As fall quickly approaches, the leaves are changing and Raspberry Pi enthusiasts are formatting their SD cards. We’ve got another batch of awesome Pi projects to showcase for you this month that are guaranteed to inspire your inner maker. So warm up your best soldering irons and get ready for some awe inspiring creations.
These makers use the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs to bring their ideas to fruition and what they couldn’t find on the market, they made themselves. From rotary phone assistants with sassy German accents to keycaps that run Doom, this list has a little bit of everything.
Raspberry Pi Carrier Board 'SaraKit' Powers LEGO RC Car
This LEGO RC car put together by Artur Majtczak and Maciek Matuszewski is definitely unique. From its LEGO construction to its dual differential axles, this build has a notably crafty design. It also features a custom board built by the team known as SaraKit.The car can be driven remotely using a smartphone interface.
Why we love it:
There’s a lot of work that went into creating this car and we admire every ounce of effort. The LEGO frame is exciting and the precision in the axle system is absolutely something to be admired. We’ve seen quite a few Pi-powered RC cards but this one has a unique flavor we just can’t pass up.
Read: Raspberry Pi Carrier Board 'SaraKit' Powers LEGO RC Car
Raspberry Pi Interstellar's TARS Replica
If you’re a fan of Interstellar, you’re going to love this project created by Charlie Diaz. It’s a working replica of the TARS robot and it actually locomotes. This thing walks like nothing we’ve ever seen and the work it took to perfect the walking mechanism is worth a spot on our list today.
Why we love it:
We love how sci-fi movies can inspire makers and this is a prime example of that connection. It also helps that we’re total suckers for movie robots. Bringing them to the real world is only going to get you bonus points on our list.
Read: Raspberry Pi Interstellar's TARS Replica
Raspberry Pi ChatGPT Rotary Phone Assistant With German Accent
Voice assistants are nothing new and neither are rotary phones but you’ve probably never seen a rotary phone voice assistant. This project, created by Zoltan T, works as you might expect. Just pick up the receiver and make a request to the voice assistant. The fun twist with this particular build is his decision to use ChatGPT to help give the assistant a German accent.
Why we love it:
This is a fun idea that we’ve seen before. However, the decision to add an accent to the voice assistant adds so much more personality that would otherwise be missed by a neutral tone. This is one project we wouldn’t mind creating for ourselves.
Read: Raspberry Pi ChatGPT Rotary Phone Assistant With German Accent
Raspberry Pi Hunts Shiny Pokémon
Finding a shiny Pokémon is really hard, like trying to wake a Snorlax without a pokéflute hard. That’s why maker Dinones decided to use a Raspberry Pi to do the shiny hunting instead! Just boot up the Pi and let it do its thing while you sleep. When you wake up, you’re bound to have a shiny or two on hand.
Why we love it:
We love gaming, we love the Raspberry Pi and we love using the Raspberry Pi to enhance our gaming experience! This project might not be for everyone. Shiny hunting is its own realm and this could be considered cheating by some—but we can’t help but admire the effort that went into automating this grueling process.
Read: Raspberry Pi Hunts Shiny Pokémon
Raspberry Pi Companion Robot
Robots are our friends…at least in an ideal world. If you want to avoid suffering at the mercy of robot overlords, you can start out by making your own Raspberry Pi companion robot like maker and developer Dan Nicholson.
Why we love it:
We love robots—especially Pi-powered robots—and this one is bipedal. There are a lot of neat components that went into this build,It from AI for image recognition to an Arduino as a secondary SBC.
Read: Raspberry Pi Companion Robot
Raspberry Pi RP2040 Runs Doom on a Keycap
Bob with TheKeebProject must have a really good magnifying glass handy because this Pi project is super tiny. He’s managed to run Doom on a single keycap thanks to an RP2040 microprocessor. Is this practical? You’re asking the wrong question.
Why we love it:
We love all the crazy things people use as a platform to run Doom. This keycap is the latest in a long line of impressive and nonsensical Doom-compatible devices. Silly or not, we’re impressed by the end results.
Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 Runs Doom on a Keycap
Raspberry Pi Lightsaber
Have you dreamed of building your own lightsaber? Now you can! This project from Adafruit outlines everything you need and how to assemble your own Raspberry Pi-powered lightsaber.You will need a 3D printer or access to one for the handle components.
Why we love it:
There’s always a bigger Pi—but an RP2040 will do for this project. This is a great project to make for fun, as a teaching aid or as a gift. This is a classic prop from one of the biggest sci fi franchises around, what’s not to love?
Read: Raspberry Pi Lightsaber
Raspberry Pi Mood Light
Mood rings were all the rage back in the 90s—Mohammad Reza Sharifi’s mood light project is the next obvious step that brings this trend into the 21st century. It uses everything from a Raspberry Pi Pico to the power of AI to pick a color for your lamp based on your current mood (or at least whatever the AI is interpreting from your expression).
Why we love it:
Do you have any idea how many colors you can generate with RGB LEDs these days? Picking a color is a huge decision. Why not let AI make the pick for you? This project makes life a little easier and much more colorful.
Read: Raspberry Pi Mood Light
Raspberry Pi Tells Your Fortune with ChatGPT and Game Boy Parts
Evan Holbert’s project is unlike any arcade cabinet we’ve ever seen. The movie Big would have hit a lot different if this was in place of Zoltar. It works like this—you put in a quarter while a Pi uses parts from an old Game Boy to render a fortune for you that’s printed on a small thermal printer.
Why we love it:
Creative doesn’t even begin to describe what went into this project. It’s incredibly artsy and super niche. If you love the Raspberry Pi, classic arcade cabinets, Game Boys and things on the occult side, this project is sure to knock your socks off.
Read: Raspberry Pi Tells Your Fortune with ChatGPT and Game Boy Parts
Raspberry Pi Effects Pedal Distorts Keyboard and Mouse Input
Some of the best Pi projects we’ve ever seen come from makers who instead of asking “Why?” would rather ask “Why not?” and there’s no better example of this in our recent findings than this Raspberry Pi-powered effects pedal. This pedal doesn’t make effects for guitars, however. Oh no—it’s much more hectic. It distorts keyboard and mouse input.
Why we love it:
Why would you need a reverb for your mouse? We don’t know and we don’t care. You can add a reverb effect using this pedal and we think that’s hilarious. Want to swap your keyboard and mouse input? No? Well too bad, this pedal makes it possible with the push of a button and this kind of chaos is exactly what we love about this project.
Read: Raspberry Pi Effects Pedal Distorts Keyboard and Mouse Input
Tom's Hardware Projects
It’s impossible for us here at Tom’s Hardware to sit idly by while all these makers have fun cooking up awesome projects. Here’s what the staff has been up to this month along with guides to walk you through recreating our projects for yourself at home.
How to Send Alerts From Raspberry Pi Pico W to a Phone or Tablet
Image credit: Tom’s Hardware
In this guide, Les puts the W (aka wireless) in Raspberry Pi Pico W to good use by showing us how you can go about sending alerts to your phone or mobile device from the Pico. This is a really flexible tool to have in your arsenal and definitely worth checking out if you want to use the Pico W for your latest project.
Read: How to Send Alerts From Raspberry Pi Pico W to a Phone or Tablet
