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:
Fallback Project Aims to Provide Real-Time News in the Event of an Internet Shutdown
https://www.hackster.io/news/fallback-project-aims-to-provide-real-time-news-in-the-event-of-an-internet-shutdown-b6a8021d0f70
The Portal device was designed with a Pi Zero W and E Ink display, allowing users to connect their mobile devices and read real-time news.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t forget that you can connect your gaming PC to your TV with ease, thanks to Steam Link and a Raspberry Pi
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/dont-forget-about-steam-link-on-raspberry-pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Redditor Used a Raspberry Pi to Build a DIY Virtual Reality Headset
https://www.hackster.io/news/a-redditor-used-a-raspberry-pi-to-build-a-diy-virtual-reality-headset-f40dd0d485bf
Redditor Dungeon_Master_Dan was able to make his own virtual reality headset that has all of the features he wants.
headset started as Yuneec SkyView FPV (First-Person View) goggles. Those goggles are intended for FPV piloting of drones, and feature a 5” 720p LCD screen. Most importantly, they can accept a video feed from a standard HDMI connection.
That HDMI video feed is coming from a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, though Dungeon_Master_Dan says that he would recommend the more powerful Raspberry Pi 3 or 4. IR night vision camera is used to provide the video for the augmented reality functionality. Currently, the desktop environment can be overlaid semi-transparently on the video feed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/110811/simple-pushbutton-circuit-causes-errors
Tomi Engdahl says:
Oracle Builds a Supercomputer with 1,060 Raspberry Pi Computers
Introducing the world’s largest Pi cluster.
https://www.hackster.io/news/oracle-builds-a-supercomputer-with-1-060-raspberry-pi-computers-6da1c3e2f8d9
Tomi Engdahl says:
Designed for use with analog or MIDI inputs, the Python-programmable EYESY brings music to colorful life on any HDMI or composite display.
https://www.hackster.io/news/critter-guitari-launch-crowdfunder-for-raspberry-pi-powered-python-programmable-eyesy-video-synth-70ab7fcde6c2
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/critterandguitari/eyesy-video-synthesizer
Tomi Engdahl says:
Handheld 3D Scanning, Using Raspberry Pi 4 And Intel RealSense Camera
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/31/handheld-3d-scanning-using-raspberry-pi-4-and-intel-realsense-camera/
Tomi Engdahl says:
High-Voltage DC Monitoring via Raspberry Pi Zero
How to use a Raspberry Pi Zero under noisy field.
https://www.hackster.io/pe2a/high-voltage-dc-monitoring-via-raspberry-pi-zero-9f77ba
we ensured the Raspberry Pi to read up to 1600VDC by isolating it from the ground and using LC, RC filters.
Instead of expensive Windows-based industrial PCs, you can use Raspberry Pi Zero that you will not pay any license fees. It is so important for automation companies
Since there is no Ethernet on Raspberry Pi Zero on the device, SPI-based Ethernet converter is used. DC voltage is provided to read with completely isolated OPAMP. Since there is no analog input device on Raspberry Pi, 12-bit ADC is used.
Tomi Engdahl says:
1968 Transistor Radio “Internetified” with a Raspberry Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/1968-transistor-radio-internetified-with-a-raspberry-pi-1b63580b1e89
Have a vintage radio collecting dust somewhere? Give it a new lease on life as a Raspberry Pi-powered music playback device
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/168568-fake-any-display-for-50-and-a-raspberry-pi
Tomi Engdahl says:
Now You Can Be Big Brother Too, With A Raspberry Pi License Plate Reader
https://hackaday.com/2020/02/26/now-you-can-be-big-brother-too-with-a-raspberry-pi-license-plate-reader/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi: Turn the popular single-board computer into a handheld computer with a slide-out keyboard and display
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raspberry-Pi-Turn-the-popular-single-board-computer-into-a-handheld-computer-with-a-slide-out-keyboard-and-display.459987.0.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
LoCoQuad Is an Arachnoid Quadruped Robot Powered by a Raspberry Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/locoquad-is-an-arachnoid-quadruped-robot-powered-by-a-raspberry-pi-cb1ca11cfc31
Created for research and education, the open source robot features a 3D-printed body with several servos and sensors.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Raspberry Pi Makes a Perfect Sailing Computer for Your Boat
https://www.hackster.io/news/a-raspberry-pi-makes-a-perfect-sailing-computer-for-your-boat-6b1bf0f696dd
You have many sailing computer options, but you may want to consider building your own using a Raspberry Pi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Portable DVD Player Raspberry Pi-fied
An unused portable DVD player makes a perfect platform for Pi-based retro gaming.
https://www.hackster.io/news/portable-dvd-player-raspberry-pi-fied-46e3946c7a0f
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build an “LED Alerter” for Your Remote Work Office Setup
Working from home? Build a web-controlled LED tower to announce to others when you don’t want to be disturbed.
https://www.hackster.io/alan-boris/build-an-led-alerter-for-your-remote-work-office-setup-32e558
Tomi Engdahl says:
Critter & Guitari Launch Crowdfunder for Raspberry Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/critter-guitari-launch-crowdfunder-for-raspberry-pi-powered-python-programmable-eyesy-video-synth-70ab7fcde6c2
Powered, Python Programmable EYESY Video Synth
Designed for use with analog or MIDI inputs, the Python-programmable EYESY brings music to colorful life on any HDMI or composite display.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A handy utility for creating Raspberry Pi SD card images
Getting started with Raspberry Pi Imager on a Mac.
https://opensource.com/article/20/4/raspberry-pi-imager-mac
There are many ways to buy a Raspberry Pi, and depending on who you buy it from, it may or may not come with an operating system already installed on it. Getting an OS onto a Raspberry Pi is a matter of “flashing” an SD card with an OS image. To make this as easy as possible, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has introduced a Raspberry Pi Imager application, and you can download it for all major platforms. Here’s a quick intro to this helpful new utility.
https://opensource.com/article/20/4/raspberry-pi-imager-mac
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Gives a 1960s Sony TV a New Lease on Life
Browse through vintage family photos on an old-school portable TV.
https://www.hackster.io/news/raspberry-pi-gives-a-1960s-sony-tv-a-new-lease-on-life-9702cdc12220
Old TVs may not have had large HD pictures, or even stereo sound in many cases, but they did have a certain style that advanced sets today don’t match. If you’d like to get a bit more use out of a retro TV set, here’s an interesting idea from creator “Democracity.”
This build converts a 1960s Sony tube TV into a digital picture frame, taking out the electronics inside to sub in a Raspberry Pi 4 and small TFT touchscreen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nabaztag, the IoT Bunny, Gets Another Shot at Life Courtesy of a Crowdfunded HAT and Raspberry Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/nabaztag-the-iot-bunny-gets-another-shot-at-life-courtesy-of-a-crowdfunded-hat-and-raspberry-pi-6f74cebd1015
Powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero W, the TagTagTag HAT brings the sadly-abandoned Nabaztag “smart rabbit” back to life.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digital Making at Home: Make us laugh!
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/digital-making-at-home-make-us-laugh/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/digital-making-at-home-parents-guide/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Make Yourself a Microsoft Teams-Compatible Status Light for Working From Home
https://www.hackster.io/news/make-yourself-a-microsoft-teams-compatible-status-light-for-working-from-home-f9b100faa5c4
Elio Struyf’s DIY status light integrates with Microsoft Teams so that his kids know when they should stay away from his home office.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY: Building a busy light to show your Microsoft Teams presence
https://www.eliostruyf.com/diy-building-busy-light-show-microsoft-teams-presence/
Tomi Engdahl says:
An IBM Research–Europe team open sourced a fully-functional microscope design that combines Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and LEGO.
(via IEEE Spectrum)
Build A Sophisticated Microscope Using Lego, 3D Printing, Arduinos, and a Raspberry Pi
https://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/build-a-sophisticated-microscope-using-lego-3d-printing-arduinos-and-a-raspberry-pi
Taking a photo of a microfluidic chip is not easy. The chips are typically too big to fit into the field of view of a standard microscope, but they have fine features that cannot be resolved using a regular camera. Uniform illumination is also critical because the chips are often made of highly reflective or transparent materials. Looking at publications from other research groups, it’s obvious that this is a common challenge. With this motivation, I devoted some of my free time to designing a multipurpose and compact lab instrument that can take macro photos from almost any angle.
Mixed Materials: The imaging microscope design uses a potpourri of technologies and materials, including Lego pieces for its main structural components and 3D-printed cogs and racks to drive its moving parts. Stepper motors, which allow for precise movements, are powered by a motor driver board and controlled by an Arduino board. A Raspberry Pi Zero and Pi camera module are used to capture images. The original design incorporated custom-made control boards and parts printed on a high-resolution printer, but prior to public release the microscope was redesigned to be assembled with off-the-shelf boards and parts that could be printed on less expensive, low-resolution printers.
The Raspberry Pi camera was an ideal choice because it allows the manual adjustment of critical parameters like ISO settings and exposure time. I carefully removed the plastic casing holding the lens, revealing the CMOS image sensor, and engineered a delicate mechanism to move the lens back and forth in fine steps so I could take high-magnification macro photos. The setup worked well for a while, but it was fragile.
I removed the lens entirely from the Pi camera. Then I took the objective lens from a low-cost USB microscope and mounted it on another CD-ROM linear actuator
I switched to a lead-screw mechanism used in 3D printers. Instead of commonly used 8-millimeter-diameter threads, shafts, and bearings, I used 3-mm-diameter components to keep things compact.
Perfect Angle: The Lego microscope allows for a sample to be placed under uniform illumination provided by an LED backlight module. The sample can then be moved forward, back, left, and right and also rotated to find the desired view. The microscope body can be tilted up and down, and its proximity to the sample and focus adjusted as well to provide different degrees of magnification [bottom]. The focus is adjusted by moving a lensless camera module within a Lego housing, altering its distance from the objective lens at the base of the housing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to manage a big hotel with a little Raspberry Pi
Got some downtime to rethink how you manage your hotel or motel?
https://opensource.com/article/20/4/qloapps-raspberry-pi
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi: Combine the power of up to seven Compute Modules with the Turing Pi Cluster Board
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raspberry-Pi-Combine-the-power-of-up-to-seven-Compute-Modules-with-the-Turing-Pi-Cluster-Board.461964.0.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Raspberry Pi-based server that could transform edge computing
https://betanews.com/2020/04/16/raspberry-pi-edge-server/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi: Turn the popular single-board computer into an inexpensive thermal camera
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raspberry-Pi-Turn-the-popular-single-board-computer-into-an-inexpensive-thermal-camera.462262.0.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get a Minecraft Server and Metric Reporting Up on Your Raspberry Pi Cluster
https://www.hackster.io/news/get-a-minecraft-server-and-metric-reporting-up-on-your-raspberry-pi-cluster-2e4c929ad6af
With a 15-minute Raspberry Pi Kubernetes cluster at his disposal, Max Gabrielsson set up a Minecraft server — with full metric reporting
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://turingpi.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building a Raspberry Pi telepresence robot using serverless: Part 2
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/building-a-raspberry-pi-telepresence-robot-using-serverless-part-2/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Steve Does Stuff Builds a Flask-Powered Remote Garage Door Web App on a Raspberry Pi Zero W
https://www.hackster.io/news/steve-does-stuff-builds-a-flask-powered-remote-garage-door-web-app-on-a-raspberry-pi-zero-w-948857ae3ae9
With a Raspberry Pi, relay, reed switches, and Flask, Steve has a way to control his garage door from his phone quickly and easily.
https://github.com/shrocky2/GarageWeb
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Raspberry Pi Video Intercom System
https://hackaday.com/2020/04/27/a-raspberry-pi-video-intercom-system/
That’s what the engineers over at [Hacker Shack] did with their Raspberry Pi-based video intercom system over on Hackster. Now we’ve seen RPi doorbell projects here on Hackaday before, but it’s the implementation of a full-duplex video intercom system that makes [Hacker Shack’s] project really stand out. (Unless you want to be a bit more secretive). They used a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B with an off-brand Pi camera, but the R Pi branded camera will also work just fine. Couple the camera with a very crisp LCD display, microphone, and speaker and you’re good to go!
https://www.hackster.io/hackershack/smart-doorbell-video-intercom-system-e5aa61
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Cluster Shows You The Ropes
https://hackaday.com/2020/04/24/raspberry-pi-cluster-shows-you-the-ropes/
Raspberry Pi clusters are a common enough project, but a lot of the builds we see focus on the hardware side of the cluster. Once it’s up and running, though, what comes next? Raspberry Pis aren’t very powerful devices, but they can still be a great project for learning how to interact with a cluster of computers or for experimental test setups. In this project from [Dino], four Pis are networked together and then loaded with a basic set of software for cluster computing.
Raspberry Pi Cluster Part 1: Provisioning with Ansible and temperature monitoring using Prometheus and Grafana
https://www.dinofizzotti.com/blog/2020-04-10-raspberry-pi-cluster-part-1-provisioning-with-ansible-and-temperature-monitoring-using-prometheus-and-grafana/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi: Turn the popular single-board computer into a tabletop weather forecast with an ePaper display
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raspberry-Pi-Turn-the-popular-single-board-computer-into-a-tabletop-weather-forecast-with-an-ePaper-display.463311.0.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
OLD LAPTOP GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE WITH RASPBERRY PI
https://hackaday.com/2020/05/01/old-laptop-gets-new-lease-on-life-with-raspberry-pi/
https://imgur.com/gallery/u38nHdI
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi… IN THE SKY?! – the micro drone that does it all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRctXEhmRdY
Tomi Engdahl says:
QuarantineClock
https://github.com/mwfisher3/QuarantineClock
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get a Minecraft Server and Metric Reporting Up on Your Raspberry Pi Cluster
With a 15-minute Raspberry Pi Kubernetes cluster at his disposal, Max Gabrielsson set up a Minecraft server — with full metric reporting.
https://www.hackster.io/news/get-a-minecraft-server-and-metric-reporting-up-on-your-raspberry-pi-cluster-2e4c929ad6af
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Based SSD1306 OLED Video Player
Raspberry Pi running OpenCV on Python to play videos on an SSD1306 OLED display.
https://www.hackster.io/souvik-saha/raspberry-pi-based-ssd1306-oled-video-player-4dfc3b
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t have thousands to spend on a Spot? This Raspberry Pi-powered robotic pup can be made for $800.
The Stanford Pupper Is a Quadruped Robot That’s Powered by Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/the-stanford-pupper-is-a-quadruped-robot-that-s-powered-by-pi-23c2de51adea
Driven by 12 actuators, this open source robotic pup can trot, walk, and jump.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://stanfordstudentrobotics.org/pupper
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build an LED Beacon That Lets Others at Home Know You’re in a Meeting
The AIIM (Am I In [a] Meeting?) detects Zoom and Teams calls with a Raspberry Pi.
https://www.hackster.io/news/build-an-led-beacon-that-lets-others-at-home-know-you-re-in-a-meeting-077cb2bb1c61
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi: Turn the popular single-board computer into a NAS and a media center with free cloud storage
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raspberry-Pi-Turn-the-popular-single-board-computer-into-a-NAS-and-a-media-center-with-free-cloud-storage.466079.0.html
new project can transform the humble Raspberry Pi into a media center in a rather simple manner. The Pi can access both locally stored data or data stored in the cloud.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi: Turn the popular single-board computer into a smart home centre with IKEA TRÅDFRI and Home Assistant support
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raspberry-Pi-Turn-the-popular-single-board-computer-into-a-smart-home-centre-with-IKEA-TRAADFRI-and-Home-Assistant-support.465874.0.html
A new project turns the Raspberry Pi into a control centre for smart home gadgets. The project supports both IKEA smart lighting and Home Assistant.
Set Up an IKEA TRÅDFRI Light with Home Assistant
https://www.hackster.io/michael-becker2/set-up-an-ikea-tradfri-light-with-home-assistant-3e0557
How to set up and configure an IKEA TRÅDFRI (Swedish for “wireless”) light with Home Assistant to get an affordable smart light.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.hackster.io/news/dino-fizzotti-showcases-kubernetes-powered-clustering-with-load-balancing-on-a-raspberry-pi-cluster-2935fe08a07e
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Raspberry Pi-Based Radio Time Machine Is a Sonic Tour Through the Decades
This is a lot more fun than simply selecting a song on your smartphone’s Spotify app.
https://www.hackster.io/news/the-raspberry-pi-based-radio-time-machine-is-a-sonic-tour-through-the-decades-f5a5f667b3f7
Tomi Engdahl says:
Introducing the Raspberry Pi TV HAT
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-tv-hat/
The TV HAT connects to the 40-pin GPIO header and to a suitable antenna, allowing your Raspberry Pi to receive DVB-T2 television broadcasts.
Watch TV with your Raspberry Pi
With the board, you can receive and view television on a Raspberry Pi, or you can use your Pi as a server to stream television over a network to other devices. The TV HAT works with all 40-pin GPIO Raspberry Pi boards when running as a server. If you want to watch TV on the Pi itself, we recommend using a Pi 2, 3, or 3B+, as you may need more processing power for this.
Stream television over your network
Viewing television is not restricted to Raspberry Pi computers: with a TV HAT connected to your network, you can view streams on any network-connected device. That includes other computers, mobile phones, and tablets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Redditor Zen_Kong used a Raspberry Pi to build this Bender personal voice assistant.
Futurama’s Bender Makes a Perfect Personal Voice Assistant
https://www.hackster.io/news/futurama-s-bender-makes-a-perfect-personal-voice-assistant-dd234c0b1a1a
Redditor Zen_Kong used a Raspberry Pi to build this Bender personal voice assistant.
Voice assistants, like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google aptly-named “Assistant,” are all designed to be helpful while also being as inoffensive as possible. You may be able to change the assistant’s synthetic accent and maybe even talk it into telling you a joke, but these assistants are designed by committee and built by massive corporations; the last thing they’re going to do is give the assistant a real feeling of personality that could potentially rub some customers the wrong way. Bender, the robotic smartass from the TV cartoon Futurama, is the antithesis of that kind of safe design. That’s why Redditor Zen_Kong used a Raspberry Pi to build this Bender personal voice assistant.
https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/g3whxq/i_will_make_my_own_smart_speaker_with_blackjack/