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:
TURNING THE RASPBERRY PI INTO A MCU PROGRAMMER
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/05/turning-the-raspberry-pi-into-a-mcu-programmer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Make a Raspberry Pi Work-From-Home Status Indicator
https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/raspberry-pi-work-status-indicator
Tomi Engdahl says:
Automated Hydroponic System
An automated hydroponic system for growing strawberries using Grafana and InfluxDB.
https://www.hackster.io/alexandracovor/automated-hydroponic-system-0bceb2
Tomi Engdahl says:
CarPiHat Offers Multi-Feature Interfaces Between Your Raspberry Pi and Any 12V Vehicle System
HAT-standard board includes 12-5V buck converter, opto-isolated inputs, two high-current 12V outputs, CAN bus, and more.
https://www.hackster.io/news/carpihat-offers-multi-feature-interfaces-between-your-raspberry-pi-and-any-12v-vehicle-system-48846b7839cb
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nandu’s lockdown Raspberry Pi robot project
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/nandus-lockdown-raspberry-pi-robot-project/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scott Baker’s Supercapacitor UPS Offers Solid-State Brown, Blackout Protection for Your Raspberry Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/scott-baker-s-supercapacitor-ups-offers-solid-state-brown-blackout-protection-for-your-raspberry-pi-0f01f7968dc9
Available as a standalone UPS board or a HAT add-on specifically for the Raspberry Pi, Baker’s designs protect against brief power loss.
Initial attempts with 1.25A buck-boost module, however, proved insufficient to power a Raspberry Pi 4 — something Baker believes can be resolved by building it with an 8A boost module in its place, though the solution is untested.
Full details, along with links to the source code, can be found on Baker’s website.
https://www.smbaker.com/supercapacitor-uninterruptable-power-supply-ups-for-raspberry-pi
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/27/tiny-raspberry-pi-mac-nails-the-apple-aesthetic/
Tomi Engdahl says:
DJing Without The Truckload Of Equipment; Secret Ingredient Is Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.com/2020/07/03/djing-without-the-truckload-of-equipment-secret-ingredient-is-raspberry-pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/21/adding-midi-to-a-mini-synth-is-easy-as-pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Autonomous Rover Navigates The House With LIDAR
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/22/autonomous-rover-navigates-the-house-with-lidar/
To do the job, a Raspberry Pi 3 was put in charge, and kitted out with a LIDAR for mapping. Pololu Roboclaw motor controllers are then used to allow the Raspberry Pi to drive the robot’s individual wheel motors, giving the four-wheeled bot skid steering capability.
An Autonomous Rover
https://www.instructables.com/id/An-Autonomous-Rover/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi EVSE Hat
Use a Raspberry Pi to build an EV charging station
https://hackaday.io/project/167595-raspberry-pi-evse-hat
Tomi Engdahl says:
An NTP server using GNSS for time
A straightforward project to use an old Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.io/project/172272-an-ntp-server-using-gnss-for-time
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/07/20/raspberry-pi-shuffler-is-computerized-card-shark/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Gets PATA/IDE Drive Via GPIO Header
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/10/raspberry-pi-gets-pata-ide-drive-via-gpio-header/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Folding Raspberry Pi Enclosure Prints In One Piece, No Screws In Sight
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/11/folding-raspberry-pi-enclosure-prints-in-one-piece-no-screws-in-sight/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Makes A Practical Tricorder
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/24/raspberry-pi-makes-a-practical-tricorder/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nick designed this Raspberry Pi device to track and display virtual private server login attempts.
PiAlert Tracks Attempted Server Logins and Provides Simple Status Updates About Them
https://www.hackster.io/news/pialert-tracks-attempted-server-logins-and-provides-simple-status-updates-about-them-e2b51aa5d804
Nick designed this device to track and display virtual private server login attempts.
It is pretty much a guarantee that any publicly accessible server will receive login attempts from unauthorized sources. Most of these aren’t coming from some black hat hacker trying to bypass your firewall and crack into your mainframe, but rather automated bots that crawl from server to server looking for easy access. They’re usually only testing common or default passwords in order to find servers that system admins put online but didn’t bother to secure properly. They aren’t much of a threat if you did setup your security correctly, but it can still be useful to monitor the attempts. That’s why Nick made PiAlert-V1 to track those attempts and display data about them in a simple manner.
https://nick-web.co.uk/raspberrypi/posts/2020-09-21/pialert
Tomi Engdahl says:
Audio Injector Pro with Phono Pre-Amp Skin Brings High-Definition Audio to the Raspberry Pi
Designed with a user-swappable modular two-board layout, the Audio Injector Pro comes bundled with a phono pre-amp stage.
https://www.hackster.io/news/audio-injector-pro-with-phono-pre-amp-skin-brings-high-definition-audio-to-the-raspberry-pi-fd857a542e0f
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/10/01/raspberry-pi-helps-racer-master-the-track/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2013/09/05/jack-the-dvd-ripping-robot/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/10/07/raspberry-pi-crazy-guitar-rig-turns-you-into-a-hard-n-heavy-one-man-band/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raspberry-Pi-Transform-the-popular-single-board-computer-into-a-fully-fledged-PC-with-the-DeskPi-Pro.497458.0.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi: Bring 5G and GPS connectivity to the popular single-board computer with a Snapdragon X55-based HAT
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raspberry-Pi-Bring-5G-and-GPS-connectivity-to-the-popular-single-board-computer-with-a-Snapdragon-X55-based-HAT.498311.0.html
A new HAT has brought 5G and GPS connectivity to the Raspberry Pi. Designed for any single-board computer with a 40-pin header, the Waveshare SIM8200EA-M2 5G HAT supports up to Sub-6 5G. The HAT should be compatible with Android, Linux and Windows.
The Waveshare SIM8200EA-M2 5G HAT may look unsightly, but it packs a lot of features. Waveshare advertises its SIM8200EA-M2 HAT for the Raspberry Pi, but it will work with any single-board computer (SBC) that has a 40-pin header. The company has based the HAT on the Snapdragon X55 platform, found in the Snapdragon 855, allowing it to support 5G, 4G and 3G connections.
https://www.waveshare.com/sim8200ea-m2-5g-hat.htm
Tomi Engdahl says:
$12 module simply slots onto the GPIO header of a Raspberry Pi or compatible SBC, and follows Infineon’s own quick-start guide.
OTS Security Optiga Trust M Breakout Simplifies Improving the Security of Your Raspberry Pi Project
https://www.hackster.io/news/ots-security-optiga-trust-m-breakout-simplifies-improving-the-security-of-your-raspberry-pi-project-37a22da8b2e8
$12 module simply slots onto the GPIO header of a Raspberry Pi or compatible SBC, and follows Infineon’s own quick-start guide
Tomi Engdahl says:
No CRT? No problem! Element14 Presents’ Andy West mods an NES Super Scope with a Raspberry Pi and Arduino for use on new TVs.
Nintendo Super Scope on Modern Television
https://www.hackster.io/news/nintendo-super-scope-on-modern-television-60c92f6d3b97
Andy West mods an NES Super Scope with a Raspberry Pi and Arduino for use on new TVs.
The project works by tracking four IR LED emitters arranged on the corners of a TV with a Raspberry Pi NoIR camera and filter. This info is sent to a Raspberry Pi 4 2GB model, which then uses OpenCV to calculate where the scope is aiming. Control info is passed along to the Arduino Uno base station via Bluetooth. This translates the signals into SNES-usable outputs that are supplied to the second controller port.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PiZ-SuperCapacitor Provides Just Enough Juice to Safely Shut Down Your Raspberry Pi Zero
https://www.hackster.io/news/piz-supercapacitor-provides-just-enough-juice-to-safely-shut-down-your-raspberry-pi-zero-0ebea557cb7d
Powered by a single supercapacitor and a Python script, the board offers just enough runtime on power loss to safely shut down.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build Your Own Voice-Activated Home Automation System
http://mag.breadboard.pk/build-your-own-voice-activated-home-automation-system/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://github.com/koutto/pi-pwnbox-rogueap
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dr. Scott M. Baker has built a new add-on designed to make powering his Raspberry Pi projects easier: a supercapacitor-based UPS.
Scott Baker’s Supercapacitor UPS Offers Solid-State Brown, Blackout Protection for Your Raspberry Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/scott-baker-s-supercapacitor-ups-offers-solid-state-brown-blackout-protection-for-your-raspberry-pi-0f01f7968dc9
Available as a standalone UPS board or a HAT add-on specifically for the Raspberry Pi, Baker’s designs protect against brief power loss.
https://www.smbaker.com/supercapacitor-uninterruptable-power-supply-ups-for-raspberry-pi
Tomi Engdahl says:
XaLogic K210 AI Accelerator Looks to Bring Kendryte K210-Powered AI Acceleration to the Raspberry Pi
Compact add-on offers 0.5 TOPS of compute performance and the promise of open source software with full examples.
https://www.hackster.io/news/xalogic-k210-ai-accelerator-looks-to-bring-kendryte-k210-powered-ai-acceleration-to-the-raspberry-pi-d7d4dcd3bf62
Tomi Engdahl says:
It’s Got Two 8-Ohm Speakers and a Microphone — the Adafruit Voice Bonnet for Raspberry Pi
When it comes to audio machine learning projects, this WM8960-powered digital audio pHAT is where it’s at!
https://www.hackster.io/news/it-s-got-two-8-ohm-speakers-and-a-microphone-the-adafruit-voice-bonnet-for-raspberry-pi-96229d0862bb
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/raspberry-pi-face-mask-detector
Tomi Engdahl says:
Geppetto Electronic’s Latest Board Makes Programming an AVR From a Raspberry Pi a High-Speed Cinch
Hooking onto the GPIO header, this “cap” accessory works hand-in-hand with a patched avrdude for high-speed AVR programming.
https://www.hackster.io/news/geppetto-electronic-s-latest-board-makes-programming-an-avr-from-a-raspberry-pi-a-high-speed-cinch-b9ff261b7044
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.tomshardware.com/features/best-raspberry-pi-projects/7
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get back to the basics and learn about the working principles of an LED matrix: https://bit.ly/2UeiKhS
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Robotic Sous-Chef Is Powered By a Raspberry Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/this-robotic-sous-chef-is-powered-by-a-raspberry-pi-41c186738f77
Ben Cobley is a university student who we assume lives alone, because he built a robotic sous-chef called OnionBot to help him cook meals.
When we work up the motivation to cook dinner instead of ordering takeout for the fifth time that week, we find ourselves struggling to juggle all of the various cooking tasks that apparently need to be done simultaneously. That’s why Ben Cobley used a Raspberry Pi to make a robotic sous-chef named OnionBot to help him cook meals while he’s at university.
https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/student-innovation-onionbot-building-a-robot-sous-chef
Tomi Engdahl says:
Built for the Raspberry Pi Zero W and Pimoroni Unicorn pHAT, TallyPi connects to the lights and controls them over HTTP.
DeckerEgo’s TallyPi Is a Network-Controlled Tally Light for Live Cameras
https://www.hackster.io/news/deckerego-s-tallypi-is-a-network-controlled-tally-light-for-live-cameras-b859d074602e
Built for the Raspberry Pi Zero W and Pimoroni Unicorn pHAT, TallyPi connects to the lights and controls them over HTTP.
https://hackaday.io/project/175088-tallypi
Build network controlled tally lights for live cameras, intended for control by OBS but extensible enough to use for whatever you like.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NASA Uses Raspberry Pi to further Open-Source Space Technology
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nasa-uses-raspberry-pi-for-f-prime
The NASA team recently tweeted progress on developing the open-source flight software framework known as F Prime. Along with the announcement was a selection of example deployments featuring the new embedded application—one of which, of course, was running on our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build a motion detection system with a Raspberry Pi
Set up an inexpensive home security system to alert you when someone is lurking around your house.
https://opensource.com/article/20/11/motion-detection-raspberry-pi
Tomi Engdahl says:
PiWatcher TB Is a Raspberry Pi Watchdog
This small board can automatically shut down or reboot your Raspberry Pi whenever it’s needed.
https://www.hackster.io/news/piwatcher-tb-is-a-raspberry-pi-watchdog-103c32a53062
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Amazing Motion Control Camera Rig Is Almost Completely 3D-Printable
https://www.hackster.io/news/this-amazing-motion-control-camera-rig-is-almost-completely-3d-printable-80024b5ddcdb
YouTuber Do It Whenever? created an amazing 11-foot-tall, 6-axis motorized motion capture camera rig that runs on Raspberry Pi and Arduino.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PiFinger Is the First-Ever Fingerprint HAT for Raspberry Pi
This fingerprint sensor can be used for various applications, including unlocking/locking your Raspberry Pi.
https://www.hackster.io/news/pifinger-is-the-first-ever-fingerprint-hat-for-raspberry-pi-e9722f6fd237
Tomi Engdahl says:
Use a Raspberry Pi to Build Your Own Battery-Powered Pocket Cloud Server
Toby Chui’s Pocket Cloud Server is a Raspberry Pi Zero W-based portable NAS device that you can create yourself.
https://www.hackster.io/news/use-a-raspberry-pi-to-build-your-own-battery-powered-pocket-cloud-server-f4212b2f7575
Tomi Engdahl says:
How can you really know when your smart speaker is listening? The Speaker Snitch can give an absolute answer to this question by sniffing local network traffic and flashing a light any time there is traffic between the device and the vendor’s cloud service: https://bit.ly/33XVBWe
Speaker Snitch flashes a light when your smart speaker is sending data to the cloud.
https://github.com/nickbild/speaker_snitch
How can you really know when your smart speaker is listening and sending data to the cloud? There have been documented cases in which up to a minute of speech has been transferred to the cloud without a wake-word having been spoken.
Speaker Snitch can give an absolute answer to this question by sniffing local network traffic and flashing a light sitting next to the speaker any time there is traffic between the speaker and the vendor’s cloud service.
A Raspberry Pi computer promiscuously sniffs packets on the local network. A Python script parses these packets, looking for any communication between the smart speaker and the vendor’s cloud service. When detected, an API endpoint on an Arduino Nano 33 IoT microcontroller development board is accessed. This causes an LED attached to the Arduino to flash, thus alerting you to a speaker sending data to the vendor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Car Dashboard Shows Real-Time Auto Stats
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/raspberry-pi-retro-car-dashboard-projcet
Retro vibes with a Raspberry Pi!
Tomi Engdahl says:
HEAVY RASPBERRY PI USER? KEEP AN HDMI-TO-USB CAPTURE DEVICE AROUND
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/21/heavy-raspberry-pi-user-keep-an-hdmi-to-usb-capture-device-around/
Here’s a simple tip from [Andy], whose Raspberry Pi projects often travel with him outside the workshop: he suggests adding a small HDMI-to-USB video capture device to one’s Raspberry Pi utility belt. As long as there is a computer around, it provides a simple and configuration-free way to view a Raspberry Pi’s display that doesn’t involve the local network, nor does it require carrying around a spare HDMI display and power supply.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.raspberryconnect.com/raspbian-packages/36-raspbian-games
Tomi Engdahl says:
RoboScan Is a Raspberry Pi-Based Analog Film Scanner
Benjamin Bezine demonstrated an automatic analog film scanner built with LEGO and works around Raspberry Pi.
https://www.hackster.io/news/roboscan-is-a-raspberry-pi-based-analog-film-scanner-6e2f5137fd14
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building a openSUSE MicroOS RPi Network Monitor
How to use combustion to reproducibly configure MicroOS
https://rootco.de/2020-12-09-microos-pi-network-monitor/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://blog.alexellis.io/self-hosting-kubernetes-on-your-raspberry-pi/