit museum has been edging into the world of technology and we’ve got the world of open source hardware and software to thank for it!
What is open source? It basically means that it’s software (a program) or hardware (a computer) that can be modified and shared because it’s publically available. For us, this means utilizing a piece of machinery called a Raspberry Pi. This tiny little computer that starts at only $35 is about the size of a credit card and powered by a microUSB or USBC adapter, depending on the model. It runs on Linux, and the Operating System (Rasperian) is free to download.
With these little computers, it’s affordable and secure compared to purchasing a tablet or laptop to run electronic exhibits. Tablets or laptops are more expensive outright, even with needing to purchase a monitor and HDMI cables for the Pi. They also are harder to lock down so visitors can’t get into the main programs. This task usually takes another paid program or a lot of expertise in the field. Being a non-profit in the middle of the Outer Banks? We don’t have an extensive budget or experience in the field of IT.
There is also a HUGE online community of fantastic people that will try and help with your projects if you are brand new to the IT world. We’ve utilized the community on http://raspberrypi.org/forums as well as https://stackoverflow.com/ and projects listed on http://pimylifeup.com on a regular basis and can attest that they’re a great free resource!
But the most important of these, at least for us, has been Pi Presents
Created by retired programmer and systems engineer, Ken Thompson, this is an open source program that is relatively easy to use even for beginners! It does take a bit of coding to get there, but he has excellent step by step instructions on the download. For more direct information, you can find his site at https://pipresents.wordpress.com/
With this tool, we were able to create a simple slideshow that looped as our first task. The second task was a bit more dautning
This project utilized two seperate Rasperry Pi’s. One hooked up to a touchscreen called a PiTouch and one is hooked up to a TV screen via HDMI cable. Through PiPresents, we were able to link the two and program touch screen buttons, to give commands to the Pi hooked up to the TV screen and tell it to play videos that we set up.
We will be adding to this exhibit in the very near future so there will be 4 options of videos to choose from.
But above all, we’d like to personally thank Ken! Not only did he create an amazing interface that allowed us to create a fantastic new exhibit, but he responded to our emails about specific hurdles when trying to figure out how to do this more complicated project. And as the technology advances, he’s even been working on a new version of Pi Presents that will offer features geared towards the new Raspberry Pi4!
Are there any future plans for this?
Absolutely! We’re in the (hopefully) final stages of presenting a digital walkthrough that can be accessed via your mobile or tablet that is in the same format as most websites! While not a Pi Presents program, we’ve had a great deal of help from several fantastic individuals like Glenn Sieb and Nathan Kahle as well as the folks on the official Raspberry Pi forums. Without them, these projects would not be possible.
If you’re working at a non-profit museum…
We encourage you to look into the Raspberry Pi and Pi Presents as important resources. They have a bit of a learning curve that will take time. It is not a plug and play kind of technology, but the amount of control you have with your projects as well as the cost effective nature of it is well worth it. There’s a lot of people out there that are willing to help you learn and help you decode your bugs along the way. Start small, and then slowly work your way up to bigger projects! It’s a fantastic way to bring private museums into the world of technology without needing an extensive budget!