Hackers are buzzing with ideas from Pi-powered arcade machines and drones to the home automation and low-cost tablets. 10 coolest uses for the Raspberry Pi article tells that TechRepublic has delved into the Raspbery Pi’s developer forums, and here’s our round-up of the best ideas so far, ranging from the eminently achievable to the massively ambitious. You can use your Raspberry Pi for example as media streamer, arcade machine, tablet computer, robot controller and home automation controller. Rasberry Pi homepage offers also some more interesting projects like Retro games and a retro joystick.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
PiDog2 Brings a Hardware Watchdog and Power Management to the Raspberry Pi
https://blog.hackster.io/the-pidog2-brings-a-hardware-watchdog-and-power-management-to-the-raspberry-pi-5083a4ab8994
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8668-raspberry-pi-kortista-tuli-televisio
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Chat Between Two Raspberry Pis Over 433MHz Radio
https://blog.hackster.io/how-to-chat-between-two-raspberry-pis-over-433mhz-radio-9cdaaa1fbd00
https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/build-433mhz-radio-chat-device/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Repurpose Your Laptop’s Unused Optical Drive Bay for Your Raspberry Pi
https://blog.hackster.io/repurpose-your-laptops-unused-optical-drive-bay-for-your-raspberry-pi-2477734c4dbd
https://www.instructables.com/id/Re-purpose-Optical-Drive-With-RPi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.screenly.io
Tomi Engdahl says:
A NEW RASPBIAN UPDATE: MULTIMEDIA, PYTHON AND MORE
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspbian-update-november-2018/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Best Laptop Gets Even Better
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/24/the-best-laptop-gets-even-better/
This build is really just a 3D printed drive caddy for the Thinkpad UltraBay, the modular standard that allows you to add a CD drive, SATA drive, or even a serial and parallel port to your laptop. [ollie] is modeling this off the CD drive taken from a ThinkPad T420, so we’re looking at a ‘Serial Ultrabay Enhanced’ version of this standard, which is compatible with a T430, which is still the best laptop you can possibly buy.
UltraBay is originally IBM’s name for the swappable drive bay in the ThinkPad range of laptop computers. When the Thinkpad product line was sold to Lenovo, the concept and the name stayed.
Inside this 3D printed drive caddy is a Raspberry Pi Zero W, powered by the ThinkPad through the internal SATA connector. The Pi Zero has right-angle headers attached, giving access to the GPIO pins from the outside. Just to add a little flair, [ollie] added an OLED display to show the IP address, the CPU load, and the memory availability of the Pi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Set Up A Headless Raspberry Pi, All From Another Computer’s Command Line
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/24/set-up-a-headless-raspberry-pi-all-from-another-computers-command-line/
There are differences between setting up a Raspberry Pi and installing an OS on any other computer, but one thing in common is that if you do enough of them, you seek to automate the process any way you can. That is the situation [Peter Lorenzen] found himself in, and his solution is a shell script to install and configure the Raspberry Pi for headless operation, with no need to connect either a keyboard or monitor in the process.
Headless Raspberry Pi Configuration
http://peter.lorenzen.us/linux/headless-raspberry-pi-configuration
Configuring a Raspberry Pi for headless operation without having to connect a keyboard and a screen, involves the following step
Download the latest Raspbian image
copy the Raspbian image to sdcard
setup Wifi
change pasword for pi
enable sshd
adduser for me,
modify group
add me to sudo
add athorized ssh keys for me on my laptop so i can login without password
set timezone
set hostname
set keyboard
run raspi-config to configure various other stuff
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ham Radio Digi Mode Hat for Raspberry Pi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32nECrl7wsM
For you Raspberry Pi users, It looks like we finally have an audio codec, GPS, real time clock, and native data ports on a Raspberry Pi hat, purpose built for the portable digital ham radio operator.
Many of you already know that I made the switch to Raspberry Pi to augment the limited support in the Amateur Radio Community for the Android operating system. Ok we do have psk31, rtty, SSTV, WSPR, WeatherFAX, PSKMail, and AndFLMSG, but we lack FT8, JT65, JS8, WinLink, and many other mode which would have made that platform awesome for digital portable ham radio.
Now I use my Android tablet as a wireless screen for the Raspberry Pi 3B+, and have integrated the Raspberry Pi into my Yaesu ft-817, and the Yaesu ft-891.
So what about this device? NW Digital Radio calls it a Digital Radio Amateur WorkStation Board for the Raspberry Pi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Raspberry Pi Has This Pool Covered
https://hackaday.com/2018/12/02/a-raspberry-pi-has-this-pool-covered/
[DrewBeer]’s pool had just such a problem. A decades-oldwired controller had failed, so rather than stump up a fortune for a refit, he created his own pool controller which exists under the watchful eye of a Raspberry Pi. The breadth of functionality is apparent from his write-up. In addition to the pump and heater you’d expect, he as a salt water system, environmental monitoring, and even an RTL-SDR to pull in readings from an RF floating temperature probe. It’s all exposed via a node.js API, and thus far has been running for over 6 months without mishap.
https://drew.beer/blog/blog/project-poolbot
Tomi Engdahl says:
Make your own Ambient Lighting with the Raspberry Pi Zero
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvcR2td1Cso
In this project I will show you how to combine a Raspberry Pi Zero with a couple of complementary parts in order to add an ambient lighting effect to your TV which enhances the viewing experience.
Comment:
Instead of the pi and led strips just buy two TVs and put them back to back.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EEVblog #1155 – Mailbag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrhCGrZyIVM
CrowPi Raspberry Pi Learning kit:
And scratch programming.
https://www.elecrow.com/crowpi-compact-raspberry-pi-educational-kit.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Roomba Hacked with the New Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+
https://blog.hackster.io/roomba-hacked-with-the-new-raspberry-pi-3-model-a-64af15826223
ianderson3 found the dead Roomba in a local thrift store bargain bin for $5. The battery and the rest of components were in good shape, but the Roomba’s motherboard was dead. Basically, it was the perfect candidate for a Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ retrofit. ianderson3’s tutorial has a thorough explanation of the build, so you can follow along yourself.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Star-Trek-Inspired Robot With Raspberry Pi and AI
https://hackaday.com/2018/12/21/a-star-trek-inspired-robot-with-raspberry-pi-and-ai/
The Scorpion ~ Star Trek Inspired Robotics
https://314reactor.com/2018/12/14/the-scorpion-star-trek-inspired-robotics/
Tomi Engdahl says:
10 Great Hats for Raspberry Pi
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1334089
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to find out Raspberry Pi GPU and ARM CPU temperature on Linux
https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-find-out-raspberry-pi-gpu-and-arm-cpu-temperature-command/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi gets official touchscreen support via Linux 4.21
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/raspberry-pi-gets-official-touchscreen-support-via-linux-4-21/
Improved support for display technologies and GPU computing for Polaris and Vega are some of the features coming to kernel 4.21.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Direct CNC Control with the Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.com/2018/05/15/direct-cnc-control-with-the-raspberry-pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Pi Zero Pentesting Tool Keeps it Cheap
https://hackaday.com/2018/05/15/diy-pi-zero-pentesting-tool-keeps-it-cheap/
[ Alex Jensen] writes in to tell us of his own tale of sticker shock induced hacking, where he builds his own version of the Hak5 Bash Bunny. His version might be lacking a bit in the visual flair department, but despite coming in at a fraction of the cost, it does manage to pack in an impressive array of features.
This pentesting multitool can act as a USB keyboard, a mass storage device, and even an RNDIS Ethernet adapter.
https://www.cron.dk/poor-mans-bash-bunny/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/05/30/counting-bees-with-a-raspberry-pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Testing a Raspberry Pi TV Pattern Generator
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR3X-FwhJMM
Testing a Raspberry Pi Zero for use in a PAL Pattern generator. It is controlled by buttons. Currently it can display various test cards (Home-made) and generate a teletext feed
https://github.com/peterkvt80/vbit2/wiki
Tomi Engdahl says:
Using Raspberry Pi as video test pattern generator
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/12565/using-raspberry-pi-as-video-test-pattern-generator
Files for making a test pattern generator with a Raspberry Pi
https://github.com/nat2001/rpi-test-pattern-generator
Tomi Engdahl says:
A basic implementation of a (test) pattern generator from the HDMI output of an raspberry pi.
https://github.com/LeipeLeon/PiPatternGenerator
Tomi Engdahl says:
The DIY approach: HDMI pattern generator
https://www.rdstrong.com/diy-hdmi-pattern-generator/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.rdstrong.com/diy-hdmi-pattern-generator/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/06/08/a-fully-open-source-raspberry-pi-synthesizer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/07/03/launching-fireworks-with-raspberry-pi-this-fourth-of-july/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/07/03/a-cartoon-ifying-camera-for-instant-absurdism/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/07/06/smart-power-strip-revived-with-raspberry-pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simple and Intuitive Web Interface for Your Raspberry Pi
https://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-and-intuitive-web-interface-for-your-Raspbe/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Guitar Combines Raspberry Pi Synthesis with Good Ol’ Humbuckers
https://blog.hackster.io/this-guitar-combines-raspberry-pi-synthesis-with-good-ol-humbuckers-95ecf1351843
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Private Telephone System (PBX)
https://blog.hackster.io/a-raspberry-pi-private-telephone-system-pbx-28a8deffac58
As you might suspect, professional versions can cost thousands of dollars to set up, but as covered in this MagPi article, a Raspberry Pi can do the job for around $100 — including the phones themselves!
https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/raspberry-pi-telephone-exchange/
Tomi Engdahl says:
PiWatcher Allows Full Control Over Raspberry Pi Power
https://blog.hackster.io/piwatcher-allows-full-control-over-raspberry-pi-power-a56dec095a60
Tomi Engdahl says:
The No-Parts Temperature Sensor In Your Arduino
https://hackaday.com/2019/02/26/the-no-parts-temperature-sensor-in-your-arduino/
The ATMega328p, the chip at the heart of all your Arduino Uno clones, has within it a watchdog timer that clicks over at a rate of 110 kHz. This watchdog timer is somewhat sensitive to temperature
‘No-Parts’ Temperature Measurement with Arduino Pro Mini
https://thecavepearlproject.org/2019/02/25/no-parts-temperature-measurement-with-arduino-pro-mini-to-0-005c-or-better/
Tomi Engdahl says:
An ATtiny Metal Detector
https://hackaday.com/2019/02/26/an-attiny-metal-detector/
A metal detector used to be an entirely analogue instrument, an oscillator whose frequency changed with the inductance of its sense coil when a piece of metal approached. [Łukasz Podkalicki] shows us a more sophisticated machine, but with judicious use of an ATtiny 13 it is not a complex one.
A pulsed induction metal detector induces a current spike in its search coil, and times the decay of the resulting oscillation. The coil is part of a resonant circuit with a capacitor, and any metal in its field will change its resonant frequency.
ATtiny13 – PI metal detector
https://blog.podkalicki.com/attiny13-pi-metal-detector/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi-Powered News Ticker Shirt Display
https://blog.hackster.io/raspberry-pi-powered-news-ticker-shirt-display-3030438e8bdb
How to Make a News Ticker Shirt With Raspberry Pi
by Stephen Hawes March 6, 2019 at 8:15 AM
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/raspberry-pi-news-ticker-shirt,6014.html
Naturally, we designed our device to show the latest news headlines from Tom’s Hardware. But you could just as easily point the script toward any content you want on the Internet (it uses Wi-Fi to download the data). Here’s how to make your own news ticker shirt.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scout Is a Raspberry Pi-Based Router That Protects Your Smart Home Privacy
https://blog.hackster.io/scout-is-a-raspberry-pi-based-router-that-protects-your-smart-home-privacy-3b9950d43932
Tomi Engdahl says:
Add Snips Voice Control to Your Keysight Oscilloscope with a Raspberry Pi
https://blog.hackster.io/add-snips-voice-control-to-your-keysight-oscilloscope-with-a-raspberry-pi-a45d2dda6bec
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Raspberry Pi + Vintage Vending Machine = Perfect Viral Marketing
https://blog.hackster.io/a-raspberry-pi-vintage-vending-machine-perfect-viral-marketing-918b788ee24d
Tomi Engdahl says:
Do advanced math with Mathematica on the Raspberry Pi
https://opensource.com/article/19/3/do-math-raspberry-pi?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
Wolfram bundles a version of Mathematica with Raspbian. Learn how to use it in the 12th article in our series on getting started with Raspberry Pi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Angstrom Is a Rainbow in a Box!
https://blog.hackster.io/angstrom-is-a-rainbow-in-a-box-3493d1575b72
This device produces light with not one, three, or four LED elements, but combines 12 channels into a single LED light, and can be built for under £100 (~$130 in US currency). LEDs are powered via a 5V 60W supply
Listed applications for the Angstrom include microscopy, forensics, colorimetry, and scanning.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Angstrom-a-Tuneable-LED-Light-Source/
Tomi Engdahl says:
THIS RASPBERRY PI IS NASTY
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/12/this-raspberry-pi-is-nasty/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Raspberry Pi Cluster from Outer Space
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/15/the-raspberry-pi-cluster-from-outer-space/
A Pi-Powered Plan 9 Cluster
https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/a-pi-powered-plan-9-cluster
Plan 9 from Bell Labs comes from the same stable as the UNIX operating system, which of course Linux was designed after, and Apple’s OS X runs on top of a certified UNIX operating system. Just like UNIX, Plan 9 was developed as a research O/S — a vehicle for trying out new concepts — with it building on key UNIX principles and taking the idea of devices are just files even further.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Camera with Smarts — Cloud or Local?
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/07/raspberry-pi-camera-with-smarts-cloud-or-local/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Real-Time Linux on the Raspberry Pi
https://www.get-edi.io/Real-Time-Linux-on-the-Raspberry-Pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Talk To Your ‘Scope, And It Will Obey
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/03/talk-to-your-scope-and-it-will-obey/
An oscilloscope is a device that many of us use, and which we often have to use while our hands are occupied with test probes or other tools. [James Wilson] has solved the problem of how to control his ‘scope no-handed, by connecting it to a Raspberry Pi 3 running the snips.ai voice assistant. This is an interesting piece of software that runs natively upon the device in contrast to the cloud service provided by the likes of Alexa or Google Assistant.
https://github.com/jmwilson/ollie
Tomi Engdahl says:
Let Your Pi Make a Pie Chart for Your Pie
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/21/let-your-pi-make-a-pie-chart-for-your-pie/
https://github.com/mmachenry/pie-pie-chart
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build a One-Button Streaming Box for Your Radio Show with a Raspberry Pi
https://blog.hackster.io/build-a-one-button-streaming-box-for-your-radio-show-with-a-raspberry-pi-cdc28ef2149d
Then setup your internet radio streaming server. Finally, connect the buttons and lights to the Pi’s GPIO pins. You’ll use a Python script that starts up at boot to monitor those, and the second button will let you safely shutdown the Pi after streaming.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The PinkyPi Pushes the Limits of How Small a Raspberry Pi Handheld Can Be
https://blog.hackster.io/the-pinkypi-pushes-the-limits-of-how-small-a-raspberry-pi-handheld-can-be-4580d32008fb
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Build a Cheap Thermal Camera with a Raspberry Pi
https://blog.hackster.io/how-to-build-a-cheap-thermal-camera-with-a-raspberry-pi-ca232ae4c26e