ramanPi - Raman Spectrometer

I just wanted to drop an update..                                        Thursday, March 1, 2018

In case everyone didn't already notice....   My efforts for ramanPi are currently on hold.  =D

I will be returning to the project once I have completed a number of other milestones in larger project(s).  When I return my efforts toward ramanPi, I will be completely redesigning the optics, electronics and software.  I still have a need for an inexpensive raman spectrometer, so this will happen.  

If anyone would like to take a leading role in coordinating other developers, etc. in the interim....please let me know and we can talk about how that might work...as there still seems to be a lot of interest int this project..

Also, I want to take this moment for the people who either haven't read thoroughly through this project, it's logs, etc..  This project is listed as 'work in progress'....meaning it is not a fully functioning raman spectrometer as yet.  Much development is still required.  If you want a completely functional raman spectrometer of this nature,  I'll urge you to contribute to this project!  

Thanks!

-fl@C@ 

So, I thought I'd throw a couple of these in for inspiration.... I'm really enjoying Fusion360... Anyone interested in helping with creating these?

This is the beamSplitterAssembly reborn into a simpler, and easier to print design.. No more of that tiny little carriage for the cube, this one is much more robust and a way simpler design..

And, so the beginnings of the new beam splitter assembly... I'm enjoying fusion 360 so far.. Took me a minute to get the hang of it, but I'm progressing...

So, again...comments, questions are all welcome!

Well, here it is...! A new start and a new part... I'll be adding these parts to the gitLab Repo as I finish them.. If you'd like to contribute to the creation, let me know through a DM here! The collaborative features of fusion 360 should make it pretty easy.. As always, questions or comments are welcome!

Ok, the gitlab repository has started ( https://gitlab.com/ramanPi ).. I'm basically giving up on the website for ramanPi.org... I don't have the time to try to keep it from the constant bot attacks or whatever...

So, this brings me to the next point... I'm going to be starting an updated version of ramanPi in the new gitlab repo. I am interested in everyone's opinion on this, so if you have any.....let me know here...asap!

The new design will be created in Autodesk Fusion 360. The releases will be housed in the gitlab repo, and collaboration will be through fusion360.. If you'd like to get in on it from the start, now is the time! I have a TON of people who've wanted to join the dev team through this website... I'm going to approve them all... If you are still interested, let me know through a DM here, same goes if you're not interested anymore..

Optics will be fairly similar, electronics are going to be majorly different (and I am going to take my time this time, not being rushed with a contest)... and hopefully, the whole thing benefits from better design software, more expertise, more experience, more care and time taken, etc...etc..

Let's get going, finally... I've had a few failed starts...but my plate is clear now...Proof is in the pudding.. =D

I'm thinking about moving the repo from gitHub...and over to gitLab.. GitLab seems to be a lot better suited to what I'm trying to accomplish.. I'll probably keep gitHub there, and maybe update it with major updates or at certain intervals...but it won't be the repository that gets the regular pushes, etc.. Any questions or comments about that are welcome!

Also......I am directing some efforts towards a redesign of the electronics in ramanPi... Meaning the four boards (interface, control, imaging, and power boards) will narrowed down to a single board....and that board will have a connector for a raspberryPi zero to sit on... I haven't gone through the specifics of how the zero will connect completely since there's the business with the USB, etc. to deal with in order to get wifi/networking....but the significant cost savings warrants a close look...this redesign is an effort to cut costs and complexity...so.....hopefully that's exciting news..

ramanPi.org is on it's way back to life, thanks to some help from a generous web developer! Looks like the bot attacks are no longer an issue...now it's just back to business..!

So, to my amazement...ramanPi is reaching more and more people... this time it looks like the great people over at Raspberry Pi's MagPi magazine included ramanPi in it's "Top 20 RaspberryPi Projects" and the "MagPi Issue 50 - Top 50 Raspberry Projects".. And a while ago they wrote a great bit on ramanPi in their blog..!

Thanks to them, and everyone for everything..!

So.. I figured I'd consolidate the last few logs into this one to make it easier to follow what's going on...

Hackers.. I moved ramanPi.org over to a new host...and it's helped with reliability... But it hasn't stopped the 1,004 malicious login attempts and constant bot traffic trying to overwhelm the site.. I don't have the resources, time or whatever to spend on mitigating the constant attacks...

Soo..... Basically, as a result.. I can't seem to recover anyone's email addresses, etc. If you were interested in developing, or were participating... Contact me here, I know a lot of people have..and I'm trying to keep up.. I'll get to you soon! But I'm thinking of just forming the 'team' here at hackaday.io to make life easier. It's not as organized, and a little restrictive...but it's here.

So, hopefully some of you see this..and so on... Here's to picking up where we left off... :D I'll try to update here with what I can..

Hopefully I can put up a video of the talk after if you missed out and are still interested!

PM me if you're interested in more details!

So, it's been a great past couple weeks! I have had some really talented and incredibly smart people contact me and offer their help to contribute to ramanPi..!! I'm very excited about where this is going and I think by the end of it, we will have a very good system.

We have a couple Python gurus, one of which has both PyQt4 and signal processing experience as well as being an electrical engineer with FPGA skills. Another being skilled with the various libraries we'll be using in addition to a multitude of programming languages and has a Masters in Physics. There's a couple people who have some in depth knowledge and experience with optics and lasers as well as raman systems, both in usage and design.. Another who is very skilled with FPGA design and will make the difference for the imagingBoard.. All of these people are being very gracious in offering their time, experience, knowledge and skills to work together to bring ramanPi to the next level and make it a system that can be used for serious science in the school, in the lab or at home!

I'd really like to take a moment and thank everyone for all of this.. It's going to be very exciting!

If you're interested in contributing as well, you can contact me at dev@ramanPi.org!