Raspberry Pi On Off Switch With Power Scheduling
No more unplugging that power cable
Ask any Raspberry Pi user what they find irritating about the Pi, and I guarantee a good majority will talk about the lack of an on/off switch.
I don’t know of any other electrical ‘thing’ in my life that doesn’t have a switch to turn it on or off. Imagine having to plug your kettle in every time you made a brew?
As always, where there’s a problem, there’s big bucks to be made fixing it. Enter UUGear. They created an add-on board called the Witty Pi to cover all your Pi power management needs, including a much-needed power switch.
Odd name aside, this little chap has made my day-to-day Pi usage tidier and much more convenient. It’s also rocking some other cool functions and special sauce that I haven’t got a project for yet, but I’m exploring them today anyway.
Let’s have a gander!
First Impressions
I’m generally not a fan of the new breed of add-ons that offer 47 sensors and 72 different ways of using them. The idea is great, and in terms of value it makes sense, but I can’t even imagine trying to code stuff like that – they simply scare me off.
So, when the makers of the Witty Pi got in touch offering a sample, I wasn’t sure it was for me. The board appeared to have lots of features, jumpers, chips, shiny things and solder. It looked complicated, and I don’t do complicated.
I made it clear to the guys at UUGear that I couldn’t guarantee a success story, but they confidently sent over a board anyway.
In The Bag
So what do you get? The board and fixings came in a pretty standard anti-static bag, however retail packaging may be different. In terms of assembly this board is of the pre-soldered surface-mount variety. The only graft you need undertake is the Pi stand-offs and popping in the battery.
Pi On Off Switch
I’m not covering setup/code here because the user guide is spot on. It’s clear, very detailed and has lots of images to help you.
What I do want to cover is my favourite feature – the switch. Simply put, it does the thing the Pi should have been doing since day 1 – it lets you keep your power cable connected and yet fully power on/off the Pi safely.
I was initially concerned that the add-on board would either use too many pins or would clash with the official touchscreen I was using (as the screen uses I2C), but it turns out it only uses GPIO4 and TXD for the switch. You simply install the provided scripts and the button is ready to use.
Note: The real-time clock feature seems to cause a clash with the Pi screen’s I2C usage – but it also seems that you can remove those pins from the screen and everything continues to work fine.
I’m using mine in conjunction with my official 7″ display screen and rather fetching metal stand from PiggiPi, which due to the open rear fits just fine. Here’s a video I posted to Instagram showing it in action:
It works it works! My main annoyance with the Pi has been solved
Continue reading here: How To Install OSMC On A Usb Stick For Your Raspberry Pi
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