Best projects to try with the Raspberry Pi
The best projects to try with the
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi has floored the tech community
yet again, with the launch of the raspberry pi zero.The newest member of the Pi family, the Zero
costs £4 and measures just 65mm across while still remaining just as capable as
earlier models.
With similar specs to
the Raspberry Pi B+, the latest iteration of the hobby computing line will
allow users to make their microcomputing projects even more micro without
sacrificing performance.It's not just experienced hobbyists and hackers who
have made excellent use of the Pi.
We’ve rounded up all
the best things you can do with a Raspberry Pi to give budding makers some
ideas. Most of these are designed with the larger old-school models in mind,
but many of them can be adapted (or even improved) to feature the Raspberry Pi
Zero.
Below we take a look
at of our favourite Raspberry Pi projects to date:
Virtual Desktop for Raspberry Pi
Thanks to RealVNC's partnership with the Raspberry Pi Foundation,
the latest versions of the Raspbian distro all include pre-installed versions
of VNC Server and VNC Viewer.
This can be used to create a virtual desktop, which is excellent
for providing a graphical desktop interface to Pis that wouldn't otherwise have
one, such as headless devices running IoT or robotics projects.To activate
this, first ensure that VNC Server is set up and enabled on the target
Raspberry Pi - you can find out how to do that here. Then, use either your Raspberry Pi's
terminal or an SSH connection to run the 'vncserver' command.Note down the IP
address and display number that VNC Server shows, and input that information
into VNC Viewer. After that, you should be free to remotely operate the Pi as
if it had a full graphical desktop.
Stratux
Raspberry Pi is the heart of hundreds of useful projects, but as
this gadget shows, it can also help you satisfy your idle curiosity, too.Stratux
is a project devised to tell you information about the various aircraft in the
sky around you, and it’s wonderfully simply to build.
By receiving and
translating the ADS-B broadcasts from airplanes in the sky nearby, Stratux
gives you information such as the planes’ altitudes, speeds, locations and
callsigns.
It runs on the
Raspberry Pi 3 Motherboard, and the decoding software can be downloaded onto a
Micro SD card that you simply slot into the chip. This Page has a few alternative lists of parts, ranging in cost
from a budget $95, to a common $145 package, up to a $260 list that’s quick to
build.
Xbox Zero
The Raspberry Pi Zero is so small that it could fit into just
about anything, as this hack demonstrates. Programmer and maker Terence Eden
was lucky enough to get his hands on one of the devices, and with a bit of
tinkering, was able to put it inside an original Xbox controller.
Using the RetroPie emulation software, he was able to
make a retro games console that's entirely contained in the controller. The
controller itself loops back into the Pi, so all you need to play your
favourite old-school games is an HDMI display and a power source. There's
even enough space to fit in a portable power pack for those that want to take
it out and about.
Tea-Pi
A quarter-finalist in
the 2014 Hackaday Prize, this project by James Pavur is designed to automate
the process of making a nice loose-leaf cuppa.
Tell the Raspberry Pi for how long and at what
temperature you want your tea brewed, and the Pi will activate the connected
kettle, measure the temperature, and lower the tea in with a servo motor.
Once the tea leaves have been in for the
desired time, it’ll lift them out again, ready to be made into a lovely cup of
tea.
Raspberry Tor Router
Anonymising network Tor is beloved of privacy advocates
everywhere, as well as Dark Web users with more nefarious purposes in
mind.
This project turns the Raspberry Pi into a router to
send all your network traffic through Tor, rather than just browser sessions.
Best of all, you can even slap a battery pack into it to take it wherever you go!
Pi Multi-Room Music Player
Buying a bespoke multi-room sound system can be costly - but
thanks to Jezsinglespeed at Instructables, you can
now do it yourself for under £100. It’s a simple four-step project, which is
perfect if you want to introduce children the power of the Raspberry Pi.
All you need is one wireless streamer, wireless receivers (no.
depends on how many rooms) and of course your trusty Pi.
The Pi Musicbox
software is used to make the magic happen and the results are just as good as
any off the shelf product.
Get Whatsapp on your Raspberry Pi
Whatsapp has become one of the most popular
cross-platform messaging service with over 600 million users. Now you can send
messages directly from the Pi thanks to a tutorial from emmeshop.
All you need to do is to install the latest version of Raspbian,
enter a few lines of code and confirm registration using your mobile.
Customised picture frame
Digital picture frames are becoming
increasingly common but there are ways you can customise them. If you’ve got a
spare monitor or an existing digital picture frame with a USB connection, the
chances are you can connect your Raspberry Pi to it with a USB-HDMI
adaptor.
Cameron Wiebe has come up with some scripts which allow the Pi to automatically download pictures from Deviant Art everyday and display them in a slideshow.
Cameron Wiebe has come up with some scripts which allow the Pi to automatically download pictures from Deviant Art everyday and display them in a slideshow.
Treasure Box
Another superb project to work on with kids is
the Treasure Box which, can be opened with facial
recognition.
Tony Dicola has
created comprehensive instructions to bring this to life. You’ll need to invest
in a Raspberry Pi camera, servos and also box.
Power Cat Feeder
We all love our animals, but sometimes an automated pet feeder
sounds like a pretty nifty thing to have around the house.
That's what David Bryan did when he found himself going out of
town without a cat-sitter, contemplating just leaving a big bowl of food out.With
his Power Cat Feeder project, however, he could make sure they didn't overeat
before going hungry. Presumably, too, it can be used to feed any animal -
including humans.
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