Development History

CozZie Glow began on a Pi Zero W. The first version was a monolithic program — every new
feature meant rewriting the whole thing. Every addition risked breaking what already worked.
That friction repeated until the solution became obvious: break it apart. Build a solid base. Add
from there.

The modular architecture was born from the pain of the old way. Once the core features were
stable, each component was extracted into its own module, one by one. The base stopped

changing. The mods took over.

When the camera and audio mods demanded more processing power the SD card moved to a
Pi 4. The Pi Zero W handed off gracefully.

It is not retired for long.

The NVR runs Linux. A Pi Zero W connected via serial has a chance at root access. Local
storage access without a USB stick is the prize. The investigation is ongoing.

The Pi Zero W that started it all is not retired. It is just waiting for its next assignment.

The Philosophy

| grew up on a farm. Party line phone shared with two other farms. A Tandy TRS-80 with no
storage — code a game for an hour, kick the cord, gone. DOS on a 286. High school
electronics. Wrenching with my dad. Taking broken things apart to see what was inside.

By the time | sat down to build CozZie Glow | already knew DC is cleaner to control than AC.

PWM is the right approach for fine DC control. Incandescent spectrum is warmer and broader
than LED. 8-bit isn't enough steps for smooth transitions. 12V automotive is available, cheap,
and safe.

| didn't research any of that. | already knew it. From forty years of paying attention to how things
actually work.

| didn't arrive at these decisions through research. | arrived at them through forty years of taking
things apart, putting them back together, and paying attention to how the world actually works.

The affection for the hardware is real. A Pi Zero isn't just a $15 computer. It is potential. Every
one you pick up is a question — what are you going to become?