Category Archives: Blog

Wolfram Technology Level 1 Certificate

I received my Wolfram Technology Level 1 Certificate for demonstrating proficiency in the Wolfram Language Programming Fundamentals! To receive the Level 1 certificate, students needed to complete and pass a 20 question exercise. Each question required you to write a program to solve a problem described in the question. Most questions gave hints on what functions should be used to solve the problem.

So, now it get interesting because the exercises run on the Wolfram cloud and the answers are graded by an auto-grader. Basically, we need to convince a bot that we can program. There are multiple correct ways to solve the problem, but the auto-grader doesn’t like just any solution so it might take 3 or more program submission to get a pass on a question. The auto-grader seems to prefer efficient code so you can have the correct from of the program, but auto-grader will reject it until you submit the more or most efficient answer.

Some questions specified the use of random integers or random selections. The auto-grader did not seem to be able to accommodate program answers that produce random outputs. Several other questions seemed to give the auto-grader problems, and it’s unclear why. The answers to these seven questions were submitted to the study group staff by email and graded by hand.

Wolfram Technology Certified Level 1 Wolfram Language Programming Fundamentals
Wolfram Technology Certified Level 1 Wolfram Language Programming Fundamentals

Wolfram Language Programming Fundamentals Certificate

My efforts to improve my Wolfram Language skills continues with the Wolfram U daily study group on the the Wolfram Language Programming Fundamentals. This Study group ran four days a week in May 2020 and required passing four quizzes. Again, thanks to Wolfram for running the program.

Wolfram U Daily Study Group Wolfram Language Programming certificate

Wolfram Language Introduction Certificate

I’ve been working to improve my Wolfram Language skills by taking the Wolfram U study group on the introduction to the Wolfram Language that is integral to Mathematica. The Study group ran four days a week in April 2020 and required passing four quizzes. Thanks to Wolfram for running the program.

Wolfram Certificate of Program Completion
Wolfram Certificate of Program Completion for the Daily Study Group on The Wolfram Language Introduction.

Introduction to Mathematica® for Physicists

Springer has made Introduction to Mathematica® for Physicists available for free on its website. The book uses Mathematica 9 to describe physics topics that include:

  • Trigonometric functions
  • Quantum Oscillators
  • Spherical Harmonics
  • Adding Angular Momenta in Quantum Mechanics
  • Quantum Nonlinear Oscillators
  • Riemann Curvature Tensors
  • Multi-ζ Functions
  • Geometric Optics
  • Cyclohexane configurations

Scratch e-book

The MagPi magazine has posted the e-book Learn to Code with Scratch . The e-book describes how to make simple games and applications on the Raspberry Pi. Scratch is a visual programming language developed at MIT to teach kids how to code. There is a web version of Scratch on the website too.

MagPi Learn to Code with Scratch e-book cover photo

Maker Fair 2015

I had a lot of fun at Maker Faire 2015 in Queens, NY  this year. There were more large corporate sponsors this year. Intel, Google, and Microsoft all had their own large tents setup. Google showed some boards used to develop Android Wear software. Intel showed Edison development boards that were compatible with Arduino and Seeed sensor kits. Microsoft demonstrated Windows 10 Internet of Things running on a Raspberry Pi 2. Arduino showed some new single board computers. Seeed had numerous interesting electronics kits for the BreagleBone Green, and showed Open Source phone hardware. The Google Aria project might take notice of this hardware. It’s minimal but easy to hack. There were a lot of 3D printers and drones at the Faire too. Check out my slide show for some photos of some of these items and more.

There were a lot of talks on the center stage and I was only able to see two of them. I hope that Maker Faire will stream them soon.

Adafruit 2.8in PiTFT Display Sketup 8 Model

A reader request a copy of my Adafruit 2.8 in Sketch Up 8 Model so I’m posting it here. It’s a very basic model with just essential components models as block in key locations. I needed to interpret dimension on the board layout and the datasheet for the display panel to make this module. The model turned out to approximate the actual PiTFT fairly well for my application so please check that it fits in all the right places for your application. Also, if you make it better, please post the updates.

Raspberry Pi Sketchup 3D models

I’m trying to make a case for my Raspberry Pi (RPi) with an Adafruit PiTFT 2.8 inch display and was modeling it in Sketchup 8.  I made a simple model of the PiTFT display and then started looking for some 3D Sketchup8 models of the RPi Model B with 512MB of memory from the Sketchup 3D Warehouse to save some time. Connectors between the RPi and the PiTFT display did not fit quite right. A few measurements showed that some of the parts and boards were the wrong size.  My list of models investigated so far is shown below.

  • Raspberry Pi – Model B Rev2 by Gandy file Raspberry-Pi—Model-B-Rev.skp: The GPIO pins are spaced incorrectly at 2.4 mm and should be spaced at 2.54 mm. The board length is 86 mm and should be 85 mm.

  • Raspberry Pi Rev 1 by Billmar file RaspberryPi_FN120401823.skp: The board size and GPIO pin spacing seems to be good. For the few things I measured, this is the most accurate model so far. As this is model is for Rev 1 of the board, it does not have the mounting holes I’m looking for.

  • raspberry pi 3d model B 512 by Clavis file RaspberryPi.skp: The board size measures 81.9 mm but should be 85 mm. The GPIO pin spacing is 2.4 mm and should be 2.54 mm.