Add a little blog post about the PocketCHIP and HA

source/_posts/2016-07-06-pocketchip-running-home-assistant.markdown

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "PocketCHIP running Home Assistant"
+description: "Taking Home Assistant for a spin on a PocketChip."
+date: 2016-07-06 05:00:00 +0000
+date_formatted: "July 06, 2016"
+author: Fabian Affolter
+author_twitter: fabaff
+comments: true
+categories: How-To
+og_image: /images/blog/2016-07-pocketchip/social.png
+---
+
+<img src='/images/blog/2016-07-pocketchip/pocketchip-logo.png' style='clear: right; border:none; box-shadow: none; float: right; margin-bottom: 12px;' width='200' />
+Over a year ago I participated in the [kickstarter campain](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598272670/chip-the-worlds-first-9-computer/description) for "CHIP - The World's First Nine Dollar Computer" by [Next Thing Co.](https://www.nextthing.co/). I went for the PocketCHIP because of the idea. Display, built-in storage (thus no need for SD cards), battery-powered, and a keyboard are pretty nice features. Last week a package arrives...
+
+<!--more-->
+
+Thanks to [Next Thing Co.](https://www.nextthing.co/) and their CHIP which is actually 9 USD the space requirement for a single board computer has decreased. No ethernet and HDMI output helped with that. But I guess that the next development cycle will allow us to put those boards in a matchbox including wired networking and a SATA interface.
+
+<p class='img'>
+  <img src='/images/blog/2016-07-pocketchip/size.png' />
+  Size comparison of a Cubieboard, OrangePi One, and CHIP.
+</p>
+
+If you start using a PocketCHIP you will definitly look like a Blackberry or a GameBoy user. Typing is done with your thumbs :-)
+
+First a couple of tweaks like setting up `sudo`, upgradeing the existing installation, change passwords, enabling ssh, and removal of the annoying stuff then installation of Home Assistant. There is not much to tell...it's straight-forward. For the sake of completeness below the notes about what I did.
+
+A Debian installation is available by default. This means that some dependencies for Home Assistant are missing. I haven't checked if a new build for the PocketCHIP would include them. So, after a `$ sudo apt-get update` installing those dependencies take a minute or two. 
+
+```bash
+$ sudo apt-get install python3-dev python3-pip python3-venv
+```
+
+As usual I run Python applications in a [venv](https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html). 
+
+```bash
+$ pvenv ha
+```
+
+Let's activate the created environment.
+
+```bash
+$ cd ha
+$ source bin/activate
+```
+
+If you haven't seen the next two commands already then you should definitiy visit our [frontsite](https://home-assistant.io/). 
+
+```bash
+$ pip3 install homeassistant
+$ hass --open-ui
+```
+
+With `surf` the browsing experience on the low-resolution display is not that great. Most shartphones, even very cheap ones, have touchscreens with higher resolutions. Nevermind, [`midori`](https://twitter.com/fabaff/status/748852317047418880) is not better. 
+
+<p class='img'>
+  <img src='/images/blog/2016-07-pocketchip/pocketchip.png' />
+  PocketCHIP with Home Assistant frontend
+</p>
+
+Well, with PocketCHIP and Home Assistant you could run your home automation on a 49 USD device with a touchscreen, an integrated USP, and a keyboard. With the GPIO available on top of the display you could even connect your PocketCHIP directly to sensors and actuators.
+