We've saved you the trouble and brought the pot of gold you've been looking for—a treasure trove of awesome Raspberry Pi projects. These are some of our favorite creations we've had the pleasure of featuring over the last month, and we're delighted to share them with you again. These makers use everything from the first Raspberry Pi 1 to the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to make their ideas a reality.

Whenever possible, we share all of the links to the source code so you can make them for yourself at home or just dig into how they're put together. You can expect to find the best Raspberry Pi accessories, HATs, modules and more among the parts list that turn a simple Raspberry Pi into a masterpiece of creation.

Raspberry Pi-Powered Luxury Automated Smart House for Cats

This project is made for cat lovers with a fervor for Pi. What do you know? We fit the bill. Created by a maker known as Visible_Turnover3952 over at Reddit, this smart house has tons of cool automated features that keep his outdoor cats living in absolute luxury. The floors are heated and it has tons of sensors to help monitor the environment for total optimization.

Why we love it:

Not only does this project benefit our fuzzy companions, but it's also a great showcase of how much the Raspberry Pi can handle when it comes to flexibility and DIY smart features. There's a lot going on in this cat house and we're all for it.

Read: Raspberry Pi-powered Luxury Automated Smart House for Cats

Raspberry Pi Creeper Robot

A creeper is one of the last things you want to see sneaking up on you, but that didn't stop maker Efren Lopez from making his own from scratch. This Raspberry Pi creeper robot locomotes using four wheels and has camera modules that let it see the world around it. It's also spruced up with AI so it can interpret the surrounding environment and react accordingly.

Why we love it:

Minecraft is just as cool today as it was over a decade ago. This robot would be neat enough even if it wasn't Minecraft-themed, but it is—so here we are. The creeper robot looks great and is a wonderful example of the Raspberry Pi's potential as an AI-driven controller.

Read: Raspberry Pi Creeper Robot

Raspberry Pi 5 Wood Finished Cyberdeck with Custom Milled Keypad

The Raspberry Pi is to cyberdecks as peanut butter is to jelly. This beautiful handheld cyberdeck has the kind of professional finish most makers can only dream about. It has gorgeous wood casing and the keypad has been completely custom milled just for this project. Maker Nicholas LaBonte truly went above and beyond for this creation.

Why we love it:

This cyberdeck is really cool. It's the kind of hardware you wouldn't mind someone seeing you play around with in public. In fact, you want someone to ask about it just for the chance to splurge about all the hard work that went into making it look so fine.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Wood Finished Cyberdeck with Custom Milled Keypad

Raspberry Pi Glass Dome Display

What's that sitting in the corner? It might not look like it at first glance, but that glass dome is actually a transparent screen for a Raspberry Pi. Using the "Pepper's Ghost" effect, this project projects images onto a clear film creating a really cool invisible screen. The code has also been made open source so you can recreate it for yourself at home.

Why we love it:

This project is way cooler than your typical LCD panel or eInk display. In fact, it's one of the most rare screen types you'll come across when it comes to Raspberry Pi projects. This screen is more than a novelty, it's a highlight of skill and just as impressive today as it was when the "Pepper's Ghost" effect was created over 100 years ago.

Read: Raspberry Pi Glass Dome Display

Dual Raspberry Pi Pico Portable Mini PC

We've seen Raspberry Pi handhelds that incorporate a Pico into them as an extra controller but this is one of the few we've ever come across that runs entirely on a Pico. This handheld uses two Picos—one to operate as the main processor and another one to operate as a graphics card.

Why we love it:

This is a beautiful example of the Raspberry Pi Pico's potential and the end results are fantastic. The handheld has a professional design and is finished with a look that's classy and function that's got lots of room for customization.

Read: Dual Raspberry Pi Pico Portable Mini PC

Raspberry Pi AI Pizza Clock

This project takes everything we love about telling time and pizza, merging the two using the power of AI. This AI pizza clock creates an image of pizza to represent the current time. You can use any other round image you like. In the examples given by maker Likeablob, we see a demo of a sunflower that accomplishes the same thing.

Why we love it:

You have to wonder how makers come up with ideas like this, but in the end we just don't care. It's a really fun idea and it's so well executed. Even if you don't want one for yourself, reading into how the project is pulled off is fascinating in itself.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Pizza Clock

Raspberry Pi Pico 'WOPR' Server Rack Upgrade

If you're familiar with the 1980's movie War Games, you're sure to recognize this project. Maker Aforsberg has created an upgrade for his server rack that replicates the 'WOPR' computer using our favorite microcontroller—the Raspberry Pi Pico—along with some daisy-chained matrices and custom code.

Why we love it:

This is a really cool shoutout to the classic movie and is so well done that we couldn't help but feature it again in our list here today. The Pico is responsible for controlling the matrix panels and coming up with a randomized light display to mimic the computer from the movie.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico 'WOPR' Server Rack Upgrade

Raspberry Pi Pico Spacewar Controller

Tominator2000 uses a Raspberry Pi Pico to make a custom controller to emulate the game Spacewar more accurately. It's got a couple of joysticks and runs entirely on the Pico as its main controller. The idea was to create a couple of controllers to demo the game emulation at a convention.

Why we love it:

We love retro gaming on the Raspberry Pi, and this is just another flavor to add to our menu. The project is very well done and is so unique that we thought it deserved a little extra attention. You can see a demo video of it in action in the original project thread.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Spacewar Controller

Raspberry Pi Map of Manhattan

This Raspberry Pi-powered map of Manhattan shows you where subway trains are in real-time. It has a 3D-printed body and uses fiber optics to show train locations connected to matrix panels controlled by the Raspberry Pi. The colors are determined by the matrix panels, not the subway lines, so you can tell when trains run on different tracks than usual.

Why we love it:

Words can hardly express how unique and impressive this project is. Everything from the concept to the finished design oozes creativity, and we're all for it. The only way to get something this cool is to make it yourself, and Bicapitate deserves all the praise in the world for its construction.

Read: Raspberry Pi Map of Manhattan

Raspberry Pi Dune Weaver Table

This Raspberry Pi-powered decor is at the top of most makers' wishlist. Using our favorite SBC, this 'Dune Weaver' table draws images automatically in sand using magnets. It has a smartphone interface that you can use to select images or just let it rotate through a playlist of them for some automated variety.

Why we love it:

We fell in love with this project as soon as we laid eyes on it. It's a beautiful work of art and engineering that's worthy of all the extra attention we can give it. The idea is cool enough on its own but to see it in action is on a different level entirely.

Read: Raspberry Pi Dune Weaver Table

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's hard to look at so many awesome projects and not expect a little inspiration and creativity to rub off on us. Here are a few Pi projects put together by the staff here at Tom's Hardware over the last month, complete with all the steps you need to recreate it for yourself at home.

Create your own Raspberry Pi powered home VOIP service with Mumble

You don't even need the latest Raspberry Pi to do this project. We successfully pulled it off using the original Raspberry Pi 1. This guide shows us how to make a home VOIP service using Mumble.

Read: Create your own Raspberry Pi-powered home VOIP service with Mumble

How to Run DeepSeek R1 on your Raspberry Pi 5

Want to check out DeepSeek R1? You're not the only one. This guide demonstrates how to set it up on the latest Raspberry Pi 5. It might not be the fastest way to use DeepSeek R1, but it can operate offline.

Read: How to Run DeepSeek R1 on your Raspberry Pi 5

When the moon hits your eye like a Raspberry Pi—that's amore and we've got more Pi projects than you can handle this month. These are some of the best Raspberry Pi projects we've covered over the last month and we're excited to give them some extra attention. These makers use everything from the Raspberry Pi Pico to the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to bring their ideas to life.

We share all of the details when they're made available and, thankfully, most of these projects are open source so you can follow along to recreate them at home. When possible, we'll link you to the hardware you need which includes some of the best Raspberry Pi accessories, HATs and more.

'The Matrix' Raspberry Pi Case

If you're not ready to unplug from the Matrix just yet, you might as well have some fun with the cool Raspberry Pi accessories programmed into our simulation. This custom Raspberry Pi 5 case is themed to the sci-fi movie The Matrix. It's complete with green LEDs and an LCD screen that replicates the falling text effect.

Why we love it:

We love Pi projects that incorporate our favorite franchises like this one. This case looks gorgeous, and it's really useful for a Pi that runs hot, like the Raspberry Pi 5. This project was a cool idea and it's been very well executed.

Read: 'The Matrix' Raspberry Pi Case

Raspberry Pi Wireless USB Flash Drive

Maker and developer The Feral Engineer has made the USB port on their embroidery machine into a wireless USB flash drive using our favorite SBC. Instead of unplugging the flash drive to transfer files over from a PC, now they just have to connect to the wireless network device to drag and drop files over.

Why we love it:

This is a ridiculously handy project not just for embroidery machines but other devices that use USB flash drives to load files. It could easily be recreated and used for a 3D printer which is probably what most of us here would use it for. This is a clever idea and very well executed.

Read: Raspberry Pi Wireless USB Flash Drive

Raspberry Pi Nintendo Switch-Themed Handheld Emulator

This Raspberry Pi handheld system might look like a Nintendo Switch but it's far from it. Inside is our favorite SBC powering a system of emulators. The case is 3D printed and has working controls built into the sides, just like you'd find with the Joy-Con controllers. Instead of playing Switch games, however, you can play everything from NES to GameCube.

Why we love it:

We love retro gaming projects on the Raspberry P,i and this design is just another great excuse to make another cool Pi-powered handheld. This project is a really fun idea and the end results are clearly worth all the effort.

Read: Raspberry Pi Nintendo Switch-Themed Handheld Emulator

Raspberry Pi Pico Game Boy Pokémon-Themed Alarm Clock

Of all the fun things to do with an old Game Boy, this is one of the most creative ideas we've seen. Maker and developer Mod Room My made a Game Boy alarm clock featuring an eInk display and a cool Pokémon theme for the UI. It operates on batteries or can be plugged into power with a cable.

Why we love it:

The idea is awesome and the final product is a useful gadget that most of us need throughout the week on a regular basis. This is clearly the alarm clock of dreams that we didn't know we were missing. It's just icing on the cake that our favorite SBC is inside.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Game Boy Pokémon-Themed Alarm Clock

Raspberry Pi Jukebox

If you're looking for a fun project you can jam to, you should check out this Raspberry Pi jukebox put together by maker and developer Siuengr. It has a user interface thar's operated with custom buttons and a snazzy RGB LED strip along the bottom for added flair. The case features some custom artwork and houses everything from the Pi to the display screen.

Why we love it:

This project just goes to show how you can have fancy hardware of your own with a Raspberry Pi and a little ingenuity. Not everyone can say they own their own jukebox, let alone a custom one filled with your favorite music.

Read: Raspberry Pi Jukebox

Raspberry Pi Pico Game Boy Printer Emulator

This Game Boy project emulates the classic Game Boy printer. It connects to Game Boys that were compatible with the printer and is recognized by them as the original device. Instead of printing the pictures, however, it stores a copy of them onto a microSD card.

Why we love it:

This is a super niche project and is very well executed. It's a cool way to play around with games that relied on the Game Boy printer without the need for thermal paper. If you're looking for a way to play around with Game Boy printer games or just create digital copies of printable files from your Game Boy, this is the project for you.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Game Boy Printer Emulator

Raspberry Pi Pico Secure Delivery Box

Protecting packages from porch thieves could be its own industry. If you don't feel like blasting package stealing ne'er do wells with flour as Ryder Damen did with his Pi project, you can always create a cool Pico secure delivery box like maker and developer Woodycal has done.

Why we love it:

This is a well-engineered solution for a modern problem and we're just delighted that Woodycal opted to use our favorite microcontroller as the main driver. You can operate the box settings remotely including the locking mechanism which is really useful when you're not at home.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Secure Delivery Box

Toshiba T1000 Raspberry Pi 4 Upgrade

If you're a fan of T1000 old school PCs, you're going to love this awesome Raspberry Pi 4 upgrade put together by maker and developer Nilseuropa. This build has the classic form factor and physical experience you would expect with a T1000 but with the added power and performance of a Raspberry Pi 4 inside.

Why we love it:

No working T1000 PCs were harmed in the making of this project. Nilseuropa has spent the last few years fixing up these PCs and had some components leftover leading to the development of this cool Pi-powered edition.

Read: Toshiba T1000 Raspberry Pi 4 Upgrade

Raspberry Pi 5 CNC Machined Aluminum Case

If you've used a Raspberry Pi 5 before, you know these bad boys can run a bit hot. Ideatracker decided to take matters into his own hands by creating a CNC machined aluminum case for the Pi. It acts as a beautiful giant heatsink with handy port access on the side. It's one thing to buy a high quality case like this from a third party, it's another to make one yourself from scratch.

Why we love it:

This case is awesome for both how it's designed and how functional it is as a heatsink. This project is hands down one of the most useful accessories you could have around for your Raspberry Pi 5. It's very impressive to see someone make something like this from the ground up.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 CNC Machined Aluminum Case

3D-printed Raspberry Pi All-in-One Portable Gaming Rig

All-in-one Raspberry Pi rigs are always exciting to see, but this one created by Arnov Sharma is absolutely beautiful. The Pi Box has everything you need for general Pi use from a gorgeous 3D printed shell to a handle for portability. Whether you're looking to tinker around with Python or game on the go, the Pi Box will get the job done and turn heads in the process.

Why we love it:

This Pi project is too cool for school. Actually, it would be really cool to see something like this in school. The case is well-designed and adds so much personality to what's already a handy setup.

Read: 3D-printed Raspberry Pi All-in-One Portable Gaming Rig

The new year is here and we've got an awesome list of Raspberry Pi projects put together from the last month that are sure to kickstart your year with some inspiration. These projects use all sorts of Raspberry Pi models, including the Raspberry Pi 5 and all of its beloved predecessors. Whether you're an experienced maker or interested amateur, we've got tons of cool ideas that you can recreate at home or use as a springboard to make something similar.

These makers use the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to bring their ideas to fruition and we'll be sure to link you to the build guides whenever possible. Most of these projects are open source so there's plenty of meat to dig into.

Custom Raspberry Pi 5 Case with Liquid Cooling

It's no secret that the Raspberry Pi 5 runs a bit hot—they even released an official fan for cooling. Maker Michael Klements decided to take matters into his own hands with his custom Pi 5 case. This little unit has liquid cooling and manages to keep the Pi at optimal performance temperatures.

Why we love it:

Liquid cooling your Pi is already a super useful and fun idea but to do it with this much style is just taking the project to a whole new level. The case was designed from scratch and required knowledge in both 3D printing and laser cutting to pull off. It's always a delight to see so many different maker fields come together in one project.

Read: Custom Raspberry Pi 5 Case with Liquid Cooling

Raspberry Pi Smart Cane for Visually Impaired

This smart cane uses our favorite SBC to add some safety features for visually impaired persons. Not only does it help the user with real-time alerts using its integrated speaker but it also has the ability to send out notifications in the event of emergencies. The cane uses a few extra modules including one that adds GPS support.

Why we love it:

We really appreciate the potential this project has for helping visually impaired individuals gain more independence. Anything that makes travel safer and adds peace of mind for caregivers is a huge plus.

Read: Raspberry Pi Smart Cane

Raspberry Pi 'Portal' Sentry Turret

This project is truly a triumph. Reckless_commenter has recreated the sentry turret from the 'Portal' franchise. It has a built-in speaker and plays creepy soundbites from the game that are sure to terrify any intruders or unsuspecting passersby. The body is 3D printed and houses a Raspberry Pi inside and the additional hardware.

Why we love it:

We're always excited to see Pi projects crossover with sci-fi franchises like this. The project is cool on its own but there's a lot of room for upgrading and modifying the turret with additional features that make for a cool end product.

Read: Raspberry Pi 'Portal' Sentry Turret

Raspberry Pi eInk AI-Generated Flower Paintings Frame

It can get old looking at the same pictures all of the time. Why not create never-before-seen paintings to spruce things up a bit? That's what maker Dylan has done with this AI-generated eInk display frame project. It uses a Raspberry Pi to create flower paintings using AI and outputs them onto a low-power eInk panel.

Why we love it:

Merging AI and art for a decoration like this is really cool but the fact that it's running on a Pi is just icing on the cake. The image generation is handled locally on the Pi instead of parsing requests across the internet which is even more exciting.

Read: Raspberry Pi eInk AI-Generated Flower Paintings Frame

Raspberry Pi Playstation 4 Controller Console

Restoring old hardware is always admirable but transforming it into something new can be exciting! Maker ConsciousFish6170 has turned an old PlayStation 4 controller into a retro gaming console using none other than our favorite SBC as the main board powering the system.

Why we love it:

It can be hard to find a good case for your Pi so we're tickled to see this one made from a PS4 controller. It looks like an input device but it's actually the whole console. We're probably a little biased but can you blame us? It was a great choice to put a Raspberry Pi inside.

Read: Raspberry Pi Playstation 4 Controller Console

Raspberry Pi Matrix Mask

You can't be too careful when it comes to protecting your identity, so why not don this crazy cool LED matrix mask put together by maker and developer Sean Hodgins? This Pi-powered mask lets you display images and even videos across hundreds of LEDs. A slit in the front lets you peer out and see through the matrix panels.

Why we love it:

This is a fun idea on its own but to see it implemented so well is just a delight. We're not surprised as Hodgins has a history of putting together some really cool projects already. This one is very well executed and we wish we could try it on for ourselves.

Read: Raspberry Pi Matrix Mask

Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard with M.2 Slot Mod

The Raspberry Pi 500 was definitely a highly-desired product but makers were upset to find the NVMe M.2 slot missing. Thankfully, modders have already stepped up to modify the keyboard so that you can install an SSD. It takes a fair bit of work to pull off but the results can be worth the effort.

Why we love it:

This is a really cool mod that makes it possible to get everything you want out of the latest Pi 500. We really appreciate that it didn't take much time before the community figured out how to upgrade the board with the missing slot.

Read: Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard with M.2 Slot Mod

Raspberry Pi Pico 2 WalkPi

Finally, you can make the Walkman of your dreams using the latest Raspberry Pi Pico 2. This custom music player features a custom PCB and a beautiful design that we loved too much to ignore. The project is dubbed WalkPi and lets you play MP3s on the go—surely to impress your friends.

Why we love it:

This is a cool idea for makers who want something fun to make and show off. The custom PCB looks fantastic and the end result is something we would carry around with us on a regular basis.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico 2 WalkPi

It's hard to believe that it's already November, but we're incredibly thankful for all the great Raspberry Pi projects we've come across this year. Today, we're looking at ten of the best Pi projects we've featured over the last month. These makers use different Raspberry Pi models to bring their creations to life, including the latest Raspberry Pi 5 and more.

When possible, we share all the details we have on how to recreate these projects or at least get a better idea of how they go together. The projects on this list were made using the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs for some seriously impressive end results. If you're looking for something fun to make this fall, there's definitely some inspiring work to indulge in below!

Raspberry Pi Pelican Cyberdeck

Jake Simek took things to the extreme when it came to putting together a case for his Raspberry Pi. This cyberdeck is housed inside of a Pelican case and comes with all the bells and whistles you could ask for when it comes to computing on the go and maybe a little hacking on the side.

Why we love it:

The quality of this cyberdeck build is top-notch and gorgeous to look at. The extra features are well thought out and definitely what you'd want to have in a portable PC. Whether you're looking for something you can hack with or just want a cool gaming rig to take with you, this is one build that's sure to inspire.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pelican Cyberdeck

 Raspberry Pi Streaming Rig 

When it comes to DIY entertainment, you can't go wrong with a Raspberry Pi media center. But what about for road trips? That's where ImJustWhelmed's project comes in handy! This Raspberry Pi streaming rig is made to help you bring your media with you when traveling. You can queue up your favorite shows with a smartphone, laptop or anything with a browser.

Why we love it:

We don't need an excuse to take a Pi with us on a road trip but we'll happily take one. There's so much more to do than just gaming on the go and this is a great example of what you can do with a little bit of effort. If you're looking for something to make your next road trip more enjoyable, you definitely should take a close look at this setup.

Read: Raspberry Pi Streaming Rig

 Raspberry Pi Proxmox ProxTag 

This little project was put together by Joseph Cauble and makes managing virtual machines with Proxmox Manager easier than ever. It features a tiny e-Ink display with a potentiometer that lets you monitor your machines and adjust a few settings. Cauble dubs his creation the Proxmox ProxTag.

Why we love it:

This project is really unique and very well-executed. It's definitely a bit niche but if you're into microelectronics projects and playing around with virtual environments, it's a match made in heaven.

Read: Raspberry Pi Proxmox ProxTag

 Raspberry Pi Pico W Brings 1986 Mac Online 

This is one of those projects that you do because you can not because you necessarily should. Hunter Irving is using a Raspberry Pi to connect an original 1986 Macintosh to the internet. Generally it's a bad idea to connect old hardware to the internet for security reasons but there's also a great deal of compatibility issues. Thankfully, he delves into both of these concerns and does it anyway!

Why we love it:

This is a really cool idea and the fact that it works as well as it does is super exciting. Not every website will work with a setup like this but it looks fun enough to tinker around with the ones that do.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico W Brings 1986 Mac Online

 Raspberry Pi Pico Simon Game 

We've heard of retrogaming on the Raspberry Pi but haven't quite seen it done like this! Instead of emulating an old game, FlorinCProjects has programmed a working version of Simon from scratch using one of our favorite SBCs—the Raspberry Pi Pico! It plays just like the original game and is just as fun to build as it is to play with.

Why we love it:

This project is designed to not only be fun to play but also look the part. The case is made from a recycled access point case and it works really well here. The arcade buttons are a nice touch as is the seven segment display in the middle.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Simon Game

 Raspberry Pi RP2350 PyDOS 

If you miss the Blackberry PDA form factor, you're going to love this RP2350-powered handheld put together by Anne Barela. This creation is dubbed PyDOS and it looks fantastic. Not only does it take advantage of the latest processor to come from Raspberry Pi, it's a super handy device capable of recreating the old school DOS experience we knew and love.

Why we love it:

We don't need a PyDOS, we just really want one. It's such a cool idea and the final product is absolutely gorgeous! The Blackberry keyboard is also icing on the cake—or should we say Pi? This project is definitely one worth checking out.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2350 PyDOS

 Raspberry Pi FlexPi Flexible Pico 

We came across this Kickstarter project from TOP Gadgets and knew we had to feature it. The team has put together a totally flexible Raspberry Pi Pico replica known as FlexPi. This build also comes with a few upgrades like a USB Type-C port and a programmable RGB LED. It's important for us to note that supporting this Kickstarter project is more like an investment and not a guarantee you will receive the final product.

Why we love it:

If you're wondering what a board like this is useful for, you're not alone. It's essentially just a Raspberry Pi Pico. That said, the flexible PCB is super thin and can find inside tighter cases or devices that have a slight bend to them.

Read: Raspberry Pi FlexPi Flexible Pico

 Raspberry Pi Trackpad 

We've always had a lot of respect for the community when it comes to building something from scratch that they could otherwise buy. This project was put together by a team known as Ploopy. This trackpad is Raspberry Pi-powered and offers a great deal of flexibility thanks to its open source design. You can make it yourself, modify it or even buy a kit to assemble at home.

Why we love it:

It's always exciting to see the Pi used in an open source project like this. With a little extra work, you can take the design and modify it to suit your personal needs and end up with a useful input device that doubles as a cool talking point.

Read: Raspberry Pi Trackpad

 Raspberry Pi NEC TurboExpress 

There's nothing like breathing life into old hardware and that's exactly what Dawilson 246 has done with this old NEC Turbo Express. Not only does it fit a Raspberry Pi inside, much of the original hardware still works including the buttons on the front. Don't worry—no working NEC Turbo Express handhelds were harmed during the making of this project.

Why we love it:

We love old school hardware, we love gaming handhelds and we're absolutely nuts about the Raspberry Pi! It should come as no surprise that we jumped with excitement when we saw this cool creation.

Read: Raspberry Pi NEC TurboExpress

 Raspberry Pi Pico Macintosh 128K 

This is one of those projects that's really awesome in what it can do and what it represents. Action Retro has recreated a Macintosh 128K that runs entirely on a Raspberry Pi Pico. All you need is a special kit and you can recreate the old school computing experience for less than $20 bucks.

Why we love it:

When you consider how much the Macintosh 128K sold for when it first debuted—we're talking thousands of dollars—it's absolutely insane to realize you can make one now for $14. This project is really cool and a great learning tool for newcomers that want to learn about both microelectronics and retro computing.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Macintosh 128K

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's impossible to look at all of these amazing creations and not be inspired to make a few Raspberry Pi projects ourselves. Here's a look at what the team here at Tom's Hardware has been up to over the last month along with tutorials you can follow along with at home.

 How to install and use the new Raspberry Pi boot menu 

Interested in the new Raspberry Pi boot menu? So were we! In this guide, Les tells us what the fuss is all about and how you can set it up for yourself. All you need is a Raspberry Pi 5 and multiple sources to boot from.

Read: How to install and use the new Raspberry Pi boot menu

How to build Raspberry Pi Pico projects with Microsoft Visual Studio Code

If you're familiar with MS Visual Studio, you're going to love this guide on how you can use it to program your Raspberry Pi Pico projects! Sometimes it's easier to get into new things with a tool you're already used to using. Les goes over everything you need to get started.

Read: How to build Raspberry Pi Pico projects with Microsoft Visual Studio Code

If you're in the mood for a cool Raspberry Pi project to keep you busy this fall, you're in luck. We've put together a list of some of the best Raspberry Pi projects we've had the honor of featuring over the last month and firmly believe they deserve a little extra attention.

These makers use everything from the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to early boards that helped pave the way for this beloved line of hardware. They also implement some of the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs to bring their creative ideas to life. So we'll be sure to link you to all of the hardware they used so you can see exactly how they work and maybe even recreate them for yourself at home.

Raspberry Pi Pico Paw Patrol Toy Arcade Controller

Sure, you might hav played Sega's Super Hang-On before, but we'd bet cash money you haven't played it with a Paw Patrol toy as a controller—unless you're Dr. Tom Tilley. Using one of our favorite SBCs, he's transformed this kids toy into a working input device that lets you play the game using it like a steering wheel.

Why we love it:

This is a hilarious and inventive way to recyle old hardware and breathe new life into an otherwise obsolete toy. It also makes for a head turning headline that we couldn't help but share again with our readers who love microelectronics as much as we do.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Paw Patrol Toy Arcade Controller

Raspberry Pi Pico Model Train Level Crossing Lights

You can get seriously creative with model trains when throwing a Raspberry Pi into the mix and this project showcases that idea incredibly well. Using a Raspberry Pi Pico, Brendan McGrath has created working level crossing lights that work like real world ones do but on a much smaller scale.

Why we love it:

This is far from the first Pi-powered model train project we've seen but it's one of the latest and one we'll definitely keep in mind when working on tiny transportation projects of our own. It's one thing to make an LED flash, it's another to make it responsive to how hardware works in the real world.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Model Train Level Crossing Lights

Raspberry Pi 5 'Nostalgia Machine'

Anyone can make a Raspberry Pi streaming platform but maker and developer Shan Mason took the idea and ran with it—all the way back to 1980 to recreate a more classic TV viewing experience. You don't pick and choose what you watch and when as this Raspberry Pi retro TV plays media on a schedule, taking into account the time, day of the week and even holidays.

Why we love it:

This is a really cool idea and it's great to see it implemented so well. It's just icing on the cake (or should we say Pi) that it uses not one but two Raspberry Pi boards to pull off. The hardware is tucked neatly inside a cigar box that sits next to the old CRT TV which really just adds to the vintage setting.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 'Nostalgia Machine'

Raspberry Pi AI EYE Camera

If you like projects with AI, you're going to love this convoluted AI-powered creation from maker Oscar Wilmerdingh. Using a Raspberry Pi, this camera (dubbed the AI EYE camera) captures an image, uses AI to create a text-based description of the image and then recreates it using another AI app based on the text that was generated.

Why we love it:

This project has no business in any practical situation but it's such a fun idea and works great. A lot of work went into its design included the beautiful 3D printed shell it's housed in. We appreciate all of the effort that went into its creation and firmly believe it deserves extra attention from our readers.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI EYE Camera

Raspberry Pi 'Bumpin Sticker'

Guy Dupont's creative juices must be flowing from a neverending fountain because he's at it again with what he calls his 'Bumpin' Sticker' project. This Pi-powered bumper sticker automatically updates to reflect whatever song he's currently streaming so driver know exactly what he's grooving to in real-time.

Why we love it:

This is one of those projects that really sticks out—no pun intended. It's a fun idea that's incredibly well-executed. If it were a commercial product, no doubt people would line up at the chance to buy one for themselves. Until then, however, you'll just have to follow his lead and make it yourself from scratch.

Read: Raspberry Pi 'Bumpin Sticker'

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's seriously impossible for us to look at Raspberry Pi projects all day long and not create some of our own. We love the chance to tinker and share our work in form of tutorials so you can follow along at home, as well. Here's what the staff of Tom's Hardware has been up to lately as well as links to the guides we put together for you to check out.

How to install MicroPython for RISC-V on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2

Have you been interested in tinkering with RISC-V on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2? Us, too! Thankfully, Les has done all of the brunt work for us and put together this amazing tutorial showcasing how you can set up MicroPython for RISC-V on the newest Pico 2 microcontroller.

Read: How to install MicroPython for RISC-V on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2

Cytron Motion 2350 Pro Review: The RP2350 Robot Platform

There's a reason Cytron has become an industry standard in the Pi community for tinkering with robotics. In this review, Les shows us all the ins and outs of the newest Cytron Motion 2350. If you're not pumped yet, you will be! This board is awesome and definitely worth taking a close look at.

Read: Cytron Motion 2350 Pro Review: The RP2350 Robot Platform

Fall is quickly approaching for makers in the northern hemisphere and we've got some cool Raspberry Pi to share so warm up your soldering irons. We've got all kinds of great creations using the newest Raspberry Pi 5, Pico 2 and everything else in between. Whether you're an amateur or professional microelectronics enthusiast, there's something here to get your gears turning guaranteed.

As always, these makers integrate their projects with the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to bring their ideas to fruition. Whenever possible, we share all of the details and links you need to make these projects for yourself at home. Be sure to stick around to the end to check out some tutorials put together by the staff here at Tom's Hardware.

Raspberry Pi-enhanced Kids’ Electric Car

Not all of us are lucky enough to grow up with makers as parents but Jon Skagmo's kids are. Skagmo spruced up his kids' electric car with a Raspberry Pi adding in tons of cool features including things like a touchscreen and onboard music—effectively turning it into a miniature smart car.

Why we love it:

There's no reason you can't indoctrinate your kids early into the world of microelectronics. This is a great project that both shows the potential of the Raspberry Pi and how a little bit of creativity can bring your vision into reality.

Read: Raspberry Pi-enhanced Kids’ Electric Car

Raspberry Pi Keyholder Backs Up Flash Drive Data

For those that carry a flash drive with them every day, this project is a must have! Thinkdolearn has created a keychain holder that will backup your flash drive when connecting it via USB. The backups take place overnight so you don't have to worry about anything but undocking it in the morning.

Why we love it:

This keychain holder is very handy to have around and you can easily customize it. The project is very practical and the execution is well done. We just appreciate that Thinklearndo took the time to share all their work with us so we don't have to start from scratch.

Read: Raspberry Pi Keyholder Backs Up Flash Drive Data

Raspberry Pi Pico Watch

Some Raspberry Pi projects are just made for the runway and this is one of them. This Raspberry Pi Pico watch is peak haute couture—or should we say hack couture? It uses a ring of colored LEDs to indicate the hour, minute and second.

Why we love it:

We're huge fans of the Raspberry Pi, of course we'd jump at the opportunity to wear one all of the time. We covered this project before but this latest upgrade is just so sleek. The wristband and metal housing are absolutely gorgeous and make for a professional finish.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Watch

Raspberry Pi RC Tank Shoots Bubbles

This Raspberry Pi tank project isn't as dangerous as it looks. The exact Raspberry Pi model used isn't clear but it's driving a tank alongside an Arduino Nano. This tank doesn't shoot hard projectiles but rather bubbles. It has four wheels instead of tank treads but the top moves around like a real tank.

Why we love it:

If you've been looking for a project to chase your cats around with, this is the one. It's chaotic enough to be fun but harmless enough to be safe. The worst you have to worry about is getting bubble solution in your eye or making the floor slick.

Read: Raspberry Pi RC Tank Shoots Bubbles

Raspberry Pi CatBot Monitors for Stray Cats

Speaking of cats, this Raspberry Pi cat monitor project is perfect for anyone with too many strays outside. It monitors for stray cats and snaps a picture of them. These pictures can be collected later or texted immediately so you can see which kitty is on your porch.

Why we love it:

We like cats and we like Pi projects that take pictures of cats. This is a wonderful intersection of two passions. The setup also can detect birds and startle them away by tapping at the window so they don't consume the cat food which can be harmful. We're awarding bonus points here for saving the birds.

Read: Raspberry Pi CatBot Monitors for Stray Cats

Raspberry Pi Hands-Free Drone Controller

Learning how negative numbers work in various equations can be a serious headache but teaching someone else to understand them is another challenge entirely. Thankfully, we've got makers like Russell Eveleigh out there who've made the process easier thanks to this Zero Pairs display.

Why we love it:

Education has always been at the core of what the Raspberry Pi is all about so it's cool to see a Pi used in a project like this. The concept is unique and the design is very well done. We like the visual 3D-printed accompaniment to the GUI. It's an awesome tool to have on hand for anyone working with a visual learner.

Read: Raspberry Pi Zero Pairs Display

Raspberry Pi Hands-Free Drone Controller

This controller uses a Raspberry Pi to help make the world of drone flying more accessible. The board is called AeroCommand and it enables you to operate a drone completely hands free. You can use things like facial expressions and voice commands to indicate where you want the drone to go.

Why we love it:

Flying a drone is really hard to do no matter how coordinated you are with your thumbs. Anything that makes the process easier and opens the world of flying to more people is a winning move in our book.

Read: Raspberry Pi Hands-Free Drone Controller

Raspberry Pi AI Glasses Helps Visually Impaired People

We love Pi projects that dabble in making the world more accessible and this is one impressive attempt at doing just that. Md. Khairul Alamhas has created a pair of glasses for visually impaired persons with a camera module positioned in the front. It's connected to a Pi that uses AI to help the wearer better understand their environment using text to speech and a pair of earbuds.

Why we love it:

This is a truly unique way to help people with visual impairment navigate the world independently. The project has quite a few elements that bring the final build together from machine learning to text-to-speech. It's a fun idea and it's neat to see something so potentially useful get attention.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Glasses Helps Visually Impaired People

Raspberry Pi Card-playing Robot

If you've ever been short a guy when playing cards, Dominic LeBoeuf has you covered with his awesome Raspberry Pi-powered card playing robot. The robot is programmed to play just one game by itself but the idea is really cool and it works so well.

Why we love it:

There are a few ways to pull off a project like this and it's neat to see what LeBoeuf ultimately landed on. Cards are lifted using suction and identified with NFC tags. There was also a good deal of 3D printing involved to build the robotic arm and card trays.

Read: Raspberry Pi Card-playing Robot

Raspberry Pi 5 Modular Pocket PC

Image credit: Soulcircuit

This is one of the coolest Raspberry Pi 5 mini PCs we've seen yet. It's modular with all sorts of things you can add on like a keyboard for input. The unit is also completely portable which makes it a great pocket PC option.

Why we love it:

We haven't seen too many Pi 5 pocket PCs, let alone a neat modular one like this. The design is absolutely gorgeous with a sleek white shell and bright orange accents. There's a lot of versatility to be had in a design like this as well as room for customization.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Modular Pocket PC

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's seriously impossible to look at awesome Raspberry Pi projects like these all the time and not be inspired to make something of our own. Here's what the staff of Tom's Hardware has been up to lately along with tutorials you can follow along with at home.

How to Control your Raspberry Pi Camera using a web UI

In this updated guide, Les shows us how you can operate a Raspberry Pi camera module over the internet using a web based interface. We go over everything you need as well as what to do in order to get the software setup so you can better integrate cameras into your next Raspberry Pi project.

Read: How to Control your Raspberry Pi Camera using a web UI

The summer is winding down as we sneak into August (for those in the northern hemisphere anyway) and it's time again to take a look at some of the coolest Raspberry Pi projects that we've featured over the last month. We've got a little bit of everything to inspire your inner maker using anything Pi—from the smallest RP2040 to the beefiest Raspberry Pi 5.

Many of these projects are open source, so we'll provide links to the source code when we can. The makers behind these projects use some of the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs available on the market to bring their ideas to life. Whether you're an expert microelectronics master or new to a soldering iron, there's something here for you.

Mini Fractal Design North Raspberry Pi Case

If you missed it, Fractal Design had a really cool Raspberry Pi case to show off at Computex 2024. They took their North desktop case design and miniaturized it for the Pi. However, this cool tiny case was just for show. Thankfully, some fans have recreated it for anyone that wants one of their own at home.

Why we love it:

That tiny North case was super cool but it was such a bummer to learn it was a one off design. It's always a treat to see the community step in like this to make things more accessible. Thanks to their work, you can print this case for yourself.

Read: Mini Fractal Design North Raspberry Pi Case

Zerowriter Ink Typewriter

As the name would suggest, this Raspberry Pi project was made with writers in mind. It's actually an upgrade from an existing project but with a bigger screen and sleeker end design. If you're interested in a portable Pi-power typewriter, you should check out the Zerowriter Ink Typewriter from Zerowriter.

Why we love it:

We covered this project previously so it was exciting to see it get an update. The original idea is awesome and it's cool to know the maker is still honing in the design to make it exactly what they want.

Read: Zerowriter Ink Typewriter

Raspberry Pi DinkyDash Family Dashboard

Schedules can be hectic things to manage, especially when you've got a big family. That may be—but maker and developer Caspar von Wrede decided to do something about it with his DinkyDash family dashboard project. This is a simple dashboard that compiles important family events in one place.

Why we love it:

This could be adapted for a wide variety of use cases. It's amazing how a simple idea can be complex both in itself and in what it accomplishes. The DinkyDash is a great idea and is executed very well.

Read: Raspberry Pi DinkyDash Family Dashboard

Cyberdore 2064 Cyberdeck

You've heard of the Commodore 64 but you probably haven't heard of the Pi-powered handheld cyberdeck, Cyberdore 2064. This slick little handheld features a full keyboard, screen, and a few other add ons that make it a truly one of a kind build.

Why we love it:

We're just gonna lay it out—this thing looks cool as all get out. The design is on point and the fact that it uses our favorite SBC is just icing on the Pi. It's also open source, so you can make one for yourself, too.

Read: Cyberdore 2064 Cyberdeck

Raspberry Pi 1000 with Raspberry Pi 5

The Raspberry Pi 5 has been out for a while and we've been ready for its version of the Raspberry Pi 400 since the day it launched. If you're familiar with the maker community in any capacity, though, you know someone's probably tried making their own and that's exactly what Arnov Sharma has done with his Raspberry Pi 1000 project.

Why we love it:

Sharma makes tons of cool things, like a giant Game Boy, and this is no exception. It might not be the first Raspberry Pi 5-based version of the Raspberry Pi 400 we've seen, but it's certainly a unique contender worthy of attention.

Read: Raspberry Pi 1000 with Raspberry Pi 5

Raspberry Pi Pico YouTube Subscriber Counter

How many subscribers do you have again? Don't bother opening YouTube. Just throw together this cool YouTube Subscriber Counter designed by Yakroo108! It uses our favorite microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico as the main board. The main screen is an LED matrix but it also has an LCD display for showing extra stats.

Why we love it:

There are a lot of elements that go into this project that we appreciate. It's the little details like the LCD showing the IP address that makes the project go from neat to neater.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico YouTube Subscriber Counter

Raspberry Pi CM4 MultiPi Console

Gaming on the Raspberry Pi is like butter on a biscuit—it just makes sense. That's probably why this MultiPi console is so awesome. That or the fact that it's powered by a CM4, sports a sleek case, and even has cartridge slots like an old school console. There are plans to release expansions to the system using the cartridges to add things like an analogue A/V card.

Why we love it:

We were intrigued by the MultiPi the moment we saw it. It's cool design, CM4 support and expansion cartridges are just too great to overlook. You can tell a lot of work went into this project design and was well worth the effort.

Read: Raspberry Pi CM4 MultiPi Console

Raspberry Pi TRS-80 Project

This project pays homage to the classic TRS-80 machines. It's powered by a Raspberry Pi, of course, and features a slew of components that make it stand out as a unique experience. It most resembles the TRS-80 Model 4 but it is not an exact replica. This Raspberry Pi TRS-80 features a touchpad, keyboard, and is housed in a beautiful 3D printed case.

Why we love it:

We're suckers for old school hardware so of course we lept at the opportunity to show off this cool build. It's obvious that a lot of thought and work went into its design. It's awesome to see makers build something complex like this from the ground up.

Read: Raspberry Pi TRS-80 Project

Raspberry Pi Flip Display

This Raspberry Pi project is flippin' awesome. It uses little flip discs, which are essentially circles with different colors on each side that rotate using a servo. With beaucoups of these laid out in a matrix, Kelly and Kathy have managed to create a full on flip disc display panel. They even spruced it up by throwing in a camera to make it interactive.

Why we love it:

We've never seen a display quite like this and were thrilled to learn a Raspberry Pi was thrown into the mix. It's a really fun idea but to see it in action actually working is just insanely cool. There's just something alluring about a digital display that seems so analogue.

Read: Raspberry Pi Flip Display

Raspberry Pi 5 Overclocked to 3.4GHz

One of the most exciting developments we've come across lately, however, is Jeff Geerling and his impressive quest to overclock the newest Raspberry Pi 5 all the way up to 3.4 GHz. So far, this is the highest anyone has ever overclocked the Pi 5.

Why we love it:

I don't think we owe anyone an explanation for this one. We have a guide here at Tom's Hardware explaining how to overclock the Raspberry Pi 5. It's a no-brainer that we should be consumed with delight at Geerling's latest development.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Overclocked to 3.4GHz

How to write code for your Raspberry Pi Pico in your web browser with ViperIDE

You can code for the Pico from a browser? You betcha! Les shows us how it's done using ViperIDE. In this guide, he'll go over everything you need to do this yourself including links to pertinent materials along the way.

Read: How to write code for your Raspberry Pi Pico in your web browser with ViperIDE

How to make a connected badge that shows the latest news headlines

Before you head out to that cool tech con you were thinking about, you should consider putting together a cool name badge like this. It uses a Raspberry Pi Pico and displays anything you want on a small, eInk screen. In this guide, Les breaks down the full build process.

Read: How to make a connected badge that shows the latest news headlines

The Raspberry Pi is one of our favorite SBCs, and it's no wonder why. The Pi community is full of incredibly inventive makers who constantly create exciting, awe-inspiring creations using everything from the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to custom PCBs with an RP2040 microcontroller. We feature Raspberry Pi projects all week, and once a month, we gather a list of 10 of our favorites that we think are worth highlighting again.

These makers use the best Raspberry Pi accessories to bring their ideas to life. If they can make something for themselves, they usually will. But you'll also find cool HATs, cases, and modules of all sorts. Whenever possible, we'll share links to the source code so you can dig into the projects for yourself and see how they work.

Raspberry Pi Pico Sorts Candies by Color

Sorting your candies has never been so lovely and overly engineered, thanks to Techtronic3D's Raspberry Pi-powered candy sorter. Just load up your candy and let the Pi work its magic. It takes a little bit of time as the machine has to process each candy one at a time. Once a candy's color is identified, it's dropped into a 3D-printed bin that matches the color.

Why we love it:

This is a fun idea that isn't very useful, but it absolutely works as intended. It's well-designed, and the 3D-printed components add an excellent finish to its overall function. Plus, it's hard to complain about a project with an end product you can eat.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Sorts Candies by Color

Raspberry Pi Portable Arcade Cabinets

Kian Ryan put together a really cool set of arcade cabinets that use Raspberry Pis for one of his clients. They needed something to take to conventions so much of the work was in making the units easy to set up, break down and transport. The end result is this cool set of cabinets that run custom homebrew and emulate old school consoles.

Why we love it:

We love Raspberry Pi-powered arcades. Why wouldn't we get excited about a fleet of them that travels to various events? The cabinets look fantastic and we're just glad Ryan decided to put a Raspberry Pi inside all of them.

Read: Raspberry Pi Portable Arcade Cabinets

Battery-Powered Raspberry Pi PC

If you want a simple desktop with a small footprint, it makes perfect sense to create one yourself using a Raspberry Pi and that's exactly what maker and developer Arnov Sharma did. This custom desktop is known as the Power Pi Version 2 and it's not just tiny, it's portable. It also sports some fancy RGB LEDs so it has a little extra gamer flair.

Why we love it:

This PC is super cute and very well-designed. We like everything from the shape of the case to the RGB LEDs underneath. Sharma is no stranger to Pi projects so we weren't surprised to see how much work he put into this one. It's always a delight to see so much effort come together for a cool end product.

Read: Battery-Powered Raspberry Pi PC

Raspberry Pi Chat GPT Rover Bot

Some Raspberry Pi projects are made to roam and Floyd the rover bot is one of them. This Pi-powered robot was created by Larry's Workbench and it does much more than just locomote. Larry has spruced up Floyd with a dose of AI thanks to the integration of Chat GPT allowing him to talk with a good amount of sass.

Why we love it:

This is probably the closest we're going to get to creating a real life R2D2. Who doesn't love a talking robot with too much attitude? Apart from the Chat GPT features, it also has a cool rover design with omnidirectional wheels.

Read: Raspberry Pi Chat GPT Rover Bot

Raspberry Pi Zero 2W Pocket Z

Pocket PCs aren't what they used to be—nor should they! Technology has come a long way but a few makers want to take things back (just a little) like Icepat over at Hackaday. Using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, they've created a beautiful handheld PC called the Pocket Z. It features a custom PCB designed to work with the Raspberry Pi.

Why we love it:

This is a really cool example of how amazingly over the top some makers are with their creations. It's not enough to emulate an old system, they want to build one of their own and they'll design a PCB from scratch to make it happen.

Read: Raspberry Pi Zero 2W Pocket Z

Raspberry Pi Pico MicroMac

The cool thing about emulating old systems is you don't need expensive hardware. In fact, maker and developer Matt Evans is using a Raspberry Pi Pico to run this Macintosh 128K emulator. Evans demonstrated the Picos ability to run both MacDraw and MacWrite with a good deal of success.

Why we love it:

We like old technology. We like the Raspberry Pi. We really like seeing people emulate old technology on the Raspberry Pi—especially one of the smaller models like the Pico. It's a really fun project idea and we're glad to see it work so well in practice.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico MicroMac

Baby Raspberry Pi Macintosh Quadra 700

Take everything you know about the Macintosh Quadra 700—now miniaturize it and make it Linux powered. That's exactly what Brachus Creations has done with this Pi-powered Macintosh Quadra 700 project. The original was released in 1991 and was much larger. That said, this is a fun desktop replica that works just as well.

Why we love it:

You really need a good case for the modern Raspberry Pi models so why not go all out in style? This project doesn't just look the part, it walks the walk thanks to the Basilisk emulator which lets you run actual Mac software from that era.

Read: Baby Raspberry Pi Macintosh Quadra 700

Use a Raspberry Pi to Detect Naruto Hand Seals

If you're a fan of Naruto, you probably don't need this project because you likely know all of the hand seals by heart but it's still really cool. Lucas Fernando is using AI to recognize the twelve hand seals from the Naruto franchise. He isn't using a Pi but assures the project can be replicated on a Pi 5 or Pi 4.

Why we love it:

This is one of those projects that isn't particularly useful, it's just really fun to see a proof of concept in action. It's also a neat way to play around with training an AI model with something interesting you enjoy.

Read: Use a Raspberry Pi to Detect Naruto Hand Seals

Raspberry Pi Bee Counting Beehive Monitor

Every now and then, we'll come across a Raspberry Pi project that aims to help the environment like this cool Pi-powered bee counting hive monitor. It uses AI to help monitor the population of a given beehive which is very useful for apiarists around the world. This particular project is running off of a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

Why we love it:

We love bees! It's good to know some makers out there are putting the Pi to good use and helping us keep them around. The project works just as it was designed and serves as an excellent use case of AI.

Read: Raspberry Pi Bee Counting Beehive Monitor

Raspberry Pi Pico 26-Pin Capacitive Touch Sensor PCB

Anything can be an instrument with this cool capacitive touch sensor PCB put together by maker and developer Tom Fox. This board turns all 26 GPIO pins on the Pico into a touch sensor input. To demonstrate its potential, he created a touch sensitive instrument that doubles as an art piece.

Why we love it:

This PCB is an amazing demonstration of how a simple idea can be made into a fun, open source tool. Fox's PCB design is well done and can easily be incorporated into loads of cool projects.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico 26-Pin Capacitive Touch Sensor PCB

Tom's Hardware Projects

We look at Raspberry Pi projects every day all week long, so it should come as no surprise that we like to tinker as well. Over the last month, we've had the opportunity to review some new Raspberry Pi hardware and wanted to share our findings with the Pi community.

Sunfounder Pironman 5 Review

The Pironman 5 case is like a tiny tabletop desktop for your Raspberry Pi 5. It has RGB LEDs and acrylic side panels so you can see all the hardware inside. There's a power button on the front along with an OLED screen. In this review, Les takes a look at how well it works and whether or not it's worth your time.

Read: Sunfounder Pironman 5 Review

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4S

Looking for more Pi to get excited about? We just dropped our Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4S review. It's one of the latest boards in a long line of Pi products that we're more than excited to sink our teeth into.

Read: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4S

The Raspberry Pi community - in the northern hemisphere, at least - is ready for summer with tons of cool projects and guides to go along with them. These makers are using all sorts of Pis ranging from the smallest Raspberry Pi RP2040 microprocessor all the way up to the latest Raspberry Pi 5. We've got all sorts of cool project ideas to inspire makers from all walks of life including amateurs, students and even expert engineers.

The creators behind these projects are using the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to bring their ideas to life. Whenever possible, we share all of the links we can that show how these projects are made and what you need to create them for yourself at home.

Raspberry Pi 400 'Fallout' Home Automation Terminal

Once you step foot on the surface of the wastelands, you can't go back, so you might as well bring a little piece of the apocalypse into your house. That's exactly what maker and developer Rick has done with this Raspberry Pi Fallout-themed terminal that works as a hub for home automation systems.

Why we love it:

Creating a Pi-powered hub for your home automation setup is already really cool but throwing in this cool Fallout design is just icing on the cake. The work that Rick put into developing both the technical side of the project and artistic skills to make it look as nice as it does is well worth the extra attention. The interface resembles the CLI from the game and accurately captures the look and feel of the hardware it's trying to emulate.

Read: Raspberry Pi 400 'Fallout' Home Automation Terminal

Raspberry PI AI Talking Tomato Plant

Those in the gardening community without a green thumb have likely wondered from time to time exactly what their plants need. This project from Redpepper solves that problem by using a Raspberry Pi with AI. It uses a variety of sensors to make sense of its environment and can tell you when the plant needs water, sunlight or a little extra love.

Why we love it:

This project takes all of the guesswork out of gardening and keeps things strictly logical with oodles of data to take advantage of. It's a fun use of the Raspberry Pi and a great example of how you can implement AI into your projects. The Pi also has a big pair of googly eyes on the front which only does favors to the overall design.

Read: Raspberry PI AI Talking Tomato Plant

Raspberry Pi AI Fably Storyteller

Coming up with a fresh idea for a bedtime story every night can be taxing. Thankfully, maker and developer Stefano Mazzocchi has created a Pi-powered solution to do the work for you in a project he dubs Fably. This project uses the power of AI to generate stories then reads them out loud using text-to-speech software and a speaker.

Why we love it:

We appreciate the versatility of this project as there's a lot of room to customize it as you go. You can add pre-recorded audio books, operate it using voice commands and get really creative by making cool housing for the hardware. Overall it's a fun idea with plenty to build on with its open source design.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Fably Storyteller

Raspberry Pi Sony Tape Deck Wireless Media Streaming Platform

Why buy what you can make yourself? That seems to be the motto of maker Unchecked_arrogance who's using a Raspberry Pi to power this custom Sony tape deck media streaming platform project. This is a double tape deck so while one side works as a Pi-powered media center, the other plays cassettes.

Why we love it:

This is a really fun way to revitalize old hardware while still maintaining its original functionality. You can easily go back and forth between playing old tapes and streaming your favorite podcasts. The execution is also worthy of extra praise. Unchecked_arrogance is using a touchscreen interface and it looks absolutely slick in place of the original tape player.

Read: Raspberry Pi Sony Tape Deck Wireless Media Streaming Platform

Raspberry Pi 5 ChatGPT Bender Personal Assistant

Personal assistants are easier to customize than ever thanks to microelectronics like the Raspberry Pi. Maker and developer Manuel Ahumada has made one from scratch that looks and acts just like Bender from the animated series 'Futurama'. He's powered by a Raspberry Pi 5 and is housed inside a custom, 3D-printed head.

Why we love it:

This project goes above and beyond. The head looks spot on while the software blends seamlessly to create a body-less Bender experience. In fact, we're pretty sure we've seen this in an episode before. It just goes to show how once again the Pi community is really adept at bringing Sci Fi to the real world.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 ChatGPT Bender Personal Assistant

Raspberry Pi 5 Game Boy XL

If you thought the original Game Boy was big, you haven't seen its giant counterpart—the Game Boy XL—created by Arnov Sharma. This Game Boy is massive, upgrading not only its size but also its capability thanks to the Raspberry Pi 5 inside. It features an LCD screen with working buttons on the front but it's intended to be displayed on a tabletop standing upright with a Bluetooth controller for input.

Why we love it:

We love the Raspberry Pi, we love the Game Boy and we get excited at giant versions of the things we love. Featuring this project was a no-brainer. Sharma's giant Game Boy XL is very well designed and looks like it would be a fantastic addition to any retro gaming fan's hardware collection.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Game Boy XL

Raspberry Pi Picos Dual Clock

Raspberry Pi clocks can be really cool. We've seen quilted Pi-powered clocks and even clocks that use marbles. However, this is the first dual clock we've come across. One clock uses a seven-segment display while the one underneath is output to a matrix panel. This panel can be used to display a variety of information outside of the time making it a dynamic counterpart to the seven-segment clock on top.

Why we love it:

The Pico 2040 clock has a very sleek end design. It looks professional thanks to little details like the logo in the corner. Makers don't have to go the extra step to make a project like this functional but it does make a difference when it comes to presentation. It showcases how makers can transform their ideas into well-made finished products.

Read: Raspberry Pi Picos Dual Clock

Raspberry Pi AI Stethoscope

Stethoscopes are an essential part of modern medicine. This project takes the tool and adds a twist using our favorite SBC. Instead of relying solely on the doctor to listen for what's going on inside, now you can let this Raspberry Pi AI stethoscope evaluate the data and scan for things like heart disease that would be nearly impossible for us to detect by sound alone.

Why we love it:

This is an amazing demonstration of how Raspberry Pi technology can be applied to help save lives. It's a simple idea that when trained with enough data, can help aid those in the medical field hone in on health concerns before they manifest further.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Stethoscope

Raspberry Pi RP2040 Hackbat

Every hacker needs a tool and the Raspberry Pi RP2040 HackBat isn't one to scoff at. This handheld PCB features tons of cool tools that make it something like a Swiss Army knife of hacking gadgets. If you're looking for something to use professionally or just want to tinker, this little board is definitely worth a close look.

Why we love it:

It takes a lot of work to design a PCB from scratch—especially one decked out with so many cool components and modules. It's got a screen for output, buttons for input, an RF antenna and so much more to play around with. At the end of the day, maker and developer Trujillo knocked the ball out of the park with this project.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 Hackbat

Raspberry Pi AI Clock Listens and Smells the Time

This is by far one of the strangest and most fascinating Raspberry Pi clocks we've ever seen. These clocks use smell and sound to estimate the time using AI. As time goes on, the clocks collect data which will hopefully make them more accurate at telling the time based on something so strange and seemingly arbitrary.

Why we love it:

Some of the best Raspberry Pi projects are made because the maker could do something, not because they needed to. This idea is hilarious and the fact that Max Björverud actually took the time to put these together and show them off is fantastic. We love everything about this project from its conception to the final build.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Clock Listens and Smells the Time

With May in full swing, it's time to take a look at some really cool Raspberry Pi projects for a little summertime tinkering inspiration. These makers have created some seriously unique projects using all sorts of Pi models like the itty bitty RP2040 microprocessor all the way up to the latest Raspberry Pi 5.

We're sure to share all of the juicy details along the way so you know exactly what Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs made the final design possible in these projects. We're huge fans of open source technology and love any opportunity to share what we learn along the way—so plug in your soldering iron and get out the protoboards, these are the best Raspberry Pi projects we've had the honor of featuring over the past month.

Raspberry Pi RP2040 Wireless LED Scoreboard

All sorts of games require score keeping and if you've got games to keep tally of, this Raspberry Pi RP2040 wireless LED scoreboard is just the project for the job. It uses an RP2040 microprocessor and features a custom made control panel along with a wireless remote for an input device.

Why we love it:

This maker went above and beyond to take something that you could probably do by hand with a pen and paper but with the added fun of building a microelectronics project. This scoreboard project looks just as fun to build as it is to use.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 Wireless LED Scoreboard

Raspberry Pi AI Robots Motivate Runners by Shouting Messages

Finding the motivation to work out is hard but what if you had a little robot that would cheer you on? That's exactly what maker and developer Sir Walter Richardson has done with this AI-powered motivation robot.

Why we love it:

It's awesome to have a little extra encouragement while you're pushing through a tough challenge. However, in a hilarious twist, this project will also sling demotivational shade to anyone who passes by with a bit too much confidence.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Robots Motivate Runners by Shouting Message

Raspberry Pi 4 Knight Rider ChatGPT KITT

Recreating scifi props might as well be its own category of microelectronics projects. Makers sure know how to take it to the next level when it comes to bringing scifi tech to life like the masterminds over at Knight Rider Historians who built their own talking KITT. This prop was built using a Raspberry Pi and ChatGPT.

Why we love it:

This project is really cool whether you're a fan of Knight Rider or not. The animated LEDs and interactive ChatGPT features make for an exciting experience. This project is one engine away from becoming a full-sized KITT replica.

Read: Raspberry Pi 4 Knight Rider ChatGPT KITT

Raspberry Pi Pico Dicemaster 2000

Every now and then, we come across projects that help make life a little bit easier. In this project, developer Hiro has created a dice roller for his visually impaired friend called the Dicemaster 2000. It's designed with controls that are easy to feel and uses audio output for feedback.

Why we love it:

Pi-powered dice rollers are really cool, but this one takes it a step further by adding a level of accessibility for Hiro's friend. It's a thoughtful project with end results that look great and fun to play with during late night tabletop sessions.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Dicemaster 2000

Raspberry Pi RP2040 LED Wristwatch

This RP2040-powered wristwatch was created by Kim Paulsson. Like any other watch, it tells the time but Paulsson decided to forgo your traditional hands or modern digital screen and opted for a more…microelectronics enthusiast approach. It features a ring of LEDs that are used to represent the current hour, minute and second.

Why we love it:

This watch is really cool! We haven't seen anything like it before and throwing in our favorite microprocessor is just icing on the Pi. The exposed PCB looks great—especially with the black finish and white text.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 LED Wristwatch

Raspberry Pi Brings GitHub's Octocat to Life

Anyone familiar with GitHub has no doubt come across their wiggly mascot Octocat. Infineon decided to take it upon themselves to bring Octocat to life with wiggling tentacles that use a Raspberry Pi-powered hydraulic system.

Why we love it:

It's amazing how much engineering goes into such a fun and silly project. The tentacle molds were 3D-printed, silicone makes them wiggle and the head is finished with a nice 3D-printed design.

Read: Raspberry Pi Brings GitHub's Octocat to Life

Raspberry Pi Pico Gundam LED Light Show

If you're a fan of Gundam, you've got to check out this awesome LED light show project put together by a maker known as Rob. Sure, sprucing up your favorite Gundam with LEDs is cool and all but what if you could control them? That's exactly what this Pico-powered panel does, bringing the figure to life in a dazzling display.

Why we love it:

It's cool to see someone take a fun idea to such an extreme. Controlling the LEDs with light effects is awesome enough but the design of the panel used to operate the system looks fantastic and deserves the praise it gets.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Gundam LED Light Show

Raspberry Pi Etch A Sketch Bot

Drawing on an Etch A Sketch is hard and it would be much easier to use Micah Tilton's Raspberry Pi-powered Etch A Sketch bot. This project takes existing images and converts them into files that the Pi can use to recreate on an Etch A Sketch using the original controls with the help of a couple of servo motors.

Why we love it:

Is it even up for debate that using an Etch A Sketch is hard? You've got to figure out how to not only create your image with one line but also using two knobs. Now take that concept and make a robot do it for you—that's why we're impressed.

Read: Raspberry Pi Etch A Sketch Bot

Raspberry Pi Sign Language Translator Glasses 

Bridging communication gaps is what the Raspberry Pi does best. Whether you're using an adapter to help two modules talk to each other or in this case, Nekhil has created a pair of sign language translation glasses and turn the signs into speech using AI.

Why we love it:

This project is a really fun idea that can help make it easier to interact with people who experience hearing impairment or otherwise know ASL. At the moment, the glasses only translate letters but enough time building the right model would allow you to introduce words and phrases, as well.

Read: Raspberry Pi Sign Language Translator Glasses

Raspberry Pi AI Storybook

Thomas Valadez has created a truly unique project with an air of beauty about it that we just haven't seen before. This Pi-powered storybook uses AI to generate both the story and the images to go along with it based on whatever text it generated in the story.

Why we love it:

You never know what you're going to get when it comes to AI so it's safe to say some of the stories and images will be a bit odd. However, it's still incredible to see the potential of modern AI put on full display in a cool project like this.

Read: Raspberry Pi AI Storybook

How to Manage Applications on Your Raspberry Pi With Pi-Apps

Managing apps on your Raspberry Pi just got easier thanks to Pi-Apps! In this guide, Les shows us how to set it up and use it so you can make the most out of your experience when using the official Raspberry Pi OS.

Read: How to Manage Applications on Your Raspberry Pi With Pi-Apps

With spring in full swing, it's time to take a look at some of the coolest Raspberry Pi projects that have bloomed over the last month. As usual, we've got an assortment of creations ranging from RP2040-based projects to ones that use the latest board, the Raspberry Pi 5. There's plenty to inspire makers of all walks whether you're an amateur or a well-seasoned microelectronics expert.

These makers and developers pull out the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to make their ideas possible. When they share all the juicy details about what components they're using and what libraries they've installed, we'll be sure to relay it to you with links to the source material. We've also got some guides put together by the staff here at Tom's Hardware so you can easily follow along with us at home.

Raspberry Pi 5 Cat TV

Nothing beats the chance to unwind and relax in front of the TV after a long day. No one knows that better than maker and developer Becky Stern who decided to share the experience with her beloved cats by creating a Raspberry Pi cat TV. This TV uses the latest Pi model, the Raspberry Pi 5.

Why we love it:

This might not be an overly complex project but the use case is what shines here. The TV automatically loads up cat videos from YouTube that show footage of things like birds and squirrels. It's a very generous project that makes for some seriously spoiled cats and we love that.

Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Cat TV

Raspberry Pi Hat Camera

Some Raspberry Pi projects aren't just portable, they're wearable, like this Raspberry Pi hat camera put together by Jacob David C Cunningham. This device has everything it needs to operate on the go including a battery and clip that makes it easy to attach to the brim of your hat.

Why we love it:

Making Raspberry Pi projects portable is always tricky. It can be difficult to figure out how much power you need and how heavy the battery can be depending on the use case. This is a great example of a finished product that's as fun to build as it is useful.

Read: Raspberry Pi Hat Camera

Raspberry Pi Pico StoRPer Modular DIY Robot Rover

If there's one thing the Raspberry Pi Pico is good for, it's tiny RC cars. This one, created by maker and developer Jo Hinchliffe, is known as StoRPer. It's designed to be modular and has omnidirectional wheels for easy steering.

Why we love it:

We love seeing the Pico used with custom PCBs so it should come as no surprise that we enjoyed seeing it here. The StoRPer is a neat little car and the omnidirectional wheels are just icing on the cake.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico StoRPer Modular DIY Robot Rover

Vela AI Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Smart Bikes

After thriving in the tech market over the last decade, it's not uncommon to find a Pi used in a commercial product now and then. In this case, Velo AI has unveiled their line of Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 smart bikes.

Why we love it:

The bikes use AI to help the driver anticipate traffic from behind which can ideally make a safer experience for the rider. While it's plenty impressive to see proof of concepts for Raspberry Pi AI projects, it's just as cool to see the technology implemented in a buyable product.

Read: Vela AI Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Smart Bikes

Raspberry Pi Pico W Atari 2600 Bluetooth Controller Support

Sometimes the best way to get a good retro gaming experience is to use the right controller. Instead of trying to use a retro controller on an emulator, make Reogen is switching things up by creating a Raspberry Pi Pico-powered adapter for the Atari 2600 that enables bluetooth controller support.

Why we love it:

This is one of those projects we never really considered until we saw it for ourselves. It's an extremely niche use case but a beautiful example of how the Pico can serve as a bridge for modern and classic hardware.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico W Atari 2600 Bluetooth Controller Support

Raspberry Pi Pico 'Back to the Future' Time Circuits Replica

Fans can go to some serious extremes to create realistic props from their favorite movies. Maker and developer Traveling_fred is on that list as he shows off his 'Back to the Future' time circuits replica kit, powered by our favorite microcontroller—the Raspberry Pi Pico.

Why we love it:

This is a really unique kit that pays homage to the classic 'Back to the Future' sci fi franchise. The final build is really neat in itself but the kit also looks really fun to put together. What you would do with the end product and when is up to you.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico 'Back to the Future' Time Circuits Replica

Raspberry Pi Precision Movement Stage

Some projects are driven by some really specific needs. In this case, YouTuber and maker Robert Elder needed a way to smoothly rotate microchips while filming close up shots for his channel. The end result is this cool Pi-powered precision movement stage.

Why we love it:

This project shows how you don't need to buy expensive tools when a bit of ingenuity and effort will do just as good. According to Elder, this is still a work in progress but we're excited about it even still in its current state.

Read: Raspberry Pi Precision Movement Stage

DIY Raspberry Pi All Sky Camera

Got your eyes on the sky? So does maker Frank Prins with this custom Raspberry Pi all sky camera. It's aimed at the sky way up north within the Arctic Circle and captures images of the northern lights.

Why we love it:

Spotting a Pi in a professional setting is one thing but seeing one use in the name of science is another. We love the unique opportunity Prins has to not only capture images of the northern lights with a Pi but also share them with us.

Read: DIY Raspberry Pi All Sky Camera

Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 Inside Custom Virtual Pinball Machine

You don't need quarters to play this machine. Dewijngaert created this virtual pinball machine and while a Pi isn't being used as the main board, you will find an RP2040 microcontroller handling the button input.

Why we love it:

This is a project not just for fans of retro gaming in general but serious pinball enthusiasts. It's clear Dewijngaert went all out with this design to make sure the playing experience was top notch and true to classic, full-sized pinball machines.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 Inside Custom Virtual Pinball Machine

Raspberry Pi Pico Turned Into a Working GPU

Graphics cards can be expensive and hard to get ahold of, wouldn't it be easier if you could make your own with a $4 Raspberry Pi Pico? That's exactly what the team did over at Element14. Sure, it can't hold a candle for your latest RTX 4000 series GPU but it's not supposed to. This Pico graphics card is intended to work with small SBCs.

Why we love it:

This project is just crazy awesome from head to toe. We love everything from the concept to the final design. Is it practical? Sort of. Is it cool? Extremely. It's projects like these that raise the bar and make you say, "Why not?"

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Turned Into a Working GPU

Tom's Hardware Projects

As always, it's hard not to feel inspired after covering all sorts of Pi projects all month long. We also like to tinker on the Pi and document the process as we go so you can follow along at home with a detailed guide.

How to Overclock the Raspberry Pi 5 Beyond 3 GHz

In this guide, Les shows us how you can take the Pi 5 to new limits by overclocking it past 3GHz. If you aren't sure how to go about overclocking, this is a great place to start as Les covers everything you need each step of the way.

Read: How to Overclock the Raspberry Pi 5 Beyond 3 GHz

At the end of a rainbow, surely the pot of gold is actually just a pot full of Raspberry Pis. Or rather, that's what we'd like to find. It's not a secret that we here at Tom's Hardware are huge fans of the Pi and all of the amazing projects put together by the community. We feature Pi projects all week long and today we're taking a look at some of the best projects we've featured over the past month.

These makers use some of the latest boards, like the Raspberry Pi 5, as well as the best Raspberry Pi accessories and the best Raspberry Pi HATs to bring their ideas to fruition. We've got tons of cool projects to share that will inspire your inner maker and even a few guides we put together so you can follow along at home.

Raspberry Pi Smart Fridge

Building a smart home is as easy as Pi! Just take a look at this cool Raspberry Pi smart fridge put together by Mimobeano. Using a Pi as the main controller, this device takes pictures of the refrigerator contents and uses AI to see what's in stock. Mimobeano can not only see what's in the fridge by sending a message to a custom Telegram bot but also request recipes based on what's available.

Why we love it:

We love any excuse to whip up a DIY project and this one provides a neat way to interact with your kitchen. Putting the project together looks just as fun as having one more smart home device.

Read: Raspberry Pi Smart Fridge

3D Printed Raspberry Pi 5 NAS

An NAS setup can be really useful for a variety of applications—especially those looking to stream their own media at home. This 3D printed Raspberry Pi 5 NAS put together by 3D Printz provides support for the Raspberry Pi 5 as well as a few other Pi models. With all of the hardware together in the final build, it has convenient port access on the side and an OLED screen for displaying stats.

Why we love it:

We don't need to sell you on why it's useful to have an NAS on hand, but we will encourage you to consider making your own. It's awesome enough to see support for the Raspberry Pi 5, in this case, but it was really kind of 3D Printz to share files for other Pi models, as well.

Read: 3D printed Raspberry Pi 5 NAS

Raspberry Pi RP2040 in Super Tiny Unofficial Game Boy

Big things sometimes come in small packages and this project is a great example of just that. We spotted our favorite microprocessor, the RP20040 on the PCB used in this Super Tiny Unofficial Game Boy. Elliot Coll found it over at AliExpress and showed it off over at YouTube.

Why we love it:

We're absolute suckers for retro gaming stuff and this super small Game Boy was cool enough on its own. But once we saw the Raspberry Pi inside, we knew we had to share it. Although this was a one off product run and we can't find more, it's a wonderful build and we hope to see RP2040s integrated into more devices.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 in Super Tiny Unofficial Game Boy

Raspberry Pi Voice Driven AI Art Generator

It's easier than ever to play with generative AI tools. There are so many options at your fingertips that you can use to implement open source AI systems into your projects. A great example comes from maker and developer DevMiser who's using one to drive this AI Art Generator TV project. Just say the prompt you want to create out loud and it will use speed to text to process the request and generate a picture for you.

Why we love it:

It's cool to see more AI-based projects and this one is really neat. It's a fun proof of concept but you could set something like this up in your living room to entertain guests. It's a good idea and well executed project.

Read: Raspberry Pi Voice Driven AI Art Generator

Raspberry Pi VHS Composite Video Player

This project, created by Alan Boris, takes the beauty of vintage tech and showcases it in a useful end product. This is a Raspberry Pi Composite Video Player and it's housed inside of an old VHS tape.

Why we love it:

Boris went above and beyond with this project design. Not only is it housed inside of an old VHS tape, he threw in a servo to rotate like the original tape reel used to while playing a tape. The other side has a handy display for menu functions. It's an incredible idea and the end result is top notch.

Read: Raspberry Pi VHS Composite Video Player

Raspberry Pi Bluetooth Jammer

We've all been there before. You're comfortable, it's a cozy atmosphere, and suddenly your neighbors interrupt with some noisy audio. In this case, maker and developer Roni Bandini was dealing with excessive music and decided to jam any nearby bluetooth speakers by using a Pi to listen for it using AI. The end result is this legally questionable Raspberry Pi Bluetooth Jammer.

Why we love it:

This project definitely isn't for everyone but you don't have to make it yourself to appreciate the ingenuity behind its design. Some of the most interesting projects are born out of necessity—or in this case, neighborly warfare.

Read: Raspberry Pi Bluetooth Jammer

Raspberry Pi Volumetric Display

We guarantee you've never seen a project quite like this one before. This Raspberry Pi Volumetric Display uses a Pi to drive a motor that spins a couple of matrix panels around. The end result is a 3D object you can look at from different angles.

Why we love it:

This is an amazing idea and the final design, especially with the glass covering, looks incredible. We've never seen a project quite like this one before and it's neat to see not just one but two great examples of it in action.

Read: Raspberry Pi Volumetric Display

Tom's Hardware Projects

It's hard not to get inspired after combing through so many amazing creations from the maker community. Here are a few Raspberry Pi tutorials put together by the staff here at Tom's Hardware that you can follow along with at home.

How to Control your Raspberry Pi Camera using a web UI

If you've ever wanted to use a web-based UI to operate a camera using a Raspberry Pi, now's your chance to see exactly how it's done. You could incorporate this into a multitude of projects, so think of it more like a building block you can use for a bigger project design. Les walks us through everything we need to do to put this setup together.

Read: How to Control your Raspberry Pi Camera using a web UI

How to turbo-charge your Raspberry Pi 5 with an NVMe boot drive

Your Raspberry Pi 5 has PCIe support, so why not take full advantage of that? In this guide, Les walks us through what you need to do to turbo-charge your Pi 5 using an NVMe boot drive. Some extra hardware will be needed to use an SSD with the Pi 5.

Read: How to turbo-charge your Raspberry Pi 5 with an NVMe boot drive

Raspberries are red, some PCBs are blue, Raspberry Pi is our favorite and Arduino is cool, too. February has snuck up on us and it's time again for us to share some really cool Pi projects that we absolutely love. We've got everything from the latest board, the Raspberry Pi 5, to custom boards that use the RP2040 microprocessor.

These makers use some of the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs around to bring their projects to life. We'll be sure to share all of the details as we go along, just follow the link to check out the original article for a closer look at each project.

Raspberry Pi Pico Digital Audio Looper

The Raspberry Pi is a great choice for musicians looking to create a digital instrument of their own, or in this case, college students completing a project for the semester final. This Raspberry Pi Pico digital audio looper lets you record audio and play it back with special effects or in a loop for real-time concerts.

Why we love it:

This project is super useful for musicians and makers alike that are itching for a fun project to recreate at home. It shows that a little ingenuity not only nets you a cool final product but also can help you get a passing grade in school.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Digital Audio Looper

Raspberry Pi Tiny Retro TV

It's amazing what makers can cram a Raspberry Pi into. As the boards get smaller, so do the design concepts like this Raspberry Pi tiny retro TV put together by Fantasticmrdavid. It resembles an old Toshiba TV and lets you watch videos and emulate any retro console you like thanks to RetroPie.

Why we love it:

We've always had a soft spot for retro gaming with a Pi but we know that having hardware look the part really completes the nostalgic experience. It took a lot of work to design and print this case. Plus, it was really cool of Fantasticmrdavid to share it with everyone else online.

Read: Raspberry Pi Tiny Retro TV

Raspberry Pi Mini Desktop DOS PC

Like we said before, tiny projects are cool! And it just so happens that this one is also designed by Fantasticmrdavid. Instead of resembling an old TV, this Pi fits inside of a mini desktop DOS PC. It looks like an old school desktop complete with a monitor and everything.

Why we love it:

There are multiple bases available to print for different Pi models and you also have the option of using the floppy drive port as a microSD card slot. The design for this is just off the charts cool and open to so many makers to modify and play with at home.

Read: Raspberry Pi Mini Desktop DOS PC

Raspberry Pi Dual Monitor Mini PC

Tiny retro PCs are cool and all but this Raspberry Pi dual monitor mini PC is a bit more modern. It sports flashy RGB LEDs and shows off the hardware inside the case with clear side panels. If that weren't enough, it has two separate monitors to use for dual monitor action!

Why we love it:

This little PC looks great and the dual monitor support puts it over the top! If you're looking to make a small usable desktop of your own, you might as well go all out in style and this is definitely the way to do it.

Read: Raspberry Pi Dual Monitor Mini PC

Maker Gives Raspberry Pi Pico Ethernet over USB Support

Some makers really like to push boards to their limits and this project is a shining example of just that. This maker has managed to get Ethernet over USB support on the Pico. It requires a custom cable that Alan put together just to pull off this project that splits the USB port into Ethernet and USB.

Why we love it:

If you don't have a specialized board on hand, this project shows that you can just make your own. It's already super impressive as an idea but it's even more awesome to see it work successfully.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Ethernet over USB Support

Raspberry Pi RP2040 Magnetic Macropad

We're definitely suckers for Pi-powered macropads and couldn't help but share this Raspberry Pi RP2040 magnetic macropad when we came across it. Made by maker Salim Benbouziyane, it features magnetic add ons that you can snap into place and remove as needed.

Why we love it:

This project is the epitome of customization! It looks gorgeous and makes for a very exciting user experience, even if it is a bit delicate. There are so many options when it comes to adding your own modules that it makes this project stand out in both concept and execution.

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 Magnetic Macropad

Raspberry Pi ReBoi Game Boy Color Drop-in Kit

We've covered a few cool Pi-powered drop-in kits for a variety of handhelds over the years and knew immediately that this one was too cool to not to share. Dubbed the Raspberry Pi ReBoi, this PCB is designed to fit inside of an original (or reproduction) Game Boy Color.

Why we love it:

You don't need to modify any original hardware to use this kit. If you'd rather leave your Game Boy Color untouched, you can easily buy aftermarket parts to complete the custom build. This project also includes a backlit LCD screen that replaces the original.

Read: Raspberry Pi ReBoi Game Boy Color Drop-in Kit

Raspberry Pi Pico Marble Clock

The idea to create a Pi-powered clock isn't exactly new, but maker and developer C Forde definitely put a new spin on the concept by creating this awesome Raspberry Pi Pico marble clock. Marbles are rotated up the spires to indicate the current time and held in place with a few magnets.

Why we love it:

This is one of the most unique clocks we've ever seen, hands down. It encompasses quite a few areas of technology ranging from 3D printing to programming microelectronics. The end result looks fascinating and works like a charm.

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Marble Clock

Raspberry Pi Pico Smartwatch

Wearable Pi-powered tech is always fashionable in our book. This Raspberry Pi Pico smartwatch is RP2040-powered and features a custom-made open source interface. It connects to nearby devices using Bluetooth and can manage things like calls, notifications, media and more.

Why we love it:

It's cool to see the Pico used in something that's not only useful but can be easily taken on the go. The round LCD and 3D-printed housing is icing on the cake. It's portable, functional, and open source. What's not to love?

Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Smartwatch

Raspberry Pi RP2040 ThinkPad Nubbin Light Dimmer

ThinkPad owners are known to be passionate about the Track Point but this is the first time we've seen one used as a light switch dimmer. This Raspberry Pi RP2040 ThinkPad nubbin light switch dimmer works by touch input or via web browser from a smartphone.

Why we love it:

This is one of the most hilarious implementations of a Track Point we've ever seen. We're just glad it had a Raspberry Pi working behind the scenes so we could feature it in our list. This project makes us wonder what other use cases could be improved with a ThinkPad Track Point for input…

Read: Raspberry Pi RP2040 ThinkPad Nubbin Light Dimmer

Maker and developer Pixelpanic is a fan of UK departure boards and recently decided to make one of their own at home. Using our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi, Pixelpanic has brought the knowledge of arrivals and departures at your fingertips—literally. This departure board small enough to fit in your hand as this project uses a Pimoroni Badger 2040 W as the main board. It’s aided by a Pico W that handles some of the extra data processing used to update the departure board.

The idea behind the project wasn’t to replicate the UK departure boards to a tee but rather display the same information in a format suitable for the Badger 2040 W. This particular display board was chosen because of its E ink panel. This makes it both an affordable and energy efficient option compared to something like an LCD or OLED screen.

According to Pixelpanic, most of the UK departure boards have a similar format in which the data is laid out in a fairly consistent manner. This is because they all use the same API that Pixelpanic is actually tapping into for this replica. The data is presented in this project with a format similar to their local station.

It doesn’t take much hardware to recreate this project, but it does take a bit of ingenuity to put it together efficiently like Pixelpanic has done. While the project relies on a Pimoroni Badger 2040 W,i t’s aided in part by a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller which helps with processing data from the API.

The API used to gather departure data in this project is the National Rail Enquiry DARWIN API. The Pico is responsible for gathering data from this system and processing it for the Badger 2040 W. With the data consolidated, it’s processed for formatting onto the eInk display. Pixelpanic was kind enough to provide a complete breakdown of how this system goes together over at their official blog.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the project page shared to Pixelpanic’s website. There are plans in the works to possibly redo this project with a larger E Ink display with colors, so be sure to follow them for future updates.

There’s nothing quite as grueling as working for hours in the hot summer sun. If you’ve got a yard that needs mowing, you may want to take the time to automate the process with a Raspberry Pi like maker and developer Ulli from the YouTube channel Greenkeeper with Raspberry Pi. Ulli has been hard at work for months perfecting an automatic mower that mows your yard for you so you can sit back, relax and still get work done.

According to Ulli, he’s been working alongside TGD-Consulting, a German IT firm, to develop the mower and create some software that’s effective and easy to use. As of right now, the project is still in development so it’s not quite finished yet. Most recently, Ulli has 3D printed a chassis for the basic hardware components that enable them to test the latest software release.

Right now, the team has put together a web-based interface that allows you to see what the mower sees, adjust settings and control its movement from one location. The unit is equipped with a variety of sensors lending to quite a bit of flexibility from what you can control from the web interface. The team calls the application PiMowBotIT-SW.

The mower has a variety of tools and sensors to navigate yards and determine where it needs to go in order to mow. The Pi is programmed to identify the color green as an acceptable plane to pass over for mowing. There are time-of-flight sensors for left and right sweeps and a camera that’s used for image recognition. A custom board also had to be developed that made it easier for the Pi to connect to various sensors. Ulli is using a Raspberry Pi 4 to test the PiMowBot but TGD confirms it should work with other models, as well.

According to TGD, the PiMowBotIT application is designed to run on a light version of Raspberry Pi OS.  Their website has a thorough breakdown of not only the software side of the project but also a detailed look at hardware options that can be used in its construction. For example, most of the body can be 3D printed while other components like the mower blades can be constructed using a specific cutting disk.

This is still a work in progress but you can see great strides in the work done so far. If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action, check out the video Ulli uploaded to see what the mower looks like in action.

It’s no secret that cosplayers have been known to use our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi, to take their handcrafted creations to the next level. We’ve seen everything from Pi-powered Game Boy cosplays to Raspberry Pi Galactus masks, but this is the first Pi-powered Stray cosplay. Maker and developer Dawn DuPriest uses a Raspberry Pi to animate faces for her Stray Companion cosplay and even play music on demand.

The character she’s cosplaying is known as Morusque. This character is known for playing music when you bring him sheet music. To bring her cosplay to life, convention attendees can hand her sheet music that the Pi can recognize with an RFID reader. It then plays music on a speaker built into the guitar prop that houses the rest of the electronics.

The companions in Stray are humanoid robots with screens for faces that play animations for facial expressions. For her cosplay, she wears a wireless screen that interacts with the Pi to change the faces as needed. There are buttons connected to the Pi that DuPriest can select that trigger various face animations.

The screen used for the face is an iPad Mini which can communicate wirelessly with the Pi—perfect for a cosplay that requires so much movement. Driving the operation is a Raspberry Pi 3B+ connected to an RFID reader and a series of buttons. These extra components are connected to the GPIO on the Pi using a Sparkfun Pi Wedge.

The iPad Mini is running a couple of apps enabling it to remotely access the Pi, including Pi Helper and VNC Viewer. This makes it possible to show the Pi’s desktop on the go without any cables. She also explained that the sprite sheets used to generate the face animations were created using an online app called Piskel.

Overall, this is an extremely clever cosplay. If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the full project breakdown at Hackster and follow DuPriest for more cool creations.

Protecting your garden from unwanted plants and excess weeds is half of the gardening process. One maker and developer, aka Nathan from NathanBuildsDIY, has taken the matter to an entirely new level by developing this impressive Raspberry Pi-powered solution. After deliberating potential avenues, he settled on creating an AI-driven robot that identifies weeds before using a Fresnel lens to concentrate light from the sun onto the weeds until they burn.

The system consists of a large wooden frame that can be wheeled up and down paths in your garden. It has a camera for observing the territory that the Pi evaluates for potential weeds. Once an unwanted plant is spotted, its Fresnel lens is moved into position while the machine waits until the weed is sufficiently burned.

Nathan was kind enough to not only demonstrate the project but also share a video completely breaking down the build process making it easy for anyone to recreate themselves. He includes everything from the physical schematics to wiring diagrams as well as delving deep into the code used to operate the system.

A full parts list is available in the video description but here’s a brief summary of the most major components. It uses a Raspberry Pi 3B+ but you could easily swap this with a Raspberry Pi 4 or even a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. A Fresnel lens is necessary to focus the sunlight to burn the plants, this is put into position with a series of wheels and motors. Everything is powered by a LiPo battery and held into place with a custom wooden frame.

A fair bit of software is required to program the unit. You can expect some familiar applications if you’ve tinkered with AI on the Pi before. You’ll need OpenCV as well as Tflite (Tensorflow Lite) to run Tensorflow on the Pi. Other basic libraries are used as well, with Picamera being used to control and take images with the official Raspberry Pi camera..

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, we highly recommend checking out the video so you can see it in action. Visit Nathan’s official YouTube channel, NathanBuildsDIY, for an in-depth look at this impressive gardening tool and be sure to follow him for more cool creations.

The Raspberry Pi is a great go-to tool for all sorts of enthusiasts. Whether you’re into retro gaming or just take network security very seriously, you don’t have to look hard to find a tool to take your hobby to the next level. Today we’ve got an awesome music player to share that was put together by a maker known as Damaniel2. Instead of pulling music from a streaming service like Spotify, this setup is designed to play music over Wi-Fi sourced from an NAS device.

At the moment, it’s streaming the content using a wireless connection which makes it possible to move from room to room. However, Damaniel2 has plans to adjust the setup to a wired connection for better performance.  Despite the wireless connection, Damaniel2 assures that the setup has been working just as intended.

The hardware is housed inside of a 3D-printed shell that Damaniel2 created from scratch just for the project using OpenSCAD. According to Damaniel2, this was their first time creating something in 3D to print and the design needs some more adjustments and a future iteration with a little extra height is necessary.

Inside you’ll find a Raspberry Pi 3B+ but you could get away with using another Pi like a Pi 4 or maybe even a Pi Zero. A HiFiBerry DAC 2 Pro was included to process the audio output while a 5-inch DSI touchscreen interface is used for user input. The HiFiBerry HAT provides audio ports on the back for connecting audio peripherals.

As far as software goes, it’s running Volumio OS. This is an application designed for those who want to stream their own media locally. There are two versions available—free and paid. The free version offers plenty of features to do what this project is capable of but the paid version has extra functions that might be worth paying for if you’re really into streaming music.

If you want to learn more about this Raspberry Pi project, check out the original thread shared to Reddit by Damaniel2 and consider following him for future updates or more cool creations.

Digital picture frames are cool enough in their own right but what if you could send new pictures to it every day? That’s exactly what maker Olivier Simard-Hanley has done with this Raspberry Pi project. Using our favorite SBC, he’s made what he calls DispatchPi—a way to send new photos every day to his fiancée complete with text overlay featuring a custom message.

The project is made using two custom digital picture frames, each featuring a Raspberry Pi and an E Ink display panel. The Pis connect to the internet throughout the day and pull a new image to be loaded from a specific email address. This makes it possible to send new pictures to each other every day by just sending them as an attachment with a custom message to be overlayed.

The project also involves iPhone shortcuts to make the process easier. According to Simard-Hanley, each sender relies on a custom iPhone shortcut to initiate the email that sends the image and custom text. It would still be possible to recreate this project without the shortcuts but this feature makes the process a bit more user-friendly.

It doesn’t take much hardware to recreate this project and there is room for flexibility if you don’t have the same components. In this case, Simard-Hanley is using a couple of Raspberry Pi Zeros but you could get away with using a Pi 3B or 4 if that’s all you have on hand. He’s also using a pair of 7.5-inch Waveshare E Ink displays but any eInk panel will work in its stead. You could also get away with using a non-eInk screen.

Simard-Hanley took the time to share a full tutorial that breaks down not only how the project works but how to recreate it at home. The workflow starts with the iOS shortcut that allows the user to send a picture to a shared inbox. The Raspberry Pis ping a specific URL throughout the day to check for new updates. The last email with an attachment is then processed into a grayscale bitmap and formatted with the email body text as an overlay before it’s pushed to the E Ink frame.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project, visit the official project page over at GitHub and be sure to follow Simard-Hanley for more details as well as future creations.

When it comes to emulation, there’s nothing quite like the ingenuity of the Linux community. Today we’re sharing a neat project from maker and developer Paul Rickards, aka Biosrhythm. Using a handheld Linux platform known as PocketCHIP, Rickards has set up a Mac II emulator known as Mini vMac. If PocketCHIP sounds familiar, it's probably because we've previously covered a Raspberry Pi version designed to work with a Raspberry Pi CM4.

The PocketCHIP unit is battery-powered which makes it totally portable. It’s intended to work with Linux operating systems, but you do have a bit of flexibility when it comes to choosing an OS. It features a QWERTY keyboard for user input and also sports a 480 x 272px touchscreen for video output.

According to the official documentation, Mini vMac is an emulator collection designed to bring compatibility with old Macintosh software on newer hardware. Mini vMac is part of the Gryphel Project, which intends to preserve Mac software from 1984 to 1996. And thanks to this PocketCHIP project, you can now take the old-school Mac experience with you on the go.

When Rickards set out to run Mini vMac on the PocketCHIP, he was delighted to discover a package already put together by another maker known as Zzxzzk115 (you can find this package over at GitHub). This configuration is made just for PocketCHIP but required a little bit of work from Rickards to get up and running on the handheld.

Setting up Mini vMac will vary depending on what OS you’re starting with. In this case, Rickards is using the Jessie distribution of Debian so it took some extra steps to get off the ground — which might not be necessary if you’re running Bookworm (the latest). You can follow along with Rickard’s steps over at his official Biosrhythm blog.

If you want to recreate this setup, or even turn it into a Raspberry Pi project, check out the original blog post shared by Rickards — and look into the CM4 version of the PocketCHIP to make it Pi-flavored. 

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — the Raspberry Pi goes with retro gaming like peanut butter and jelly. Today we’ve got another fun retro gaming project to share with you, this one created by a maker who goes by Cheat_Steve10. He’s managed to stuff our favorite SBC inside of an old Game Boy Advance (GBA) and even uses the original hardware for input.

The project relies on a Raspberry Pi Zero and allows him to emulate all sorts of games using RetroPie. The original screen has been replaced with an LCD panel so you don’t have to find the perfect light source just to see what you’re doing. It’s battery-powered, making it totally portable, and uses the original buttons. This project is similar to Zarcadeuk’s Game Boy Advance SP drop in kit but is more homemade and less commercial.

According to Cheat_Steve10, this is actually the third version of his attempt to make a GBA Pi Zero RetroPie rig. He’s been working on perfecting the setup since 2020. Previous editions used a GBA SP and lacked hardware for audio output so this time he opted for the original GBA which has more room for a speaker module.

In the original thread shared to Reddit, Cheat_steve10 explains how he’s using a Raspberry Pi Zero W. This keeps a small form factor that’s light on power with the added benefit of wireless support. The screen is a 2.8-inch TFT display that connects via SPI, a USB sound card is used to process audio output and the buttons work using the GPIO pins on the Pi Zero. Cheat_Steve10 confirms that the unit gets roughly 2 hours of use with a 1000mAh battery.

Like we mentioned before, this is a RetroPie project. If you haven’t played around with it much before, check out our guide on how to set up RetroPie. The display module relies on a library known as Fbcp ili9341 for output. The button input relies on the GPIONext library—an open source Python tool.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the original thread shared to Reddit as well as the demo video posted to YouTube showing it in action.

Have you ever been relaxing in a garden and wondered what bird is making that lovely song or what sort of feathered creature is squawking like a laser gun? Either way, this Raspberry Pi project will answer that question for you! Jumpin_jon, as they’re known over at Reddit, is using a Raspberry Pi to listen to bird calls and even recognize what bird it is using an open-source tool called BirdNET-Pi.

BirdNET-Pi is a tool designed to run on the Raspberry Pi that uses TFLite to process audio input and listen to bird calls. It was put together by Patrick McGuire, who forked the project from Stefan Kah’s BirdNET-Lite. BirdNET-Pi is optimized for the Raspberry Pi and can run on the Raspberry Pi 4B, Raspberry Pi 400, Raspberry Pi 3B, and even the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

The system works by listening to bird calls using a USB microphone. The audio input is parsed through BirdNET-Pi and processed to identify what bird was likely making the sound. According to the GitHub page, BirdNET-Pi can identify hundreds of birds from different countries around the world.

Setting up this project doesn’t require much hardware; you mostly need a compatible Pi and a microphone. In this case, Jumpin_jon uses a Raspberry Pi 4 B 4GB model, but older and smaller Pis will work in its stead. Jumpin_jon used a quality mic setup and implemented an Agptek Lavalier omnidirectional mic that connects via 3.5mm using a USB adapter with the Pi.

The official BirdNET-Pi GitHub page has many details about the application, including various features you can use, like real-time effects and more. The dev recommends using the 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS Lite version—specifically Bullseye. Even though you can use other Pis, you will likely see the best performance from a Pi 4 with plenty of RAM.

If you want to make this Raspberry Pi project at home, check out the original thread shared to Reddit by Jumpin_jon and dig into the GitHub for BirdNET-Pi to get a closer look at how this system operates.

Recalbox, the popular open-source retro gaming OS announces version 9.1 of the OS and Recalbox RGB JAMMA, a means to use period-accurate arcade hardware with the Raspberry Pi via its GPIO.

Recalbox RGB JAMMA

JAMMA (Japan Amusement Machine and Marketing Association) was the de facto specification for arcade cabinets. Many cabinets used the specification, which meant that owners could easily swap out games without rewiring a cabinet.

Recalbox RGB JAMMA is a plug and play board that connects to the Raspberry Pi using the GPIO. The board is slightly larger than the Raspberry Pi 4, which means it is not a true HAT (the HAT standard was created to define the size and basic electronics of an add-on). Once connected to the Pi, the JAMMA interface sticks out of the side, enabling the user to connect their JAMMA harness (a collection of wires for video, inputs and general configuration) and get their game on.

Coupled with Recalbox 9.1, RGB JAMMA enables the use of period accurate inputs and ensuring that it uses the correct display mode, giving the player a massive dose of nostalgia. 

This isn't a retail product just yet, rather it is being crowdfunded with pledges starting from €60 (approximately $65). At the time of writing it is at 713% of its target with 23 days remaining. Units should be in eager hands from October 2023.

Remember that crowdfunding a project is not a guarantee of receiving a finished product. Backing a crowdfunded project is akin to an investment; you believe in the project and want it to succeed. You are not purchasing a retail product.

Recalbox RGB JAMMA - Key points

• ZERO CONFIG: you plug, you play
• 15kHz pixel + frequency perfect: display rigorously identical to the original arcade game
• < 0.5ms input lag: the lowest input lag ever recorded
• 3/6-button mode: original or modified JAMMA compatible
• KickHarness CPS1: the most widely used kick harness
• Mono 15 Watts amp: send mono sound to the JAMMA
• MONO/STEREO switch or stereo on an external amp
• JACK output
• Raspberry Pi 4/400/3 compatible
• TATE MODE : vertical mode support
• 40mm fan slot
• Hotkey Patterns (multiple functions on one button, such as quit, credit, menu)
• Voltage Barrier: 5v/12v compatible corner/service/test buttons
• Resin case (optional)
• OLED display of video signal frequency/resolution (optional)
• Automatic launch of the game of your choice at start-up for a dedicated terminal

Recalbox 9.1 Pulstar

Recalbox 9.1, codenamed "Pulstar" has a series of updates, along with support for the RGB JAMMA board. Support has been added for retro gaming handhelds from Anbernic, popular alternatives to Raspberry Pi DIY handhelds. Talking of which, support has now been added for Experimental Pi's PiBoy XRS, a Raspberry Pi powered Nintendo Game Boy facsimile. This new release also provides a new image for the original Raspberry Pi Zero, and the GPICase2W (my personal retro gaming rig), another Game Boy shell compatible with the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

Recallbox 9.1 can be downloaded free of charge via the Recalbox website.

• Add support for Anbernic rg353m, rg353p, rg353v
• Add support for PiBoy XRS
• Add TATE mode support for HDMI, CRT and handhelds
• Add start a game from savestate menu
• Add support for Super Game Boy games
• Add new core for Philips CDI (libretro samecdi, for PC only)
• New image for RPIZero (first one) and GPiCase2W
• Add missing joystick support on GPi Cases

There are tons of cool Raspberry Pi gaming handhelds that have been created over the years. One that we really appreciate is the Retro Lite CM4 created by a maker known as StonedEdge. This handheld resembles a Nintendo Switch but instead has a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 inside and runs RetroPie. Today we’re sharing a new accessory he’s made that also uses a Raspberry Pi component—an RP2040-powered docking station.

The docking station is designed so that the Retro Lite CM4 can charge while it’s placed in the station. According to StonedEdge, it also works with any other Linux-based RetroPie system. It features a little screen, as well, so you can see stats about your playing history as well as get a look at game data based on whatever you’re playing at the time.

There are three main modes that the screen alternates through including a default splash screen, your gaming history stats as well as a game mode that updates to reflect whatever is currently launched in RetroPie. The charging takes place using a USB-C port while an HDMI port provides video output.

The unit is 3D printed and designed to not just look nice but to also provide access to the hardware and ports for ease of use. The LCD screen is 1.5-inches across and has a resolution of 128 x 128px. There are three USB 2.0 ports available to connect peripherals to, as well. Everything is connected to a custom PCB that sports an RP2040 processor.

StonedEdge provides an in depth look at the software-side of the project over at GitHub. When the system first boots, it displays the default splash screen. Once EmulationStation is running, it starts to show basic system stats like the CPU temperature and IP address. It will also rotate through things like which games you play the most and how often you play them. Lastly, game mode activates when you launch a title.

A lot of work went into this accessory and we really appreciate the time and effort StonedEdge took to bring it to fruition. This is more than a simple dock, it’s a fully functional gadget with custom housing and a unique PCB. Check out the original thread shared to Reddit to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action.

Whether he’s stopping package thieves by dousing them with flour or recreating Christmas lights from Stranger Things, it’s no stretch to say that maker Ryder Damen’s projects are always "overflowing" with creativity. Today we’re sharing another fantastic creation of his that uses our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi. Ryder has somehow managed to create a giant dot matrix printer using his truck.

The printing process works by dropping splotches of water onto the road while the truck is driven. The water is dropped carefully to shape letters and form custom messages. The system is mounted to the back of the truck and controlled from inside the cabin using a web interface. As a message is parsed, a series of tubes direct water into position and activate precisely to create shapes much like a dot matrix printer.

The Raspberry Pi is responsible for running the web interface, accepting user input for new messages and sending the command to trigger the water-based printing system. In this case, Ryder has opted to use a Raspberry Pi 4 but you could get away with using an older model like a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ or maybe even a Raspberry Pi Zero.

In the video, Ryder breaks down the design and assembly process for the project which relies on several hoses and valves. Solenoids are used to release the water when directed by the Raspberry Pi. A bucket of water is in the back of the truck connected to the printer system making it easy to refill.

Unfortunately, the code for the project hasn’t been released but we do have an idea of how it all works. The Raspberry Pi is hosting a web server that users can connect to from a web browser and input new messages for printing. The text is converted into an image which is then processed for printing with the solenoids. 

This is one Raspberry Pi project you’ve got to see in action to truly appreciate. Head over to Ryder’s official channel, Ryder Calm Down, and watch the video he released showcasing the build process and final project.

If there’s one thing the Raspberry Pi is good at, it’s bridging connections. It’s common to see models like the Raspberry Pi Pico used to make things like adapters. Today we’ve got a wonderful project demo put together by SVSEmbedded that bridges a communication gap not between devices but between people. Using a Raspberry Pi Pico, they’ve created a system that allows users who are speech impaired to relay messages using hand gestures.

The project makes it possible to communicate using flex sensors. These are bendable sensors that send a signal when they’re flexed. The Pico is responsible for picking up these signals from the sensors and transmitting a corresponding message from a list of pre-programmed words or phrases. The user will have to know which combination of flex sensors says what they want to communicate. Users are somewhat limited by the list but you could easily expand the list with different modes.

SVSEmbedded places the flex sensors inside of a glove. This way, all the user needs to do to communicate is to bend the right finger or combination of fingers to communicate. The Pico is connected to a speaker and a small screen so when a message is relayed, it’s repeated on the speaker and can be read on the display.

There are a few modules involved in the creation of this project. It’s driven by a Raspberry Pi Pico which is connected to three separate flex sensors. A 16 x 2px LCD display panel is used for text output along with a few LEDs for indicators. An APR33A3 voice module is used to output audio to the speaker.

Unfortunately, SVSEmbedded didn’t dig too much into the software side of the project. Despite limited details, we imagine this could be easily replicated with MicroPython. As long as you can read the input from the flex sensors and program corresponding responses, you’ll be good to go.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project, check out the original video shared to YouTube by SVSEmbedded for a close-up look at how the components go together and be sure to follow them for more cool projects.

Have you ever wondered where that plane passing overhead is going? Now you can know! A maker over at Reddit, known as C0wsaysmoo, has created a Raspberry Pi-powered flight tracking matrix. Not only does it let you know what planes are passing overhead, it also gives you a glimpse at the current weather forecast.

The matrix is based on a project, The Fridge Flight Tracker, created by another Reddit user known as Myniceaccount. C0wsaysmoo used this as a template and beefed it up with a few new features. The main screen is configured to show the current time and date. It also displays the temperature and provides a weather forecast for 3 days at a time.

The second screen is dedicated to the flight tracking side of the project. This is where things get interesting. The Pi uses your current location to extrapolate what planes are passing by. It then displays details about these flights including things like its route, the flight number, what kind of airplane it is, what airline it is, and in which direction it’s going.

In this project, C0wsaysmoo is using a Raspberry Pi 3 A+ but there’s no reason you couldn’t use something smaller like a Raspberry Pi Zero or even bigger like the latest Raspberry Pi 4. It’s connected to a 64 x 32px RGB matrix panel that’s controlled using an Adafruit Bonnet. Everything is housed inside of a wooden box and finished with a tinted acrylic cover in front of the screen.

C0wsaysmoo was kind enough to make the project open source so anyone who wants to dig into the code is totally free to do so. You can find more details about how it works over at GitHub as well as some behind-the-scenes pictures of it in action. The software for the flight tracker is mainly driven with Python and utilizes FlightRadarAPI, an open-source flight tracking API.

Overall, this is a really neat Raspberry Pi project that’s well-finished. It looks great on a shelf and is just as fun to build as it is to look at. Check out the original thread C0wsaysmoo shared to Reddit to get a closer look at how it works and be sure to follow them for more cool projects as well as any future updates on this one.

Raspberry Pi robotic kits are some of the most fun you can have for both novice and expert makers alike. Kits take away a lot of guesswork but leave us with plenty to do and a cool, usually well-tested end product. Today we’ve got a cool Pi-powered robot kit to share with you created by Luwu Dynamics. This robot locomotes using two wheels and is capable of self-balancing.

According to Luwu Dynamics, it integrates artificial intelligence into its operations. When the robot boots up, it immediately checks its orientation and adjusts to position the unit upright using AI. All of this is powered by a Raspberry Pi CM4 module which is noticeably smaller than a regular Pi and uses less power.

As of writing, this is still a work in progress, so you can’t quite get your hands on it just yet. However, Luwu Dynamics has already shown us some videos of the robot in action over Twitter. In one of the demonstrations, we can see the robot driving itself over a bridge, but only one of the leg wheels is moving over the platform. The other leg stays completely level with the ground underneath.

We’re not sure how much this robot will cost, but we have a rough idea of when it will be available. Luwu Dynamics clarified that they aim to release this CM4-powered robot by the fall of this year. In the meantime, you can follow them for updates and hopefully more demo videos leading up to its release.

If you’re looking for a cool kit to take home today, check out their XGO project. This is another AI-powered robot that also uses a Raspberry Pi CM4 module. It’s considered a robot dog with four legs enabling it to walk around, an arm for grabbing objects, and an LCD screen for a face. The new XGO V2 kit is available at Elecfreaks starting at $749.

If you want to get a closer look at these Raspberry Pi projects, check out the Luwu Dynamics page at Yuque, and follow them on Twitter for more cool creations.

If you don’t have a green thumb, that doesn’t mean you can’t build one. Keeping your plants happy can be tricky, especially when they each have different requirements. This Raspberry Pi project, created by a maker known as Penguin Pranav over at Medium, has created a system called EmoPot that not only monitors his plants but gives it some personality by animating faces using a Raspberry Pi Pico W.

EmoPot can display up to 8 unique faces that respond to environmental factors like temperature and moisture levels. Because it’s a Pico W, it has wireless support which allows it to act as an IoT device. In this case, it integrates with Blynk to determine the conditions of the plant so it knows exactly which face to use.

It has happy and sad faces for good and bad conditions. A blank face can be used for neutral data. If it’s too hot you can expect a sweating and stressed face to appear while the cold will generate a chilly expression with visible teeth. If you need to add water, a thirsty face will show up with a tongue sticking out. There’s even a vampire face thrown in for fun. Pranav also included a special rain cloud animation that can appear over top of any of the faces.

The unit is powered entirely by a Raspberry Pi Pico W. It outputs the faces to a TFT LCD display module. We’re not sure how things like moisture and temperature levels are monitored but it wouldn’t be hard to integrate something like a moisture sensor to pull the data you need. Separate modules would be necessary for each plant you want to monitor.

Pranav is using a display library called ILI9341 to generate the faces. It allows you to create graphics out of basic shapes which is how he designed the various expressions. Blynk is used for the IoT functionality. This is an IoT platform in which he can monitor things like temperature, humidity, the moisture level in the soil as well as sunlight and health. You can find more details about the project over at GitHub.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project or just get a closer look at how it goes together, check out the full project breakdown over at Medium.

It takes a lot of work to monitor animal populations which is why many researchers are turning to technology to help ease the burden of this critical aspect of conservation. Ed Mill, a principle engineer working with Arm, helps lead a team of researchers that aim to help monitor and conserve brown bears. They’ve developed an AI-based system that can track these beautiful beasts called BearID and have plans to integrate Raspberry Pis into their setup.

The project specializes in setting up remote cameras in areas frequented by these roaming behemoths. In real-time, the systems they set up use machine learning to identify bear faces so they know for sure when one has been detected. This helps researchers monitor the bears safely at a distance without interfering with their natural migration.

According to BearID, the AI face algorithm detects the bears using their eyes and nose to build a triangle shape. It can also recognize them by taking their ears into account. Because brown bears have several characteristics that change through the seasons including their coat and weight, it helps to focus on unchanging features like these.

The team recently shared details with Raspberry Pi via a blog post where they explain that much of BearID operates as a Microsoft Azure-based cloud service. In the field, they rely on Arm-based platforms. This is where the team hopes to implement Raspberry Pi 4 Model B in the future.

The BearID team shares their code with anyone who wants to check it out over at GitHub. There you’ll find all of the details about how it works and what tools they use. One of the primary systems they rely on is Dlib—a C++ toolkit full of useful machine-learning algorithms that help them to identify and track bears. You’ll find much of the code is Python-based.

If you want to read more about this project, visit their official website bearresearch.org where you can not only get a behind-the-scenes look at how they operate but also find cool shots of bears in the wild. We also recommend perusing our list of best Raspberry Pi projects if you’re looking for more microelectronics creations to inspire.

With so many APIs available this day and age, the possibilities are seemingly endless when it comes to what you can tap into with a Raspberry Pi. From using AI to power your creations with ChatGPT to using Amazon’s API to create a custom Alexa device, there’s just so much you can use. Today, we’ve got an awesome project to share created by Clayton from Design Build Make who’s using an API to pull baseball scores for a custom desktop scoreboard that tracks his favorite team—the Cardinals.

According to Clayton, the idea for the project came to him after he got tired of regularly checking his phone for scores. To resolve that problem, he decided to build a scoreboard that automatically updates in real-time with score data. It looks like an old-school scoreboard you’d find on a baseball field but this one is much smaller and fits on your desk.

The board is shaped like a wide rectangle. It’s made of wood and laser-cut with holes for the score displays which is presented using 7-segment displays. It has a few LEDs at the bottom to represent things like how many outs, strikes and balls have been tallied as well as how many players are on which base. It’s finished with a custom green paint job and a snazzy logo for the Cardinals.

Clayton explains that there are 24 7-segment displays used in the project. Shift registers were necessary to control each of them. They are daisy-chained together for convenience and also feature a custom PCB which helps organize the design. The entire project is driven by a Raspberry Pi 3B+ but you could likely get away with using an older model of Raspberry Pi, or even something smaller like a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W model or the Raspberry Pi Pico W.

The API used in this project is the exact same API Major League Baseball (MLB) uses to log their play by play scores. You can find details about this API and how to access it over at GitHub. Because this requires regular updates, the Raspberry Pi will need internet access in order to update the scoreboard.

If you want to get a closer look at how this Raspberry Pi project works, check out the video shared to YouTube by Clayton and be sure to follow him for more cool projects in the future.

When troubleshooting old computers, it helps to have the proper hardware. Mr. Green’s Workshop, a channel over at YouTube, recently delved into his experience troubleshooting an old X86 firewall motherboard. In the past, a POST code reader was used to help interpret BIOS POST codes that alert the user to errors when the machine first boots. In this case, he’s created a POST code reader using a Raspberry Pi Pico.

This custom-made Pico-powered POST card doubles as an LPC (low pin count) bus sniffer. If you’re not familiar with what an LPC bus does, you can find more details about it in his Pico POST card video. In short, this communication bridge is necessary for the Pico to evaluate the BIOS Post codes produced when the machine first boots.

The idea for the Pico POST card began when he got his hands on an old x86 firewall motherboard. He needed to troubleshoot the used board and saw this as a chance to create his own POST card and share details with his viewers about how I/O cycles operate and what the LPC bus is for.

Recreating this project doesn’t take too much hardware, but you will need soldering experience. It also took a great deal of research on Mr. Green’s part to make sure he understood what pin was used for what on the x86 firewall motherboard. The Pico is attached to a breadboard and wired to the motherboard using jumper wires.

If you decide to make this Raspberry Pi project at home, you’ll need to make adjustments to suit your hardware needs. However, you can look at the code he’s created on GitHub to get an idea of how the POST code output is read and processed by the Pico for LED output. Instead of listening for beeps, you can process the code into a string of LEDs for easy interpretation.

We highly recommend checking out Mr. Green’s Workshop over on YouTube to watch the video of this Pico POST card reader in action. As always, we’re excited to see the Raspberry Pi bridge gaps between old and new hardware—especially when it’s well executed like this.

Emulating old computers is cool but building tiny versions of old computers is even cooler! Instead of just running an old OS on a modern machine, this maker, known online as The_Old_Wolf, is using our favorite SBC—the Raspberry Pi—to power tiny versions of some classic Apple desktops. These tiny Mac projects are super small and super cute, fitting easily in one hand.

The first model is dubbed the Tiny Mac III. It sports a Raspberry Pi 4 but you could get away with using a Raspberry Pi 3 inside. The other one is a little bit smaller and uses a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. Both are designed with advanced features that mimic the behavior of the original Apple desktops.

The projects were inspired by this tiny Mac project created by Cgenco which uses a Pi Zero. The_Old_Wolf decided to spice things up by adding things like an activity LED that flashes based on certain processes in real-time as well as a safe shutdown button that works when you don’t have a keyboard or mouse on hand. He also saw this as an opportunity to create a slightly bigger version that uses a full-sized Pi.

Both tiny Macs are housed inside custom 3D-printed shells that were printed using beige PLA filament for that weathered retro plastic look. All of the STL files are available for download over at Instructables. The Tiny Mac II uses a 2.8-inch Waveshare DPI LCD screen for the monitor while the Tiny Mac III uses the 3.5-inch version. There’s a complete parts list which includes everything you need from the LEDs to power switch buttons and every other component you need to pull it all together.

Software-wise, it runs Raspberry Pi OS with a few changes thrown in to mimic the feel of computing on an old Mac. The background was changed to a custom one and the taskbar has been moved to the top of the display. The_Old_Wolf also enabled silent boot and included a custom splash screen that loads when booting. All of the steps for making these adjustments were included in the guide.

You can find additional details about this Raspberry Pi project over at GitHub and see a full breakdown of the assembly process at Instructables.

You can find tons of simulation games on the market today, ranging from tractors to goats, but there’s an entirely different side of simulators that is far more immersive. Today we’re sharing with you an extraordinary creation put together by a team known as The Explorandia Association. This team has developed a wonderful submarine simulator that takes you through an actual pond in real time with a bit of help from a Raspberry Pi 3B.

They call the project the Bathysphere, which requires a crew of 3 to 7 people to operate. Members of the crew board a small enclosure designed to resemble a submarine cockpit. YouTuber and tech expert Tom Scott recently took a trip to Italy to check out this submarine simulator in person. They even had the opportunity to take a spin in the captain’s chair—although most of the controls are actually handled by the team sitting behind the captain.

This is just a working prototype that’s taken the Explorandia Association years to put together. It works much like the 1970s tank simulator we covered not long ago. The team sits inside the realistic cockpit and drives a separate mechanism with visual feedback provided on a screen. This creates the illusion of navigating through a pond inside a submarine.

The experience is much more than just hopping in and taking a spin. There’s a full-on bootup sequence that simulates the cabin pressurizing and even an animation that plays on the screen to give the crew the impression they’ve been miniaturized before getting dropped inside the pond. Not only do you experience the visual effects, but the entire cabin will also move and rock with each movement of the simulated submarine thanks to a series of electric motors.

The crew is surrounded by various screens, dials and gauges, as well as controls that you’d find in a real submarine. Scott was surprised to experience an emergency in which he had to respond to an alarm by repairing a reactor core before getting back to piloting around the pond. When it was time to see how everything works, he discovered a Raspberry Pi was responsible for the visual input. It’s connected to a Logitech webcam with a pan/tilt function that drops into a pond, moving along a track from a giant 3-dimensional plotter capable of XYZ movement.

This is one Raspberry Pi project you must see for yourself. You can read about it on the Explorandia Association website and get a behind-the-scenes look at Tom Scott’s latest video.

When it comes to creating a project for school, we’re super biased when we say that a Raspberry Pi project is probably your best bet. Engineering students Alexander Calvert and Nathan Ferguson of Monash Engineering have created an impressive quadruped robot called the Dingo that relies on our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi. According to the students, the intention was to create a low-cost solution that would be ideal for research and modifiable with additional components.

The robot is capable of locomotion with varying degrees of control. You can operate its pitch, roll, and yaw and adjust for speed. It can crouch and even carry a little bit of weight to transport things. It’s remote-controllable, as well. In this case, the duo is using a Play Station 4 controller. The team also explains that this project is a fork of Stanford’s Quadruped project which can be found over at GitHub.

Although the team was aiming for a low-cost robot, it still comes with a hefty price that might put off some hobbyists. They provided a full list of parts that totals over $1,300 USD. However, you can replace some of the components with cheaper alternatives but the performance quality will likely drop in some areas. The body is 3D-printable and totally open source for anyone who wants to print their own or modify its design. You can find the files over at Grab CAD.

The main board used to control the Dingo is a Raspberry Pi 4 B. It’s assisted by an Arduino Nano and a huge list of hardware which includes 12 servos priced at $44.49 a piece (that adds up to over $530 USD worth of servos alone). You can peruse the complete parts list on the project’s GitHub page.

The main operating system used in the build is Ubuntu. You’ll need a few extra tools to bring it together including VSCode and ROS Noetic. There are also some custom Python scripts to handle things like controller input. Check out the official Dingo Quadruped GitHub to get a closer look at the software side of its design.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, check out the demo video uploaded by the students to YouTube and give them some support for their hard work this semester. You might want to keep an eye out for these two for more future creations.

If there’s one thing the world of microelectronics can do, it’s bring what seems like magic into the real world. Such is the case today with this fantastic Harry Potter-themed project from maker Mo from the YouTube channel That’s So Mo. Using an Arduino Pro Micro, he transformed a Nimbus 2000 broom prop into a working controller that lets him fly more realistically in Hogwarts Legacy—no spells required.

He started by borrowing a Nimbus 2000 replica broom created by CineReplica. If you’re not familiar, this is the classic broom Harry used in the original franchise. With the addition of a few sensors and a little bit of patience, he turned the broom into a motion controller.

At the moment, it only works for PC, so you won’t be able to duplicate this for consoles using the steps and code he’s provided. The PC recognizes the broomstick as a wired Xbox 360 or Xbox One controller. The input signals from a few sensors are translated as directional pad/joystick input, which allows the motion control to register in-game.

In this demo, Mo uses an $800 Nimbus 2000 prop, but you could replace this with anything remotely broom-like. We’re sure if Filch had magic powers, he’d get away with flying on a mop. The controller is driven by an Arduino Pro Micro connected to an Adafruit LSM6DS3TR-C accelerometer and an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor. You could use a Raspberry Pi Pico instead of the Arduino Pro Micro if that’s what you’ve got on hand. The hardware is mounted to the broom using carefully cut styrofoam pieces and popsicle sticks.

Mo was kind enough to share a detailed breakdown of the code used in this project in his demo video and over at GitHub. If you want to recreate this project, he recommends reading this article from Dave Madison on emulating Xbox controller input with an Arduino and this tutorial from Adafruit on using the accelerometer module.

This is one project you don’t want to miss in action; check out the demo video of the final project shared by Mo over at YouTube. You’ll also find an excellent explanation behind how it works, sure to inspire your inner wizard or at least maker.

There are some problems in life that are just more fun to solve with a Raspberry Pi. Today we’ve got a clever project to share with our nautical fans created by a maker named Tommy Joad. Joad is the captain of a sailboat and has great familiarity with modern autopilot systems. However, he’s taken the bold step to create his own autopiloting system using none other than our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi.

According to Joad, there are several problems that he needed to overcome in order to design a more efficient system. Joad explains that many autopiloting systems are expensive and when they break, they can be pricey to fix — often requiring a specialist to repair. By creating his own autopiloting system with a Raspberry Pi, the price is cut significantly, and being the creator of the project means it’s much easier to troubleshoot.

The main system behind this Raspberry Pi autopilot project is called Pypilot. It’s an open-source application designed by Sean d’Epagnier. Pypilot is included in the Open Plotter package, this is a chart plotting system designed to work with ARM computers. In this case, it works great with the Raspberry Pi but it technically is compatible with other ARM devices.

Joad opted to use a Raspberry Pi 4 for this project but you could get away with using a Raspberry Pi 3 B if that’s all you had on hand. In addition to the Pi, Joad is using a Pypilot HAT designed just for integration with this sort of project. It also requires a motor controller that moves a belt attached to the steering wheel of the boat.

The software side of things relies on a custom OS image. Joad provides instructions on how to set up OpenPlotter using the Raspberry Pi imager. Once it’s installed, you can set up Pypilot. You’ll also need to familiarize with Signal K. This is an open source open data format intended for marine use. Altogether, these systems allow you to plot courses and keep yourself busy with other things while your boat safely pilots you where you want to go.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action, check out the video Joad shared to YouTube and dig into his tutorial for a more in-depth look at its construction.

You don’t have to be a secret agent to have wanted night vision goggles at some point. Maybe it’s the limitations of being human that make us want to push our abilities beyond what nature allows — whatever the case, Diyode has created an awesome pair of night vision goggles using our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi, and we’re itching to make a pair for ourselves! The goggles feature a head-mounted display and allow the wearer to see clearly in dark or low-light environments.

As cool as night vision is on its own, the team went above and beyond by including a myriad of extra features. There are bonus sensors thrown into the mix that output additional data on the screen. Diyode also included a compass so you know which direction you’re facing, a temperature sensor, and even a gyroscope for orientation data. The headset displays information from these sensors in a cool overlay in real-time.

Instead of creating the housing from scratch, Diyode opted to use an existing VR headset designed for users to slip their phone into. This proved to be an easier and more affordable starting platform as it already had a head strap, lenses, and a base for the team to attach a screen to.

Powering the unit is a Raspberry Pi 4 B, but Diyode assures you could get away with using a Raspberry Pi 3 B+. It’s still a little hard to get your hands on a Raspberry Pi right now, so being able to use what you have on hand is always a plus. In addition to the Pi, Diyode is using a Raspberry Pi 5MP Night Vision Camera Board connected to a 7-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 600px. The temperature, compass, and gyroscope sensors connect using I2C.

The software side took a bit of work, and, according to the team, required writing some custom code in C. If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project, your best bet is to check out the full build tutorial over at Diyode. It provides everything you need to get started from the hardware side to setting up the software. Be sure to follow Diyode for more awesome DIY projects and tutorials for makers.

As the saying goes, take a photo it will last longer! But in the case of maker and developer Nico Tangara’s recent Raspberry Pi project, it will last as long as the e-Ink display keeps it. Using our favorite SBC, Tangara has created a portable camera that outputs images to an e-Ink display HAT. He dubs the project a digitally analog polaroid camera, for its ability to immediately output captured photos on its display.

The screen used in this project is a Waveshare 2.7-inch ePaper HAT. This HAT also sports a series of buttons off to the side. It snaps into place using the GPIO on the Raspberry Pi. To capture an image, Tangara uses one of the buttons to initiate a script that interacts with a camera module. Once a photo has been taken, the Pi processes it for the e-Ink screen and displays it.

The HAT has a total of four buttons that can be programmed with custom functions. Using just one would be a waste, so Tangara decided to throw in a few extra features. For example, one button can be used to clear the image from the display while another button is dedicated to showing the name of the project on the display.

The case for the project was designed by Tangara, using Blender and Snapmaker. The final design was then 3D printed. It houses the Raspberry Pi 3B+ as well as the Camera Module, with a window showing the e-Ink display. Although a Raspberry Pi 3 is used for this project, you could get away with using a Pi 4 or even something smaller like a Pi Zero.

Another interesting aspect to this project was Tangara’s decision to create the code using Chat GPT. All of the scripts were AI-generated and adjusted to work with his final design. You can see more about this process in the video he shared to YouTube showing off the camera. If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, check out the demo video and be sure to follow Nico Tangara for more cool creations as well as any future updates on this one.

If there’s one thing we’re experienced at here at Tom’s Hardware, it’s sniffing out a good Raspberry Pi project but this one nearly beat us to the punch! Maker, developer and artist Ardan Aga’s latest project is using our favorite SBC inside of his giant nose sculpture. This interactive art display is able to “sniff” objects before printing out a thorough description of the object's odor poetically.

To interact with the nose, users must place an object underneath the nostrils. The Raspberry Pi is activated and identifies the object using a camera module. So it’s not exactly smelling objects but rather detecting them using image recognition. Once the object has been identified, a receipt printer prints the description of the expected smell and provides the printout from one of the nostrils.

The image description process is handled using GPT-4. It processes details about the object’s smells and compiles the description in a poetic manner so the user receives something more exciting to read about the odor. There is also a speaker included that takes the smelly poem and reads it aloud using text-to-speech.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation was able to get an exclusive scoop on the hardware used inside the nose. It’s powered by a Raspberry Pi 4 that’s connected to a camera module with a fisheye lens. The Pi is also connected to a thermal receipt printer as well as a distance sensor to know when an object has been placed underneath.

Software-wise, the nose relies on one of the most popular languages of choice—Python. A simple script is used to listen to data from the distance sensor so it knows when to parse images through its image recognition sequence. This then triggers the GPT-4 process to devise a lovely poem describing the smell.

The nose sculpture was put on display at the Olfactory Art Keller gallery in New York. If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the demo video shared to YouTube so you can see it in action and be sure to follow Ardan Aga for more cool creations in the future.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but could a thousand words be worth a picture? Maker and developer Diego Trujillo Pisanty sought to find out with his Raspberry Pi-powered blind camera project. Instead of using a lens to capture light to make a picture, it listens for sound and constructs an approximation of what could be around it based on the audio detected.

The device works similarly to a regular camera in that you aim the camera at what you want to capture and press a button to generate an image. In this case, however, it has a giant horn on the front used to help amplify the capturing of sounds. Users should aim this horn in the direction of what they want to capture before pressing the button. The camera then parses the audio through an AI filter and generates an image.

According to Pisanty, he developed a custom artificial neural network (or ANN) just for this project. He trained the AI with his own models based on a set of videos taken around Mexico City. 

The model was created by taking each frame of video and accompanying it with the last second of audio. This helped build an association of sound and video that the system can use to create images. Because it was trained in this way, everything it creates is loosely based on inner-city images of Mexico City.

For this project, Pisanty is using a Raspberry Pi 3B module. It would be possible to recreate it using a Raspberry Pi 4, however. As long as the Pi can handle Tensorflow, it should work. The camera also has a small screen that serves as a sort of viewfinder. It lets users know when images are processing and provides a preview of the generated images. Everything is housed inside of a custom 3D-printed shell.

The AI model used to train the blind camera was created using Python 3. It’s designed to work with Tensorflow 2 and runs on the Raspberry Pi using TFLite. If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project or just get a closer look at how it goes together, check out the video shared by Pisanty to YouTube and read more about the project over at his website.

It’s one thing to be a hit at parties, it’s another to build one! Today we’ve got a crazy fun project to share put together by Niklas Bommersbach. Using our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi, he’s created a beer pong robot that can not only play beer pong but also tends to come out on top with plenty of winning throws to back up its track record. Even when testing against some of the most skilled humans, it’s managed to stand its ground as a worthy opponent.

The main mechanism behind the robot is a giant arm that rotates around to throw ping pong balls. The speed is carefully calculated to land the ball at a predetermined location with a certain trajectory. The project started as a device that could hit targets using the ping pong balls. With a little bit of tweaking, Bommersbach modified the machine to serve as a beer pong opponent.

The Raspberry Pi is responsible for accepting user input and running calculations for the throws. It determines the trajectory details necessary to successfully land a throw and sends the details needed for the stepper motors to an Arduino. The Arduino is primarily used for driving the motors.

The frame for machine is made using extruded metal bars. Bommersbach constructed them to form both the base and rotating arm. Mounting components were 3D-printed to attach the various electronic components including SBCs and motors. Everything is held together using screws.

The Pi calculates the throws based on data input by the user. It’s programmed to assume a standard triangular cup formation. The distance from the front cup is entered into the Pi, this is used to determine the location of the surrounding cups. No visual recognition is used in the project but it would be possible to implement this in the future with a camera module and training it with the right model.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, which we highly recommend for some impressive entertainment, you can find the video shared by Bommersbach over at YouTube in which he also provides a detailed breakdown of its construction.

When it comes to historical re-enactments, one thing you don’t want to do is break immersion. That’s where TankArchives’ latest Raspberry Pi project comes into play. Using a Raspberry Pi Zero , he’s turned a vintage 1940s Argust A camera digital thanks to a Raspberry Pi High Quality camera module. Best of all, the original camera was not damaged during the creation of the project. Using this Pi-powered digital camera, TankArchives can capture images while retaining the appropriate look and feel of the era.

The camera used in this project, the Argust A, isn’t a terribly expensive antique to acquire. TankArchives explains that you can find a working model for around $50. That said, it’s still a historical relic and being a re-enactment fan, it’s no surprise TankArchives wanted to preserve it as much as possible.

In this case, TankArchives has opted to use a Raspberry Pi Zero W along with a Raspberry Pi HQ Camera module. Although TankArchives is using the wireless model of the Pi Zero, you could get away with using one without wireless support. The new Global Shutter Camera is also a viable alternative to the HQ camera, as it can capture fast moving images with no rolling-shutter artefacts. The project also uses an Adafruit Joy Bonnet for controls, a 5V boost converter, as well as a 450 mAh LiPo battery. An intermediate 16mm M12 lens is included as well.

Although everything fit inside the camera housing, TankArchives explained that they would rather have used a different camera module. The HQ Camera module had to be partially cut so it would fit inside the original lens hole. It also doesn’t have autofocus so the camera has to be disassembled to manually adjust the focus. With all of the hardware in place, the final camera relies on a digital shutter and can last for roughly an hour off a single charge.

The software used to capture images was created using a mixture of Python 3 and libcamera2. Picamera2 can also be used and provides a Pythonic means to interact with the camera. According to TankArchives, capturing images is somewhat slow and the unit takes a minute or so to completely boot. Taking a photo requires a couple of seconds to fully capture.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project or just get a closer look at how it goes together, check out the original thread shared to Reddit by TankArchives.

It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of retro gaming here at Tom’s Hardware. But while most of the retro gaming projects we cover are in the form of Raspberry Pi emulators or running Doom on things that shouldn’t be running Doom, today’s project takes everything we’ve seen about retro gaming in the modern era and flips it on its head. Meet TinyTendo—the pocket-sized NES experience created by a maker known as Redherring32 that uses actual NES hardware. No emulation is used in this project at all.

If you’re wondering how Redherring32 managed to cram an NES inside such a small form factor, we’re clear that no shrink ray was used in the development of this project. Rather, Redherring32 carefully cut original NES hardware and ground the edges until the components fit inside the shell. The final product weighs in around 10 oz, uses 4 AA batteries like an original Game Boy, and is housed comfortably inside of a custom shell with dimensions of 148 x 90 x 32mm.

According to Redherring32, the final chips that he cut take up less than 7% of their usual size. They also fit onto a custom PCB that’s smaller than a Raspberry Pi 3. The hardware was physically cut and sanded by hand and finished with a Dremel tool.

In addition to using original NES hardware, it also includes some features that make the unit stand out as a viable modern handheld. Of course, it has an integrated screen and buttons on the front for input. It also uses a USB-C port for charging, a special switch is included to adjust the voltage between 5V and 3V to save power and the power button is a latching push switch like the original NES. There’s also a special brightness control module created by YveltalGriffin.

Because it’s using original hardware, you may be curious how it loads games to play. Instead of storing everything on an SD card and building some sort of interface, this project uses custom made tiny cartridges. They plug into the back just like a Game Boy game but load NES games. These mini cartridges were created by a maker known as BucketMouseBite. Redherring32 confirms, it’s possible to use original carts with the setup but an adapter would be necessary.

If you want to get a closer look at this project, check out the original thread shared to Twitter by Redherring32. We would also like to assure that only one NES with a damaged motherboard was used to build this project.

Pushing the Raspberry Pi to its limits is one of its most fun use cases. These SBCs might be overpowered for simple projects but aren’t always powerful enough for more complex creations. Maker Claude Schwarz seems to have made a hobby out of overclocking Raspberry Pis, having previously overclocked a Compute Module 4 to 3 GHz! Using a Peltier thermoelectric cooler (TEC) alongside an Intel NUC copper cooler, he’s attempting to push the boundaries of the CM4 connected to a Pistorm32-lite Commodore Amiga 1200 accelerator.

According to Schwarz, the goal was to overclock the setup to 3GHz with a usable degree of stability. His previous record for the Compute Module 4 successfully capped out at 3.09 GHz. This time, he’s using the CM4 attached to the Pistorm32-lite along with a 10W 10x10x3mm TEC and Intel NUC copper cooler in hopes the extra heat dissipation will allow for greater performance. If you’re not familiar with the Pistorm32-lite, this is an open source accelerator for the Amiga range of computers (Schwarz is using an Amiga 1200) which uses a Raspberry Pi, in this case a CM4 but it can also use a Raspberry Pi 3A+, to accelerate the stock Amiga 1200 beyond what the 14 MHz Motorola 68EC020 could achieve.

The hardware he’s using wasn’t designed for these boards so some work was necessary to get everything to fit together. Schwarz goes on to explain that the spacers for the TEC fit neatly to his configuration but metalworking was necessary to get the copper heatsink to install correctly. To avoid condensation, he filled all of the gaps with Berquist GF2000 Gapfiller.

Once everything was assembled, Schwarz reported the progress with regular updates to Twitter. First, we got an update that the system was running with ease at 2.45 GHz. Eventually, he was able to reach up to 2.8 GHz, just shy of his original record of 3.0 GHz.

If you want to get a closer look at Schwarz’s work, check out his original thread shared to Twitter. There he details the build process for his cooling rig as well as the progress he’s completed along the way. We also have a list of the best Raspberry Pi projects we’ve come across lately if you want to see what you can do with the Pi once you’ve successfully overclocked it to absurd new levels.

InWin has an impressive space at Computex 2023, with extensive displays showing off its diverse range of PC cases. The firm is also continuing to lay foundations in other PC component and accessory areas with several new cooling, power supplies and peripherals.

The modular iBuildiShare initiative has been a success, claims InWin, and it is now seeking to build on these creative chassis by adding more options for DIYers. Thus it is providing new color schemes and AiO cooler support for its flatpack POC chassis. Simultaneously, InWin is introducing a new ModFree mini for mini-ITX builders. We also liked the expansion of options for the Dubili chassis, including the provision of accessories like leather handles, and further premium color panel options.

Above you can see some of the POC One options showcased by InWin at Computex. These are new liquid cooling editions of these origami-style Mini-ITX case series on the way. Also highlighted by InWin is the ability of these refined designs to fit up to 3.5-slot graphics cards, and the integration of a dedicated GPU chamber that is part of the finished construction.

The InWin Dubili took up quite a lot of space at the firm's booth. Again customizability and modularity is a key attraction with this design. This is a higher-end E-ATX capable case with plenty of room for flagship parts - both processing and cooling.

Also worthy of some attention are the possibilities opened up by InWin's Mod Free case concept. At the entrance to its booth, InWin had a quad-system Mod Free design suspended from the ceiling above a landscape showcasing the mix and match chassis components available. The top video shows many more PC DIY permutations facilitated by the Mod Free.

If you appreciate the patina of wood, InWin's Mod Free project using just one small section of chassis and some wood panels may appeal. The wood bar array sides might echo designs like the Fractal North, but InWin says that these panel designs have been in development before that launched. Moreover, wood slatted designs can be seen in plenty of prior non-computing products.

Other InWin Products at Computex

Elsewhere in the InWin product showcase, the firm pushed forward its new MR and TR series AIO liquid coolers: available in 240, 280, 360, and 480mm variants. New fans were also on the menu, coming to the Neptune and DN Pro series. InWin has launched three new ATX 3.0 PSUs in wattages up to 1300 W.

Last but not least, InWin has leveraged its industrial design prowess to create the Melody Series of headphone stands, pictured above. If you have room on your desk, three distinct designs are being made available including two with ARGB lighting.

When you think of a Raspberry Pi camera, you probably picture a Pi connected to the Global Shutter Camera, Camera Module 3 or even the HQ camera. You might even think of Otto a GIF creation camera from 2015. But this Raspberry Pi camera project, created by Bjørn Karmann, has no lens at all. In fact, Paragraphica, as he calls it, uses AI to generate an image based on your location data as well as a few other descriptors like date and weather.

The device looks somewhat like a classic camera. It has a huge cover over where a lens would be that resembles the nose of a star-nosed mole. The viewfinder is a screen in which you can adjust the settings for the generation of your picture. It also has a series of dials that can be adjusted to set things like film grain and sharpness for the AI program to integrate into the photo generation process. Pressing the capture button will trigger the system to generate a photograph for you based on the selected parameters.

Data used in the image generation is gathered using various open APIs. This includes things like your location, date, time, as well as nearby landmarks. Paragraphica uses all of this information to process the final photo using text-to-image AI.

To power the project, Karmann has opted to use a Raspberry Pi 4. It’s housed inside of a custom 3D-printed shell along with all of the other electronic components. The viewfinder display doubles as a touchscreen so it can be used for some control input. Location is determined by a GPS module.

The software for Paragraphica was written by Karmann just for the project. According to Karmann, it uses both Python as well as the Stable Diffusion API to create the final product. Everything works together using Noodl, a visual tool to develop web apps. A diagram is available on his website showing a breakdown of how the software flows.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project or maybe just get a closer look at how it works, check out the original blog post shared by Karmann breaking down the build process. You can also test it yourself in browser at his website.

When it comes to Raspberry Pi, it’s easy to think this simple single-board PC is rather insignificant in the grand scheme of the internet. But don’t let its small size fool you, these little devices can be a gateway for hackers to make their way into your network. Today we’re taking a closer look at a vicious piece of malware that infects Raspberry Pis. YouTuber John Hammond released a video this week, looking at the malicious code line by and dissecting exactly how it works as well as how it spreads to vulnerable Raspberry Pis.

Hammond said that he first began investigating this malware when a user submitted an email to him. They explained that the Pi was using the default username and password combination that comes with Raspberry Pi OS. He was logged into an SSH session for only about 30 minutes when the session dropped. Every time he reset the password, it would change again after the Pi was restarted.

The user submitted the strange file to Hammond for investigation, leading to the video he shared with us this week. Hammond took the time to look through this mysterious file line by line. The file is a type of trojan, more specifically a remote access trojan that uses IRC. It’s self-propagating so once released it can continue to spread itself across the internet to other vulnerable Raspberry Pis.

Although this video was just shared and the user recently infected, it’s worth noting that this particular piece of malware has floated around for some time. While researching different aspects of the code, Hammond found references to the file going all the way back to 2017. While this trojan may not be something new, it’s still an active threat that users should be taking seriously.

The best way to avoid this type of hack is to get into the habit of regularly changing your password. Even if your project is an offline project, this habit is a good one to get into. Never use the default login credentials that come with Raspberry Pi OS when opening your Pi to the internet. You expose not only your Pi, but your personal network to the world with this vulnerability.

Check out the original video shared by Hammond to see exactly what the trojan does and how it propagates. If you’re looking for something a little more light-hearted, visit our list of Raspberry Pi projects to see what you can do to with your Pi once you’ve secured it.

Raspberry Pis have proven to be incredibly adaptive boards so it's no surprise when you see them turning up now and again as adapters. They can easily be used to bridge connections between devices with notable versatility. Today we have another cool adapter to share, this one created by a maker who goes by Canatee over at Reddit. Using two Raspberry Pis, Canatee is able to send text from an iPad using HID as if it were a USB keyboard.

The idea stemmed, as many do, from a need to solve a problem. In this case, Canatee regularly helps students by giving feedback on their writing. Instead of typing out common phrases over and over again on their individual devices, this setup allows them to connect the Raspberry Pi Pico and send pre-written messages instantly as if they were typed on a USB keyboard.

Canatee set up a library of feedback that can be pulled using shortcuts. When a specific message needs to be added, a shortcut is used to instantly copy the information and inject the text. With the new Raspberry Pi setup, a Pi Zero is used to receive the shortcut information which then parses it to the Pico that serves as an HID USB interface.

The Raspberry Pi Zero receives its power via USB C which is connected to the iPad. The Pi Zero runs a Flask server which is programmed to filter out any characters the Pico side doesn’t recognize. When a shortcut is triggered, it parses from the iPad to the Pi Zero which then prepares it for transmission to the Pico.

The Pico receives messages from the Pi Zero via UART. The Pico can be connected to any device that supports USB keyboards from smartphones to laptops and tablets. The copied text is transmitted to the device just as it would be were the message typed out manually. According to Canatee, the code for the project was written using CircuitPython. However, no plans are in place to release the code at this time.

If you want to create a similar Raspberry Pi project, check out the original thread over at Reddit to get a better idea of how this one goes together and see it in action.

Capacitive touch is a simple means to detect user input by measuring the dielectric constant. If it is different to a baseline measurement then it can be used as an input. In the past, we have used an MPR121 touch sensor to trigger an event using a Raspberry Pi Pico. The MPR121 is a dependable Stemma QT sensor that comes in various form factors for crocodile clips and standard wire gauges. We love it so much that we put it on our list of best Stemma QT and Grove add ons page. But is there a way to do it without using a sensor board?

Using just a piece of wire and a 1 Mega Ohm resistor in a banana, we can create our own touch interface and have a healthy snack. In this how-to, we will use the banana to toggle an LED on and off. 

Why something so simple? Learning to turn an LED on / off is the best way to understand how every part of your project works. Sure we could turn the banana into a space bar and play Flappy Birds, use it to open a browser window and “Rick-roll” a friend or start a robot to make a mad dash for the door. But before we can do that we need to understand how and why things work, and the humble LED is a cheap and easy way to do this.

For This Project You Will Need

• Raspberry Pi Pico
• Half-size breadboard
• 1 x 100 Ohm resistor (Brown-Black-Brown-Gold)
• 1 x 1 Mega Ohm resistor (Brown-Black-Green-Gold)
• 1 x Male to male jumper wire
• 1 x Banana (optional)

Building the Circuit

There are two parts to the circuit: the input and the output. The input is a banana (optional), connected to GPIO 16 on the Raspberry Pi Pico using a long jumper wire. GPIO 16 also has a 1 Mega Ohm resistor to connect it to GND. This is a pulldown resistor and ensures that the GPIO pin sees a constant 0V reference. Without it, the input would be erratic. This process can be repeated for multiple inputs, your only limits are GPIO pins, 1 Mega Ohm resistors and bananas. 

The output is a simple LED with the long leg (Anode) connected to GPIO 15 and the short leg (Cathode) connected to GND via a 100 Ohm resistor.

The banana can be replaced with anything that is conductive. Aluminum foil, play-doh and other fruits / vegetables can be used as inputs. You can also forgo the culinary inputs for bare wires. In certain cases this works better.

Build the circuit and double check your connections before moving onwards.

Configuring CircuitPython

We chose CircuitPython for this project for two key reasons. One, it is so easy to use and understand. Our code is easy-to-read, debug and we can write it on any device, even a Chromebook. Two, CircuitPython has the Touchio module which makes it easy to create touch inputs using the GPIO. But before we can start the project we need to write the latest version of CircuitPython to the Raspberry Pi Pico.

1. Go to the official CircuitPython page for the Raspberry Pi Pico and download the latest release UF2 firmware image. At the time of writing this was CircuitPython 8.10. We have chosen the Raspberry Pi Pico as we do not need Wi-Fi, but this project could be used to trigger a web-event, for that you will need a Raspberry Pi Pico W.

2. Whilst holding the BOOTSEL button, connect the Raspberry Pi Pico to your computer. A new drive, RPI-RP2 will appear.

3. Copy the downloaded CircuitPython UF2 file to RPI-RP2. This will write CircuitPython to the internal flash storage of the Pico . A new drive, CIRCUITPY will appear. 

Writing the Code

To write the code we used Thonny on Windows 10. You are free to use your choice of text editor, but Thonny has great CircuitPython (and MicroPython) integration which makes it a breeze to use. Best of all it is free and easy to install on Windows, macOS and Linux devices.

Writing the Code

1. Download and install Thonny if you don’t have it already. Thonny is a Python editor which covers Python 3, MicroPython and CircuitPython.

2. Open Thonny and go to Tools >> Options.

3. Select Interpreter, then set the interpreter as CircuitPython, port to automatic, and click OK. Thonny will now connect to the Pico running CircuitPython.

4. Click on File >> Open and select the CircuitPython device. Then select code.py. Code.py is used by CircuitPython as the main file for a project. It is set to auto-run when the Pico is powered up.

5. Delete any code in code.py. If you need the code, make sure to back it up to your computer.

6. Import four modules of code necessary for the project to work. Touchio is used to create a capacitive touch input using a GPIO pin. Time controls how long the code will pause between actions. Board is used to work with the GPIO, importing using * means that we do not have to include the module name. Digitalio is used to control the status of a pin. It can be an input or output.

import touchioimport timefrom board import *from digitalio import DigitalInOut, Direction

7. Create an object, led, and set the GPIO pin to GP15, and then set it to be an output. This will ensure that when the LED is triggered, current will flow from pin GPIO 15 to the anode of the LED. As the cathode is connected to GND via the 100 Ohm resistor, the complete circuit will turn on the LED.

led = DigitalInOut(GP15)led.direction = Direction.OUTPUT

8. Create an object, led_state and store the integer value 0 inside of it. This object will be used to record the current state of the LED. It can either be off (0) or on (1).

led_state = 0

9. Create an object, touch_pin to make a connection between the code and physical GPIO pin.

touch_pin = touchio.TouchIn(GP16)

10. Create a loop to continually run the code.

while True:

11. Inside the loop create a print function that will report the current state of the touch input pin. We use %s to use the value stored in touch_pin.value and convert it into a string for concatenation to the text.

   print("The pin state is %s" % touch_pin.value)

12. Write a conditional test to check if the input has been touched, and that the LED is turned off. Both tests have to pass in order for the conditional test to pass.

   if touch_pin.value == True and led_state == False:

13. Set the LED to turn on, then update the led_state object to 1, so that the code knows that the LED is on. Sleep for half a second to prevent accidental debounce (double press). This code will only run if the conditional test passes.

       led.value = True       led_state = 1       time.sleep(0.5)

14. Create a conditional test to check if the input has been touched and that the LED is currently on. This code will turn off the LED.

   elif touch_pin.value == True and led_state == True:

15. Toggle the LED off, update the led_state object so that the code knows the LED is off, and then pause for half a second.

       led.value = False       led_state = 0       time.sleep(0.5)

16. Outside of the conditional tests, but still inside the loop, pause the code for 0.1 seconds. Each time the loop iterates, it will pause for 0.1 seconds, this is useful pacing the project code.

   time.sleep(0.1)

17. Save the code to code.py on the CircuitPython device (Raspberry Pi Pico).

18. The code should autorun, if not click on Stop and then Run.

19. Touch the banana to toggle the LED on / off.

Complete Code Listing

import touchioimport timefrom board import *from digitalio import DigitalInOut, Directionled = DigitalInOut(GP15)led.direction = Direction.OUTPUTled_state = 0touch_pin = touchio.TouchIn(GP16)while True:   print("The pin state is %s" % touch_pin.value)   if touch_pin.value == True and led_state == False:       led.value = True       led_state = 1       time.sleep(0.5)   elif touch_pin.value == True and led_state == True:       led.value = False       led_state = 0       time.sleep(0.5)   time.sleep(0.1)

Python How Tos

• How To Install Python on Windows 10 and 11
• How to use For Loops in Python
• How to Enumerate in Python
• How to Create Executable Applications in Python
• How To Remove Backgrounds From Images With Python
• How to Create Web Apps with Python, HTML and Thonny
• How To Use Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 with Python Code

The Raspberry Pi is a big hit in the retro gaming world and has proven to be incredibly versatile when it comes to how it can be implemented. Today we’re sharing a beautiful creation from none other than Zarcadeuk who has put together a Game Boy Advance SP kit, dubbed the Mame Boy Advance SP, designed to support both the Raspberry Pi Zero and Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. This kit has everything you need to get started except for the Raspberry Pi, buttons, and shell.

This isn’t the first time we’ve shared Zarcadeuk’s work. He’s got a plethora of retro gaming kits that integrate the Raspberry Pi and we love to show them off when we can. In the past, he’s put together an impressive Sega Game Gear kit that supports the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4  and another kit for the original Game Boy that uses a Raspberry Pi Zero.

The new Mame Boy Advance SP kit is almost ready. According to Zarcadeuk, he’s added USB-C charging with a battery power level indicator, audio jacks and a safe shutdown option for the power switch. The shell used to house the hardware will require a bit of modification to get everything to fit so whether or not you want to use original hardware or a reproduction shell is up to you.

The kit comes with a few components that need to be soldered into place. This includes a 2.8-inch LCD screen, the shoulder buttons, a headphone jack, the volume wheel, as well as button contacts. If you don’t mind paying a little extra, Zarcadeuk offers a pre-soldered module with all of these pieces soldered for you.

This kit isn’t designed to play original Game Boy Advance games, but rather serve as an emulation platform—hence the name Mame Boy Advance SP. The software you choose to run on the Raspberry Pi will determine the experience. The buttons on the PCB will provide the input you need to operate the system you choose. It should work just fine with dedicated retro gaming operating systems like Retro Pie or Lakka.

Zarcadeuk confirmed the new Mame Boy Advance SP is available for pre-order on his Zega Mame Gear website. The base kit starts at $33 USD (£34) and is estimated to begin shipping on June 10th this summer. If you’re a sucker for cool microelectronics creations, check out our list of Raspberry Pi projects to see what else the maker community has been up to lately.

A lot is happening in the world around us that we can’t easily see, some of which is manmade. This project, created by a maker who goes by OkuboHeavyIndustries on Reddit, has created a way to tap into such mystery using a QtPy board. This clever project lets you see which satellites are orbiting right above you in real time. You could replicate this project using the Raspberry Pi version, the QtPy RP2040, but OkuboHeavyIndustries uses the original QtPy module.

A few extra components are necessary to pull off the project. It has a couple of screens to output data pertaining to your location and overhead satellite details. Secondly, a GPS module is necessary to grab your current location. Once it knows where you are, it uses this information to determine which satellites are presently gliding past you overhead, unseen in the sky.

The first screen provides details about the current passing satellite. The second screen offers a bit more information. Not only does it plot your current location on a world map, but it also estimates the satellite's orbital path so you can see where it’s been and where it’s going.

OkuboHeavyIndustries was kind enough to share a detailed breakdown of what hardware you need to make the project at home. As mentioned above, it’s powered by a QtPy module connected to two screens. In this case, OkuboHeavyIndustries is using two SSD1306 OLED displays. A BN-280 GPS module is used to grab your current location.

The satellite detector is more of a satellite estimator. It uses your location to check a list of satellites that totals in the thousands—over 7,500, to be exact. The QtPy estimates its current position and checks it against your current location. If the satellite is determined to be more than 70° over the horizon of your location, it will alert you to its presence and share details about it on the displays.

Check out the original project thread shared on Reddit to see this project in action. OkuboHeavyIndustries was also kind enough to share the code used in the project over at GitHub. If you’re into microelectronics projects, check out our list of best Raspberry Pi projects to see more awesome creations from the maker community.

If you’ve ever ridden the Haunted Mansion ride at one of Disney’s theme parks, you’re bound to remember the ballroom full of dancing ghosts. They’re clearly animatronics but somehow the magic makes them appear and disappear like true phantoms. This magic is easy to replicate with a Raspberry Pi 4 with an effect known as Pepper’s Ghost and that’s exactly what maker N4MI0 has done with this beautiful betta fish bowl project.

Pepper's Ghost Betta Fish from r/raspberry_pi

The illusion requires a real-life object to be hidden out of view. When illuminated just right, it can be reflected on a sheet of glass or other transparent material giving it the appearance of existing in a new location. In this case, the betta fish is playing on a video from a screen. N4MI0 is reflecting the fish onto a sheet of plexiglass that was cut to fit neatly inside of the glass. When the fish swims by in the video, it appears to pop up inside of the bowl.

The video is played on a Raspberry Pi 4 which is outputting to a round screen from Waveshare. The screen is placed at the bottom of the bowl which is more of a closed glass globe. The plexiglass is 1mm thick and flexed slightly to fit inside. According to N4MI0, the effect works best when you’re looking at it from a particular perspective, so it doesn’t quite have a 3D hologram effect but works great if positioned just right.

As far as programming the project goes, the Pi is mainly responsible for launching a YouTube video of a betta fish at boot. To do this, N4MI0 is using a custom Python script. This ensures the betta fish pops up on its own when the unit is powered on without the need to remote in and launch the video manually.

N4MI0 explains that plans are in the works to improve the project with more features. For now the hardware components are exposed at the bottom but they will be soon housed in a 3D-printed shell. N4MI0 would also like to use a Pico W to accept wireless commands so the fish could be controlled remotely, possibly via Bluetooth.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action and get a better idea of how it works, check out the original project thread shared to Reddit by N4MI0. Be sure to follow N4MI0 for more projects as well as any future updates on this one.

The Raspberry Pi is a flexible system with use cases ranging from retro gaming platforms to industrial use cases for factories and more. Today we’re sharing one research team's foray into science with the help of our favorite SBC and looking at how well it compares to modern, more expensive tools. Liam Taylor, Duncan Quincy, and Mark Smith recently deployed a set of Raspberry Pis to help monitor glacier calving in both Iceland and Peru.

According to the team, monitoring calving fronts is critical as extreme changes can result in environmental impacts for local residents. For example, things like tsunamis, floods, and the collapse of icebergs can cause serious damage, and monitoring these changes can help those living nearby respond before the problems worsen. Part of their research was to test the performance of a Raspberry Pi in monitoring these changes against more conventional tools they usually use, in this case, an unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV).

To test the Pi against the UAV monitoring system, the team traveled to Fjallsjökull, Iceland. Here they could survey glaciers both from the shore and from a boat. The area also had a great variety of calving margin heights that made it easier to test the accuracy of the Raspberry Pi.

The Raspberry Pis were tested using both a Camera Module V2 and an HQ Camera Module using a 16mm telephoto lens. The Camera Module V2 proved too inadequate for their measurements, so the team opted to stick with the HQ Camera Module. The UAV chosen to compare against the Pi was a DJI Mavic 2 Pro UAV. The Raspberry Pis were then attached to a tripod with critical components like batteries stored inside a weatherproofed box.

The team mounted some of the Pis to a boat as they passed by while the UAV moved overhead. Recording the glaciers simultaneously allowed the team to get an accurate comparison of the charting ability of both devices. Using the pictures taken by the Pi, the team created a 3D render of the glaciers using photogrammetry.

Overall, the Pi provided an adequate substitute with a more affordable price point. Once the testing was complete, they left for Peru, where they used the Raspberry Pi kits to monitor glacier calving in the chilly south American region. You can read more about the exciting expedition in the team’s official report.

If you’ve dreamt of the ultimate mecha-powered future with giant robots and mecha suits controlled by the human body, you’re sure to get excited about this project from Ultimate Robots. The team has created a robotic arm that can be controlled using muscle movement thanks to their EMG signal sensor PCB, the uMyo. It also leverages one of our favorite microelectronics boards -- the Arduino.

This project was designed as a simple demonstration of what the uMyo sensor module can achieve. It’s fitted with three separate uMyo PCBs to detect movement from the wearer accurately. Each finger on the robotic arm has two tendons. These are connected to a wheel that is operated by a servo. The servo determines whether or not to curl or uncurl the fingers.

The shining gem of this creation is the uMyo sensor. It’s an open-source device designed to be worn for user input. It can transmit data wirelessly, so the wearer shouldn’t expect to be bogged down with cables tethering them to the output device. According to Ultimate Robotics, the uMyo can detect signals from various muscle groups, including arms, like in this project, legs, face muscles, and torso muscles.

Two uMyo sensors are placed at the elbow to monitor finger muscle signals. A third sensor is used at the wrist to monitor thumb muscle movement. The signals are transmitted to an Arduino, which uses an nRF24 module to receive the wireless signal. The Arduino then processes the input to send commands to the servos via a PCA9685 driver board, causing the robotic arm to move in response.

Not only is the uMyo sensor open source, but so is the software used in this robotic arm project. The team was kind enough to share everything on GitHub for anyone interested in perusing the source code.

To get a closer look at this project, check out the official uMyo breakdown uploaded by Ultimate Robotics at Hackaday. The team shared plenty of details about how it works and what goes into the PCB. You can find more information on the robotic arm on Reddit and see it in action via YouTube.

The Raspberry Pi is known for its compact size but the Compute Module 4  (CM4) distils the power of the Raspberry Pi 4 into a smaller form factor. This makes the compact boards a great go to option for makers looking to create powerful projects without the bulk. Such is the case here with Ken Van Hoeylandt’s latest pocket-size Pi project, the Decktility. This small handheld was made entirely from scratch and is powered by a Raspberry Pi CM4.

Hoeylandt explains that he wanted a project with plenty of challenge and to create something from scratch. He knew he wanted to create a handheld similar to the Yarh.io Mini 2 but it needed to suit his needs as well as exhibit a bit of his own creative flair. The end result is this super compact pocket-sized computer.

The unit is housed inside of a 3D-printed shell that Hoeylandt designed himself.  You could print this shell using any of the best 3D printers. The CAD files were created using OnShape and required quite a few revisions before landing on his final design. It has a keyboard integrated into the bottom and an IPS touchscreen for video output with a resolution of 800 x 480px. There are batteries built into the Decktility as well to make it portable—two 18650’s that can power the device for up to 6 hours.

There are a few boards used in this project other than the CM4. Certain challenges led to the introduction of an Arduino Nano. To avoid draining power from the battery, Hoeylandt opted to use a Nano to work as a voltage reader for the battery pack. A USB BMS is also used to help manage the batteries and allow for features like USB recharging.

Software-wise, you can theoretically run your favorite OS with this configuration. It works great with Raspberry Pi OS which has plenty of tools from browser support to media players and then some. Any similar OS would be just as suitable in its stead. You can find more about the software-side of the project over at GitHub.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project or just learn more about how it goes together, check out the tutorial put together by Ken Van Hoeylandt on his website. There you can also find tons of behind the scene pictures and details of the creation process.

With the recent release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, fans are eager with excitement — some going as far as streaming the game on an old Nintendo 64. Today we’ve got another cool Zelda-themed Raspberry Pi creation to share with you, this one created by maker and developer Naomi Pentrel. With the help of a 3D printer and a little bit of patience, she’s created a replica of one of the Guardians you’ll find in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and programmed it with a Pi to track people using AI.

The Guardian is equipped with a camera module that observes the surrounding area. When an object is detected, the machine learning side processes the image to determine if it sees a person or pet. If it successfully identifies a living creature, the head rotates using a servo to follow it around the room.

The Guardian is powered using a Raspberry Pi 4 but a 3B+ would work in its place. It’s connected to a Raspberry Pi Camera v 1.3 using a 50cm ribbon cable. An SG90 servo is included which ran rotate at most 180 degrees for this project. A few LEDs were thrown into the mix, as well, and a speaker is included for audio output. In this case, Pentrel is using a 2-watt speaker.

The Guardian model was created by a designer known as Steveut over at Thingiverse. Pentrel explained that a friend helped modify the hackable model to suit her project needs. It too can be found at Thingiverse for anyone who wants to print it off at home. A paint job was necessary for the final touch along with creating a realistic base for it to sit on with grass and flowers.

Software-wise, it relies on some scripts written in Python 3. The machine learning aspects were built using Viam. Pentrel includes plenty of details about how to set up the project in Viam including the model used for training the image recognition used by the camera in her tutorial.

If you want to get a closer look at how this Raspberry Pi project goes together, you can see it in action and read through Pentrel’s guide over on the Guardian project page at Viam.

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Some Raspberry Pi creations are truly out of this world but this one is as down-to-earth as a Pi project can get. Created by a maker who goes by Billydent over at Reddit, this moon calendar makes it possible to track the lunar cycle from the safety and comfort of your living room. Not only is it driven by our favorite SBC, but it also features e-Ink display which helps conserve power.

The idea began when Billydent decided to make a Pi project as a gift for his wife. With Mother’s Day around the corner at the time, he devised a plan to create this decorative yet dynamic moon calendar as a totally unique present. He initially opted to use a Raspberry Pi Pico but found the Raspberry Pi Zero was much easier to use when it came to getting images to output on the e-Ink panel.

The calendar runs for a short amount of time once a day. The Raspberry Pi Zero is scheduled to boot early in the morning. It doesn’t even require an internet connection to update. Billydent programmed the Pi to pull data from a table stored locally which determines what day it is and what phase the moon should be in.

The Pi Zero is connected to a 5.65-inch Waveshare e-Ink with support for up to seven colors. For power, it relies on a PiJuice Zero with a 1200 mAH battery. A USB cable is available on the rear for recharging or to use as a power source. Billydent was even so thorough as to include a battery indicator for when the power drops under 20%.

The software operating the moon calendar was created from scratch by Billydent and was written in Python. First the Raspberry Pi boots at a predetermined time. Next, the Python script pulls the data and moon phase from a table. As an added bonus, a random moon-themed quote is selected, as well. All of the information is then compiled onto the e-Ink display before the Pi shuts down. Because it’s using an e-Ink display, the image will remain visible without power until it boots again and the next day’s image is formatted.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the original moon calendar project thread shared on Reddit by Billydent which includes plenty of pictures and extra details about its construction.

MORE: Best RP2040 Boards

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You can learn a lot about tinkering with microelectronics, but now, thanks to Adrian Cruceru’s latest Raspberry Pi project, you can use microelectronics to learn how to play the piano. A Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller drives his RP2040 Piano helper project and can be programmed to help students learn any song they like. Just follow the LEDs and press the corresponding key to play new songs on the fly.

The Pico controls a series of LEDs that line up with the keys on a keyboard (or piano). The LEDs illuminate on specific keys so the player knows which key to press next in the song. When not in use, it can also demonstrate a nice gradient effect. The Pico charts out songs by interpreting MIDI files to determine the note and length of time the note is played for.

To learn a new song, all you have to do is find a MIDI file for the song you want and run it through his converter. Songs can be selected from a browser window. You can have the song programmed to light up the keys at predetermined intervals or use the appropriate timestamps from the original song. This versatility makes it possible to gradually learn songs at your own pace.

To create the project, Cruceru uses a Raspberry Pi Pico module that's connected to a WS2812B LED strip. This strip is then adjusted into place above the respective keys on his keyboard. Each LED corresponds with a certain note (or key) so that the MIDI file will always cause the right note to be illuminated.

The code for this project was created from scratch by Cruceru using Micropython. Cruceru was also kind enough to make the project open source. If you want to get a closer look at the code and see how it works from the inside, check out the official RP2040 piano helper project page over at GitHub.

This is one clever Raspberry Pi project you should really see in action. To check out a video demonstration of the RP2040 piano helper, visit the original thread shared on Reddit or watch the video on YouTube. Also, be sure to follow him for more cool projects and any future updates on this one.

Writer's block is nothing to be trifled with and can cause serious procrastination for some writers. But if it wasn’t for the occasional struggle, we wouldn’t have awesome Raspberry Pi projects like this one from a maker known as ThisIsTheNewSleeve over at Reddit. Instead of writing like he’s supposed to be doing, he decided to make this gorgeous retro-style Raspberry Pi-powered writing computer.

ThisIsTheNewSleeve calls the project MUSE which is an acronym for Most Unusual Sentence Extractor. He goes on to explain that the style for the machine was inspired by retro typewriters from the 1960s and 1970s. Whether or not it extracts sentences in a way that alleviates his procrastination has yet to be determined. However, it definitely extracts some serious creativity!

The project involved custom PCBs to fit the components neatly into a 3D printed shell. The keyboard is supported by a black metal anodized keyplate. ThisIsTheNewSleeve is using a mechanical keyboard obtained from 68 Keys, a company specializing in custom open source keyboards. The PCBs were ordered from PCBWay.

For user input, it doesn’t have a mouse or touchpad but rather makes use of a 10.1-inch touchscreen from Sunfounder. The main board powering the system is a Raspberry Pi. You could easily recreate this system using any Pi as it doesn’t take much power for word processing. The hardware is housed inside of a custom 3D-printed shell designed using Tinkercad. Thankfully, ThisIsTheNewSleeve was kind enough to share the build files in the original project thread over at Reddit.

Because the primary goal of the system is to serve as a writing computer, you could run any operating system capable of word processing. In this case, Raspberry Pi OS would work just fine. If you’re using an online-based processor, like Google Docs, you could use anything with access to a browser.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project or just get a closer look at how it goes together, check out the original thread shared to Reddit by ThisIsTheNewSleeve. It showcases the writing computer and has plenty of details explaining the build process. This isn’t the first Pi-powered machine he’s put together. Be sure to follow ThisIsTheNewSleeve for more cool projects as well as any future updates on this one.

The Raspberry Pi is well known for the fun projects you can make with it but there are also quite a few practical projects to take advantage of, as well. Today we’ve got an impressive Raspberry Pi project to share created by a maker and developer known as Tristam. Using our favorite SBC, he’s managed to create a travel-sized router that runs OpenWRT, an open source application designed for making your own Linux-based router.

Tristam used a Raspberry Pi 3B+ for this project, but there’s no reason you couldn’t use a Raspberry Pi 4 B in its place. To test the configuration, Tristam connected his Raspberry Pi to a Ubiquiti AC long-range wireless access point using the Pi’s onboard Wi-Fi support. Although this worked for his demonstration, you could easily connect the Pi to the internet using other sources like an Ethernet connection.

The project is totally open source and easy to duplicate. All of the systems used to operate the router are open source and free to use. He also created a custom case for the project that can be 3D printed. True to the open source nature of most Pi projects, it too can be downloaded for free for anyone that wants to use it.

The 3D printed case supports the Raspberry Pi 3B+ as well as the USB wireless card. In this case, Tristam is using an AR9271 but you could use another similar card in its place. For his project, Tristam printed the housing with a Creality Ender 3 v2 Neo. If you want to download the case to print yourself, you can find the files over at Printables.

The router functions are handled using OpenWRT and result in a familiar interface that’s very easy to use. To access router controls, just open a browser window and navigate to 192.168.1.1. Accompanying the OpenWRT application is AdGuard. This is another open source tool used to block ads and trackers at the DNS level.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project or just get a closer look at how it goes together, you’re in luck. Tristam was kind enough to share a detailed list of instructions for anyone who wants to recreate the project over at his official website.

Before you start your day, it’s always helpful to peek at the current weather conditions. So what better way to plan your day than to program a Raspberry Pi for the task? While we’ve seen Raspberry Pi weather displays before, we wanted to share this beautiful Raspberry Pi dashboard created by Chris Twomey. It has a notably sleek interface, complete with a render of a local map based on your current location.

Weather data is taken from Accuweather/OpenWeatherMap API and formatted to display on an Inkplate 10. The Inkplate 10 is a 10-inch e-Ink panel, so it doesn’t use much power, and the data stays visible once the power has been cut off from the Pi. The generated map can be configured to any location you prefer and is shown underneath today’s date.

The map is generated using Google’s Static Maps API. Data is updated regularly on a schedule using MQTT and a server running on the Raspberry Pi. It also handles daylight savings time automatically, so you don’t have to make any adjustments throughout the year. Overall the project should operate on its own without interference.

Twomey tested the setup with a Raspberry Pi 3B+ and a Raspberry Pi Zero W. You should be able to duplicate this project with other models, including the latest Raspberry Pi 4. An ESP32 is also thrown into the mix as a client module to render the image onto the Inkplate 10. The dashboard is powered using a 2000 mAh battery, but Twomey suggests that 3000 mAh might yield longer-lasting results.

The Raspberry Pi needs to connect to the internet to pull data, so a model with wireless support is recommended. When the Pi wakes up, it connects to WiFi before updating the time and date. It’s running a Flask server, as well, to handle the update process for the weather data. You can read more about the software used in this project on the official GitHub page.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project or get a closer look at how it goes together, check out the Inkplate 10 Weather Calendar project page, and be sure to follow Chris Twomey for more projects and any future updates on this one.