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.
1,692 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printer Power Control Board
https://hackaday.io/project/20639-3d-printer-power-control-board
A super simple little control board that allows for connecting/disconnecting power from a 3D printer via a relay.
Octoprint has a plugin to toggle a GPIO pin in order to power the 3D Printer on/off. The Alunar printer that I have is powered by a 12V power supply and will be powered on/off by interrupting that 12V power.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Generator Monitor Gives the Phone Company the Boot
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/09/generator-monitor-gives-the-phone-company-the-boot/
Part of the problem with having an alarm system is its reliance on land line telephone service.
Like these antiquated systems, [jgyates] was having a similar problem with the generator at his home which could only be monitored with a link to a cell network. Now that there’s a Raspberry Pi in every house, however, [jgyates] has a generator monitor that isn’t beholden to the phone company.
The hardware setup is little more than connecting the communications lines from the generator’s controller (in this case, a Generac Evolution controller) to the serial communications pins on a Raspberry Pi 3. [jgyates] did most of the work in Python, and his code is able to monitor almost every aspect of this generator and report it over WiFi or Ethernet, as well as control the generator settings from anywhere that has an Internet connection.
Raspberry Pi Backup Generator Monitoring
Generac Generator Monitoring over WiFi using a Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.io/project/20601-raspberry-pi-backup-generator-monitoring
This project will monitor a backup generator that utilizes the Generac Evolution or Nexus Controllers over a WiFi or wired connection. The project is written mostly in python and has been tested with a Raspberry Pi 3. Ideally you would need to create a physical enclosure for your raspberry pi and possibly make a cable to connect the raspberry pi to the Evolution or Nexus controller. If you are comfortable doing these things and you have a backup generator that has an Generac Evolution or Nexus controller then this project may be of interest to you.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Project Crow
https://hackaday.io/project/20694-project-crow
A camera and Computer Vision to capture wildlife and pipe the data feed to a variety of endpoints including a dashboard and databases.
This project has just started. Raspberry Pi computers are used to build camera traps to capture wildlife. This model adds Microsoft Cognitive Services to the mix to process images in real time. In addition the wiring will be completed using Node Red.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi 3 gets Microsoft Cortana with Windows 10 Creators Update
Users will now be able to make cool devices with Cortana built in.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3188814/windows/raspberry-pi-3-gets-microsoft-cortana-with-windows-10-creators-update.html
You will very soon be able to use Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant with the Raspberry Pi 3 and make cool devices that can accept voice commands.
But for that, you’ll need to upgrade the popular developer board, which can run Windows 10 IoT Core, to the Creators Update of the OS.
You’ll be able to use Cortana on Raspberry Pi similar to the way it works on PCs. You’ll be able to ask for weather, time, traffic, or stock prices.
Cortana’s coming to robots and smart devices via Windows 10 for the Internet of Things
Is this how Microsoft coaxes hardware makers to roll out Amazon Echo rivals?
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3150028/windows/cortanas-coming-to-robots-and-smart-devices-via-windows-10-for-the-internet-of-things.html
The impact on you at home: If I was in a betting mood I’d expect to see the new Windows IoT Core inspire multiple Cortana-powered smart speakers from third parties. Microsoft doesn’t appear to have any interest in making its own smart speaker. Instead the company is sticking to its standard the PC-is-the-solution-to-everything approach with Home Hub. That makes a certain amount of sense, however.
An army (or at least a platoon) of Cortana smart speakers would likely benefit Microsoft more than a single “Surface Echo” to take on Amazon and Google.
Far-field speech will enable Cortana to recognize voice commands from up to 13 feet away, and wake-on-voice allows users to activate a device with the “Hey Cortana” command.
Microsoft hopes to see the first Cortana-powered IoT devices roll out in late 2017 around the back-to-school or holiday shopping seasons.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Real Hard Drives In The Raspberry Pi
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/12/hackaday-prize-entry-real-hard-drives-in-the-raspberry-pi/
‘Boy, I wish the Raspberry Pi had a SATA port’. This is the plea that echoes through the Internet, and for once, the Internet is not wrong. A SATA port — or any connector to a big, dumb spinny disk — would be a great addition to the Raspberry Pi ecosystem.
[AlanH]’s entry to the Hackaday Prize is the exact opposite of what everyone wants. The NetPi-IDE is a Parallel ATA IDE disk emulator that turns an inexpensive Raspi Zero into a big, dumb, unspinny hard drive. Drop this machine in your Windows 98 Starcraft battlestation, and you have a hard drive that you can ssh into.
NetPi-IDE
https://hackaday.io/project/20774-netpi-ide
Low cost IDE/PATA disk emulator using a RPi Zero that also brings wireless networking to vintage computers.
This project aims to design and build a complete parallel ATA (PATA) IDE disk emulator from an inexpensive Raspberry Pi Zero. As the highest band-width interface available on the Pi’s GPIO header is SPI, a FPGA is used to maintain the IDE register file and basic I/O state machine. Once IDE commands are issued, the Raspberry Pi services each ATA command from a user space daemon and back to the FPGA for delivery to the host.
The bridge board takes a minimalist approach only including level shifting, 3.3V LDO, and small FPGA – a Lattice MachXO2 at the moment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Detect Cars Running Stop Signs (and Squirrels Running Across the Roof)
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/12/detect-cars-running-stop-signs-and-squirrels-running-across-the-roof/
There’s a stop sign outside [Devin Gaffney]’s house that, apparently, no one actually stops at. In order to avoid the traffic and delays on a major thoroughfare, cars take the road behind [Devin Gaffney]’s house, but he noticed a lot of cars didn’t bother to stop at the stop sign. He had a Raspberry Pi and a camera, so he set them up to detect the violating cars.
His setup is pretty standard – Raspberry Pi and camera pointed outside at the intersection. He’s running OpenCV and using machine learning to detect the cars and determine if they have run the stop sign or not.
http://www.stopsign.devingaffney.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Program LEGO Mindstorms robots over WiFi with BrickPi
https://opensource.com/article/17/3/brickpi?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
BrickPi, a Raspberry Pi add-on board from Dexter Industries that easily interfaces with Mindstorms sensors and motors.
https://www.dexterindustries.com/brickpi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brazil Wins the Raspberry Pi Overclocking Olympics
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/18/brazil-wins-the-raspberry-pi-overclocking-olympics/
Overclocking a Raspberry Pi is not as simple as achieving the highest operational clock rate. A record constitutes just the right combination of CPU clock, memory clock, GPU clock and finally the CPU core voltage. If you’ve managed to produce that special sauce, the combination must be satisfactorily cooled and most importantly be stable enough to pass an actual performance benchmark.
Was all the effort justified? We certainly think it was! Despite falling short of the Pi zero CPU clock rate record, currently set at 1620MHz, [Alex] earned the top spot in the HWBOT Prime overclocking benchmark.
It’s Brazil! 1600Mhz! Overclocking in Raspberry Pi Zero is ours! First place in points in HWBOT prime!
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.everpi.net%2F2017%2F04%2Fraspberry-pi-zero-overlock-extremo-1600mhz.html&edit-text=
Tomi Engdahl says:
Networking: Pin the Tail on the Headless Raspberry Pi
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/18/networking-pin-the-tail-on-the-headless-raspberry-pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Discontinued Nintendo Consoles and Raspberry Pis
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/19/discontinued-nintendo-consoles-and-raspberry-pis/
Nintendo has discontinued a Classic gaming console. It’s a pity, yes, but with the release of Nintendo’s new gaming console, they probably have bigger fish to fry. That doesn’t mean these discontinued Nintendo consoles will die a slow, miserable death locked away in a closet; at least one of them will live on with the heart of a Raspberry Pi.
This is a project [Liam] has been working on since 2012, just after he got the first edition of the Raspberry Pi. While some people were figuring out how to stuff the Pi inside a Nintendo Entertainment System or a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, [Liam] decided to embed the Pi inside a console of a more recent vintage: the Nintendo GameCube.
http://leelum.com/blog/picube-build/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Budget Astrophotography With A Raspberry Pi
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/20/budget-astrophotography-with-a-raspberry-pi/
New to astrophotography, [Jason Bowling] had heard that the Raspberry Pi’s camera module could be used as a low-cost entry into the hobby. Having a Raspberry Pi B+ and camera module on hand from an old project, he dove right in, detailing the process for any other newcomers.
Gingerly removing the camera’s lens, the module fit snugly into a 3D printed case — courtesy of a friend — and connected it to a separate case for the Pi. [Bowling] then mounted he camera directly on the telescope — a technique known as prime-focus photography, which treats the telescope like an oversized camera lens. A USB battery pack is perfect for powering the Pi for several hours.
Astrophotography with the Raspberry Pi Camera – A Cheapskate’s Guide to Solar System Photography
http://shortcircuitsandinfiniteloops.blogspot.fi/2017/04/astrophotography-with-raspberry-pi.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ultrasonic Raspberry Pi Piano
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/22/ultrasonic-raspberry-pi-piano/
Cheap stuff gets our creative juices flowing. Case in point? [Andy Grove] built an eight-sensor HC-SR04 breakout board, because the ultrasonic distance sensors in question are so affordable that a hacker can hardly avoid ordering them by the dozen. He originally built it for robotics, but then it’s just a few lines of code to turn it into a gesture-controllable musical instrument. Check out the video, embedded below, for an overview of the features.
His Octasonic breakout board is just an AVR in disguise — it reads from eight ultrasonic sensors and delivers a single SPI result to whatever other controller is serving as the brains. In the “piano” demo, that’s a Raspberry Pi, so he needed the usual 5 V to 3.3 V level shifting in between.
Ultrasonic Pi Piano with Gesture Controls
https://hackaday.io/project/21187-ultrasonic-pi-piano-with-gesture-controls
This project turns ultrasonic sensors into a high quality musical instrument. It’s somewhere between a piano and a theremin.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Raspberry Pi As An IR To WiFi Bridge
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/23/the-raspberry-pi-as-an-ir-to-wifi-bridge/
[Jason] has a Sonos home sound system, with a bunch of speakers connected via WiFi. [Jason] also has a universal remote designed and manufactured in a universe where WiFi doesn’t exist. The Sonos can not be controlled via infrared. There’s an obvious problem here, but luckily tiny Linux computers with WiFi cost $10, and IR receivers cost $2. The result is an IR to WiFi bridge to control all those ‘smart’ home audio solutions.
The only thing [Jason] needed to control his Sonos from a universal remote is an IR receiver and a Raspberry Pi Zero W. The circuit is simple – just connect the power and ground of the IR receiver to the Pi, and plug the third pin of the receiver into a GPIO pin.
For the software, [Jason] turned to Node JS, and LIRC, a piece of software that decodes IR signals.
IR Volume Control for Sonos Connect AMP
http://wsmlab.blogspot.fi/2017/04/ir-volume-control-for-sonos-connect-amp.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get Up Close to your Soldering with a Pi Zero Microscope
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/26/get-up-close-to-your-soldering-with-a-pi-zero-microscope/
Do your Mark 1 Eyeballs no longer hold their own when it comes to fine work close up? Soldering can be a literal pain under such conditions, and even for the Elf-eyed among us, dealing with pads at a 0.4-mm pitch is probably best tackled with a little optical assistance. When the times comes for a little help, consider building a soldering microscope from a Pi Zero and a few bits and bobs from around the shop.
Affordable commercial soldering scopes aren’t terribly hard to come by, but [magkopian] decided to roll his own by taking advantage of the streaming capabilities of the Raspberry Pi platform, not to mention its affordability. This is a really simple hack — nothing is 3D-printed or custom milled.
Raspberry Pi Zero HDMI / WiFi Soldering Microscope
http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-Zero-HDMIWiFi-Soldering-Microscope/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get Up Close to your Soldering with a Pi Zero Microscope
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/26/get-up-close-to-your-soldering-with-a-pi-zero-microscope/
Do your Mark 1 Eyeballs no longer hold their own when it comes to fine work close up? Soldering can be a literal pain under such conditions, and even for the Elf-eyed among us, dealing with pads at a 0.4-mm pitch is probably best tackled with a little optical assistance. When the times comes for a little help, consider building a soldering microscope from a Pi Zero and a few bits and bobs from around the shop.
Affordable commercial soldering scopes aren’t terribly hard to come by, but [magkopian] decided to roll his own by taking advantage of the streaming capabilities of the Raspberry Pi platform, not to mention its affordability. This is a really simple hack — nothing is 3D-printed or custom milled.
Raspberry Pi Zero HDMI / WiFi Soldering Microscope
http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-Zero-HDMIWiFi-Soldering-Microscope/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Raspberry Pi As An IR To WiFi Bridge
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/23/the-raspberry-pi-as-an-ir-to-wifi-bridge/
Tomi Engdahl says:
QRPi
http://rfsparkling.com/qrpi/
QRPi is an RF signal conditioner shield for Raspberry Pi. Sourcing the RaspberryPi generated RF signal from GPIO4.
Right now existing only for the 20m band for 14.0971 MHz Later on will designed for other bands as well (10m in prototype).
In default GPIO4 mode can be used with WsprryPi, SSTV, CW, check manual here: j.mp/tapr-qrpi GPIO4 mode works with RPi 1 B, B+ and RPi 2 as well for WSPR mode.
When using in the experimental GPIO18 mode (solder jumper selectable; SSB USB, LSB, NFM, WFM, AM with qtcsdr and rpitx) it works only with RPi 2 right now (due to CPU demand)
https://www.tapr.org/kits_20M-wspr-pi.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://blog.hackster.io/this-pi-powered-device-creates-virtual-crowds-using-wi-fi-signals-a54e8482f096
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building Bartenders With Open Source Hardware and Google Assistant
Cocktails Powered by Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and the Google Cloud
https://blog.hackster.io/building-bartenders-with-open-source-and-google-assistant-877743fdac58
Once upon a time in San Francisco there was a series of events called Barbot that featured robots pouring cocktails, and the makers who loved them.
Powered by a Raspberry Pi, an Arduino, and the Google Assistant SDK, Google has joined up with innovation studio Deeplocal to create a voice-controlled robotic home bartender that serves both drinks, and small talk.
The body of the mixer is built from laser cut acrylic and, like a lot of the bartending robots that have gone before, it uses peristaltic pumps to move the ingredients around the bot.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google releases DIY open source Raspberry Pi ‘Voice Kit’ hardware — here’s how to get it
https://betanews.com/2017/05/04/google-open-source-raspberry-pi-diy-voice-kit/
Google has long been focused on artificial intelligence. Its Google Now and voice assistance projects have used AI to better the lives of users. The Google Home voice-based hardware unit brings its assistant to life, making traditional inputs and displays unnecessary. With just the power of your voice, you can interact with the device — nothing else is needed.
The search giant has decided to take artificial intelligence to the maker community with a new initiative called AIY. This initiative (found here) will introduce open source AI projects to the public that makers can leverage in a simple way. Today, Google announces the first-ever AIY project. Called “Voice Kit,” it is designed to work with a Raspberry Pi to create a voice-based virtual assistant. Please keep in mind that the Pi itself is not included, so you must bring your own. For this project, you can use a Pi 3 Model B, Pi 2, or Pi Zero. Want a Voice Kit? Here’s how to get it. Heck, you might be getting one for free and you don’t even know it.
https://aiyprojects.withgoogle.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Internet Connected Dog Treat Machine
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/07/the-internet-connected-dog-treat-machine/
Phone Based Treat Dispenser (Motion Detection, Video and More)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-Treat-Dispenser-With-Video-Motion-Det/
Tomi Engdahl says:
ThermPi
A Raspberry Pi thermostat for my heat pump, with presence detection
https://hackaday.io/project/3915-thermpi
I’m building a smart thermostat for my heat pump using a RasPi. I plan to have a web interface, temp/humidity/runtime/mode logging via SNMP and Cacti, and presence detection to save energy when nobody’s home.
I plan to use the heat pump’s own 24VAC thermostat transformer to power the Pi through the rectifier, filter cap, and voltage regulator.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Keep the Burglars Away With Some Pi
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/09/keep-the-burglars-away-with-some-pi/
Ten years ago, we never imagined we would be able to ward off burglars with Pi. However, that is exactly what [Nick] is doing with his Raspberry Pi home security system.
We like how, instead of using a standard siren, [Nick] utilized his existing stereo system to play a custom audio file that he created. (Oh the possibilities!) How many off the shelf alarm systems can you do that with?
The Pi is the brains of the operation, running an open source software program called Home Assistant. If any of the Z-Wave sensors in his house are triggered while the alarm system is armed, the system begins taking several actions. The stereo system is turned on via IR so that the digital alarm audio file can be played. Lights flash on and off. An IP camera takes several snapshots and emails them to [Nick].
Raspberry Pi + Home Assistant DIY Burglar Alarm
https://partofthething.com/thoughts/?p=1037
I just configured a pretty slick burglar alarm with the open-source Home-Assistant platform running on my Raspberry Pi. It can be armed to trigger when a door is opened and/or when a motion sensor goes off.
Then, a sequence of events happens:
An IR LED turns on my stereo
A sound file I cobbled together starts playing. It starts with a computerized voice saying that your entry been detected and recorded, then it beeps for a while (giving you time to disarm), and then it goes into a blaring siren noise.
A light blinks on and off a few times
A camera takes a series of snapshots of the area
An email is sent to my phone with the snapshots, showing me what’s going on
There’s also a silent-alarm mode that just takes pictures and emails them to me.
To disarm, you have to type the proper disarm sequence with an infrared remote I have sitting on the counter
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bypassing TV broadcasting restrictions
A compact Tvheadend server based on a RPi3 to bypass geographical restrictions of TV broadcasting
https://hackaday.io/project/10821-bypassing-tv-broadcasting-restrictions
My dad likes to watch TV, but he doesn’t get the channels he enjoys because of geographical broadcasting restrictions. So I’m building a Tvheadend server, based on a Raspberry Pi 3 and a DVB-T receiver, in order to receive the broadcasting in the allowed zone and transmit it over the Internet to a media center (or any computer really).
This project shows how to make a compact Tvheadend server that is also secure and relatively easy to set up. I’m learning as I build it so this should be fun…
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Home Automation Cluster
https://hackaday.io/project/605-raspberry-home-automation-cluster
A high availability Raspberry pi cluster for home automation purposes. Simple, low on energy, but very stable.
One year ago I started my home automation project. It then consisted of a large (Windows) server and php web interface hosted externally.
Changes where made on the web interface which would be polled by the server.
If the server found a change in state for example a light bulb, it would execute a command. In this case turn on the light bulb over X10.
Running a full server (with its power cost) for something this simple is overkill. And since I’m trying to get a grip on my power usage, it seems a good idea to reduce the computing power, and power cost.
Why a cluster..?
I have been messing around with Raspberry’s before, and something that really bothered me was the lack of stability. For example. I had made a RPI based thermostat complete with LCD and PIR motion sensor. After I wrote the code I tested the setup for a week before installing it. Within this week the RPI crashed a few times, got harder to boot, and finally did not boot at al. After doing some research it seemed that some files where corrupted on the SD card. Reading the stories on internet, I’m not the only one with corrupted SD cards. Anyhow, I love the simplicity and power of the Raspberry, and still want to give it a fair chance at being stable. I thought I would help it a little by making a 3 node H.A. cluster with a decent power supply.
Is it working…?
At this moment in time I really don’t know, but I sure hope it does.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vintage Portable TV Turned Retro Gaming System
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/11/vintage-portable-tv-turned-retro-gaming-system/
When [FinnAndersen] found an old TV set by the side of the road, he did what any self-respecting DIY/gaming enthusiast would do: He took it apart and installed a Raspberry Pi 3 running RetroPie in it in order to play retro games on a retro TV!
[Finn] took the CRT out of the TV before realizing that it actually worked. It was already too late, so [Finn] ordered a 12″ LCD screen to put in its place. He liked the idea of the curved screen the CRT had, though, so he molded a piece of acrylic around the CRT and, after some cutting and grinding, had it fitting in the screen’s space.
I turned an old portable TV into a dedicated retro gaming system!
by FinnAndersen 2d
http://imgur.com/a/nIBqT
Tomi Engdahl says:
Liquid Cooling Overclocked Raspberry Pi With Style
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/15/liquid-cooling-overclocked-raspberry-pi-with-style/
[HydroGraphix HeadQuarters] has earned his name with this one. While he is using mineral oil instead of hydro, he’s certainly done a nice job with the graphics of it. The ‘it’ in questions is an overclocked Raspberry Pi 3 in a transparent container filled with mineral oil, and with a circulating fan.
He’s had no problem running the Pi at 1.45 GHz while running a Nintendo 64 emulator, getting between 40 °C and 50 °C. The circulating fan is a five volt computer USB fan. It’s hard to tell if the oil is actually moving, but we’re pretty sure we see some doing so near the end of the video below the break.
Building a liquid cooled Raspberry Pi case
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIqp76FK_BI
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi INA219 voltage/current sensor library
https://hackaday.io/project/19891-raspberry-pi-ina219-voltagecurrent-sensor-library
Python library for Raspberry Pi which provides an easy to use interface for the INA219 voltage and current sensor from Texas Instruments.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sudo Google Assistant
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/16/sudo-google-assistant/
A Raspberry Pi kicking around one’s workbench is a project waiting to happen — if they remain unused long enough to be considered a ‘spare.’ If you find you’ve been pining after an Alexa or your own personal J.A.R.V.I.S., [Novaspirit Tech] might be able to help you out — provided you have a USB mic and speaker handy — with an accessible tutorial for setting up Google Assistant on your Pi.
A quick run-through on enabling a fresh API client on Google’s cloud platform, [Novaspirit] jumps over to the Raspbian console to start updating Python and a few other dependencies. Note: this is being conducted in the latest version of Raspbian, so be sure to update before you get underway with all of your sudos.
Google Assistant on Raspberry Pi
https://www.novaspirit.com/2017/05/02/google-assistant-raspberry-pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi ZERO SHIELD
https://hackaday.io/project/22032-raspberry-pi-and-raspberry-pi-zero-shield
Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi ZERO SHIELD – Universal SHIELD for Raspberry Pi family
Raspberry Pi Universal SHIELD and Raspberry Pi ZERO Universal SHIELD it is shield that you can use over making your custom prototype with Raspberry Pi.
Here you will find full description of this shield
https://www.awesomepcb.com/raspberry-pi-and-raspberry-pi-zero-shield-universal-shield-for-raspberry-pi
Tomi Engdahl says:
Modernizing a DSC Home Alarm System
Get alerts when doors and windows open or close using existing sensors and wiring.
https://hackaday.io/project/24312-modernizing-a-dsc-home-alarm-system
Tomi Engdahl says:
PipeCam: Low-Cost Underwater Camera
Low cost autonomous underwater camera for long term deployments
https://hackaday.io/project/21222-pipecam-low-cost-underwater-camera
This projects aims to build low-cost in situ underwater cameras for shallow deployments, from relatively off-the-shelf materials.
The goal of the this project is to prove that “It can’t be that hard, surely?”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Garden
Smart Garden is a plant environmental monitoring system.
https://hackaday.io/project/22613-smart-garden
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: LiFePO4wered/Pi+
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/26/hackaday-prize-entry-lifepo4weredpi/
In a nutshell, it’s a smart UPS for the Raspberry Pi. The standard version allows a Model A+ and Pi Zero to run on battery for over 2 hours, and the B+, B2 and B3 to run for at least an hour (it maybe less, depending on the system load, of course). It implements two-way communications between the power system and the Raspberry Pi (running the open-source daemon) over the I2C bus.
LiFePO4wered/Pi+
https://hackaday.io/project/20909-lifepo4weredpi
Next Gen LiFePO4 battery / UPS / power manager for Raspberry Pi, ideal for headless and IoT use
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Internet of Cigars
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/27/the-internet-of-cigars/
We know, we know. They are bad for you. You shouldn’t start, but some people do love a cigar. And a fine cigar is pretty particular about drying out. That’s why tobacconists and cigar aficionados store their smokes in a humidor. This is anything from a small box to a large closet that maintains a constant humidity. Of course, who could want such a thing these days without having it connected to the Internet?
This fine-looking humidor uses a Raspberry Pi. When the humidity is low, an ultrasonic humidifier adds moisture to the air. If it gets too high, a fan circulates the air until it balances out. Who knew cigar smoking could be so high-tech? The humidity sensor is an AM2302. There’s also a smart USB hub that can accept commands to turn the fan and humidifier on and off.
HumidorPi
https://imgur.com/gallery/WZcSI
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sense Hat Comes Alive
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/27/sense-hat-comes-alive/
Remember the Raspberry Pi Sense Hat?
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Jukebox With Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.io/project/25130-diy-jukebox-with-raspberry-pi
Make your own Jukebox using a Raspberry Pi & cheap components. A cool decoration to entertain your guests + a smart hub for your smart
Tomi Engdahl says:
Single-cell Li-Ion Powered UPS for Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.io/project/25116-single-cell-li-ion-powered-ups-for-raspberry-pi
A simple yet complete UPS solution for most Raspberry Pi embedded applications, using a single-cell Li-Ion Battery.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi ZERO SHIELD – Universal SHIELD for Raspberry Pi family
https://hackaday.io/project/22032-raspberry-pi-and-raspberry-pi-zero-shield
View Gallery
337
0
18
3
Team (1)
Simon
Join this project’s team
Home page of Raspberry Pi SHIELD
hardware
ongoing project
Raspberry pi universal shield Raspberry pi shield Raspberry pi zero universal shield Raspberry pi proto shield Raspberry pi prototyping shield Raspberry pi zero shield Raspberry pi zero wifi shield
This project was created on 05/15/2017 and last updated 2 hours ago.
Description
Raspberry Pi Universal SHIELD and Raspberry Pi ZERO Universal SHIELD it is shield that you can use over making your custom prototype with Raspberry Pi.
Here you will find full description of this shield
https://www.awesomepcb.com/raspberry-pi-and-raspberry-pi-zero-shield-universal-shield-for-raspberry-pi
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google AIY: Artificial Intelligence Yourself
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/04/google-aiy-artificial-intelligence-yourself/
When Amazon released the API to their voice service Alexa, they basically forced any serious players in this domain to bring their offerings out into the hacker/maker market as well. Now Google and Raspberry Pi have come together to bring us ‘Artificial Intelligence Yourself’ or AIY.
A free hardware kit made by Google was distributed with Issue 57 of the MagPi Magazine which is targeted at makers and hobbyists which you can see in the video after the break. The kit contains a Raspberry Pi Voice Hat, a microphone board, a speaker and a number of small bits to mount the kit on a Raspberry Pi 3. Putting all of it together and following the instruction on the official site gets you a Google Voice Interaction Kit with a bunch of IOs just screaming to be put to good use.
https://aiyprojects.withgoogle.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Build Your Own Google AIY without the Kit
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/30/diy-google-aiy/
Google’s voice assistant has been around for a while now and when Amazon released its Alexa API and ported the PaaS Cloud code to the Raspberry Pi 2 it was just a matter of time before everyone else jumped on the fast train to maker kingdom. Google just did it in style.
Few know that the Google Assistant API for the Raspberry Pi 3 has been out there for some time now but when they decided to give away a free kit with the May 2017 issues of MagPi magazine, they made an impression on everyone. Unfortunately the world has more makers and hackers and the number of copies of the magazine are limited.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low cost (~ 9$) IoT for Arduino and Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.io/project/10416-low-cost-9-iot-for-arduino-and-raspberry-pi
Low cost IoT platform for Arduino Nano and Raspberry Pi under 9USD for all parts (included shipping) base on Ebay seller.
Target for this project would be creat IoT platform for Arduino Nano and Raspberry PI 2 base on Ebay parts under $9.
Learn also about Breadboard PCB project with support for Raspberry Pi connector on board.
https://www.awesomepcb.com/breadboard-pcb-with-raspberry-pi-support/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Modular Open-Source AV Receiver
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/30/hackaday-prize-entry-a-modular-open-source-av-receiver/
Hi-Fi hasn’t changed much in decades. OK, we’ll concede that’s something of a controversial statement to make in that of course your home hi-fi has changed immensely over the years. Where once you might have had a turntable and a cassette deck you probably now have a streaming media player, and a surround sound processor, for example.
But it’s still safe to say that hi-fi reproduction hasn’t changed much in decades. You can still hook up the latest audio source to an amplifier and speakers made decades ago, and you’ll still enjoy great sound.
His solution has some merit, he’s produced a modular open-source AV processor in which the emphasis is on upgradeability to keep up with future developments rather than on presenting a black box to the user which will one day be rendered useless by the passage of time.
Modular Open-Source AV Receiver
https://hackaday.io/project/20469-modular-open-source-av-receiver
A specification and reference implementation for a modular audio/visual receiver
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackerspace Jukebox!
http://hackaday.com/2017/06/02/hackerspace-jukebox/
Depending on whom you talk to, music can be an integral part of getting work done. At the Hackheim hackerspace in Trondheim, Norway, [Nikolai Ovesen] thought that the previous system of playing music over Bluetooth took away from the collaborative, interactive spirit of the space. Solution: a weekend build of a Raspberry Pi-powered jukebox.
The jukebox is simply laser-cut from plywood and bolted together. Inside, the touchscreen is mounted using double-sided tape, with the Raspberry Pi 3 and buck converter mounted on its rear with motherboard spacers.
Jukebox sound system for the hackerspace
Letting all the members of the hackerspace add song requests and play music with ease
https://hackaday.io/project/24910-jukebox-sound-system-for-the-hackerspace
Setting up our own jukebox sound system to allow ease of access and use to play and control music at the hackerspace.
The process went along something like this:
Buy parts
Test software
Make case (we used our snazzy Full Spectrum Muse laser cutter)
Assemble
Tinker
Tomi Engdahl says:
Flypi – cheap microscope/experimental setup
https://hackaday.io/project/5059-flypi-cheap-microscopeexperimental-setup
Pi + Picamera + M12 lens + Arduino microscope/experimental setup for diagnostics and scientific experiments!
Our plan with this project is to develop a complete opensource and cheap device for scientific experiments (data collection and analysis) and diagnostics (if they are “microscopy based”).
So far we were able to perform some proof of principle experiments in life sciences (Fluorescence and calcium imaging, opto and thermo genetics essays) and to perform diagnostics of the following parasites: Loa loa, Brugia Malayi, Wuchereria bankrofti, Schistosoma eggs, Mansonella perstans
The setup is quite simple:
A raspberry pi 2 (or 3) (running Raspian) + picamera with mounted lens (M12 standard) + some python3 code (for custom GUI + saving of data) do most of the lifting and an Arduino + custom PCB + electronic bits take care of timing, light stimulation, heating, temperature sensing and any other physical interaction necessary.
For more details, please check: https://openlabwaredotnet.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/main-v4.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Multifunction Raspberry Pi Chiptune Player
http://hackaday.com/2017/06/11/multifunction-raspberry-pi-chiptune-player/
General Instrument’s AY-3-8910 is a chip associated with video game music and is became popular with arcade games and pinball machines. The chip tunes produced by this IC are iconic and are reminiscent of a great era for electronics. [Deater] has done an amazing job at creating a harmony between the old and new with his Raspberry Pi AY-3-8910 project.
Raspberry Pi AY-3-8910
http://www.deater.net/weave/vmwprod/hardware/ay-3-8910/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smooth Ambience System With Voice Command
https://hackaday.io/project/25467-smooth-ambience-system-with-voice-command
Trigger via voice command a smooth ambience system that turns off your main lights, turn on smooth lighting and starts relaxing music
A project meant to let you create ambience automation workflows with DIY smart lights and smart music system and a good way for maker starters to discover home automation
Step 1: NECESSARY COMPONENTS
Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 // ~$10~$35
16 GB SD card // ~$8
Breadboard with jumper wires // ~$2
LEDs // <$2
Old speakers with AUX cable // ~$0
USB stick // ~$0
Philips Hue bulb // ~$10-$20
RF socket + RF transceiver // ~$8
Total should be below $50
Tomi Engdahl says:
Osomcom POCSAG
Fully functional POCSAG (beeper/pager) network
https://hackaday.io/project/2624-osomcom-pocsag
Did you born before 1990? Don’t you miss your pager? Those little reliable devices that were able to run for months with a single AAA battery…
Do you still have one in an old box? Would you to like to run your own pager network and give pager signal to all your neighborhood?
Then, take a look to this project!
Osomcom POCSAG is a free implementation (open software / open hardware) of a POCSAG network that allows to create a 100% functional pager (AKA beeper) network.
Thanks to a mesh of cheap base transmitter nodes composed of a Raspberry PI and a specific designed radio board is easy to provide coverage to small and medium areas. A master node controls the network status and synchronize the message transmission process.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Raspberry Neural Network Sees All, Recognizes Some
http://hackaday.com/2017/06/14/diy-raspberry-neural-network-sees-all-recognizes-some/
As a fun project I thought I’d put Google’s Inception-v3 neural network on a Raspberry Pi to see how well it does at recognizing objects first hand. It turned out to be not only fun to implement, but also the way I’d implemented it ended up making for loads of fun for everyone I showed it to, mostly folks at hackerspaces and such gatherings. And yes, some of it bordering on pornographic — cheeky hackers.
How To Do Object Recognition
The implementation consists of:
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
amplifier and speaker
PiCamera
momentary swtich
cellphone charger battery for the Pi
The heart of the necessary software is Google’s Inception neural network which is implemented using their TensorFlow framework.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Automated Wildlife Recognition
http://hackaday.com/2017/06/14/hackaday-prize-entry-automated-wildlife-recognition/
Trail and wildlife cameras are commonly available nowadays, but the Wild Eye project aims to go beyond simply taking digital snapshots of critters. [Brenda Armour] uses a Raspberry Pi to not only take photos of wildlife who wander into the camera’s field of view, but to also automatically identify and categorize the animals seen using a visual recognition API from IBM via the Node-RED infrastructure. The result is a system that captures an image when motion is detected, sends the image to the visual recognition API, and attempts to identify any wildlife based on the returned data.
Wild Eye
https://hackaday.io/project/24938-wild-eye
To capture the image and breed of the animal using OpenCV and Node-RED Watson Visual Recognition