Living near an airport isn’t for everyone. But for some, like software engineer Cameron Paczek, the unique environment offers inspiration for very unique projects. Paczek’s latest creation, Skylight, harnesses the power of a Raspberry Pi 5, a radio antenna, and a projector to listen for aircraft signals as planes pass over your house and then instantly projects their real-time paths across your ceiling exactly as you hear them soaring above.

What makes Skylight extraordinary is that it uses its own data collection method rather than simply pulling data from flight-tracking services like Flightradar24. The project leverages an affordable USB radio antenna, in this case the RTL-SDR Blog V4, to capture ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast) signals emitted by commercial planes, then uses a Raspberry Pi 5 to decode and render them.

The device then sends this information to a 1080p (1920x1080) projector to make the magic happen. Skylight then creates the illusion of the sky on your ceiling, with the airplane in view and various details, such as the model, destination, altitude, and distance to the destination. The project doesn't just track airliners; it can also detect aircraft and helicopters, since Skylight checks flight data to adjust how each plane appears.

Skylight offers a planetarium experience since it doesn't just track the aircraft; it recreates the real sky behind them. The pure black ceiling background not only shows the illuminated aircraft but also displays the sun, moon, stars, and constellations, all rendered at their precise positions for your location and current time, along with live satellite tracking, including the International Space Station (ISS). Paczek lives near San Francisco International Airport (SFO), so the reference build centers on that location, but Skylight adapts to any location worldwide since all you have to do is enter your coordinates.

Used a raspberry pi and ADS-B radio to build aircraft projection mapping onto my ceiling from r/raspberry_pi

Skylight is an open-source project; therefore, the instructions and the parts list are available on the project’s official GitHub repository. You’ll need an RTL-SDR Blog V4 with a dipole antenna, a Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB recommended for smooth performance), a native 1080p projector, a micro-HDMI-to-HDMI adapter, and a rotating 1/4-20 stand for the projector.

Paczek showcased Skylight in a couple of Reddit posts using a high-end $1,499 Optoma GT2100HDR projector. However, the creator emphasized that you don't necessarily need a pricey projector unless you plan on projecting Skylight in a brightly lit room. For the majority planning to use Skylight in a dim or dark environment, even affordable native 1080p LED projectors like the Yaber Buffalo Pro U9, which retails for around $99.99, will suffice.

I live in the take off path of SFO and built a ceiling projection mapping of the planes flying over my house using ADS-B radio from r/aviation

One of the most appealing aspects of the Skylight project is the overall investment to get it up and working. Unlike other DIY projects that require expensive or specialized equipment, you can put Skylight together relatively cheaply. If you’re looking to build it as affordably as possible, you can assemble a fully functional setup for under $400. On the other hand, if you want to go all out and get the premium experience, you may have to invest up to $1,800 since the quality of the project is by far the biggest factor influencing the overall budget.

However, not everyone is tech-savvy or wants to build Skylight from scratch. To make the project more accessible to people who want to enjoy the benefits of Skylight, Paczek will soon release a ready-made kit through a crowdfunding platform. Interested buyers must join the waitlist to be the first ones to receive updates on the launch date and pricing details.

The creators of the Flipper Zero “portable multi-tool device for geeks” have announced the Flipper One. This new pocketable gadget hugely expands the original's feature set with compute, modularity, and expandability to make what is claimed to be a different category of device. The Flipper One isn’t actually ready yet, though. Instead, the Flipper Devices team is asking for help from the community to help steer and finesse the final stages of Flipper One development to meet their ambitious goals.

“Flipper Zero taught us how much you can do with a tightly scoped, open product and a community that pushes it further than you can,” said Pavel Zhovner, Co-Founder and CEO of Flipper Devices. “Flipper One is what happens when we apply the same approach to a much bigger problem — building a fully open ARM Linux device that doesn't go obsolete the moment it ships. To be honest, it’s hard, and we can't do that alone, which is why we're opening the development process from day one.”

Before we go on, the team wanted to stress that the Flipper One isn’t an upgraded Flipper Zero. They assert that “Flipper Zero and Flipper One are completely different projects built for different tasks.” However, after digesting the announcement material, we’d probably sum up that the Flipper One is a device that adds a very useful chunk of Linux compute to the geek multitool form factor established by the Zero. Whatever the case, the Flipper team has created a side-by-side infographic to compare the two devices, and we’ve embedded that below.

Key to the Flipper One’s expanded abilities are the inclusion of an Arm processor capable of running Linux with about the same performance level as a Raspberry Pi 5, according to the press release, plus the addition of modular M.2 expansion capabilities. These are big additions, and at this stage, the Flipper team openly admits it is still wrangling with getting everything working as intended.

Some important foundational work has been done in preparing Arm Linux for the Flipper One. For example, the team has partnered with Collabora “to push full support for the Rockchip RK3576 SoC into the mainline Linux kernel.” This is a work in progress, though, with current effort focused on power management and USB DP Alt-mode support. Moreover, drivers for the SoC’s NPU, hardware video decoding, and other accelerators aren’t fully upstream yet.

To move forward with the above and related tasks, the Flipper team has created the Flipper One Developer Portal, a public wiki with all the development documentation for Flipper One. Due to the complexity of this new networking and computing multitool, the Wiki houses sub-projects focused on Hardware, Mechanics, Linux software, MCU Firmware, User Interface, Documentation, and Testing. Anyone can join and is welcome to contribute.

It sounds like there’s a lot of work left to do, but there’s a lot of potential in this new computing multitool. Its coprocessor architecture mixes the aforementioned octa-core Rockchip RK3576 SoC, which also packs Mali-G52 graphics, an NPU, and comes with 8GB of RAM. It is partnered by the RP2350 low-power MCU. Importantly, the MCU can work alone, bringing a lot of functionality to Flipper One without even getting into Linux. The CPU and MCU communicate and work together using an interconnect system.

To make the most of the power inside a Flipper One, the OS must be optimized for the task(s). So, the development team is making Flipper OS, based on Debian. A key project in this development is FlipCTL, a framework for interacting with the device on a tiny screen using just a D-pad and a few buttons.

If you have access to a big screen, Flipper One can charge, output video to a monitor, and connect USB peripherals — all via a single USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode cable. The built-in full-size HDMI port is also envisioned as a big-screen boon, with Flipper One connecting and becoming a “hacker’s TV media box.”

Flipper One’s open hardware module system with a widely compatible M.2 slot and GPIO port also boosts its capabilities beyond the network multitool skills it seems a natural fit for.

Lastly, no new device press release can neglect to mention AI. In this case, the Flipper One is touted as a device with a built-in AI accelerator (Rockchip's integrated NPU, remember) that can run LLMs locally. There are a couple of wrinkles to achieving this functionality right now. However, Flipper One will support external AI agents through integrations when you have internet connectivity.

The DRAM shortage continues to cause chaos in the computing market and is driving up the price of of various Raspberry Pi units yet again. Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi, announced that the Raspberry Pi 4, 5, 500, and 500+ are seeing another price jump, with outgoing pricing of the 500+ now approaching that of the M3 Mac Mini. The new price hikes have also led to the introduction of a new 3GB Raspberry Pi 4 to give customers more memory options to choose from.

The Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 have increased in price by $25 for the 4GB versions, and by $50 for the 8GB models. The Raspberry Pi 5 16GB has seen an even more extreme price increase of $100. Slotting in between the 2GB and 4GB versions of the Raspberry Pi 4 is the 3GB model priced at $83.75. Pricing for the Raspberry Pi 500 went up by $50, and the Raspberry Pi 500+ unit and the 500+ kit saw the highest price increases of all, but $150. This brings the 500+ model to a sky-high $410, which is almost as much as Apple's M3 Mac Mini (which can be found for around $430 depending on the retailer).

Price increases for the Compute Module 4, 4S, and 5 have also increased anywhere between $11.25 and $50. Pricing for the 16GB Compute 5 module has increased by $100.

Thankfully, not all Raspberry Pi models have seen a price jump. Upton noted that the Raspberry Pi 400, 4, and 5 models with less than 4GB of memory are holding their value for now. Also, older models with older LPDDR2 DRAM will hold their value indefinitely, as the board maker has a substantial inventory of the older DRAM type to weather the DRAM shortage.

For perspective, we wrote about Raspberry Pi price hikes just two months ago — since then, prices have increased by almost 50% for some models. For example, the Raspberry Pi 500+ 16GB cost just $280 in February.

Sadly, there's no guarantee another set of price hikes won't happen in the next month or two, as DRAM prices continue to trend upward. The latest reports indicate that NAND flash contract prices are rising faster than DRAM prices, with a predicted price jump of around 70% quarter over quarter.

With generative AI being all the rage nowadays, it's not often you hear about it being used much outside of artwork and coding. Japanese tech blogger Ikejima bucked that trend when he realized he'd never built an x86 motherboard, and proceeded to enlist Google's Gemini to help him do exactly that.

The scope was simple: to design and implement a motherboard for an Intel 8086 CPU, the chip that spawned the x86 architecture back in 1987. This was Ikejima's second attempt, as he'd previously tried it with an Intel 8088 clone, a cheaper variant of the 8086. That previous attempt failed as the 8088 required 5 V power (while the accompanying hardware ran on 3.3 V), and didn't take kindly to being debugged due to clock timing headaches.

This time around, he used a V30 chip, an 8086 clone designed by NEC that was used in clone PCs back in the day. The part number is μPD70116, and apparently, they cost all of $2 at AliExpress, if you're wondering. Instead of designing an entire motherboard, Ikejima figured he could do everything he needed with a Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 microcontroller and some simple circuitry, and called it a "cradle" instead of a motherboard, a fair term given the lack of proper I/O or device connectivity.

As a foreword, it'd be easy to dismiss this project as "vibe coding," where one knows nothing about the subject matter and has to do both the work and feed error messages back to it, having nothing but prayer as an alternative. Instead, Ikejima used the AI bot as an assistant to save him from grunt work, as a complement to his ability. The engineer's ability to reason quickly became invaluable, as you'll see.

He got Gemini to assist him with the circuit design, though he did the physical layout by hand. Ikejima uses KiCad with Python scripts, making it easy to iterate on circuit designs. The engineer got Gemini to help design the cradle's base software, written in C++ and using the Raspberry Pi Pico SDK.

The base idea is that the RP2040 cradle would act as a control, debugging, and memory interface for the V30 chip, feeding it code to run and data from 128 KB out of its 264 KB of memory. Ikejima quickly ran into trouble when trying to debug the CPU, as using USB debugging and interrupting the chip would mess up clock timing. Gemini suggested he put the second core in the RP2040 to work as a host-PC interface and debugger, a good idea overall.

While he was at this, Ikejima had Gemini produce an assembler and disassembler so he could actually write and retrieve programs for the V30 in assembly language. He remarked that that kind of drudge work is a good fit for AI. After all the major steps were complete, he sent the PCB off for manufacturing, got it, put everything together... and absolutely nothing worked.

This is the moment where the AI bot started showing its limitations, as it suggested changes to the circuit, blissfully unaware of the material or time costs involved. Ikejima rolled up his sleeves and got out his logic analyzer, which promptly "went berserk" on connection. As it turns out, the 8086 design uses the same physical line for addresses and code, switching between them at each clock tick.

As operated, the circuit would produce a literal short that would thankfully trigger a USB port disconnection, so as not to set fire to the project and his home. Gemini didn't spot that otherwise-obvious design feature, with Ikejima remarking that "perhaps AI still struggles to read diagrams," and "maybe it's a bad idea to let AI control anything that can short a power supply."

Once he sorted that out with the control software, he came across another bug that should have been obvious: 8086 chips use one RAM chip for even bytes, and another for odd bytes. After a handful of fixes, Ikejima finally got the CPU to work and execute code. He then figured he wanted to run actual software on it, and settled on getting MS-DOS' COMMAND.COM.

That effort proved more than he had considered, as COMMAND.COM rewrites itself in memory, and requires some interfacing to an actual BIOS and I/O — while all he effectively had was a CPU socket and some memory. After more research, he settled on using HI-DOS on the cradle side to be able to have a BIOS, and eventually booted HIDOS MS-DOS, albeit with some limitations, like the lack of writeable storage and the limited amount of memory.

Even still, he did manage to run some simple programs, culminating in what's effectively a pretty impressive demonstration of what's possible when you couple human logic and reasoning with the massive helping hand of an AI bot. Do read the entire adventure at Ikejiima's blog.

A vintage technology enthusiast has turned a miniature Mac-a-like desk toy alarm clock into a real Mac software-running computer. Colin from This Does Not Compute (TDNC) says he was drawn to the handsome Maclock on Amazon ($30). However, its pleasingly faithful looks made him wish that it could do more than basic alarm clock duties.

TDNC remembered a mini Mac project that looked very similar to the Maclock. In contrast, that project was let down somewhat by a poorly detailed chassis. But it packed a Raspberry Pi Zero for some real classic Mac emulation fun.

With the inspiration to go ahead, all the components were bought, and the ‘WonderMac’ project began. Cracking the Maclock case was the hardest part of the project, says the TechTuber. A bit of patience with the use of a steel spudger paid off, though.

The original Maclock screen couldn’t be re-purposed, but TDNC found a 2.8-inch Waveshare SVGA resolution touchscreen part that interfaces with the Raspberry Pi Zero W, and fitted very nicely into the alarm clock chassis.

Before going further with physically fitting the added Pi and new screen hardware, a few software steps were taken. This part of the project started with installing the latest Pi OS on an SD card and adding Waveshare 2.4-inch touchscreen drivers.

TDNC first thought about using a modern Mac emulator called Snow, but after a series of issues, decided on the older, lightweight Mini vMac. This wasn’t a cinch to get running, either, but after Colin recompiled the latest beta from source, it worked fine on the Pi Zero. Lastly, on the software side, Mini vMac was set to autorun from boot for a nice, slick, hands-off startup experience.

The TechTuber wanted to reuse the existing Maclock USB-C input to power the system. This wasn’t very straightforward, as it had charging circuitry that needed to be removed, so that the Pi got 5V direct from the back-facing port on the chassis. These power leads were then soldered to two pads on the Pi Zero W’s PCB.

Next, a 3D printed bracket would be designed and output to secure the Pi and screen into the Maclock chassis in the correct position. Sadly, in this implementation, the brightness dial on the lower lip of the tiny Mac’s screen bezel becomes a mere cosmetic addition. Similarly, two clock control buttons that remain also don’t do anything anymore. Some other small tweaks, trims, and snips were required to fit the new brains and screen into the Maclock chassis neatly and securely.

It all worked, with a few tiny niggles. Overall, the TechTuber says he is pleased with the result, but admits it isn’t the cheapest project, costing about $100 for all the products used. Graciously, TDNC has shared project essentials like the 3D-printable screen bracket and a WonderMac GitHub repository covering the software side. These are great resources if you want to replicate or build upon this super cute classic mini Mac project.

Just two months after the last price increase, your slice of Raspberry Pi just got a lot more expensive and AI is squarely to blame.

Writing in an official blog post, Raspberry Pi co-founder and CEO Eben Upton shared the bad news that price rises have accelerated and the cost of some parts has more than doubled over the last quarter. That means that the current flagship Raspberry Pi 5 and the older flagship Raspberry Pi 4, along with their Compute Module variants with 2GB or more memory, are seeing up to a $60 price increase, on top of the previous increases.

The general theme is that no matter the product (Pi 4 and 5, Compute Module 4 and 5), each memory density will see a price increase. So a Raspberry Pi 500 would now cost $130 from Adafruit. The Raspberry Pi 500+, with its 16GB of RAM goes from $220 to a whopping $280 at Adafruit!

We've gone through the price increases and illustrated the original retail price, the December 2025 price, and the new price. The Raspberry Pi 5 16GB has gone from $120 to $205, quite frankly an eye watering sum of money. But the most expensive Pi is the Raspberry Pi 500+, which jumps from $180 to $259, nearly $80!

There are some models of Raspberry Pi that are not impacted. The Raspberry Pi 400, Raspberry Pi Zero, Zero 2W, Raspberry Pi 3, and older Pi products, along with 1GB models of Pi 4 and Pi 5, remain at the usual price. But Upton writes that "We don’t anticipate any changes to the price ..." so it's not entirely out of the question.

The $45 Raspberry Pi 5 1GB, introduced in December 2025, is there to keep the original low price of the Raspberry Pi (which was $35 back in the early days) and to set a low-cost point of entry into the Raspberry Pi ecosystem. It has the same Arm CPU as every other Raspberry Pi 5, just not the RAM. We didn't review the 1GB model, but the 2GB model was plenty for emulation and general computing. The 1GB model, though, is keenly priced, but it won't offer the best experience if you crave a desktop replacement.

So what's to blame for this price rise? Artificial Intelligence. Specifically, the rising cost of LPDDR4 memory, which is being squeezed out of fabs in favor of more lucrative AI data infrastructure revenue streams. The impact of AI has already increased the price of the best CPUs, RAM, and SSDs, and Raspberry Pi is not immune.

As per the last paragraph of Upton's blog post, 2026 is shaping up to be a challenging year for memory pricing. Upton is keen to point out that the situation is temporary, and "we look forward to unwinding these price increases once it abates." But who knows when that will be.

The Raspberry Pi, once a low-cost entry to Linux, robotics, electronics, and general computing, is now almost as costly with more powerful x86 mini PCs. Yes, the Arm CPU is more frugal with electricity, but the x86 CPUs have greater horsepower and a greater choice of operating systems.

It's been a while since we've covered cyberdecks, and so, when this Alien-inspired cyberdeck crossed our path, we had to take a look. Powered by the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, Jeff Merrick's slab of 1970s/1980s aesthetic screams the "charm" of the worn and broken Alien universe that belies the powerful single-board computer within.

The Typeframe PS-85's 3D printed case instantly transports this cyberdeck into the cold and gritty Alien universe. You could easily print this yourself using one of the best 3D printers. The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, the smallest Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer (SBC) in the range, but larger than the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller, provides the computing power. The Pi is in the top corner and has its own standoffs to provide a secure connection point and space for the CPU to breathe. Next to the Pi is the Waveshare 7.9-inch touchscreen, but Merrick has chosen to use Raspberry Pi OS Lite, so that feature is moot, but the screen looks great with green text.

The screen and Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W are powered from a single Adafruit PowerBoost 1000C, which boosts the output of a 3.7V 6000mAh LiPo cell to 5V at 1A. Merrick's assembly instructions detail the wiring and logic of the electronics. The battery is installed on the back panel of the slate, next to the handle. A cut-out for the PowerBoost 1000C provides a means to charge the LiPo cell. The various connections for USB, HDMI, Power, and the GPIO (General Purpose Input / Output) are broken out using a myriad of custom cables and connectors.

The LED matrix to the right of the screen represents MU/TH/UR, the computer system that keeps the starships running as the crew are in hypersleep. The original design of MU/TH/UR debuted in Alien, and it was the work of Ron Cobb. The Typeframe PS-85 version looks similar to the version used in the doomed USCSS Maginot from Alien Earth. This facsimile has a more Earthly source, Adafruit's CharliePlex LED Matrix Bonnet (HAT), and it looks glorious. But it can be removed for access to the full complement of Raspberry Pi GPIO pins.

The PS-85 is essentially a 3D printed slate with a handle, but its aesthetic is based on the Alien franchise, and there are two elements that instantly leap to our view. The keyboard and LED matrix. The keyboard is based around Simon Deering's original iconography. Duringthe production of Alien, director Ridley Scott wanted a complex-looking, but identifiable keyboard that would be on screen for mere seconds. Deering produced the icons that made the cut, and the rest is history. Merrick's Typeframe PS-85 keyboard is based on a 40% mechanical keyboard, specifically a Penkesu retro-style keyboard created by Penk Chen. The keys are hot swappable and look glorious; you just need to know what each key represents, as the icons provide little or no clue. But they look damn good!

Overall, this cyberdeck looks great. The weathering and general paint job are superb, and it makes me want to build my own, and I can! Merrick has provided a full breakdown of materials, assembly steps, electronic circuits, and the software used to turn this project into a nightmarish reality.

Raspberry Pi’s first product of 2026 is an update of the 2024 AI HAT+, but this newer version, another collaboration with Hailo, now sees the Hailo 10H AI chip running the show, along with 8GB of onboard RAM. The new AI HAT+ 2 takes the strain of AI workloads away from the Raspberry Pi 5’s Arm CPU, but this all comes at a price of $130. With your Raspberry Pi already costing much more than the original $35 — of course, the spec has vastly improved over the years — you could already be hitting the $200 mark for just a Pi and AI HAT+ 2. Does the performance warrant the price? There's only one way to find out!

Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 Specifications

Unboxing and Setup

The retail box follows the same design language as the many other Raspberry Pi product boxes that I have opened. At a glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this was the same Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ as released previously, and opening the box doesn’t help as the boards are very similar. The new AI HAT+ 2 requires the included heatsink. Yes, this heatsink is for the HAT, not the Raspberry Pi 5. Your Pi 5 will also need cooling, and the official Raspberry Pi and Argon low-profile coolers will fit under the HAT. The included plastic standoffs and GPIO header extension work, but the GPIO connection is a little too loose for my liking. The resulting GPIO connections, using DuPoint style connectors, also feel a little too loose.

Connecting the board to the Raspberry Pi 5 is simple. Just unlock the PCIe connection on the Pi 5, push in the ribbon cable, lock it down, and then secure the board to the standoffs and GPIO. There is a cut-out for connecting the official Raspberry Pi Camera and an official display. Connect up your keyboard, mouse, HDMI, Ethernet, and finally power, then boot to the Raspberry Pi desktop, remembering of course to enable PCIe Gen 3 via “raspi-config.” We’re using the latest Debian “Trixie” based image and have a custom installation process as our review unit predates the official software repositories. The end-user software experience will be streamlined for release.

What Models Can the Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 Hailo 10H Run?

Using the provided installation instructions, we ran hailo-ollama and then queried the available and compatible models for the Hailo 10H powering the kit.

In our pre-release software, the models are loaded using hailo-ollama via a carefully crafted curl command. Just change the “model” to one of the five available.

curl --silent http://localhost:8000/api/pull \     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \     -d '{ "model": "qwen2:1.5b", "stream" : true }'

The 8GB of onboard DDR4X RAM means that larger models will generally work better as the Raspberry Pi’s own RAM is untouched. So models up to 8GB should load without incident, even on Raspberry Pi 5s with less than 8GB. This opens up cheaper AI projects, technically.

You still need to pay $130 for the AI HAT+ 2, but a $50 1GB, $55 2GB, or $77 4GB Raspberry Pi 5 is now a viable AI platform, negating the need to buy a $105 8GB or the frankly frightening $160 for a 16GB Raspberry Pi 5.

Comparing the Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 With the AI HAT+

So why the new board? That is down to Large Language Models (LLM), an AI that is trained on huge amounts of text data and is used to understand, process, and respond to human language. The AI HAT+ 2 is mainly aimed at LLMs, whereas the older AI HAT+ is for image-based AI projects. The AI HAT+ 2 demo code supplied by Raspberry Pi leans heavily on creating our own local LLM using qwen2:1.5b but you can also use DeepSeek or Qwen models that are distilled via DeepSeek.

The onboard 8GB of RAM and powerful AI processing chip take the strain off the Raspberry Pi 5’s CPU and RAM. We can also use that power for image processing. If you’ve not got the original AI HAT+, then having good image processing and a viable LLM platform makes the $130 price tag easier to swallow.

The two boards may look similar, but they don’t work in the same way. The AI HAT+ was all about image-based AI processing, and the 26 TOPS of the onboard Hailo 8L (13 Tops for the cheaper Hailo8 model) is very similar in performance to the AI HAT+ 2. Using the rpicam-hello suite of examples, we tested compatibility with the AI HAT+ 2, and we are pleased to say that object identification and pose detection worked as expected. While we have no metrics to show the difference, the performance of the AI HAT+ 2 was smooth, and there were no camera issues. Where there were issues, they were largely software-based. "HailoRT not ready!" shows that Hailo's software is playing catch-up to the hardware, which has happened before. Hailo, Raspberry Pi and the community will ultimately fix this gap, but early adopters need to be aware.

Comparing AI HAT+ 2 and Raspberry Pi 5 CPU Performance

Because we cannot directly test the AI HAT+ 2 and the AI HAT+, we need to fallback to testing the AI HAT+ 2 versus the Arm CPU of the Raspberry Pi 5. For this test, we will use the qwen2:1.5b language model and pose some questions relating to general knowledge, then specific programming tasks using Python. Installation of qwen2:1.5b was made via ollama.

The first question is “What is Tom’s Hardware?”

AI HAT+ 2 Response

“Tom's Hardware is a hardware retailer with stores in the United States and Canada. The company sells various types of tools, equipment, and supplies for home repairs or construction projects.”

ARM CPU Response

“Tom's Guide is a popular technology website founded in 2004. It was originally focused on computer hardware and reviews, but has since expanded its coverage to include consumer electronics, software, and other topics related to technology. The site is known for publishing detailed product reviews that are valuable resources for consumers looking to make informed purchasing decisions.”

Writing Code with an LLM

The next request, “Write a Python script to display an image on the screen. The image file is supplied by asking the user for input and they will specify the absolute path to the image.”

The AI HAT+ 2 did a decent job of writing quick and concise code, but it was doomed to failure as it never called an application to open the image, rather it read the image and then closed the open image file.

AI HAT+ 2 Response

import osdef display_image(image_path):    try:        # Open the image file in read mode.        img = open(image_path, 'r')        img.seek(0)        img.read()        img.close()    except IOError:        print('Image file not found:', image_path)image_path = input('Enter the path to image file: ')display_image(image_path)

The Arm CPU response looked decent, but on closer inspection, it was full of errors around using the imported tkinter module and calling “Image.open” when there is no imported Image module. This vibe coding experience produced a long-winded response, but ultimately it was way off the mark and not something that we would rely on as a coding co-pilot or a sounding board for a project.

Arm CPU Response

import osfrom tkinter import *# Ask user to enter path to image filepath = input("Enter absolute path to image file: ")# Load image from disk (assuming this is a JPEG)img = Image.open(path)# Resize image if neededwidth = 1000height = img.height / img.width * widthimg = img.resize((width, height))# Create new canvas for the resized imagecanvas = Canvas(width=500, height=300, bg="white")canvas.pack()# Draw image on canvas and place it in centerimage_data = ImageData(img)canvas.create_image(250, 150, anchor=CENTER, data=image_data)root.mainloop()

In our tests, the AI HAT+ 2 was faster than the Raspberry Pi 5’s Arm CPU, but more importantly, it ran the code without hogging the CPU. This is great for those who want to integrate AI into a GPIO-based project, like robotics. That said, the model produced inaccurate results. In the case of the coding exercise, the code would appear valid to a layman, but it was completely incorrect. If you are looking to run an LLM on a Pi, then try the Hailo-compatible models and see which one meets your needs. But be warned, the knowledge on which these models have been trained is now outdated, and from our limited testing time, we only saw incorrect responses.

Who is the Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 for?

Obviously, someone who wants to use AI on a Raspberry Pi, but what type of AI? Offloading the workload from the Arm CPU to the Hailo 10H frees up the CPU for other tasks, such as running a chat server, controlling a robot, reacting to sensors, etc. So those of us who like to build smart GPIO projects will have a field day with the AI HAT+ 2.

If you are just interested in image or vision-based AI projects, the older AI HAT+, Raspberry Pi AI Camera, or the original M.2 AI Kit are all cheaper viable options. If you already have any of these products, stick with them, as right now the AI HAT+ 2 is more money for little to no performance boost. If you haven’t got any AI HATs or want to dabble with LLMs, then the AI HAT+ 2 is a viable, if currently flawed, option. Personally, we would run LLMs on the Raspberry Pi 5s Arm CPU until we have the knowledge and use case to warrant purchasing the AI HAT+ 2.

Bottom Line

AI is the buzzword that isn’t going away, and Raspberry Pi’s adoption of AI into its product range is an interesting, if polarizing, decision. The AI HAT+ 2 continues the progression of more powerful AI platforms, and for the right type of make,r it will be a considered choice. One day. Right now, this is a solution looking for a problem, and we're sure that the bugs will be worked out, but early adopters will be left wanting more.

For many who just want to dabble with AI on their Raspberry Pi 5, then they can either use smaller models that your RAM can accommodate, or use an online service. For computer vision and image inference projects, you will get similar performance and a cheaper product with the older AI HAT+ or the Raspberry Pi AI Camera. The AI camera is a cheap entry point for learners. For those who want a local LLM in a compact and power-efficient package, the Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 is something that you should research, after learning the skills and developing the project that it can support. It will also give the software time to mature and to make sure that your wallet is ready.

The humble Raspberry Pi, the perennial leader of the low-power, single-board computing (SBC) world, has hit a price parity with its rival, the Intel N100-based mini PCs. An investigation by Jeff Geerling, which we’ve independently confirmed, shows that pricing for Pi’s is now within just a few cents with a similarly configured board from brands like GMKTec. Why does this matter? Hobbyists and homelab builders had a great 2024 / 2025 which saw low prices for their DIY setups.

If you’ve been keeping a close eye on the PC hardware market of late, you’ll have noticed prices only going one way: upward. Flash memory costs, along with tariff uncertainties last year, have forced mini PC manufacturers and retailers to raise prices across the board. As Geerling explains, an explosion in homelab builds using $100-150 mini PCs made those same PCs a better, or certainly cheaper, alternative to current-gen Raspberry Pi 5s which when bundled up with NVMe HATs, NVMe drives, cases etc, retailed for over $200 last year.

Now, the tables have turned. Geerling, who compared the prices of a GMKTec mini PC versus a Raspberry Pi 5 kit in March 2025, found in his updated investigation that the GMKTec machine he considered in his first investigation is now more expensive (albeit by only a few cents). Both systems feature 16GB RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD, but given current market conditions, systems like these aren't be sold as cheaply as they were last year.

Our own comparison of rival mini PCs, based on Amazon’s current pricing whilst compared with Camelcamelcamel’s historical data, shows that this isn’t just a brand-specific issue. For instance, the Beelink S13 with the refreshed Intel N150 CPU, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD is on sale for $269, from as low as $168.99 in August 2025.

Meanwhile the Acemagic V1, with similar specs, is available for $217.54, up from $158 in August 2025, or $180 in January 2025. Geekom does offer an N100 mini PC costing $199.99 that hasn't seen a price change on Amazon in the last year, but with only 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD.
The Raspberry Pi is also not immune to the upward pricing trend. The cost of a Raspberry Pi has changed in recent months, and Raspberry Pi introduced a 1GB Pi 5 in order to keep a low $45 price point. A Raspberry Pi 5 with 16GB of RAM is now $145, $25 more expensive than in early 2025.
The cost of additional components, such as the SSD, have all added to the cost of creating your own DIY homelab.

Source: Raspberry Pi blog.

This now leaves prospective homelab builders with three variables to consider: overall cost, power usage, and performance. Intel mini PCs are more powerful than the Raspberry Pi, even if the Pi 5 did offer a significant speed boost over the Pi 4, as our Pi 5 review explains. However, the Raspberry Pi continues to be the superior option if you're looking for the lowest power draw, even compared to the otherwise power-efficient Intel N100 and refreshed N150 mini PCs on sale.

Geerling believes that, as a result of these price rises, repurposing old hardware will be the “theme” for this new year, and one that will save you far more money, given the alternatives. This might be the status quo for some time, too. There’s no end in sight for the price shocks affecting the market, with memory manufacturers warning that the crisis has only just started, and could roll on for years to come.

The impending inauguration of New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani invites coverage of the usual safety information. At the event, no large bags, drones, strollers, or, remarkably, Raspberry Pis or Flipper Zero devices are allowed. The last two entries on the list are the popular single-board computer (SBC) and the Swiss Army knife of hacking tools. The latter, sure, that could be used for some nefarious deeds, but the Raspberry Pi? That would take some work.

List of prohibited Items

Keeping everybody safe is the top priority. Whether it's an inauguration, concert, or large-scale event, everyone has the right to feel safe, and that is where event security comes into play. In an open invitation to New Yorkers, the Mayor-Elect invites everyone to attend the inauguration on January 1st, bring a hat and scarf to keep warm, and some snacks to share, but you'll have to leave your Raspberry Pi at home. Why? Is this more "Security theater" than actual security?

No reason is given; attendees are just told not to bring them. So if you wanted to set up a time-lapse camera or make some cool LED lights to celebrate the inauguration, you are out of luck. The Flipper Zero, which is legal to carry, does have the capability to monitor and interfere with many different signals, but if that were the only reason to prohibit the devices at the event, then organizers would also have to prohibit other, more powerful portable electronic devices — your smartphone being one of them.

The Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero both have programmable GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) pins that could be used with "devices" to cause injury or interference, but naming them directly is unusual. Laptops are not prohibited, despite offering much more power and portability than a Raspberry Pi. Your laptop has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even a GPIO that could be exploited. Putting Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero on the same list as "Weapons, fireworks or explosives" doesn't tell us why they are prohibited, but it does put them in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Could they be used as nefarious, criminal devices that cause terror? Yes, if one were to put their mind to it, most objects could be used for such purposes. Perhaps the list of prohibited items should really focus on using terms to describe the use or intent of the prohibited item? Rather than Raspberry Pi or Flipper Zero, we should see "Single Board Computers", "Microcontrollers", "Signal Interception", or "Electronic Hacking tools". As Adafruit's blog post so eloquently states, "Public safety is a beacon, a flashlight, not a fog machine."

The world of television and movies has already used the Raspberry Pi as the "McGuffin," a device that moves the plot forward, in shows such as Mr Robot (the Raspberry Pi changes from a model B to B+ between shots), Person of Interest, and even Big Hero 6.

Are the names "Raspberry Pi" and "Flipper Zero" being used in the same way that we often use the brand to identify an object? For example, in the UK, we often say "Hoover" to mean "vacuum cleaner", "Biro" for a pen. US readers will often use "Band-Aid" for a plaster, "Velcro" for a hook-and-loop fastener, and "Google" for an internet search. If the Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero products are being used in that manner, then it is unfortunate, and a little education is required. I can almost guarantee that there will be a Raspberry Pi powering some device or installation inside.

So could we just take an Arduino-powered LED light show to the inauguration? In theory, yes. Your ESP32, Wemos D1 Mini, and Arduino Uno Q are all technically allowed at the inauguration, and those are very similar devices with similar capabilities. But your Raspberry Pi 5, Pico 2 W, and Flipper Zero may have to miss the party.

• Large Bags
• Weapons, fireworks or explosives
• Large Backpacks or duffle bags
• Drones or remote-controlled aerial devices
• Strollers
• Coolers
• Chairs
• Blankets
• Umbrellas
• Bicycles or scooters
• Alcoholic beverages
• Illegal substances
• Pets (other than service animals)
• Large items that could obstruct views of spectators around you
• Laser Pen
• Bats/Batons
• Flipper Zero
• Raspberry Pi

The Arduino Uno Q is the latest Arduino Uno form factor board from the well-known and renowned stable that first democratized access to microcontrollers. Before Arduino, sure, we had microcontrollers, but they were expensive and cumbersome. Arduino disrupted this norm, and from it emerged the modern microcontroller community.

So is the €39 Arduino Uno Q just an updated Arduino Uno R4? Oh no, it is something much more. The Q stands for Qualcomm, which recently purchased Arduino and now has its Arm-based Dragonwing SoC on the Arduino Uno Q. Still, the Arm CPU isn’t alone, as the Arduino Uno Q also has an STM32U585 microcontroller. Essentially, an Arm Cortex M33 (the same as the Raspberry Pi Pico 2’s RP2350) that runs the Arduino sketches (your projects) alongside the main CPU.

Who is the Arduino Uno Q for? What can you build with it? Does it perform better than just buying a Raspberry Pi 3 and Pico 2? Let's find out.

• The Arduino Uno Q is the first Arduino board after Qualcomm’s recent acquisition of Arduino.
• The Arduino Uno Q can be used as a single board computer, or it can be used via USB or over a Wi-Fi connection.
• The board integrates a Qualcomm Dragonwing SoC for AI and LLM capabilities, with an STM32 microcontroller for real-time control of GPIO.
• The Arduino Uno Q supports a new IDE, Arduino App Lab, which integrates Python and Arduino’s C language to build projects.

Arduino Uno Q Specifications

Look and Feel of the Arduino Uno Q

At a quick glance, the Arduino Uno Q and the Arduino Uno R4 appear the same, but they are quite different. The first noticeable difference is the omission of a DC power jack. The older Arduino Uno boards had a DC barrel jack and in all my years of tinkering with Arduino, I probably used it less than a dozen times.. If you want / need to supply a power source greater than 5V, the VIN pin can be used with a 7-24V supply.

The USB-C port provides power (5V, 3A max) and data connectivity, allowing you to connect the Arduino Uno Q directly to your PC. It also provides, via a hub, access to DisplayPort / HDMI, USB, and power. Using the Arduino Uno Q with a USB-C dock, HDMI display, keyboard, and mouse takes some getting used to. By which I mean, actually sitting down and writing code directly on the Arduino board. In the past, I’d plug it into a PC, write some Arduino code in the IDE, compile and flash the code to the Arduino, and off it went. But sitting here in the Arduino App Lab, writing the code and uploading it to the STM32 just feels alien.

Interestingly, Arduino recommends using the 4GB model as a single board computer, yet the first model released is the 2GB, which leads to a subpar SBC experience. If you prefer the more traditional Arduino workflow, you can connect via USB or Wi-Fi to a PC running the Arduino App Lab. All of your code runs on the Arduino Uno Q, but development and creation take place on your much more powerful PC. This is my preferred means of using the Arduino Uno Q.

When powering up the Arduino Uno Q, the gorgeous 8 x 13 LED matrix illuminates to show an animated Arduino logo, a nice touch that distracts from the rather slow boot process, 34.6 seconds to be exact. Not horrific; the Raspberry Pi 5 is around 20-25 seconds, depending on whether you use a microSD or an SSD. But it feels like a long time for those of us used to powering up an Arduino and seeing the code run straight away.

Qualcomm Dragonwing

The Arduino Uno Q boots directly into a version of Debian Linux, and it is pretty vanilla. The GNOME interface is pleasant and gets the job done. You could use the Arduino Uno Q as a low-power Linux desktop; it would certainly be a conversation starter. But ultimately, the desktop OS is more for getting the Arduino App Lab running than a full desktop OS. Perhaps this will feel a little different when the 4GB model is released. The paltry 2GB of RAM is just enough to get things working.

The newest addition to an Arduino is born from Qualcomm’s recent purchase of Arduino. The Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 is a quad-core Arm Cortex A53 SoC

The Arduino Uno Q is no Linux PC powerhouse, but it doesn’t have to be. Sitting around the Raspberry Pi 3 / Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W level of computing power, the Qualcomm Dragonwing SoC has enough compute to run Linux, and its two 13MP Image Signal Processors (ISPs) support two cameras, with AI inference models that can run on the CPU and GPU. That makes it a potent package for entry-level AI and IoT projects.

But this is not an Arm desktop PC. If you want that, go for a Raspberry Pi 5. The upside of a lower-power CPU is that when the Arduino Uno Q is used as a desktop PC, it draws around 3.3 W at idle and peaks at 4.5W with all four CPU cores under full load. For 90% of the time under stress, the Arduino Uno Q pulled 4.4W. We have to remember that there is no way to just power the STM32 microcontroller. We need to power up the Qualcomm SoC to access the microcontroller. This means that the ultra-low power afforded by a microcontroller project is lost. If that is a concern, then stick to a microcontroller-based board.

How does the Dragonwing communicate with the real-time STM32 microcontroller, and vice versa? The answer is “Bridge,” specifically Arduino's RPC (Remote Procedure Call) library, which enables sketches written for the STM32 to access Linux services and vice versa. The libraries are written in Python for the Dragonwing and Arduino C for use with the STM32. They are both abstracted enough to be easy to use.

The GPIO

The Arduino Uno Q has the same tried-and-tested GPIO pinout as the older Arduino Uno boards. The pinout reference is printed on the side of the connections, and it is great to see the ~ is still printed, reminding me which pins are PWM-compliant for my robot and Neopixel projects.

The Arduino Uno Q also has two higher-density connectors that are earmarked for high-speed camera/displays, audio, SDMMC, and as an expansion with more GPIO pins. Sadly, I cannot test this aspect of the board because, at present, there are no breakout boards or add-ons that support the interface. But I can see these interfaces being used to dock the Arduino Uno R to another board, enabling extra features like robotics in a simpler form factor.

The QWIIC interface is most interesting. It is the same interface as StemmaQT, MakerPort, and QWIIC, which really does make quick work of connecting up a project. QWIIC is essentially a breakout of the I2C interface, but you don’t strictly have to use it for I2C components, although many add-ons do. You’ll need to purchase compatible QWIIC addons, such as those found in the Arduino Plug and Make kit.

Connect up your sensors, in my case, an accelerometer, then load up your code. I chose to use the accelerometer example, and I quickly saw how the STM32 read the raw data from the sensor, which was processed by the Qualcomm Dragonwing to identify the pattern of movement. Lastly, the output was rendered to a web UI in real time. Powerful learning potential!

Arduino Shield Compatibility

Using the Arduino Uno form factor is a smart move for the Arduino Uno Q, chiefly because it provides access to the extensive Arduino Shield ecosystem. Much like Raspberry Pi HATs, Arduino Shields connect to the Uno form factor GPIO and provide extra functionality for projects. And much like the Raspberry Pi, the Arduino Uno Q introduces a period during which shield/HAT compatibility is in flux, despite the same form factor.

I’ve got Shields for Ethernet, IoT, NFC, GSM phone connectivity, RGB LED matrices, etc. The problem with the shields is that they either require a compatible library or a compatible pinout for the shield. It seems that my Adafruit RGB Matrix does not work with the Arduino Uno Q, my collection of Maplin (a now defunct UK electronics retailer) Arduino shields were also impacted by these conditions. If you rely on a shield for your project, stick with an older, well-supported, and known-to-be-compatible Arduino.

Arduino App Lab

No matter how you choose to use the Arduino Uno Q, you’ll be using the new Arduino App Lab in some form. Initially, I used it directly on the board, connecting a screen, keyboard, mouse, etc., via a USB Type-C hub. It worked, and I was able to write a simple “LED Blink” script, but the experience was slow and left me wondering if something was happening as I waited for something to happen. As I’ve already said, the best way to use the Arduino Uno Q is via the Arduino App Lab on your more powerful PC.

The Arduino App Lab is slick and looks great. But I found myself struggling to understand the concepts and workflows necessary to build a project. I’m not (that much of) an idiot, and I can easily write and flash code to my other Arduinos and clones. But the extra steps for the Arduino Uno Q led me to really sit down and read the documentation. Luckily, Arduino has great documentation, but there were times when I was lost. For example, using the Serial.println() is not supported on the Arduino Uno Q, replaced with Monitor.println(), but I was unable to get this working despite following the instructions.

The Arduino App Lab also introduces “bricks,” packages of Python code that bring functionality via an easy-to-use workflow. Some bricks provide AI-relevant features, such as keyword spotting (used in the Hey Arduino! example), while others link to external APIs for weather and web-based user interfaces. Some bricks run as-is; others require a container to run; all are handled by the Arduino App Lab.

Adding a brick to your project is easy. Just click on Bricks, select what you need, and the brick is part of your project. Follow the API documentation to integrate it into your Python code, and you will soon have a keyword-powered LED, etc. I like this feature, largely because it makes using external resources a trivial process for newcomers.

The Arduino Uno Q workflow is really pushing for using the Qualcomm SoC and the STM32 via the RPC “bridge.” You can just write Arduino code directly in the Arduino App Lab, there is no real reason for using the bridge unless you want the power of the Dragonwing SoC. But by doing that, you are really wasting the potential that this board has. You could just use any Arduino or clone board and save yourself the extra spend.

If the Arduino App Lab isn’t for you, then the Arduino IDE 2.3.6 works with the STM32 side of the Arduino Uno Q. After updating and installing the board, I was able to flash the Blink sketch to the Arduino Uno Q. I also tried to upload the Adafruit NeoPixel strandtest sketch to the Arduino Uno Q, but it didn’t work. I checked the wiring, pins, and configuration, but nothing worked. I transferred the project to an Arduino Uno and flashed the sketch. It worked.

I dug a little deeper, and it seems that the STM32 is not supported by Adafruit’s NeoPixel library, so I had to search for something that was compatible. I couldn’t find anything compatible with the STM32 from the Arduino libraries, so I had to abandon that element of the test.

Overall, the Arduino App Lab is a great start, and as the Arduino Uno Q gains traction in the community, it will see more features and tweaks. The workflow takes a little getting used to, but it does simplify the link between the Python code and the Arduino code, which will help newcomers cut their teeth.

Testing the Included Examples

The Arduino Uno Q includes a set of examples covering a wide range of projects you can build with it. From the simple “blink an LED” to AI-based image identification, via web user interface-controlled LEDs and a voice-controlled LED matrix. Some of these projects rely on just the board, but those that use some form of AI often need extra components connected to the USB Type-C port. So you’ll need to dig out a compatible hub. This is where it gets messy, as we now have a hub, Arduino Uno Q, a microphone, and USB-C power to make a voice-controlled project.

I tested the “Hey Arduino” project and can confirm it worked, but it took ages to get the container running for the example. We’re talking 55 seconds from clicking Run to the project being available. Ok, a minute isn’t too long to wait, but if I were integrating this into a project, I would have to ensure that this and the time it takes the Arduino Uno Q to boot, 34.6 seconds, are both factored in.

The projects themselves are great; they illustrate how to use the Arduino Uno Q, and more importantly, they show how to create a project that uses both the Dragonwing and STM32 in one project.

Why is that important? The Arduino Uno Q is a hybrid device; it is neither a dedicated Linux SBC nor a microcontroller, it is both at the same time. This isn’t the first time that Arduino has created a hybrid board. The Galileo was a joint project with Intel, and it brought an Intel Quark X1000 CPU to a new form factor. It ran a Linux distribution based on Yocto and was compatible with Arduino shields. I’ll be honest, Galileo was an interesting idea, and back in the day, I reviewed a unit, but it was a very different beast from the typical Arduino with an Atmel chip.

There was also the Arduino Yún, a microcontroller-based board featuring the legendary ATmega32u4 and an Atheros AR9331 CPU that supported Linux. More recently, we have the Radxa X4, which features an Intel N100 CPU running any operating system you choose and a built-in Raspberry Pi RP2040, as seen in the Raspberry Pi Pico. Sure, for the Radxa X4, there wasn’t a bridge between the two, but there is a serial connection, and with just a few Python libraries, you could make your own bridge between the Intel and Arm CPUs.

AI Performance

The Dragonwing SoC at the heart of the Arduino Uno Q runs Linux, supports a Python bridge, and handles AI tasks. The thing is, due to the memory and processing restrictions, we can run an LLM, but it is tiny, and performance is slower than other SBCs.

To prove a point, I installed tinyllama:1.1b via ollama, and in a prompt, I asked it “What is an Arduino?” The answer was forthcoming, if a little slow. It took 28 seconds to start formulating an answer, and this led me to test how a series of Raspberry Pis would perform. The Raspberry Pi 500+, a keyboard version of the Raspberry Pi 5, started answering the question in 2 seconds! Even the older Raspberry Pi 4 managed 4 seconds. Sadly, the Raspberry Pi 3B+, a board with similar specifications to the Arduino Uno Q, didn’t have enough RAM to start the LLM.

If you’ve got an old Raspberry Pi 4 laying around, spend $10 on a Raspberry Pi Pico 2, and learn how to connect the two using your own serial bridge. You’ve just built your own Arduino Uno Q clone.

Who is the Arduino Uno Q for and what projects will they create?

Those already invested in the Arduino ecosystem will love the Arduino Uno Q, and I can see many AI / LLM-based projects being created with it. Robotics, sensor monitoring, smart homes, and more can be achieved with the Arduino Uno Q. Merging the AI-centric Qualcomm SoC with the STM32 for the GPIO is a smart move. The electronics for your project run on a real-time microcontroller, while the Arm CPU handles all of the AI, Linux, and Python aspects of the project.

Bottom Line

I love the Arduino. It is the board where I cut my teeth with electronics and microcontrollers. The Arduino Uno Q is an interesting board, but ultimately the spec is a little too old and reproducible with kit that many electronics enthusiasts will already have to hand.

That said, if you are a fan of the Arduino and its form factor, you will love the Arduino Uno Q and the ecosystem it brings. The hardware is good, and the Arduino App Lab is a great starting place to learn how to merge the two sides of the Arduino Uno Q into one project.

My worry with the Arduino Uno Q is that it becomes just like the Intel Edison, Galileo, and Arduino Yun. The Intel projects were born of collaboration, whereas the Arduino Uno Q is the result of Qualcomm’s purchase of Arduino. Could that give the Arduino Uno Q more support than previous attempts? Time and popularity will ultimately be the means by which this is measured.

The end of dial-up internet means future generations will no longer hear the iconic screech of the dial-up handshake. However, YouTube creator Nick Bild did not want this experience to be lost to history, so he used a Raspberry Pi 3 and a USB Wi-Fi adapter to gather network traffic and convert it into an analog signal that is blasted out of a small speaker. According to Bild’s Hackaday project, he had to add random amplitude and frequency adjustments to make the output sound more interesting, but all the data is sourced from the Wi-Fi network.

Back before the days of DSL and fiber-optic internet, all our data had to travel over phone lines. Since these weren’t designed for digital signals, internet companies had to use modems to convert them into analog signals (i.e., sound) that could be transmitted over the already existing telephone network. The nostalgic screeching sound many born in the ‘90s and earlier hear when connecting to the internet is just the handshake signal between two computers negotiating which protocol they’ll use to communicate. Once the connection has been established, the screeching just turns to static, which is what actual data sounds like.

This was a relatively easy build for Bild, who used a Raspberry Pi 3 with a secondary USB Wi-Fi adapter to collect network traffic from a target computer. These are then sent to an Adafruit QT Py microcontroller, which converts the data to a specific amplitude and outputs an analog signal via an onboard DAC. The output is then fed into a small amplifier so that the tiny 2-watt speaker can play it. Nick says that since the signal is random, you’re bound to hear nothing but static. Although he added random variations to the output to mimic the old sound a bit more, it’s still based on the actual data being transmitted and received by the target computer.

The sound this contraption makes isn’t the same as what we hear from the old modem. After all, dial-up internet made that sound so users could listen to whether the connection was working as expected. Advancements in networking technology meant we no longer needed to do that (and it would probably be annoying to hear that sound from all the devices connected to the internet around us). Still, it would be nice to hear this nostalgic sound, or something similar, to remind us how slow the internet used to be.

Raspberry Pi has been a bit quiet after a packed 2024, which saw multiple products and SKUs released on a weekly basis. The Raspberry Pi 500 was one of those products, and it received an Editor’s Choice award despite the omission of a PCIe-based storage. Yes, there was space, and yes, the silkscreen had the layout for it, but it was never added to the 500. This led to other Pi community members and me theorizing that a future model would feature PCIe-based storage. It turns out that we were correct, and here we have the Raspberry Pi 500+.

Straight off the mark, the price is $200 (approximately £180). The price of a low-spec laptop, essentially. For the price, we get the same System on Chip (SoC) as the Raspberry Pi 500 and Pi 5, but we also get 16GB of RAM and a 256GB NVMe SSD, not to mention a mechanical keyboard. If you want the Raspberry Pi 500+ as part of a getting started kit, then for $220 (£200) you can pick up the Raspberry Pi 500+ Desktop Kit which comes with a branded mouse, USB-C power supply, official HDMI cable and the Raspberry Pi Beginner's Guide. For the review, I have just the Raspberry Pi 500+.

Is the Raspberry Pi 500+ worth $200, and does it warrant an upgrade over the original Pi 500? Let's find out!

Raspberry Pi 500+ Technical Specifications

Design of the Raspberry Pi 500+

The dominant aesthetic of the Raspberry Pi 500+ is the keyboard. It looks stunning, and the layout is similar to my daily driver, a Keychron K2. Under the keycaps, we have Gateron Blue KS-33 low-profile switches, and as a lover of clicky keys, they please me greatly. This is a keyboard that I could use as a daily driver. Perhaps Raspberry Pi will release the keyboard as a replacement for the official keyboard? Aside from the keyboard, the ports on the rear of the 500+ are identical to those on the 500.

The Pi 500+ and the 500 before it sport the same all-white color scheme, which is boring, but functional. It looks great on your desk, but I loved the Raspberry Pi 400's "raspberry and white" aesthetic.

The Raspberry Pi 500+ is larger than the Pi 500, both in length and height. The bottom part of the chassis is deeper, and the keyboard is longer. The height is most likely to accommodate space for the NVMe SSD, as the key switches are all located in the top section of the chassis. The length difference will be for the standard keycaps used. Yes, you can replace the keycaps if you wish. Using the included key puller, I pulled a few keys off to take a look underneath, then I threw some spare keys from my Keychron spares box on there to prove that they fit.

My pre-release unit has a quirk with the ENTER key, and Raspberry Pi assures me that this issue is not present in mass-produced units. Did I mention that the keys are RGB? Oh yes, a rainbow at your fingertips. Just press the FN and the light key to change the sequence. There are static colors (white and red), animated rainbow effects, reactive keys that shine blue or red, and an off option. The power button, a dedicated soft key introduced on the Raspberry Pi 5 and Pi 500 (the secondary function of F10 for the Pi 400), shines green when the Pi is on and red when in standby. To control the RGB LEDs, Raspberry Pi has released a config tool in the form of a Debian package, which handles all installation tasks for demos and the all-important udev rules.

The package is both a command-line tool and a Python module, which means that we can write our own code to control the LEDs. So I did, and made my usual “Disco” demo.

After a few bouts of trial and error, I managed my goal and I had something like a 1970s disco on my keyboard.

The keen-eyed amongst you will note that, because the Pi 500+ uses the same keyboard wedge design as its predecessors, there is no access to the CSI (Camera) / DSI (Display) connector. Looking at the PCB, there are no connections on the board. If you really need a camera, grab a USB webcam. For displays, there are two micro HDMI ports that support 4K60, so you are well catered to.

Tearing Down the Raspberry Pi 500+

All of the previous Raspberry Pi 00 series machines have been easy to tear down, and the Pi 500+ is no exception. It has to be because we need access to the NVMe SSD. You may never upgrade the drive, but the 500+ introduces Phillips screws that secure the bottom chassis to the keyboard. The final retail kit that I received came with a spudger to leverage the plastic chassis apart. Starting at the opening just below the space bar, I slid the spudger around the seam and the clips popped open.

Initially, I could see two sections of the chassis. The bottom part contained the mainboard, which is covered by a large aluminum heatsink, with only a cutout for the NVMe SSD (note that my pre-release model has a smaller 2230 SSD than what will be included in the retail units). The other part is the custom keyboard plate, which is powered by a Raspberry Pi Pico’s RP2 (RP2040) and not the newer RP2350. There is no need for the newer board, after all, the RP2040 is merely acting as a USB interface.

Also present on the mainboard is a battery connector for a real-time clock, which can be purchased separately.

On the left side of the mainboard is a large unpopulated area, the same as on the Pi 500. This would’ve been for a PoE circuit to power the Pi 500+ over an Ethernet connection, but, just like the Pi 500, it was likely cut as a trade off for cost/capability.

At a glance, the Raspberry Pi 500+ and 500 look identical; in fact, the silkscreen version numbers are the same. The only key differences on the Pi 500+ are the NVMe and moving the keyboard connector from a larger flat flex cable (FFC) to a smaller one. The RP2 is not next to the keyboard connector; instead, it is located on the keyboard PCB, which leads me to believe that RP2 performs keyboard and RGB light control.

The change from a larger to smaller FFC between these versions means that while the mainboard has the same cut-outs and screw holes, you couldn’t transplant the Pi 500+ into a 500 chassis (and vice versa) without some FFC connector and RP2040 desoldering. Of course, the Internet will prove me wrong, and some enterprising maker will do this just for the heck of it. If so, hit me up!

Raspberry Pi 500+ Thermal and Power Performance

Like its predecessors, the Pi 500+ has a huge aluminum heatsink to passively cool the ARM-powered SoC. This means we are almost guaranteed that the unit will run much cooler than the original Raspberry Pi 5. But we must still check. So I ran my usual test script, which records the resting temperature for one minute, then runs a stress test across all cores for five minutes before recording the resting temperature as the system calms down.

The Pi 500+ runs a little warmer than the Pi 500, especially at idle, where it is almost 4C warmer. Under stress, the 500+ is only 1.7C warmer than the 500. The temperature difference can be attributed to the NVMe SSD, which will generate a little more heat inside the case.

CPU Temperature Comparison in Celsius

Power consumption in Watts

The Raspberry Pi 500+ uses a fraction less power than the Pi 500, which is interesting considering that it has an NVMe SSD inside. The reason for the lower power consumption is that the chip uses the D0 stepping, which removes “all the non-Raspberry Pi specific logic from the chip,” according to Raspberry Pi co-founder Eben Upton, while leaving it functionally identical to the previous chip.

The removal of non-Pi logic sees a 33% reduction in die space and was achieved by removing Ethernet and USB logic; instead, these functions are handled by the RP1 “Southbridge” instead. This is identical to the Raspberry Pi 5 2GB and 16GB models.

Can the Raspberry Pi 500+ be overclocked?

Yes, but I could only manage 2.95GHz. I say “only” because for the Pi 500, I managed 3GHz! This time, the overclock took a little more work, requiring me to tweak the voltage delta to give the CPU a little more juice. But I got there.

CPU Overclocked to 2.95GHz Temperature Comparison in Celsius

The overclock saw the Raspberry Pi 500+ idle at 38.9C, and then under stress, this went up to 67C. This was still way under the thermal throttle trigger point of 82C. Power consumption at idle was still 2.64 Watts, and under stress, this jumped to 9.65W.

In fact, my log showed 0x50000, which refers to under-voltage, and this was using the official Raspberry Pi 27W power supply. If you plan to overclock, grab the official 45W power supply or source a compatible GaN charger.

Overclocked to 2.95GHz Power consumption in Watts

I tested using the included 256GB NVMe SSD, which, according to lshw, is a Samsung PM991a PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD. Performance was to be expected; we get extra performance when compared to the official Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT on a Raspberry Pi 5.

Raspberry Pi 500+ NVMe Performance at PCIe Gen 3 in MB/s

An additional 56MB/s when reading the contents of the SSD to /dev/null means that, in general use, we should see a slight performance improvement, but don’t expect high-performance NVMe. The same is true for write speeds. We get an extra 54.95 MB/s of throughput when writing data to the drive, as per the Raspberry Pi diagnostics tool. Again, not super speedy, but for an SBC (Single Board Computer), we will take every extra we can get.

For all of you eager to know how fast the Raspberry Pi 500+ boots, well, the results are a little disappointing because booting from NVMe took 22.62 seconds, but a Raspberry Pi 500, booting from an A2/SDR104 compatible micro SD card, took just 16.36 seconds. Both Pis are running the latest firmware and bootloader. I also set the Pi 500+ to boot from NVMe first. But the Pi 500’s micro SD card boot won this race!

The Pi 500+ also has a micro SD card slot, compatible with SDR104 and all previous classes of micro SD cards. In fact, it is the same unit as on the Raspberry Pi 500, but the key selling point of the Pi 500+ is NVMe storage. You could feasibly remove the NVMe SSD and replace it with an AI processing unit, booting the OS from micro SD instead. Obviously, without a dedicated camera interface, you will need to get creative and use a USB camera or video source, but it can be done.

Raspberry Pi 500+ versus 500 boot times in seconds

So, how well does the micro SD card perform on the Raspberry Pi 500+? Well, it came last in my tests at 26.55 seconds, and the culprit is the new bootloader splash screen, which, despite being set to boot from micro SD, hung around far too long. In the grand scheme of things, 26 seconds is no time at all, but we have to test!

Raspberry Pi 500+ versus 500 micro SD performance

I also tested micro SD read and write using my usual tests. Reading the contents of the micro SD card to /dev/null using dd, and using the built-in Raspberry Pi diagnostics test for sequential write speeds. The results are close enough to call it even. So the earlier boot speed difference is clearly down to the bootloader screen.

GPIO access on the Raspberry Pi 500+

The Pi 500+ has the same GPIO as has been standard on all models of Raspberry Pi since the B+ back in 2014. But for the 00 series units, the GPIO is horizontal, and that means to use a HAT, or for a clearer view of the GPIO, you will need a right-angled breakout board. There are boards such as Pimoroni’s Flat HAT Hacker, which are cheap and easy to use. If you want to use the GPIO in a project, you will need a breakout. However, in truth, the 00 series of Raspberry Pi is not really for hardware hackers. If you want to build a project around a Pi, go for the “typical” Raspberry Pi form factor found in the Pi 4 / 5.

I did a test with my own Flat HAT Hacker board, and I can confirm that you can use the GPIO quite easily for basic electronics. If you want to use a HAT, then it may or may not work, as with the introduction of the Raspberry Pi 5, there were changes to how the GPIO is accessed. Now it is accessed via the RP1 “Southbridge” chip instead of the older means of directly accessing it via the CPU and some hacky (but ultimately working) code modules.

I then broke out a Pimoroni Explorer HAT Pro, the same board that I used to teach robotics with at Picademy. This still doesn’t work with the Raspberry Pi 5 series of boards, well, unless you go through multiple hoops and spend an afternoon trying to install it. This aspect of the Raspberry Pi experience still makes me sad, and I long for the days when I could just buy a HAT, drop it on my Pi, and start hacking.

Use Cases for the Raspberry Pi 500+

The Raspberry Pi 500+ is basically the same as the Pi 500 but with more RAM and NVMe storage, which is great, but it comes at a cost. Who would use the Pi 500+? I can see it being a viable home PC for those that don’t need an ultra-powerful PC, or as a child’s first PC. In business, it could be a viable thin client. For educational purposes, it would make a suitable classroom PC.

I was eager to compare the price of a similar Raspberry Pi 5 16GB, the new M.2 compact HAT and the same 256GB NVMe SSD, so I went over to Adafruit and priced it all up.

Before shipping and taxes, the cost came to $229, and we still have a keyboard to purchase. Interestingly, a 256GB NVMe SSD is $20 more expensive than the 512GB version, so save $20, get double the storage and use that $20 to buy a keyboard!
So what does this prove? Well, it shows that in both cases, going the official Raspberry Pi route will cost largely the same, but with the Pi 500+ we have it all contained in a gorgeous looking keyboard. What we lose in function (camera and display access, awkward GPIO) we gain in the form of a singular unit with a great keyboard. But, the Raspberry Pi 500+, like the 500 and 400 before it, is not a platform for electronics / robotics tinkerers. For those enthusiasts, you will need the original form factor Raspberry Pi.

For those of us that grew up during the home computer boom of the 1970s and 1980s, of which I am one, the form factor is nostalgic, and I can see some enthusiasts building their own home computer emulation systems using the Pi 500+, but, they could also do that with the $90 Raspberry Pi 500, or even the older Raspberry Pi 400. A few years ago, I managed to build a competent Commodore Amiga 1200 using my Raspberry Pi 400.

Bottom Line

At $200, the Raspberry Pi 500+ is a considered purchase, which may lead some to consider buying a cheap laptop instead. You could argue that you get a computer and an electronics education platform in one package, but a cheap laptop or an Intel N100 / N150 mini PC and a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W will offer the same experience for a very similar price.

I really like the Pi 500+, the keyboard is great and it is the pinnacle of the Raspberry Pi 5 series, but the price is hard to swallow as the Raspberry Pi moves from being a cheap single board computer, into an Arm-based desktop computer.

Software engineer Makerinator has shared the details of a project which he light heartedly claims “saved my marriage.” The Decisioninator was designed and produced to “optimize and automate” navigating the often tricky question ‘What do you want for dinner tonight?’ However, as with any good project, its design meant that it could be expanded to cover similarly tricky decisions covering the allocation of chores, date night venues, and movie night video stream choices.

Makerinator, says that his personal philosophy as a software engineer means that spending 40 hours to optimize a task and shave 3ms off is always “worth it.” And it is with this spirit that the creation of the Decisioninator began.

Decisioninator technology

Having learned lessons from a prior abandoned Decisioninator project, Makerinator drafted a new and improved plan based on Raspberry Pi 4. The Pi runs a lite version of Raspberry Pi OS, and the Flame Engine, built on top of Flutter UI would be used with Flutter’s reactive UI framework apps to run the application.

Makerinator mentions the use of the Flame Engine for this project. This is a modular Flutter game engine for 2D development. It seemed perfect for the linear but Wheel of Fortune style Decisioninator UI, and it made animation and collision detection easy, says the project maker.

To power the Pi, Makerinator used a 12V to 5V converter. Another detail shared was the use of the Pi’s GPIO to get input from the two user buttons that form the Decisioninator’s controls.

Woodwork challenges

Makerinator is the first to admit he isn’t a time served woodworking craftsman. However, he still managed to laser cut all the required ply sheeting and then construct a serviceable mini-arcade style kiosk to house the Decisioninator. Any woodworking sins were covered up by liberal sanding, spray-painting, and printed sublimated wraps.

Extra epoxy was used here and there, and a rotary tool used on the case and connector was described as “basically a get out of jail free card for my poor planning.”

In the end, everything looked cool in a retro-arcade way. To me, the finished machine looks like a shrunken 80s video game cabinet, with influences of Tempest, or Tron.

Using the Decisioninator

Prompted by the recent launch of the Alien: Earth series on FX/Hulu, electronics hobbyist Rob Smith has built a ‘fully working M314 Motion Tracker’. This project has been a long time on the drawing board, 10 years apparently, but Smith has now committed to this Raspberry Pi-powered device, which he claims can “actually track motion up to about 15 meters.” Of course, you won’t know what is moving, just like in the movies, so make sure to have your M41A pulse rifle at the ready.

Smith, host of the RobSmithDev YouTube channel, laments in his video how some prior M314 Motion Tracker builds looked perfect for the part, but usually only show a video clip on the tracker screen. We don’t know what prior works Smith is talking about, but perhaps this kind of project from Adam Savage (MythBusters) is what he means. However, Smith’s device has actual motion tracking shown on the display, can see through walls, and even has authentic synthesized sounds…

Radar modules: In space, no one can hear you mod

What seems to have been the main sticking point of this project, which led to it being delayed so long (other than lack of time), was the availability of a suitable radar sensor. Smith talked us through his first revelation of finding the RCWL-0516 Arduino Radar Module, which uses a 3.18 GHz radio signal and enables the analysis of reflections. It was a step-up for this project compared to infrared alternatives with their inherent limits.

However, this component choice was switched from the parts list several times before the gadget you see demonstrated on the video took its final form. Smith moved from the RCWL-0516 to the HFS-DC06H, to the HLK –LD2410, then the HLK –LD2420, before finally settling on the ‘cutting-edge’ new DreamHAT+ Radar.

By luck, information about this new radar module arrived in Smith’s inbox. This device, though not cheap, boasted of 60 GHz mm-wave radar and a 15m range. Marketing materials showed the DreamHAT+ Radar was adept at motion sensing. As you can see in the video and product links, the DreamHAT+ Radar is built with the Raspberry Pi (model 4 or 5) in mind.

Though the new radar module seems to be the best so far, Smith noted that, in testing, the range seemed to be half what was quoted. Moreover, it only detected one movement at a time – what if there were multiple aliens?

Next up, we hear about the other hardware picked to complement the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B and DreamHAT+ Radar, already selected. Some other key components, like the accelerometer and TFT screen, are also linked in the video description.

Looks and sounds a lot like the original tension-stoking movie prop

In the latter half of this video, which is part one of a two-part series, Smith shows that he has successfully achieved a ‘realistic’ looking radar display. He’s even softened the arced-grid-line UI to make it look more like a CRT output.

Pleasingly, a similar level of attention to detail was shown in the sound design. The audio feedback from the M314 Motion Tracker plays a large part in the building of tension in the movie(s), and the entirely synthesized variable pitch sound Smith has implemented seems to hit the spot.

Raspberry Pi has today announced the release of a smaller version of the recently released Raspberry Pi Touch 2 Display. Shrinking from a 7-inch to 5-inch display, the new screen has the same resolution as its predecessor, 720 x 1280 (portrait) but it comes in at only $40, unlike the $60 price tag for the larger model.

The new screen is essentially the same as the 7 inch model, a 24-bit RGB LCD TFT with an anti-glare coating, just smaller and with a slightly narrower viewing angle. Your choice of Raspberry Pi (but not the Raspberry Pi Zero or Pico) attaches to the rear of the display using standoffs and a flat flex display cable connects the unit to the DSI (Display) port on the Raspberry Pi. Power comes directly from the GPIO, and as the screen uses 5V, I fear that Raspberry Pi has missed the opportunity to provide a USB cable instead of blocking access to the GPIO. If you wanted to use a HAT with the Raspberry Pi, this would be an issue that one would have to work around.

As the name suggests, this is a multi-touch display, supporting five-finger touch input and when I tested the seven inch model, Raspberry Pi OS just works with these screens. That is something that one would expect, given that the screen and the software both come from Raspberry Pi LTD.

The bezel around the edge of the display is thin, a little too thin for my liking, but the display is designed to sit recessed into a holder, and not left in the open. Think museum display screens, point-of-sale, embedded home automation control type projects where the touch screen is buried in a wall or wrapped in a custom designed chassis.

If you've dreamt of making your own Star Trek inspired touch input, or simply want a small screen for your Pi, the Touch Display 2 is a reliable and simple means to do this. The new 5-inch screen will be available via Raspberry Pi resellers for $40, the larger 7-inch model is still available for $60.

Update 28 July 2025 07:38 PT

I found a 4K screen with which I could test the ArgonOne Up's external monitor support.
I have two ArgonOne Up's for review. A UK and US model. The only difference is the keyboard. On the UK model I was not able to output at 4K. After speaking to Argon40 I was advised to reseat the CM5, and ensure equal torque on the four screws that secure it to the mainboard. I did so, and repeated the test. I was still unable to get 4K from the external HDMI connection. The best I could achieve with the UK unit was 1024 x 768.
The US unit connected to the 4K screen and I was instantly able to use it at its native 4K resolution.

I've advised Argon40 of these results and the UK unit will be going back for an in-depth series of tests. I shall update this review with further information once I have it.

Updated Review

Argon40 is no stranger to the Raspberry Pi community or Tom’s Hardware. Its most recent foray was the Argon One V5 case, a cooling and storage setup for the Raspberry Pi 5. Let's cut to the chase, Argon40 makes great cases that I have long compared to sci-fi props (they scream The Expanse), but for its latest product, the ArgonOne Up, Argon40 has eschewed the sci-fi and grounded a product in the here and now, and it is something that many have longed for: A Raspberry Pi laptop.

The ArgonOne Up doesn’t use any old Raspberry Pi; it uses the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5), and that means we have a laptop that we can easily upgrade by removing the CM5 and swapping in a new one. Perhaps someday, even a CM6 will work. We also have an M.2 slot for PCIe-based storage or an AI accelerator. Or if you are Jeff Geerling, a PCIe breakout for a GPU.

I’ve been given access to a pre-production unit, on which this review is based. There are some areas where my unit will differ from others. The finish may be a little different, and the shipping software should be more finalized. I’ll point things out as I go through the review.

From August 8, units will first be available via crowdfunding, starting at $300 for a super early bird base unit that does not include a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5, M.2 storage, or power supply. The $420 Core unit, with an 8GB CM5 and 256GB NVMe SSD, along with a GPIO breakout, is where the smart money is spent, but be quick as once the early bird perks are gone, the price goes up to $450. Backers should receive their units October - November 2025. All prices exclude shipping and taxes.

It would be remiss of me not to remind you that backing any crowdfunding project is not like purchasing a retail product. You are putting your money into a project because you believe in its success, not purchasing a retail product.

With that out of the way, let's take the ArgonOne Up for a testdrive.

The look and feel of the ArgonOne Up

The ArgonOne Up feels great. The cool metallic slate gray finish is fingerprint resistant, and the thin chassis feels good in the hand. The keyboard is ok, using chiclet keys that work well for those who are used to working on a laptop. Personally I prefer a mechanical keyboard, or the keyboard on my Lenovo X220, but the ArgonOne Up’s keyboard is perfectly serviceable. It is also nice to know that there will be different keyboard layouts. Argon40 shipped me a UK keyboard layout. I have also received a second unit, this time with a US layout. The keyboard features the Raspberry Pi logo on the Windows / Super key. A nice touch that signifies the kit at the heart of it. One thing to note in my pre-production unit is that the keyboard is always illuminated, which will be addressed in production models.The trackpad is serviceable, and feels responsive for most tasks. You can tap or click the trackpad for mouse clicks.

Ports are on the left and right hand side of the laptop. On the right we have a Kensington lock point, two USB 3 type A ports, microSD, 3.5mm headphone jack. The microSD slot is an interesting feature. Yes we can use it for storage, but we can also boot a CM5 without eMMC storage (Compute Module 5L, CM5L) from microSD.

On the left side we have a USB type C port for charging, full-size HDMI port and two USB type C ports which are used for an external GPIO breakout box (I’ll get to that later), and they can also be used for USB 2 speed connections via USB Type C.
Just above the screen is a USB webcam with a privacy window. Being a USB webcam, it cannot be used with Picamera2, rpicam-apps or other applications designed for the official Raspberry Pi Camera. I’m ok with this. The webcam provides a good image, and it can be used for video calls and AI applications.

Screen and Audio performance

The 14 inch LCD screen has a matte finish and runs at a resolution of 1920 x 1200 (a 16:10 ratio) and I’ll be honest, it looks pretty good. It's not one of the best monitors, but it is not one of the worst. At half brightness the display is legible and perfectly functional for most tasks, but in order to get the best you’ll need to up the brightness to 80-90% and take a hit on battery life. During my tests I set the screen to 50%, but it seems that powering off the unit, then powering back on the next day, the screen defaulted back to 100%. Annoying but not a deal breaker.

Audio is ok at best. I won’t be sitting down to watch The Prodigy’s Glastonbury 2025 set, but for general YouTube videos, music while I work, I can work with this audio output. The 3.5mm output and Bluetooth connectivity mitigate the audio output of the ArgonOne Up so I wouldn’t worry about it.

The ArgonOne Up has an HDMI port and that means we can use dual screens with our Raspberry Pi laptop.Yes we can be productivity road warriors with some of the best portable monitors. The fullsize HDMI port is most welcome, and I connected the official Raspberry Pi 1080P Monitor. Raspberry Pi OS saw it, and after a few tweaks, it was set up to double my productivity or just watch YouTube videos while I should be working. The CM4 and CM5 are capable of outputting to dual 4K displays, and I tested both of my review units with a 4k display and the same HDMI cable. The UK unit would not go above 1024 x 768. The U.S. unit worked out of the box. I have passed on these results to Argon40 and the UK unit will be going back for in-depth testing.

Webcam Performance

The built-in 2MP 1080P USB webcam does a good enough job for video calls etc. It isn’t flawless, but it gets the job done. Because it is a USB webcam, and not a Raspberry Pi official camera, you cannot use the official Raspberry Pi camera software for Bash or Python, but it can be used in AI object identification projects. Using webcamtests.com I was able to get a good image with some dips to the FPS if I got animated. Just sitting there and talking to the camera, all was good.

Can I swap the CM5 for another variant?

Yes! You’ve got a user upgradable laptop, all you need to do is swap the CM5 for a different model. Heck, if Raspberry Pi retains the two 100-pin high density connectors introduced for the CM4, the CM6 may be a viable upgrade path in the future. The Compute Module is secured in place with four machine screws, and the friction from the two 100-pin high density connectors.
You’ll need to remember that your CM5 will need Wi-Fi, and that the CM5 Lite is the most viable option. Why? The CM5 Lite does not come with any onboard eMMC storage. The CM5 comes with eMMC and this prevents the use of microSD storage. So if you want to use microSD cards with your ArgonOne Up, buy the CM5 Lite.

Will Compute Modules from other Raspberry Pi alternatives work? Possibly, but that is a gamble and not something that I am able to test.

Using the GPIO

For me, what elevates the Raspberry Pi above other single board computers (SBC) is the GPIO. Essentially, the GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) is a connection between the real world and the brain of the Raspberry Pi. The GPIO has been used to build thousands of projects since the Raspberry Pi was released, and the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 has the same GPIO connections as all Raspberry Pi released in the last decade, but how do we access it on the ArgonOne Up?

We need a GPIO attachment, which connects to two USB Type C ports on the left hand side. Yes, these two USB Type C ports have a dual function. Normally used as USB 2 Type C ports, they also connect the Compute Module 5 to an external GPIO breakout, which is pin compatible with the Raspberry Pi 5 and most of the previous Raspberry Pi. I plugged in the GPIO and connected up my test circuit, first to the 3V pin and GND for my LED. Why? To make sure that the LED lit up. It didn’t, so I swapped the polarity and it still didn’t light up. I read the email from Argon40, and realized that the 3V and 5V pins are turned off, an added safety feature. So I turned them on via the large button, and after some more polarity switching, I had an LED lit up. Buoyed by that, I disconnected from the 3V pin, and connected to GPIO 17. A few lines of Python later and I had a blinking LED.

Cool, so can we use the best Raspberry Pi HATs and add-ons? Well, possibly. The Raspberry Pi 5 introduced the RP1 chip, responsible for interfacing with the GPIO. In previous Raspberry Pi models, we crudely told the GPIO what to do and while it worked, it was never the proper way to do it. The RP1 introduced a better approach, but it broke compatibility with older Raspberry Pi HATs. There has been work to get your favorite HATs working with the Raspberry Pi 5 and CM5’s RP1, but your mileage may vary.
I did test a Pimoroni Blinkt, an APA102 RGB breakout board and it initially didn’t work. After much Googling and testing I managed to get a script to run using rpi-lgpio. This module is a “bridge” between the older rpi-gpio Python library, and the new way to interact with the GPIO. It isn’t foolproof, but it covers the basics quite well.

The bottom line for the GPIO is that the ArgonOne Up breaks the connections out beautifully, and it is absolutely possible to get GPIO work done. The friction encountered when using the GPIO is squarely down to the underlying OS and the choices made for it.

NVMe Performance

Included in my review unit is a 256GB Argon DataTerm PCIe Gen 3x4 NVMe SSD, and after setting the drive to use PCIe Gen x3 speeds I ran a benchmark using dd to write the contents of the drive to /dev/null. I was not disappointed. I saw 930MB/s transfer, and while you may laugh at this trivial performance, we must remember that this is, in essence, a Raspberry Pi 5 and not a high performance laptop. The bandwidth afforded by NVMe, coupled with the low resource Raspberry Pi OS and fast (for Arm) CPU makes everything feel snappy.

You can use your favorite M.2 2242, 2260 or 2280 NVMe drive inside the ArgonOne Up, but make sure you take the drive’s heatsink off, otherwise it will not fit.

USB Performance

There are a myriad of USB ports around the chassis, some are USB 3, others are USB 2. In my tests, copying a 5.9GB Ubuntu ISO from a USB 3 flash drive to the home directory of the main drive, the USB 3 ports provided 167.9MB/s transfer, versus the USB 2 ports (one USB A port on the right, and the two USB Type C ports on the left) providing 35.6MB/s.

The USB Type C charging port does not provide any USB data transfer capabilities.

Charging the ArgonOne Up

I drained the laptop’s battery to 0%, effectively until the screen went off. Luckily the laptop’s 4870mAh battery has a protection circuit so no harm will come to the cells — unlike some very early Pi laptops that I tested nearly a decade ago. I then connected the official Raspberry Pi charger and proceeded to charge the ArgonOne Up. To charge the ArgonOne Up, you will need a 45W USB Type C charger. There is a Raspberry Pi official 45W charger, and it looks identical to the 27W, which is where I made a mistake. Initially I was puzzled as to why I couldn’t charge and use the ArgonOne Up. It turns out that 27W is not enough for both. So I swapped to a 45W charger and all was good. Don’t make the mistake that I made, read the label!

My YouTube battery test consists of playing the LoFi Girl music stream with the screen brightness and volume set to 50%. I saw an impressive 5 hours and 59 minutes of continuous use. I’m pretty happy with that. Sure there are laptops out there with much more impressive longevity, but they aren’t packing a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5.

My Stress test consisted of running s-tui and stressing all of the CPU cores. I started with a full charge, and the test stopped with the unit turning itself off. I’ll admit, I was impressed with the stress test lasting 4 hours and 29 minutes. I expected it to burn through the battery in two hours, max!

Thermal Performance

The Compute Module 5 touches a heatsink “hatch” that forms part of the underside of the ArgonOne Up’s lower chassis. I like this feature a lot, chiefly because we have direct access to the CM5 and NVMe which are upgradable parts. But also because the heatsink isn’t the entire underside of the case, which can prove difficult to remove when required. I do have one issue with the heatsink, and this may sound obvious. It gets hot. The CM5 causes a hotspot on the heatsink, and when running a multi-hour stress test, that spot hit 47.6C! The rest of the unit was 10C cooler. It was hot enough to make me go “oooh that’s a bit hot”, but prolonged contact caused discomfort rather than pain. The takeaway from this is if you are doing highly complex / stressful tasks, do them on a desk and not your lap.

The ArgonOne Up has both passive (heatsink) and active (fan) cooling. On the underside of the unit I can see an air intake for a blower fan which blows cool air over the CM5 itself, which is also cooled by the heatsink. Where the warm air exhausts to is not immediately obvious. The exhaust vents are located on the back edge, just under the screen. You’ve got to really look for them, but they are there.

So how well does the ArgonOne Up cool our CM5? It turns out, it does a great job! Let’s dig into the raw data.

At stock speed (2.4GHz) the CPU runs at 38.9C. Putting the unit under stress, all CPU cores running at 100%, the CPU hit a high of 56.5C. Way under the 85C trigger point where thermal throttling occurs.

This got me thinking about overclocking the CM5 to see how the ArgonOne Up would handle the extra heat. Initially I went to 3GHz, but the silicon gods were not with me and so I had to reduce the overclock to 2.8GHz which is still 400MHz more than stock. The idle temperature when overclocked was 36.2C, lower than idle. Odd but not unheard of. Soldiering on, I tested the temperature under stress, and it hit a high of 58.7C, just a bit higher than stock, and still way under the thermal throttle point. It is fair to say that the ArgonOne Up can stand up to the heat!

Raspberry Pi OS is not made for laptops

Raspberry Pi OS, formerly Raspbian, is targeted at all models of Raspberry Pi and aims to be a general purpose operating system. It doesn’t claim to be the best for building servers, desktop PCs, nor laptops. Argon40 has mitigated this by including ArgonOne Up, a Python / Bash based script that monitors the system and provides basic battery, temperature and performance stats. It is a useful addition but it falls short of a seamless experience. I’d love to see better laptop integration in Raspberry Pi OS, but if Raspberry Pi LTD isn't making its own laptop, why would it put the work in? Argon40’s scripts are useful and do the job, perhaps we will see better integration once production units make it out into the wild.

I also tried Ubuntu 25.04 on the ArgonOne Up and found it to be a rather pleasant experience. It runs well on the hardware and everything felt great, but there was a problem. No battery stats. Argon40 supplied an install script, and it worked with no errors. A quick reboot and I was left looking for the battery indicator. Nothing. I can open a terminal and get the battery stats via argon-config, but that is not the best experience. I hope that this feedback will help Argon40 ensure the software side of things is ready for retail.

The short history of Raspberry Pi laptops

This isn’t the first Raspberry Pi laptop. That honor goes to Pi-Top which ran a crowdfunding campaign over a decade ago, generating £142,901 ($192,046) for the original model Raspberry Pi B+. This laptop chassis was big and voluminous inside, you dropped a full-size Pi inside, connecting it to a power board, a custom GPIO breakout and a Li-Ion battery. The keys were mushy, the trackpad annoying and the screen was meh at best. Pi-Top had another go at Pi laptops, with a sleeker revision that was aimed at the Raspberry Pi 3. Sadly it came out >just< before the Raspberry Pi 4 was announced, and the port revisions (port placements and swapping micro USB for USB C) meant that Pi-Top’s new revision was “old hat” as users moved over to the new Pi.

There is a key difference between the Pi-Top and Argon40 laptops, the use of a Compute Module. For the uninitiated, the Compute Module (abbreviated to CM) is the same as the Raspberry Pi model that it is based on, but shrunk down so that it can be designed and integrated into your own custom PCBs. That is what Argon40 has done, designing a custom PCB that sits inside the laptop, along with an M.2 PCIe breakout for use with NVMe SSD, or even an AI accelerator card.

But, before Pi-Top there was another Raspberry Pi laptop. Some clever community members discovered that the Motorola Atrix Lapdock, a “laptop” that connected to a Motorola Atrix smartphone to create an Android laptop, could be hacked to work with the Raspberry Pi. Using a myriad of cables and adapters we made it work, and we truly had a portable Raspberry Pi. The idea was even adopted by Raspberry Pi for its teacher training course, Picademy. I can confidently say this because for three years I was one of the trainers and I remember the students creating excellent projects.

Alternatives?

The Elecrow CrowView Note is a viable option, but it's not a self-contained package like the ArgonOne Up. your Raspberry Pi (or Nvidia Jetson) rides on a sidecar that breaks out the connections. It is a great idea, and it could be just the thing for those that want to use a Raspberry Pi on the go. but it isn’t a laptop, more of a convergence of functionality in a neat package. Battery, screen, keyboard and trackpad all in one package, with the Pi hanging off the side.

Bottom Line

The promise of a Raspberry Pi laptop has been fulfilled, and the ArgonOne Up is exactly what I have been looking for ever since I hacked together my own Pi laptop with a Motorola Atrix Lapdock back in 2014. The hardest pill to swallow is the $350 price tag. But the ArgonOne Up is a quality piece of kit, and you truly get what you pay for. Because the Argon One Up uses the Compute Module, it means that we can upgrade this laptop as our needs change. I’m fairly certain that Raspberry Pi will use the same interface for the CM6.

The GPIO interface is cleverly done and most welcome. Using two USB Type C connections is completely left field. I expected a 40-pin GPIO breakout on the side of the chassis, not a standalone unit. I like the USB Type C approach, and I can see myself doing more GPIO work using this novel interface.

So the bottom line? If you’ve dreamt of a Raspberry Pi laptop, now is the time to wake up and open your wallet.

Retro gaming's resurgence in recent years has led to some of the coolest devices that have made the genre accessible to many. From physical handhelds to software emulators, games from the past feel more in tune with the present than ever before. The latest in the series of these exciting releases is an ultra-portable handheld made by Grant Sinclair, one that just happens to be the exact size of a retail gift card!

For those unaware, Grant Sinclair is the nephew of Sir Clive Sinclair—inventor of the iconic British computer, ZX Spectrum—that democratized computing and transformed a whole generation into gamers, coders, engineers and more. The irony of a pioneer's nephew still clinging to his uncle's past might be too on the nose, so let's just stick to the product at hand.

GamerCard®, as it's called, is a retro gaming handheld powered by a Raspberry Pi and features a beautiful 4" IPS screen with a pixel density of 254 PPI. This display is accompanied by two circular pads below (containing eight tactile snap-dome buttons) that act as the controls for the device. It also comes preinstalled with various high-energy arcade games out of the box to offer a truly "grab-and-go" experience.

The console comes with a custom home launcher featuring big and clear icons for not only games, but also emulators like Recalbox, RetroPie and Lakka. Speaking of which, GamerCard can easily play all PICO-8 titles while also supporting coding development in MicroPython, C, C++, BASIC, and more.

To make the deal even more enticing, two indie games—Bloo Kid 2 and AstroBlaze DX—that were previously exclusive to the Nintendo Switch have been ported over to the GamerCard with proper optimizations for the square aspect ratio of its display. Bloo Kid 2 is an action-platformer while AstroBlaze DX is a space shooter, respectively, and both of them are adorned in the pixel-art style that's perfect for a device like this.

The GamerCard is incredibly thin at only 6.5 mm and weighs 100 grams. It's more pocketable than most handhelds and the promotional materials show it hanging on cash counters, like it's an actual gift card. The radical dimensions of the device are a result of using stacked PCBs and ditching any traditional housing or case. You hold exactly what you play.

Putting the games aside, the GamerCard is also a fully-fledged PC because it's based on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor. It has 128GB of internal storage alongside a 1600mAh battery. Under the hood, there's a built-in Qwiic connector which allows the device to interface with sensors, LCDs, relays and more without needing to crack it open.

All this is paired with a USB-C and HDMI port on the side that will further the GamerCard toward PC territory, enabling you to connect a keyboard and mouse to transform it into a normal desktop computer. However, it would be one expensive ass Raspberry Pi at that.

The GamerCard costs £125 which comes out to roughly $170 freedom bucks. To put that into perspective, the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro is on sale for $149 right now, or you could get any one of the seemingly unending Anbernic devices that are more performant while staying under $100. If you fancy something more unique, then clamshell or flip handhelds are also starting to make the rounds, like the Miyoo Flip or the RG34XXSP, both of which are one-third the price of the GamerCard.

It may sound like I'm trying to ruin Sinclair's parade but you've to ask, "at what point does ingenuity exceed practicality?" The device is almost comically expensive for what it offers and that includes the sheer novelty of its physicality. Unless you absolutely love retro gaming, or gift cards for some reason, GamerCard isn't exactly good value. You'd need a special set of rose-tinted glasses to conform to this nostalgia, but we won't deny the creativity on display here.

Linux runs on hardware as diverse as the Raspberry Pi and powerful supercomputers, making it a flexible choice of operating system. Linux can be used via a graphical user interface similar to Windows or macOS. Or it can be used via a powerful terminal / command line.

The command line interface provides you with a lot more control over the computer than you can get using the GUI. Many important tasks are easier, quicker or only possible via commands. That's why, below we've listed the most important commands for navigating the file system, installing software, editing files and monitoring performance.

Opening a Terminal

To open a terminal from the desktop, you can either click on the Terminal icon found in the applications menu or hit CTRL+ ALT + T. Once open, you will see a black screen appear with a flashing prompt.

les@ThinkpadX390:~ $

This prompt is telling us that we are logged in as a user called "les" and that our machine is called ThinkpadX390 (this is the hostname). The $ refers to our permissions, in this case that we are logged on as a user with no special privileges, and that we have permission to edit any file or folder in our home directory, which in this case is /home/les/.

In our home directory we can store our work, projects, pictures etc. But we cannot harm the underlying filesystem as we do not have permission to do so. To make system wide changes we either need to be a user called “root” which has similar powers to the administrator on Windows, or we need to use sudo (see below) to temporarily give us extra permissions.

So let's start our adventure by testing out a few Linux commands and learn how to use the terminal

sudo - Super User Do

Many forms of Linux do not, by default or design, give you the admin privileges you need to perform some core tasks like installing software. This is done to make sure that the operating system is protected. However, by prefacing any command with the word "sudo," you can have admin rights for that execution. To use "sudo," you will have to be in the "sudoers" permission group, but the good news is that many Linux distros already put the main user in this group.

We can check if our user is in the sudoers group by running this command. Just swap for your username

groups 

This shows that my user, les, is in the sudoers group.

To use sudo to upgrade your operating system, you'd type:

sudo apt upgrade

Navigating the Linux file system

Moving around the filesystem is something we take for granted in a desktop environment. But with the terminal we can do everything, and often with greater speed and precision. We just need to know the correct commands. If you don't have permission to perform any of these actions on a particular file or directory, prefacing the command with sudo will probably let you, but think before doing so. There is no undo button.

We've got a full guide on the Linux file system, showing you what each directory is for.

pwd - Print working directory

This command will show the full path to the directory we are in, for example /home/les. It is a useful command to clearly show where we are in the filesystem. Typically our location forms part of the prompt, but with pwd we get a clearer indication of our location.

pwd

ls - List directory content

This command is used to list the contents of a directory. You may already be familiar with dir used in Windows and MS DOS.

You can use the command to list files in your current working directory.

ls

We can also list the files in another directory, such as /var/log:

ls /var/log

See hidden files and directories, in a long list with extra details.

ls -lha

List all files of a certain type, for example .py Python files.

ls *py

cd - Change directory

Using cd, change directory we can move around the filesystem. For example to move from our home directory to Downloads

cd Downloads

Move to a directory in another part of the filesystem, for example /var/log.

cd /var/log

Go back to the previous directory that we were in.

cd -

Go back to our home directory.

cd ~

Working with files

Sometimes we need to take a peek inside a file, look for a specific command, error or bug and with these commands we can do just that all from the terminal.

cat - Print files to the terminal

With cat we can print the contents of a file to the terminal, for example a Python file.

cat test.py

Print contents of the file to the terminal with line numbers. Useful when debugging a file, and you need to tell a colleague exactly where to find the issue.

cat -n test.py

less - Print files to the terminal

The less command will print the contents of a file in sections and we can scroll through the file using the arrow keys, Page Up / Down and Home / End.

less /var/log/syslog

grep - Looking inside a file

To search inside a file for a specific word / section of text. Typically used with log files when looking for issues. In this example we use lscpu to print the details of the CPU which is passed via a pipe | to grep which we instruct to look for “MHz”.

lscpu | grep “MHz”

Edit a file

For when you quickly need to edit a config file, Python code or just write a to do list. Yes, there are many different text editors for the terminal, nano, Vi, Vim etc. But for this how to, we will stick with nano.

nano

Nano is the easiest command-line editor for beginners.

Create a new file, for example newfile.txt.

If the file doesn't exist, the command will create it. If it exists, it will open the file.

nano newfile.txt

Edit an existing file, for example test.py.

nano test.py

Inside nano we navigate using the arrow keys and it works just like a regular text editor.

To save your work press CTRL + O, then confirm the filename. Finally, press Enter

To exit nano, press CTRL + X.

System Resources & Management

Managing our operating system and checking system resources is standard practice for system administrators. Here we show a few commands that will show you key details at a glance.

htop - Display system processes

Shows the current CPU load, RAM usage and running system processes. Useful for closing non responsive applications and seeing which processes are bottlenecking your system.

htop

free - Show amount of free and used RAM

Free will tell us how much RAM is in use, and what is free for applications. Using the -m option we can set the values in Megabytes. By default, free will show the values in KB.

free -m

dmesg - Monitor kernel events

The kernel is the core of the operating system and with dmesg we can see what events are happening behind the scenes. Useful for debugging issues with devices. You will need to run the command using sudo, otherwise you will not have access to all of the data.

sudo dmesg

File Management

Moving, deleting, copying and creating new files and directories are some of the most basic actions that we need to do. All of this, and much more is possible via the terminal.

mv - Move / rename a file

This command offers two functions. We can move a file from one location to another. For example here we move test.py to the Documents directory.

mv test.py Documents/

The command can also be used to rename a file or directory. Here we rename test.py to test2.py.

mv test.py test2.py

rm - Delete a file

With this command we can delete files and directories. In this example we delete the file test.py.

rm test.py

cp - Copy a file

To copy a file, for example test.py to our Documents directory.

cp test.py Documents/

To copy a directory, for example /home/pi/test2 to /home/pi/Documents/ we need to use the -r option to copy everything across.

cp -r test2/ Documents/

mkdir - Create a directory

Create a new directory to store work. For example let's create a directory called Work in our home directory.

mkdir Work

Software Installation

Just like any computer we need to make sure that our software is up to date and on our Linux machine the tool to do just that is called apt.

apt - Install and manage software on Debian and Ubuntu based systems

Apt, the Advanced Packaging Tool. The app store of Debian and Ubuntu flavors of Linux. To use apt we will need to use sudo as it will make changes to the operating system.

First we update the list of installable software.

sudo apt update

Then we can install a specific application, for example to install vlc.

sudo apt install vlc

Or we can upgrade all of the software on our system. Note that for this command we pass the -y option to automatically agree to install every package. But this is optional and if you prefer, you can omit the -y and be prompted for confirmation.

sudo apt upgrade -y

Network Connectivity & Internet

Checking that your Linux machine is connected to the Internet is a basic yet crucial task. It enables us to debug our servers, watch YouTube videos, and get work done.

ping - Check that we are connected

The ping command is used to test that our Linux machine is connected to the Internet / home network.

We can send a ping to a website.

ping google.com

Or to an IP address such as Google’s DNS server.

ping 8.8.8.8

Or for internal connectivity checks we can send a ping to devices on our home network. This example assumes that our IP range is 192.168.1.114 but your range may be different.

ping 192.168.1.114

hostname - Get the IP address of your Linux device

The easiest way to find the IP address of our Linux machine is using hostname with the -I (uppercase i) which will show all IP addresses (Wi-Fi and Ethernet)

hostname -I

Curl - Transfer data over a network

With this command we can transfer a file to and from our Linux machine. For example if we wanted to download an image from a website we would use curl along with the -o option to create a file named image.jpg.

Note, curl may not be installed on your system, so you may need to install using sudo apt install curl

curl http://link-to-theimage.com/image.jpg -o image.jpg

The curl command is particularly useful for downloading installation scripts to automatically install add on boards. But it should be used with caution and any code reviewed before it is used.

Time Savers

The Linux terminal has many secrets and tricks, all designed to save you time and become a keyboard ninja.

history

The history command will display the history of the commands entered in the terminal. When used it will output all of the commands at once as a long list.

history

At the start of each line in the list is a number and we can use this number to run that command once again. But we must precede the number with an exclamation mark.

!117

history with grep

By using a pipe “|” with the history command we can send the output of history to grep where we can then search for specific commands. Here we look for all the occurences of “apt” in history.

history | grep “apt”

CTRL + R search

Using this we can interactively search through our command history for a specific command. To start we press CTRL + R together and then start typing part of the command. For example we have just used the history | grep “apt” command so we can now press CTRL + R and start typing history and the search will find that command.

TAB completion

Think of this as “auto complete” for the terminal. The TAB key is located just above the Caps Lock key and we can use TAB completion to help complete long commands, directory listings. If we type in the first few letters of a command, for example his and press TAB it will complete the command to show history.

But if we wanted to complete a long directory path, for example /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages then we could start typing /usr/lib/ and then press TAB to show us all the directories available along that path. We could then start typing python3 and by pressing TAB a few more times, the command will narrow down the options that we can use.

Arrow keys

Another way to search through your history is to use the up and down arrow keys. With these keys we can go backwards and forwards through our command history and when the correct command is displayed, press Enter to run.

alias

Using this command we can create shortcuts / short commands from much longer ones. For example here we create an alias called updater and use that to call two commands. The first will update our list of installable software, and if that works successfully, denoted by using “&&” to chain the commands together, then it will run the upgrade on our Linux machine.

alias updater=”sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y”

Now we can run our update command just by typing updater in the terminal. Note that once the Linux machine is switched off, this alias is deleted.

We're living in an age where digital photos reign supreme, but that hasn't stopped maker and developer Spacerower, as they are known as over at Reddit, from creating a Raspberry Pi-powered camera that creates physical photos for you on the spot. This handheld Pi camera was made from the ground up from scratch and features a Raspberry Pi Zero as the main board powering the operation.

According to Spacerower, the way it works is simple — although clearly the creation of the camera was far from it. To take a photo, just press the green button one time as a short press. If you can rotate it to adjust the brightness of the image, which is visible on a small LCD screen on the back of the camera. To print the photo, just long press the green button. It has a built-in thermal printer that not only prints the photo but also does so on sticker paper.

The housing for the hardware was created from scratch by Spacerower just for the project. This was done digitally so it could be 3D printed. The case was printed in PLA, but you could duplicate this process using any filament type and color of your choice. There is also a feature built into its design to protect the camera module lens that will cover the component. To activate it, you just have to rotate the black part of the camera surrounding the lens.

Like we mentioned before, the main board powering this camera is a Raspberry Pi Zero. It's connected to a Raspberry Pi camera module for capturing images. An Em5820 thermal printer is used to print the images, while an LCD screen with a resolution of 240 x 240px lets you preview them first. The unit also features a rotary encoder and a couple of 1200mAh batteries to keep the unit portable.

Unfortunately, we don't have a good look at the source code. However, the print files are available alongside a complete hardware list over at Printables. In the project thread description, Spacerower confirms that a custom Python script is used to capture the images with the picamera2 library and also manages the printing portion of the project using a library called python-escpos.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the full thread shared to Reddit, and don't forget to peek at the Printables page for even more details.

We're no strangers to Raspberry Pi-powered fightsticks and have covered our fair share of unique creations over the years, like this gorgeous wooden fightstick. However, this Pico fightstick creation, put together by maker and developer Goblinhan Yıkan adds a new dynamic to the classic fightstick by adding a few extra buttons.

What we like about this project isn't the overall design. It's fairly barebones but it's the functionality that excites us the most. The rig works like a normal fightstick, plugging in via USB—which is likely why the Pico was chosen as the main controller. The setup is built on a protoboard and isn't housed in a case at all. But it's got a handy layout of buttons that can be used for playing fighting games like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat.

The fightstick has your typical buttons that can be used to control movement and manually throw specific attacks. However, Goblinhan Yıkan added some extra buttons that take away all the stress of button mashing and automates the process. Pressing these buttons will trigger a random selection of button presses, some of which will hopefully become combos — adding a great deal of uncertainty and fun to your performance during the fight. The project is essentially automating "mashing the buttons and hoping for a combo" just like we've all done when playing fighting games.

Like we mentioned before, the main board powering this operation is a Raspberry Pi Pico. This provides an array of GPIO support for all of the buttons as well as the ability to serve as a Human Interface Device (HID) — necessary for a USB controller like this. It's soldered to a protoboard PCB which also features the various buttons used in its design.

Goblinhan Yıkan was kind enough to make the code open source so you can build your own fight stick using his idea. It looks like the code was written in CircuitPython which is also useful for programming HID hardware. If you want to check out the source code and see how it works, you can find it over at Goblinhan Yıkan's GitHub page.

To get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action, you can check out the demo video shared to YouTube by Goblinhan Yıkan.

There are all sorts of cool audio-based Raspberry Pi projects out there but sometimes you need something a little more niche. Today we're sharing a really cool creation put together by Dan McCreary that uses a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 to drive a custom FFT sound spectrum analyzer. This gadget provides real time visual output of soundwaves and best of all, you can make it yourself!

If you're not familiar with the term, FFT stands for "Fast Fourier Transform". This is an algorithm that can be used to take sound data from input devices like microphones and transforms it into a visual sound wave that you can see in real time on a screen. With a little bit of tweaking, this project can be modified to work for other systems too like radars.

McCreary was kind enough to share plenty of details about how this project works and what its current limitations are. In the project description, he goes on to explain that the FFT analyzer operates around 17 milliseconds. The algorithm was created to work in ARM assembler using an FFT library created by Peter Hinch.

Like we mentioned before, the main board powering the project is a Raspberry Pi Pico 2. The Pico is connected to a 2.42-inch I2C OLED display which has a resolution of 128 x 64px and relies on the SSD1306 driver to operate. For audio input it uses a microphone that is capable of providing 8K samples per second.

The code for the project was created using MicroPython. Over at GitHub, McCreary has shared details on how to recreate the project. In it, he breaks down the hardware setup as well as everything you need to build the FFT analyzer system. McCreary also shared a video to YouTube showing off the creation process as well as the final build in action.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the project page shared to GitHub and YouTube for more details. There you'll find not only details about its construction but also steps and additional resources for developing your own FFT system from scratch.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is nothing new to the Raspberry Pi. Introduced with the Raspberry Pi 3B+, PoE provides power over a network connection and is handy for installing a Raspberry Pi in a remote or awkward location. The new $25 Raspberry Pi PoE+ Injector may not be the PoE HAT+ that we have been waiting for since the launch of the Raspberry Pi 5, but it is a step on the journey towards it.

The Raspberry Pi PoE Injector is a Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) device that injects power into a non-PoE switch, to a Powered Device (PD) such as any model of Raspberry Pi since 2018 (not including the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W).

Supporting IEEE 802.3af (PoE 13W) and IEEE 802.11at (PoE+ 25W) standards, the Raspberry Pi PoE Injector has enough power for the Raspberry Pi 3B+, 4. With 25W it could also power the Raspberry Pi 5 as it up to the necessary 30W of power.

But all of this power is nothing without a PoE or PoE+ HAT and while the Raspberry Pi 3B+ and Raspberry Pi 4 may have their own PoE HATs, they are not compatible with the Raspberry Pi 5 due to the relocation of the PoE pins. On the Raspberry Pi 4 they are in the top right of the board, next to the Ethernet port. But, with the Raspberry Pi 5 relocating the Ethernet port to the bottom right, the PoE pins have also migrated.

The Raspberry Pi 5 is currently bereft of a PoE board, something that Raspberry Pi co-founder and CEO mentions in the official blog post. Upton claims that the Raspberry Pi 5 compatible PoE+ HAT+ is in the "final stages of development" and is claimed to be "our smallest, most efficient PD accessory" and based on the early prototypes. We eagerly wait for it to be launched.

If you can't wait, and you have a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5, then Pineboards already has a PoE enabled board. The Modulo5 IO PoE+ just needs PoE power (perhaps from the Raspberry Pi PoE+ Injector?) and you are ready to go! There are also other third-party PoE HATs for the Raspberry Pi 5 including boards from Waveshare and Uctronics.

The Raspberry Pi PoE+ Injector is on sale now for $25 via the Raspberry Pi approved reseller network.

There are some Raspberry Pi projects that are just so cool, you don't have to bother to ask why someone would ever create them. In our opinion, some of the best Pi projects come from makers who ask, "Why not?" and that's exactly what maker and developer André Esser has done with his latest creation. Using our favorite SBC, he's put together an ASCII video camera project and showed it off at the latest Pi Jam conference.

If you're not familiar with ASCII art, it's a way of displaying images using text in something like a terminal. The characters comprise the image in either a simple but crude fashion or with great complexity. ASCII art was much more common in retro computing, but you can still find some fun modern examples like this project today. In this creation, the Pi is able to convert video frames into ASCII art, which is then displayed frame by frame to make a video feed using Python.

In the project source files, we see an example of this in action using a demo video known as "Bad Apple". This demo is in black and white, which is great for showing off the ASCII format's potential. However, Esser wanted to make something interactive for the conference and took things a step further by integrating a camera connected to the Raspberry Pi as a main input source. This made it possible for people to walk up to his booth and see themselves represented by text in real-time.

You don't need too much hardware to recreate this project, nor do you need any special components. Esser opted to use a Raspberry Pi 5 as the main board, which has plenty of processing power for a project like this. It's connected to a screen, the larger the better in this case, which lets you see the ASCII output. For video input, Esser opted to use a Raspberry Pi camera module.

Esser was kind enough to make the project open source and has shared all the source code over at GitHub for anyone interested in either recreating the project or just digging deeper to see how it works. There are two versions of the project, according to Esser, one that uses Python and another that uses Cython. The project also requires OpenCV to operate. You can find not only the code, but also instructions on how to set everything up over at the GitHub page.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action, check out the video shared to YouTube by Esser.

We love Raspberry Pi handhelds and they just keep getting cooler — in this case, it's minty cool. Makers Jackw01 and Soaporsalad have created a really cool Pi-powered gaming handheld they call the "Pi Tin". This tiny gaming handheld uses a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and is designed to fit in a case small enough that it can be swapped out for an Altoids brand mint tin.

The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W is a fairly capable gaming machine. It might not be the most powerful Pi, it closely matches the Raspberry Pi 3, but it's definitely the most powerful option with this form factor. The Pi Zero 2 can emulate a handful of consoles — no pun intended — including SNES, Nintendo 64, Sony PlayStation 1 and other handheld systems like the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Sega Game Gear and the Atari Lynx.

The final design features a few elements that take the experience to the next level. The button setup uses Alps tactile switches along with elastomer membranes found in both the Nintendo DSi and Game Boy Advance SP. The hardware can be housed inside of either a custom 3D-printed shell that the team designed themselves or an Altoids tin with a bit of modification and insulation for the circuit boards.

One of the biggest aspects of this project design is the custom PCBs. These connect the Pi Zero 2 W to the LCD screen and buttons. There are two PCBs that have been made open source that you can find the design files for over at GitHub and custom order through a website like JBLPCB Or PCBWay to create your own at home.

Software-wise you've got a lot of options but the first pick for many would be the official Raspberry Pi OS. However, when it comes to gaming, you can always opt for something like RetroPie or Lakka. If you want some inspiration from similar projects, we definitely recommend checking out MintyPi which also uses an Altoids-sized form factor.

To get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the official build guide shared to GitHub where you'll find more details about its construction as well as links to all of the files you need to create one for yourself at home.

There's nothing like retro gaming on the Raspberry Pi but we haven't quite seen a gaming rig like this. Leave it to the Pi community to blow our minds and expectations out of the water. This project, created by maker and developer John Park is using our favorite SBC — the Raspberry Pi 5 — to drive a cool wall arcade featuring RGB LED matrix panels as the main display.

According to Park, this setup doesn't just look the part. You can actually play games on the system like a real arcade using wired USB controllers. That said, you're limited by the display capabilities of the matrix panel display. It can run demos with cool retro-style animations but also play a few homebrew games that are created using the PICO-8 Fantasy console.

The project is built around the latest Raspberry Pi 5 which not only drives multiple HUB75 RGB matrix panels but also runs the operating system used for gaming. The hardware is housed inside of an Ikea Sannahed picture frame which has been fitted with some custom 3D-printed components to mount everything together. The brackets are part of the design and can be seen around the perimeter adding a nice dash of color to its overall look.

The board Park selected to run this setup is the Raspberry Pi 5 4GB model. It's connected to four 64 x 64px HUB75 RGB LED matrix panels via an Adafruit RGB matrix bonnet that makes short work of proving power and data to the display. A USB external stereo speaker provides audio output. For user input, it relies on a couple of USB controllers.

The software used to run the arcade games is known as PICO-8 Fantasy Console. This is a system that comes with a handful of custom games that are reminiscent of existing titles. It's not freeware, however, and costs $15 (USD). It's compatible not only with the Raspberry Pi but also Mac and Windows machines. PICO-8 can also be used to code, create music and even develop game assets like sprites and maps.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, you're in luck. Park uploaded a full build guide for the project complete with links to everything you need to reconstruct it at home over at the Adafruit website.

Sometimes, it's the simpler ideas that require quite a bit of work to make them run flawlessly. Today we've got an example of just that in the form of a Raspberry Pi project put together by maker and developer NeverCode. Using our favorite microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico, NeverCode has created a DIY smart clock that has tons of cool features you can replicate at home.

This smart clock has a handful of add-ons, including two LCD displays and a keypad you can use for user input. Some of the features you can take advantage of include a timer, a stopwatch, the option to adjust your timezone and, of course, an alarm. Because it uses a Pico W, you get the added benefit of integrating network connectivity.

To adjust settings on the clock, NeverCode developed a menu for navigation. You can work through the various options by pressing the "#" key on the keypad. This allows you to adjust the alarm, set a timer, operate the stopwatch, and other things like checking system stats. The stats screen will display important network information, as well, like the current IP address.

NeverCode was kind enough to make the project open source, which means you can easily follow along with the instructions and recreate it for yourself at home. The Pico W is connected to two LCD displays, an RTC module, a temperature sensor, a buzzer for the alarm feature, as well as a 4x4 keypad. All of this hardware is housed inside of a cardboard box and connected using a breadboard.

The open-source code was written using MicroPython and programmed onto the Pico using Thonny. It relies on a couple of libraries to use all of the hardware including, one for the LCD screens, one for the I2C LCD Driver as well as one for the DS3231 RTC module. Links to all of them are provided in the project details over at Blogspot.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check it out over at Blogspot and see it in action for yourself in the demo video shared on YouTube by NeverCode.

Who needs friends when you can make your own using AI? That seems to be what maker and developer Pollux Labs has pulled off with their latest Raspberry Pi project. Using our favorite SBC and a little help from ChatGPT, Pollux Labs upgraded a rotary phone to interact with those who call using speech recognition and text to speech for responses.

According to Pollux Labs, the project merges both vintage technology and the thrill of modern AI. To use the system, all you have to do is dial a specific number which then enables the speech to text function. You can talk with the ChatGPT AI in a full conversation that will be remembered so you can call again later and pick up where you left off.

The phone doesn't work as a regular phone but rather is monitored entirely by a Raspberry Pi. When the receiver is triggered, a dial tone sound is played like you would normally expect. However, it's up to you to call the AI program and engage with a futuristic experience that can only be accomplished with modern LLMs and a spark of ingenuity. So while you do retain much of the original experience using the handheld speaker and rotary dial, there's a huge element of modernity oozing out of the system.

The project is driven by a Raspberry Pi 4B but you could get better performance using the latest Raspberry Pi 5. The Pi is housed inside of the old rotary phone along with a few components that bring the project together including a microphone that listens for audio which can then be parsed through the AI channel.

The software was put together by Pollux Labs just for this project and is primarily driven by a Python script that interacts with other services like the Whisper API from OpenAI to handle the ChatGPT interactions. It also maintains the conversation history and converts responses from ChatGPT into speech for the rotary phone to output.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action, you can check it out in greater detail over at the project page shared to Hackster.

Update 3/17 09:42

Raspberry Pi has confirmed that DigiKey and Mouser will be providing RP2350s to eager makers in the United States.

Updated Article

The Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and the Pico 2 W have been on sale for a number of months now, but the chip that powers it, the RP2350 has not been generally available. This has all changed with Raspberry Pi releasing the RP2350 for general sale for those eager to integrate the powerful microcontroller into their projects.

If you want your own RP2350 for a project, then you can pick them up from approved Raspberry Pi resellers. Just visit the official page and click on the Buy Now button in the top right. UK reseller Pimoroni offers a bundle of 10 RP2350A chips for £8.80 ($9) and 10 RP2350B for £9.60 ($10). If you need a smaller amount, The Pi Hut is offering a five-pack of the RP2350A for £4.40 ($4.50) and a five-pack of RP2350B for £4.80 ($5).

RP235X Packages

The RP235X comes in four different options, but at this time only the RP2350A and B will be going on general sale. The first is the $1.10 RP2350A. This is what we find on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and Pico 2 W. The QFN-60 package has no internal flash, 30 GPIO pins, of which there are four analog inputs. The $1.20 RP2350B is a larger, QFN-80 package. There still isn't any onboard flash, but we do get more GPIO pins (48 in total) of which eight are analog inputs. We've got a full breakdown of all the RP235X models, their specs and a full list of GPIO pins in our handy guide. Note that the RP2354A and B are not on general sale. They should be on sale later this year.

All the RP2350s come with the same Dual-Core Arm Cortex M33 and RISC-V Hazard3 CPUs running at 150 MHz, and we have 4MB of onboard SRAM to run our projects. If you are designing your own boards based on the RP2350, then you could add some PSRAM (Pseudo Static RAM) to give your projects extra space to run. Storage for the RP2350 boards is via an external QSPI chip.

The choice of CPUs in the RP2350 is intriguing. The first is the traditional Dual-Core Arm Cortex M33 that has plenty of power to get the job done. But there is also a Dual-Core RISC-V Hazard3 CPU, marking the first time that a RISC-V chip has been integrated into a Raspberry Pi product. The chip was designed by Raspberry Pi's own Luke Wren, as a project in his spare time. The Hazard3 chip is a fork of the Hazard5, another Wren project, designed for the RISCboy open source Nintendo Game Boy Advance. Wren has been working on logic design since he was a student, and the fruits of his labor are now for all to see. Could we see more RISC-V chips baked into Raspberry Pi? Possibly, but the traditional Arm CPU used in the Raspberry Pi 5 will be here for some time to come.

If you want to make your own RP2350-powered projects, but don't have the facilities to fabricate your own PCBs, Raspberry Pi has recently announced that JCLPCB are offering the RP230A and B for inclusion in your own projects. The RP2354A and B (with internal flash) will be available later this year. So now all you need to do is fire up your favorite EDA package and start designing your very own RP2350 projects.

Building a Raspberry Pi project from scratch is always a satisfying experience and one of the best ways to scratch that itch is to invest in an all-in-one kit. Today we've got a really cool one to share with you from ClockworkPi known as the PicoCalc kit. It uses our favorite microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico to drive a gorgeous calculator.

This calculator offers much more than the ability to handle advanced mathematical calculations (but it does that really well). It supports the ability for you to code programs from the ground up using and range of languages such as Python, Lua, Rust, GoLang, C and even BASIC. I think we all used to tinker with graphing calculators back in the day but this is taking the idea to a new extreme. You can play games and even listen to MP3 files with the PicoCalc. This level of depth isn't too surprising given ClockworkPis track record of products. In the past, we've covered its uConsole which made waves in the maker community when it was released.

ClockworkPi refers to the PicoCalc as not just a calculator but a "cost-effective MCU platform". It aims to provide a capable mobile device that can aid in the development of other projects, function as an IoT device and even serve as a teaching platform thanks to its GPIO expansion ports which let you add additional hardware.

The kit includes everything you need to create the project. You get a beautiful PCB referred to as the ClockworkPi v2.0 along with a Raspberry Pi Pico H which comes with headers attached. You can replace the Pico H with a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 or 2W, giving you a little more CPU power. Because you can't upgrade the RAM on the Pico, ClockworkPi has elected to add 8MB of PSRAM to the custom PCB. PSRAM isn't as fast as the onboard RAM, but it is plenty fast for this project.
Picocalc features a 4-inch IPS display that has a resolution of 320 x 320px and connects via SPI. You also get a full, rubber QWERTY keyboard to use for input. It has two speakers for audio output, as well. For a professional finish, you get a nice ABS shell along with a tempered glass cover.

The kit costs a total of $75 and includes all of the components we mentioned above. We also explained that the device is intended to be mobile but you may notice we didn't mention how it's powered. The unit requires one 18650 battery, but there is space for two cells which are not included. You will need to purchase those separately to power the PicoCalc.

The project files, schematics and design materials are released under a GPL v3 license via GitHub.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, head over to the ClockworkPi website for more details and purchase options.

If you're planning to go out, it doesn't hurt to take a look at the weather and traffic report for your area. But what if you could get even more specific? That's where this cool Raspberry Pi project put together by maker and developer Glossyio comes in. Using our favorite SBC, they've crafted an AI-driven traffic monitor that provides specific traffic data no matter where it is deployed.

This project, like many others we feature, is open source so there's tons of source material to dig through if you want to create it for yourself or just get a better idea about how it goes together. This particular setup is really flexible so you can add or remove components to suit your preferences. Glossyio has yet to upload a build guide but plans to in the future.

The current iteration offers a handful of really useful features and compiles data to a series of easy-to-read graphs. Examples include the ability to monitor objects using a doppler radar, an AI system to count cars, cyclists and pedestrians. It even has the ability to determine the speed of passing cars.

If you're planning to use a Raspberry Pi for an AI system like this, it's a good idea to get your hands on the latest Raspberry Pi 5 for its performance and memory capacity. In Glossyio's setup, the Pi is connected to a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 to capture images (a good choice given that it has autofocus), an OPS243-A doppler radar sensor as well as an AI co-processor to help with the AI functionality. The traffic monitor is intended to be mounted outdoors in a location with a good view of the road and obviously it will need to be housed inside of a weather-proof enclosure.

You can find a detailed explanation of the software-side of the project over at the official project website trafficmonitor.ai. All of the source code has been shared, as well, and can be found over at GitHub.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the AI traffic monitor website and be sure to follow Glossyio for future updates.

We've all been there before. Your hands are soaking wet because you're decent enough to wash them but you really don't want to undo all of your hard work and touch the same towel dispenser that everyone else has. Sure, you could be lucky enough to find yourself in front of one of those motion sensor ones that require you to wave your hands like a maniac just to get a paper towel — but if you're luckier, you can use this cool voice-activated Raspberry Pi paper towel dispenser put together by maker and developer 3megabytesofhotram and yell your paper towel into existence.

Before we get too deep in to the story (its not April 1st yet), yes, we are well aware that the source of this project is a prank. We've seen stickers for "voice activated printers / photocopiers and even a lift" but until now, they were just pranks. With the power of a Raspberry Pi 4 we can now make these pranks a reality.

This voice-activated paper towel dispenser works just as you might imagine. When you want it to dispense part of the roll, say the trigger word aloud (in this case, "dispense towel") and wait for your paper towel to unfurl. This project wasn't made entirely from the ground up but rather uses a modified manual paper towel dispenser.

Maker 3megabytesofhotram started with a Scott brand paper towel dispenser and from there, incorporated our favorite SBC to make the system automated. The Pi is fitted with a microphone to listen for the trigger word. Once activated, it drives a servo motor that rotates the internal pulley which makes the paper towel dispense.

If you want to recreate this project, it would help to use the exact paper towel dispenser model that 3megabytesofhotram is using as the 3D printed components were designed to accommodate it specifically. Maker 3megabytesofhotram confirmed that he's using a Scott Pro Manual Hard Roll Towel Dispenser. Driving the operation is a Raspberry Pi 4 with 2GB of RAM connected to an L298N 1A DC motor driver, a 12V DC Motor and a microphone.

As with many open source projects, you can find source files over at the official project page. While we don't get a good look at the code, the 3D printer STL files have been made available that can be used to mount the hardware inside. There's also a video demo of the project in action over at Vimeo.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, visit the project page shared to Hackaday where you'll find more details and tons of pictures showing off the inside.

This Raspberry Pi project has global appeal — at least as far as things like weather and daylight goes. Maker and developer Tribal2, as they're known over on Reddit, has created a beautiful world map that's powered by our favorite SBC and features LEDs that illuminate for a variety of functions.

According to Tribal2, this project was inspired by a similar creation — albeit Arduino-powered — put together by a maker known as Ewoolsey over ten years ago. Tribal2 decided to spruce things up a bit by throwing a Raspberry Pi into the mix and adding more functions suited to the Pi.

Tribal2's version integrates with his smart home setup, specifically a home assistant system. The map interacts with a smart plug that is programmed so that the map only illuminates when he's sitting at his desk. Some of the effects it has include things like a rainbow effects but also more interactive demonstrations that respond to real-time events. For example, the daylight mode will show you which parts of the world are experiencing daylight. There are also plans to add a weather mode which would indicate weather patterns through regional temperatures or events like snowfall and rain.

The main board powering this project is a Raspberry Pi 4 (the Imgur album shows an older Raspberry Pi 3) but Tribal2 confirmed you could get away with using a smaller model like a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W in its place. If you want to recreate this setup, you definitely want a Pi with wireless support to use some of the more advanced features. A 5V 10A power supply keeps the unit powered while a couple of 5V fans keep the hardware cooled.

World Map Project - Raspberry Pi"

The map was made by drilling holes of various sizes which are backed by white paper to diffuse the LED lights behind them. The lights are RGB LED "Neopixel" strips attached to aluminum bars mounted behind the map. At the bottom of the board is a couple of metal buttons that can be used to power the map and adjust the modes.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, you can dig into the album Tribal2 shared to Imgur which details the build process.

Computer inputs are not just limited to keyboards and mice. We can use sensors to measure light levels, acceleration, and perhaps our brain! Ildar Rakhmatulin's PiEEG project, last seen back in 2023, now comes in the form of the PiEEG Bio Lab with everything that you need to read and analyze your brain and body signals. The project is coming soon on IndieGoGo.

At the heart of the kit is the aforementioned PiEEG HAT, the same HAT that we saw back in 2023. But this time the PiEEG is part of a larger "Bio Lab" in a briefcase that now includes a custom PCB and screen. The PCB has breakouts for the GPIO, SPI, I2C, power and a web of sensors that connect to a "Snoopy cap" which is one of the included interfaces between your brain and the Raspberry Pi. The cap is used to read the electrical activity of the brain (electroencephalogram, EEG) but the kit also has sensors that can be used for electrooculogram (EOG to measure how the retina reacts to light/dark by outputting a voltage), electrocardiogram (ECG measures the electrical activity of the heart) and electromyography (EMG measure the electrical activity of muscles).

The PCB also features a series of sensors for oxygen saturation, contact temperature, sound, air quality and air temperature and humidity. These can be used to gather environmental data alongside the EEC, ECG, EMG, EOG data.

Also present on the board is a "Robot control" interface. This isn't a dedicated series of motor controllers and logic used to control an external robot. Instead it provides a serial interface from which the external robot can receive control signals. This could be a robot arm, controlled via ECG that reads the impulses of your brain and interprets them as movement for the arm. The example video shows a servo-controlled robot arm, and I believe it uses serial servos.

So what can we do with all of this? The potential applications vary from the already mentioned controlling a robot arm, to meditation, and stress control. The kit can also be used (if you have the skills and resources) to control an exoskeleton or a drone. Basically, if you can connect it up to a Raspberry Pi, then you can connect it up to PiEEG.

In the video, the kit is being used with a Raspberry Pi 5 (two USB 3.0 ports and the Ethernet port is on the left of the USB ports). It should also be compatible with older models, but your performance may suffer.

The kit is contained in a case that measures 27 x 17.5 x 6.5cm (10.6 x 6.9 x 2.56 inches) and looks very "medical," with a hard shell and metal clasp to protect the contents. Power comes from an external USB battery of your choosing -- there are no internal batteries supplied.

Software support is via Python, with an accompanying Python module used to simplify reading and interpreting the data. There is also a supporting Python course to help the user learn more about the signals and how they can be used.

PiEG Bio Lab is coming soon to Indiegogo and right now we have no details on when it will start. Remember that funding a project on Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, etc is making an investment in a project that may or may not result in a finished product shipped to you. You are not purchasing a completed product.

We love Raspberry Pi cyberdecks and all of the amazing creativity that comes from the maker community that makes them. That said, we've never quite seen one like this created by \the YouTube channel known as The Civitas Universe. Sure you could use a keyboard for input but this maker took things a step further and made the rig into a brain scanner that responds in real time to brain waves.

The Civitas Universe has dubbed this creation the Neuro Photonic R5 Flow Cyberdeck — named for its brain scanning functionality and the Raspberry Pi 5 powering it inside. The project is built around an existing brain scanning headset and has been programmed to interface with the Pi using an Adafruit Macropad. The housing has been created from scratch just for this project and features a really cool cyberpunk theme.

There are a few ways you could interact with a brain scanning headset like this but The Civitas Universe has demonstrated a really unique function that showcases how much power the user has over the system in real time using just their thoughts alone. The Civitas Universe has set up the rig so that the more your mind is focused and relaxed, the more a lightbulb will dim. If you open your eyes or start thinking too much, the light will illuminate — making it an interesting meditation tool.

Like we said before, the main board powering the Neuro Photonic R5 Flow Cyberdeck is a Raspberry Pi 5. It's connected to a used Muse 2 headset for scanning brainwaves, an 800 x 480px touchscreen from Pi Hut for video output as well as an Adafruit Macropad for manual input. The unit relies on a power bank for power, making it portable. All of the hardware is housed inside of a custom, cyberpunk-themed 3D-printed case.

To program the Muse 2 headset, The Civitas Universe is using CircuitPython as the Muse 2 headset comes with Python libraries unique to the hardware. This makes it possible to tap into specific wave functions and trigger custom responses from the data collected by the Pi.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, check it out over at the official The Civitas Universe channel.

We’ve previously installed Windows on a Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 with varying levels of success. But it seems that Botspot is taking a shot at running Windows 11 on a Raspberry Pi with BVM (Botspot Virtual Machine).

BVM offers a simple installation process, most of which is automated via the terminal. There is also a GUI application available from the terminal which makes it even easier to use.

Windows 11 Arm in a virtual machine (VM) on your Raspberry Pi 5 has some caveats. Because it is KVM, there is no significant speed difference to running Windows 11 bare metal on the Pi 5. That said, it isn’t speedy, so don’t expect to be playing triple A games here. Older games (like 10-15 years ago) and web games should work ok.

Windows 11 will have access to Linux host’s Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections, and also to the host audio. Windows 11 on Arm’s Prism emulator should enable x86 and x64 apps to work, but your mileage may vary. With a little configuration, host USB devices can be seen by Windows 11 and the Windows 11 drive can be mounted in the host OS. We will cover both of these features in the steps below.

For this project I used the latest Raspberry Pi 5 16GB, and I ran the host OS, Raspberry Pi OS from a 128GB Makerdisk PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD using a Pineboards HatDrive! Nano. I would recommend using an NVMe SSD or USB 3 drive as it provides better performance than micro SD.

You can run this VM on a Raspberry Pi 5 with as low as 2GB of RAM, but I would recommend using a Raspberry Pi 5 4GB at the very least with the support of ZRAM.

For this how to you will need

• A Raspberry Pi 5 4GB or greater running Raspberry Pi OS
• An NVMe SSD and PCIe HAT+ board for your Raspberry Pi 5.
  • You’ll need at least 50GB of freespace
• Active cooling for your Raspberry Pi

1. Open a terminal and clone the git repository.

git clone https://github.com/Botspot/bvm

2. Run BVM for the first time. This will install all of the dependencies necessary to run the virtual machine.

bvm/bvm help

3. Create a Windows 11 configuration file.

bvm/bvm new-vm ~/win11

4. Download Windows 11 and all of the necessary drivers.

bvm/bvm download ~/win11

5. Prepare the Windows 11 downloads for the first boot.

bvm/bvm prepare ~/win11

6. Run Windows 11 in the VM for the first time. This will take some time, so grab a drink and wait it out. The VM window will open and perform an automated install. The windows will close automatically when done. Once complete, you can optionally delete all of the ISO files from /home/pi/win11/unattended.

bvm/bvm firstboot ~/win11

7. Boot Windows 11 in headless mode. This will give us better performance than just running the VM directly.

bvm/bvm boot-nodisplay ~/win11

8. Open another terminal and connect to the headless Windows 11 session using a remote desktop. The Windows 11 desktop will appear and you can now run Windows 11 in a VM on your Raspberry Pi 5.

bvm/bvm connect ~/win11

9. When you are done, shutdown Windows 11 just like a “normal” OS install.

If you’re not a fan of the terminal, then bvm has a GUI frontend which follows a simple numbered process.

To use the GUI, open a terminal and run the following command.

bvm/bvm gui

It uses the same commands behind the scenes, the GUI just makes it a little friendlier to use.

Enable USB device passthrough via bvm-config

This is a relatively new feature, so your mileage may vary. Not all devices will work as expected. But, this is a really cool feature

1. Ensure that BVM and the Windows 11 VM is shutdown.

2. Connect the USB device that you wish to use.

3. Open a terminal and list the attached USB devices.

lsusb

4. Find your device ID and copy the ID. I’m using a USB DVD writer as my test device.

id.jpg

5. Open the config file for editing.

nano ~/win11/bvm-config

6. Look for the usb_passthrough entry and replace the ID with the ID of your device.

7. Save and close the editor by pressing CTRL+X, then Y and Enter.

8. Repeat Steps 8 and 9 in the previous section to start Windows 11 in headless mode, and then connect using RDP.

9. Your USB device is now accessible to Windows 11. In my case, the USB DVD writer was accessible as a drive.

We can also make the following changes via the bvm-config file.

• Change the username and password for the account.
• Set the language.
• Change the remote desktop connection port.
• Keep the “bloat” (debloat happens by default).
• Force the VM’s RAM allocation.
• Set the VM’s disk size (40GB by default).
• Enable / disable animations / transparency.

Just look for the relevant line in bvm-config and read the comments that explain how the configuration can be changed.

Mount Windows 11 as a drive on the host OS

We can mount the Windows 11 VM as a drive on the host OS, making it easier to bulk transfer files between the two operating systems. Note that we can only mount the Windows 11 VM while the VM is not running.

1. Open a terminal and run this command to mount the Windows 11 VM.

bvm/bvm mount ~/win11

2. Open the Raspberry Pi OS file manager and navigate to /media/pi/bvmmount. Here you have full access to the Windows 11 drive and can read and write files across.

3. Unmount the drive in the file manager using the “eject” button next to its entry. You can now repeat steps 8 and 9 in the first section to start the Windows 11 VM.

4. In Windows 11, navigate to where you copied the files, they will be available for use. Obviously this doesn’t apply if you bulk copied files from Windows 11 to the host OS.

RFID cards and tags are everywhere! We use them in buildings for access control. Printers and photocopiers can use them to identify staff members. Livestock tagging and pet identification tags all use a form of RFID. The tech to read an RFID device is cheap, for around $5 you can get the reader, and for $4, a Raspberry Pi Pico can read the IDs from the cards / tags.

In this how to, we will learn how to read RFID tags and cards using an MFRC522 reader and a Raspberry Pi Pico, the goal will be to create a fictional RFID access control system that will allow users into a building, or alert security to remove them. Before we can do that, we need to identify the ID of our cards / tags. The first section of this how to will do just that, and then we will insert some code to control two LEDs to simulate the locking mechanism.

For this how to you will need

• Raspberry Pi Pico running MicroPython
• MFRC522 RFID reader
• Large breadboard
• 11 x Male to male jumper wires
• Green LED
• Red LED
• 2 x 100 Ohm resistors (Brown - Black - Brown - Gold)

Building the Hardware

The hardware build is split into two sections. First is the wiring for the MFRC522 RFID reader. The reader uses SPI to communicate with the Raspberry Pi Pico and it requires seven pins to do so. Two are for power (3.3V and GND) and the rest are for SPI.

Second are our outputs. To see if the correct card has been presented, we need to add two LEDs. Red for an incorrect RFID card, green for a correct card. The LEDs connect to a GPIO pin which we control to turn the LED on/off, and to any available GND pin via a 100 Ohm resistor. You can use a 220 or 330 Ohm resistor, I just happened to have some 100 Ohm resistors on my desk. Need to work out the correct resistor? We’ve got a guide for you!

Before moving on, check that your wiring is correct.

Installing the RFID Reader Software

The MFRC522 is a simple RFID reader, and to make it even simpler we are using a MicroPython module that will make short work of using the reader. The module, pico-rfid is from friend of Tom’s Hardware, Kevin McAleer, and is based on the work of Danjperron.

1. Connect your Raspberry Pi Pico to your computer, and open Thonny. We assume that you already know how to set up your Raspberry Pi Pico. If not, we have this handy guide.

2. Create a new blank file and copy the contents of this link into the blank file. Then save it to the Raspberry Pi Pico as mfrc522.py. This is the Python module / library that will enable our code to talk to the RFID reader.

Writing the Project Code

With all the setup complete, we now get down to coding the project. For this we will again use Thonny, and write code to check the ID of any RFID card presented to the reader. For this first part, we will need to make a note of the ID, as we will later use it with a conditional test that checks if the ID matches a hard coded value, then it will allow entry. If not, then we will get an ACCESS DENIED message.

1. Create a new blank file in Thonny.

2. Import three modules (libraries) for using the MFRC522 RFID reader, controlling the pace of the code, and for using the GPIO.

from mfrc522 import MFRC522import utimefrom machine import Pin

3. Create an object, reader, to tell the code where the RFID reader is connected.

reader = MFRC522(spi_id=0,sck=2,miso=4,mosi=3,cs=1,rst=0)

4. Create two objects for the red and green LEDs, telling the code where the LEDs are connected and that they are output devices that we want to send current to.

red = Pin(14, Pin.OUT)green = Pin(15, Pin.OUT)

5. Write a short message to the user, instructing them to present the card to the reader. The “\n” is Python’s syntax to introduce a new line at the end of the print() function.

print("Present the card to the reader\n")

6. Create a list called “PreviousCard” and store the value zero inside of it. We’ll use this list later to store the current card ID.

PreviousCard = [0]

7. Create a while True loop to continually run the code within it.

while True:

8. Initialize the reader so that it is ready for use.

   reader.init()

9. Create a tuple to store the reader status and the RFID tag type.

   (stat, tag_type) = reader.request(reader.REQIDL)

10. An if conditional will read the contents of the card if the reader is ready. Then it will update the stat and uid objects with details from the card.

   if stat == reader.OK:        (stat, uid) = reader.SelectTagSN()

11. If the uid of the card is the same as the value stored in the PreviousCard object, then the code will continue. This will happen when the same card is repeatedly shown to the reader.

       if uid == PreviousCard:            continue

12. Create an if conditional statement to check that the card read was ok.

       if stat == reader.OK:

13. Print a message to the user, and then store the card’s UID to an object called “card”. Then print the card details to the Python shell.

             print("The card details are as follows")            card = reader.tohexstring(uid)            print(card)

14. Update the PreviousCard object with the uid of the presented card.

            PreviousCard = uid

15. Create an else condition which will run when no cards are presented. Updating the PreviousCard object. Then add a 50ms pause to the code before the main loop repeats.

   else:        PreviousCard=[0]    utime.sleep_ms(50)

16. Save the code to the Raspberry Pi Pico as reader.py and then click on Run >> Run Current Script (or press the green play button). Follow the instructions and present the RFID card / tag to the reader.

17. Copy the entire card details, this is the uid of the RFID card and we will need that for the next part of this how to. The uid looks something like this, yours will be different.

[0x04, 0xBC, 0xA0, 0x9A, 0xB3, 0x43, 0x80]

Complete Code Listing

from mfrc522 import MFRC522import utimefrom machine import Pin              reader = MFRC522(spi_id=0,sck=2,miso=4,mosi=3,cs=1,rst=0)red = Pin(14, Pin.OUT)green = Pin(15, Pin.OUT)print("Present the card to the reader\n")PreviousCard = [0]while True:    reader.init()    (stat, tag_type) = reader.request(reader.REQIDL)    if stat == reader.OK:        (stat, uid) = reader.SelectTagSN()        if uid == PreviousCard:            continue        if stat == reader.OK:            print("The card details are as follows")            card = reader.tohexstring(uid)            print(card)            PreviousCard = uid    else:        PreviousCard=[0]    utime.sleep_ms(50)  

We’ve got the code, now we need to tell the project code that we want to use that code to give us access, and to light up the green LED. If another card / tag is presented to the reader, then the red LED will light up.

1. Between these two lines, create new lines of code.

            print(card)NEWCODE GOES HERE            PreviousCard = uid

2. Create an if condition that checks for your card’s uid. Note that it looks like a Python list, but in reality it is stored as a string, so we need to wrap the value in “ “. Don’t forget the [ ] brackets.

           if card == "[0x04, 0xBC, 0xA0, 0x9A, 0xB3, 0x43, 0x80]":

3. If the value stored in the card object matches the hard coded value, print “ACCESS GRANTED” to the Python shell.

               print("ACCESS GRANTED")

4. Create a for loop to toggle the green LED on / off ten times., with a 0.1 second gap between each change of state. Turn the green LED off at the end of the for loop.

               for i in range(10):                    green.toggle()                    utime.sleep(0.1)                green.off()

5. Use an else condition for when an unrecognized card / tag is presented to the reader. This will toggle the red LED on and off just like the green LED.

           else:                print("ACCESS DENIED")                for i in range(10):                    red.toggle()                    utime.sleep(0.1)                red.off()

6 .Save the code as reader.py to the Raspberry Pi Pico. Click on Run >> Run Current Script (or press the green play button). Follow the instructions and present the RFID card / tag to the reader. If the card is correct, then the green LED will flash and the Python shell will print “ACCESS GRANTED”. Try another RFID card / tag, this should make the red LED light up, and the Python shell will print “ACCESS DENIED”

Complete Code Listing

from mfrc522 import MFRC522import utimefrom machine import Pin              reader = MFRC522(spi_id=0,sck=2,miso=4,mosi=3,cs=1,rst=0)red = Pin(14, Pin.OUT)green = Pin(15, Pin.OUT)print("Present the card to the reader\n")PreviousCard = [0]while True:    reader.init()    (stat, tag_type) = reader.request(reader.REQIDL)    if stat == reader.OK:        (stat, uid) = reader.SelectTagSN()        if uid == PreviousCard:            continue        if stat == reader.OK:            print("The card details are as follows")            card = reader.tohexstring(uid)            print(card)            if card == "[0x04, 0xBC, 0xA0, 0x9A, 0xB3, 0x43, 0x80]":                print("ACCESS GRANTED")                for i in range(10):                    green.toggle()                    utime.sleep(0.1)                green.off()            else:                print("ACCESS DENIED")                for i in range(10):                    red.toggle()                    utime.sleep(0.1)                red.off()            PreviousCard = uid    else:        PreviousCard=[0]    utime.sleep_ms(50)

The most illuminating part of the Raspberry Pi maker community is the ingenuity and creativity of the makers. One in particular has been busy lately creating a slew of Pi projects and his most recent creation definitely shines above the rest. Maker and developer Arnov Sharma has built a custom studio light using our favorite microcontroller—the Raspberry Pi Pico.

This studio light offers a great deal of customization through a series of LEDs laid out in a custom matrix. The lights can be tweaked to change its temperature, from a warm light or cool glow and everything in between. There are also WS2811 RGB LEDs for those times when you need to add a splash of color to a scent. According to Sharma, this was a practical project he created out of necessity to help improve photos and videos taken of his other projects.

The LEDs are easy to control using the GPIO on the Raspberry Pi Pico via a MOSFET. The settings can be adjusted using a series of push buttons that are mounted to a custom PCB. The hardware is assembled together using a 3D printed mounting component that Sharma designed using Fusion 360 just for this project.

In the official project page, Sharma confirms that the main board powering the studio light is a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 but you could likely get away with using a regular Pico in its place if that's all you have on hand. It's connected to a SSD1306 OLED display via I2C which provides live feedback of the current light settings. The custom PCBs connect to not only the Pico and screen but also the LEDs, buttons and a couple of 18650 batteries via a IP3506 5V 2A charge / discharge controller making the unit portable.

Like many of his other Pi projects, this one was made open source so the code is available for anyone to check out. Sharma goes into plenty of detail explaining how it works, as well. The buttons adjust the strength of the warm and cool LEDs in 25% increments. This makes it possible to tweak the lights with extreme precision to get the best lighting possible for your shots.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the project page over at Hackster for more details and build guide showing how it all goes together.

The Raspberry Pi maker community never ceases to amaze us and today we have a project that's no exception. Maker and developer Yaluke demonstrates with their latest creation how easy it is to create a Raspberry Pi Pico-powered protractor module from scratch. This isn't the same as the static measuring tool you might find in a school but rather is an electronic component that's surprisingly useful in the world of gaming.

This Pi-powered protractor is intended to be used to calculate rotational angles in real time. This particular module is able to convert said measurement into a USB signal which makes it an excellent go to device for simulating steering wheels. If you want to emulate a driving game, this is the sort of setup you could use to make a controller from scratch.

According to Yaluke, the Pico relies on a rotary encoder module to determine the rotation data. This information is fed to the Pico using a GPIO connection. The precision of the measurement can be tuned to specific use cases so you can make the steering wheel as sensitive as you need it to be.

The project page indicates that the main board powering the operation is a Raspberry Pi Pico but you could likely get away with using the latest Raspberry Pi Pico 2 instead. The Pico is connected to a DFRobot incremental photoelectric rotary encoder along with a Pimoroni Pico Proto Board. Data can be viewed in real-time using a 4-digit 7-segment TM1637 display module. All of the hardware is housed inside of a custom, 3D-printed case.

The software for the protractor was created using C++ for its USB support and extensive compatibility with the PIO (Programmable IO) on the Pico. However, Yaluke mentions experimenting with both MicroPython and CircuitPython before settling on C++.

Yaluke was kind enough to create a build guide for this Raspberry Pi project so you can follow along and make your own. Check it out over at Hackster for more details and an in-depth look at its creation.

There are all sorts of handy tools out there, and a handful of them can be made from scratch with a Raspberry Pi. No one knows this better than maker and developer Arnov Sharma who's using our favorite SBC to power this custom-built temperature gun. To save on power, he's opted to use the latest Raspberry Pi Pico 2 microcontroller.

According to Sharma, he wanted to create an open source temperature gun that anyone could recreate on their own. This device lets you monitor temperature without making contact with the help of an infrared temperature sensor. The module used to pull this off is known as a G7-906 which can interface easily with the Pico 2.

Sharma explained that this is the first version of the project and is more of a prototype that proves its function. As such, it's built around a breadboard — but another version is planned that will include a custom PCB and completely soldered connections. That said, this prototype proves that you don't need the custom PCB to make the project work.

As we've already mentioned, the Pico 2 is the main board powering this thermal gun but you could get away with using the original Pico if that's all you have on hand. It's connected to the GY-906 infrared temperature sensor as well as an OLED Display that has a resolution of 124 x 32px. Temperature data is output in real time using this display, along with a button to trigger the reading.

The code for the project has been made completely open source and is available over at Hackster for anyone to download (or just explore). It works by interpreting data from the GY-906 sensor and converting it into Celsius for the OLED display. A detailed explanation of how this is accomplished is available on the project page, including the equation used to calculate the data.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, you can check out a demo video of it over at YouTube and read more about the construction process at Hackster.

Retro gaming on the Raspberry Pi is one thing, but programming a game from scratch is another. This project, however, put together by maker and developer Arnov Sharma, does both. Using our favorite SBC, he's created a handheld console for playing the classic game Snake, fixed up with custom 3D-printed housing.

This handheld console is built around the latest Raspberry Pi Pico 2, which features the RP2350 processor. Instead of using a typical LCD screen or OLED display, Sharma opted for a matrix panel. The console also consists of input controls on either side, featuring buttons for controlling the snake.

According to Sharma, the housing was modeled using Fusion360 for 3D printing. It houses the matrix panel as well as the custom PCBs used for the battery and button input. Everything was built from the ground up, code-wise, and made specifically for the dimensions of this matrix panel. It features four buttons that can be used to control its direction.

As we mentioned before, the main board powering the operation is a Raspberry Pi Pico 2. It's connected to a couple of custom PCBs printed using PCBWay. A 64 x 32px Waveshare RGB matrix is used for the screen, while a handful of push buttons are used for input. It's also portable, featuring an 18650 battery managed by an IP5306 IC module.

Sharma was kind enough to make the program open source at Instructables so anyone can recreate this handheld at home. The gameplay is typical of Snake, but if you're unfamiliar, you control a snake represented by green dots. A red dot will appear randomly on the screen. You must guide the snake to the food without running into your tail, or the game will end. Your tail will grow one dot longer every time you successfully eat the food.

If you'd like to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, you can watch a demo video on YouTube and read a breakdown of its creation shared with Hackster.

We want the best for the ones we love and that absolutely extends to our beloved pets. Today we've got a wonderful Raspberry Pi project to share with you that highlights the significance of our relationship with our feline companions in the form of an amazingly luxurious smart home made just for cats. Maker and developer Visible_Turnover3952 is using our favorite SBC to automate a plethora of features to keep his cats totally spoiled and pampered in style.

raspberry_pi from r/raspberry_pi/comments/1j1tzwr/i_made_a_smart_talking_winter_cat_shelter_with

This project is thorough with lots of features as well as tons of modules and sensors to optimize their environment. The Raspberry Pi isn't the only board running the show. It's working alongside with what Visible_Turnover3952 calls "ESP32 sub systems" to bring everything together.

One of the most important features in the project is the heating system. This smart cat house is capable of keeping the inside temperature at a comfortable 70F and can maintain that temperature even if it's -27F outside of the house. It also responds to voice commands which can be used to retrieve data from the various sensors.

Some of these sensors include a temperature module, motion detection hardware, light sensors and a humidity sensor. A heating element is used to warm the floor and keep the internal temperature at 70 F. It's also fitted with a HEPA carbon air filter and a night vision camera. When we say this project has a plethora of features — we mean it. It even has an automatic door. Some custom circuit boards were created to manage the sensors and ESP32 modules which mainly handle the environmental controls. The Raspberry Pi is used primarily as the centralized operational tool.

The source code for the project has not been shared but Visible_Turnover3952 explains how everything works in the project thread. He confirmed that it's mostly just various libraries and relays that respond when certain thresholds are met on the sensors. If you're familiar with tinkering on the Raspberry Pi, it shouldn't be too hard to replicate the project.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action, head over to the original project thread shared to Reddit by Visible_Turnover3952 and consider spoiling your feline companions with the same amount of passion.

Poland’s Pineboards (formerly known as Pineberry Pi) has a history of beating Raspberry Pi to the market, a market that Raspberry Pi often kickstarts with a new product launch. We saw this with Pineboards’ Hat Drives, which brought PCIe based storage (and AI accelerators) to the freshly released Raspberry Pi 5. We even gave the Pineboard Hat Drive Nano a rare 5-star review because of its price and performance.

For Pineboards’ latest product line, our focus shifts from the Raspberry Pi 5, to the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 and the older Compute Module 4. The €35 ($37) Modulo5 Basic introduces a Raspberry Pi 5 form factor to the Compute Module 5 (CM5) which sees all of the ports on a Pi 5 replicated for the CM5. We also get the added bonus of being able to upgrade our Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 when we need a little more RAM or storage.

For Compute Module 4 (CM4) users, the €35 ($37) Modulo4 looks identical to the Modulo5 but offers access to the same PCIe accessories, designed for the Raspberry Pi 5, and any Pi 5 cases or accessories. Essentially it offers a life extension to the CM4, which still has enough grunt to get the job done, by providing access to PCIe storage and AI accelerators.

Compute Module 5 users have another board, the €47 ($49) Modulo5 IO PoE+ which offers all of the features found on the official Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Development Board (often referred to as a carrier board), but also includes Power over Ethernet. Something that Raspberry Pi announced along with the Raspberry Pi 5, but has yet to release.

In this triple review I’ll put each of the boards through its paces, and award an individual score at the end of the review.

Modulo5 IO PoE+

The Modulo5 IO PoE+ is a beefed up version of the official Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 development board. Heck, the ports and footprint are identical! Sure a few things are moved around, but they are essentially the same thing. But, they are not!

The key difference between the two is in its name PoE, Power over Ethernet. Yes, the Modulo5 IO PoE+ has built in PoE, before Raspberry Pi even released its version. PoE is useful for those projects where we need to power a Raspberry Pi in a location without ready access to power. You may want to build a wildlife camera in your garden, but don’t fancy digging up half the garden to properly install a mains voltage supply. PoE provides the network access and the power for your Raspberry Pi 5. Incredibly, the UK made PoE+ power module can provide 25W (5V at 5A) of continuous power (30W peak).

The best part of PoE on the Modulo5 IO PoE+ is that it just works. I used a Netgear PoE switch and I had zero config to do on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5. It just worked!

Power can also be provided by the USB Type C port; you’ll need the official Raspberry Pi 5 27W PSU, otherwise the CM5 will complain about low power.

Just like the official dev board, Modulo5 IO PoE+ has an M.2 PCIe slot for an SSD, an AI accelerator or if you are daring enough, a GPU. If you are using a CM5 Lite board (no eMMC) then the onboard micro SD slot will come in useful. Two USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet and dual HDMI ports round off the front edge of the board. Around the back we have dual camera / display connectors.

The Compute Module 5 can be flashed directly on the board, just set the RPIBOOT switch to flash mode, run the boot software on your PC, plug in and then flash the drive using Raspberry Pi Imager. The USB Type C port is “only” USB 2.0, but it is fast enough to get the image across. You can use any CM5 cooler with the Modulo5 IO PoE+, including the aforementioned EDA Tec cooler. There is a fan connector on the board, along with the SWD and RTC connectors. You can’t use the official Raspberry Pi 5 Active Cooler as there are no mounting holes on the board.

Testing the M.2 PCIe slot and I thought it was PCIe Gen 3 compatible. I looked at the Modulo5 IO PoE+ product page and saw nothing on PCIe speeds. So after setting up the CM5 to boot from a PCIe Gen 3 SSD, I went into raspi-config and set the CM5 to use PCIe Gen 3 speeds, rebooted and then ran a test using dd to read the drive to /dev/null. I got a speed of 893MB/s. Definitely PCIe Gen 3 performance!

The dual camera / display connectors work just like the Modulo5 Basic, and yes I did have to make the same configuration changes in order for the CM5 to see the devices. Both worked well and with no incidents. I even found a way to add the Modulo5 IO PoE+ to the Touch Display 2, creating an unholy union of tech.

If you want to use the GPIO, then go for it. There is a full HAT compatible 40-pin GPIO. But, the issue of the RP1 means that you will need to double check that your favorite HAT works. General GPIO use, such as projects with digital IO, I2C etc will work just like the Raspberry Pi 5.

Modulo5 Basic

At a glance, this is a Raspberry Pi 5, but delving deeper, we can see that there are many key differences between the two. Chiefly, the CM5 PCB in the center of the board which has an almost similar layout to the Raspberry Pi 5. The SoC, RP1 and RAM are in similar locations. Only the eMMC (if your CM5 has it) is on the underside of the CM5.

The other differences are the location of the Camera / Display connectors, moved behind the USB ports and the ports for the RTC battery, fan and SWD debug. Everything else is as it is on a normal Pi 5. This means that the Modulo5 Basic can be used inside the official Raspberry Pi 5 case, other cases may require some tweaking.

The PCIe connector is in the same place as the Raspberry Pi 5 and that means we can use Pineboards HatDrive! Nano or another M.2 HAT for a full PCIe Gen 3.0 experience. I tested it and yes, we get the same performance as a regular Raspberry Pi 5.

Technically, the official Raspberry Pi 5 Active Cooler is compatible, but you need to use the included Modulo5 Basic compatible plastic plugs. I tried to put the active cooler on my Modulo5 Basic without the Modulo5 plugs and it was just too thick, because the CM5 sits on top of the connectors, raising it a few millimeters. You can get one side on, but the other side tilts upwards, with the plastic barb tantalizingly close to the Modulo5 Basic. Don’t try to force it! I did and I “slightly” warped the Modulo5 Basic’s PCB.

It bent back ok, and everything works! If you want cooling for your CM5, then use the official Raspberry Pi 5 Active Cooler with the Modulo5 Plugs! Or use the CM5 passive cooler (it comes with the official CM5 development kit) or the EDATec cooler which brings active cooling, fully controlled by the OS via the fan connector.

The various Raspberry Pi Cameras and the new Touch Display 2.0 work with the Modulo5 Basic but access to the connectors is tight, especially if the CM5 is already inserted. I used a plastic spudger to unlock and lock the plastic tabs. After that, I told the Raspberry Pi CM5 where to find my camera and screen. You see, the CM5 does not automatically detect the devices. You need to add some extra lines to /boot/firmware/config.txt in order for it to find them. I spent a little longer than I wanted on this step. Not the fault of Modulo, that lies with Raspberry Pi OS.

Flashing an OS to the CM5 via the Modulo5 Basic is really simple. On your PC, run Raspberry Pi’s RPiBoot application. On the Modulo5 Basic flip the switch to Flash Mode, then connect to your PC via the USB Type C cable. Press the power button twice and the CM5 appears as a USB device. All you need to do now is open Raspberry Pi Imager and flash your chosen OS.

Using the GPIO on the Modulo5 Basic is just as easy as a Raspberry Pi 5, and it comes with the Python and RP1 issues that face the Pi 5. I had an LED blinking and fully controlled from a push button with just a few lines of the GPIO Zero Python 3 code. Adding a HAT to the GPIO will vary greatly depending on software support. Newer HAT+ boards will work, but right now I’ve only used HAT+ boards that connect to the PCIe connector, not the GPIO. Using something like Pimoroni’s Explorer Hat Pro would require significant workarounds given the changes to how the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO now works.

Modulo4

Putting the Modulo4 and 5 Basic next to one another is pretty much like the Spiderman pointing meme. They look very alike! There are only two slight visible differences. First, there is no switch for flashing the eMMC of your Compute Module 4 (if you have that version), but you can still flash the eMMC using this carrier board. Secondly, the USB ports are all USB 2.0, no USB 3.0 here!

The camera connectors are in the same place. Note that I said camera connectors. There is no DSI connector for the Touch Display 2.0, and no, it won’t work if you try to plug it in. It just causes the CM4 to not power up. You need to remove the display and power on the Module4 and CM4, wait a few minutes and it will power on again. As for cameras, they work with just a little config.txt magic.

The GPIO works as expected for a Raspberry Pi 4, no RP1 issues here, but PEP668 still applies to the latest Raspberry Pi OS, so you will need to ensure that you are using Python virtual environments. I tested a quick GPIO Zero script to control an LED on GPIO 17, with a button on GPIO 27. That worked flawlessly. The HATs that I tested also worked. Pimoroni’s Unicorn HAT needed a little tweak inside of the virtual environment, but it worked. The Pimoroni Explorer HAT Pro, which uses digital IO, PWM and I2C installed into a virtual Python environment and just worked.

The Modulo4 also features a PCIe connector, and yes, the CM4 development board also features PCIe. On the official CM4 dev board it was broken out as a single-lane PCIe Gen 2 x1 slot. Modulo4 breaks this out to the same style PCIe connector as the Modulo5 Basic and the Raspberry Pi 5. To test, I connected the mighty Pineboards HatDrive! Nano with a Cytron MakerDisk. I wrote the contents of the eMMC to the SSD and then set the OS to boot from NVMe. Opening a terminal, I used dd to read the drive to /dev/null and achieved 415MB/s, in-line with PCIe Gen 2 speeds on the Raspberry Pi 5. We’ll never get PCIe Gen 3 on the CM4, but Gen 2 is plenty fast for this former flagship.

The PCIe connection can also be used with HAT+ boards, and so I delved into my box of bits and pulled out the latest AI HAT+ from Raspberry Pi. Yes, the Raspberry Pi AI Kit, designed for the Raspberry Pi 5 works with the Modulo4 and the Compute Module 4. You won’t get the same performance as a Pi 5, but it does work.

Who are the Modulo boards for?

Each of the boards has a specific user in mind. The Modulo5 Basic is aimed at users who want to use the CM5 with Raspberry Pi 5 accessories such as HATs and cases. This does sound niche, but hear me out. The CM5 on a Modulo5 Basic can be upgraded. Need more RAM, eMMC, Wi-Fi? Just buy the CM5 that suits your needs. You’ve got an upgradable “Raspberry Pi 5” that should do the job for a few years to come.

The Modulo4 is for those of us with a CM4 gathering dust in a drawer. With the Modulo4 we can use Raspberry Pi 5 HATs, PCIe products, AI accelerators and cases with the CM4. sure we don’t get the same performance as a CM5, but the CM4 has plenty of power to give, and without the added expense of buying into the CM5 range.

The Modulo5 IO PoE+ is the Rolls Royce of CM5 carrier boards. It gives us everything that the official development board offers, then gives us PoE. I can see myself using this board a lot more than my official development board. This is the board that you buy if you are serious about PoE and want to build a product that uses it.

Bottom Line

All of the Modulo boards are worth the money. Yes they are niche, but they work extremely well and the PCB quality is excellent.

*️⃣ Modulo4
Score: 4.5 / 5

The Modulo4 will squeeze a little more life out of the aging Compute Module 4, largely thanks to the easy PCIe connector and the plethora of Raspberry Pi AI products. As I’ve already said, you won’t get the same performance, but you won’t have to spend more money on a CM5.

*️⃣ Modulo5 Basic
Score 4 / 5

The Modulo5 Basic is a good compromise of the Raspberry Pi 5 form factor. It gives us the Raspberry Pi 5 experience, but with an upgradeable CM5 at its heart. This could be useful for those wanting an upgrade path that doesn’t require buying a whole new Raspberry Pi.

*️⃣ Modulo5 IO PoE+
Score 4.5 / 5

Finally, Modulo5 IO PoE+. This is an excellent PCB and credit to the design team for matching the port placement and footprint of the official development board so well. The addition of PoE makes this instantly more attractive than the official board, and we don’t lose any features for its inclusion.

So it all boils down to which board meets the needs of your projects. The price is decent, probably a little higher than some would pay. But you are paying for good quality PCBs and components, and not a clone board that uses poor quality parts.

There's nothing like a custom handheld cyberdeck and this Raspberry Pi handheld is a shining example of how far you can take customization as a maker. Nicholas LaBonte recently shared a detailed post showing off his awesome Raspberry Pi 5-powered handheld SDR Cyberdeck and it's absolutely gorgeous.

According to LaBonte, this project was inspired by other projects like the uConsole. However, LaBonte was determined to build his own from scratch using both readily available components and custom materials like hardwoods used for finishing yacht interiors. The aesthetic is very 1980s tech, with dark plastics, rich red and gleaming metal. One of the coolest aspects of this build, in our opinion at least, is the custom keyboard. LaBonte went so far as to mill the individual keys used in the keypad and it looks fantastic.

LaBonte explained that the custom keyboard, while amazing, was one of the most daunting hurdles in its creation. The process involved not just building the keys from the ground up but also creating a custom PCB that connects to a series of microswitches. The end result is an extremely professional looking finish that works great for input, as well.

This cyberdeck features an SDR antenna which, if you're not familiar, stands for software defined radio. It's an optional asset that can be attached or removed as needed. The handheld features a display panel with a resolution of 800 x 480px. It's housed behind a faceplate that LaBonte designed digitally using Fusion360 just for this project. For cursor control, LaBonte is using a red PSP analog joystick.

To keep the unit portable, LaBonte has fitted the unit with an internal UPS which can last for up to 5 hours as tested by watching YouTube videos nonstop. The unit can run a bit warm and is kept cool using a bronze heatsink. Software-wise, you can use any OS you want as long as you can fix it up with the QMK firmware needed to operate the keyboard and cursor input from the PSP joystick module.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, you're in luck. LaBonte shared plenty of details in the build guide and showed off the creation in a video shared to YouTube. There you can follow him for more cool projects as well as any future updates to this one.

Sometimes the coolest Raspberry Pi projects are simple ideas done right and that's exactly what we've got on our hands today. Maker and developer Tonight-we-ride, as they're known as over at Reddit, has built a music player system using our favorite SBC and fixed it up with a cool case and touchscreen for input.

The system is setup as a dedicated music playing platform so there isn't a keyboard or mouse for input, just the touchscreen. The hardware is housed inside of a slick case with a white finish that's fitted with some cool decals including some Japanese text that reads "Cyberware" across the front. It doesn't have a built-in speaker but is connected to an external sound system for audio output.

According to Tonight-we-ride, the design was inspired by a cyberdeck built by another Reddit user known as Slipstreamsystem. This rig, however, isn't intended to be a cyberdeck but rather just a media platform. It uses an open source audio player called QMMP and relies on XMMS running Winamp and custom skins.

You don't need the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to recreate this project. Tonight-we-ride is using a Raspberry Pi 4 but you could easily use something smaller like a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W in its stead. The Pi is connected to the original Raspberry Pi 7-inch touchscreen (but the new Touch Display 2 would also work) and housed inside of a SmartPi brand Touch Pro Touchscreen case. The speaker used is an external soundbar that the Pi connects to using Bluetooth.

In the project thread, Tonight-we-ride shares links to all of the sources used to setup the system including Soma.fm for streaming music and a link to ylsoftware which hosts a selection of skins for the interface. According to the thread, Winamp runs just fine using Wine but QMMP also supports Winamp skins which ended up being preferable in the long run. A little more work is still needed to complete the setup including launching QMMP on startup as well as setting it up to run in full screen mode.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the original thread posted to Reddit.

Update 3/10 06:11

The Argon One video has been updated and the new name appears to the the Argon One Up and we get an answer to the question "How do we access the GPIO?".

Why the change of name? We're not sure. The original name, Upton One, was an obvious homage to Raspberry Pi co-founder and CEO Eben Upton. The new name, Argon One Up, isn't too radical but the laptop itself is still a radical idea. We've kept the old name in the original article for reference.

Packing the Compute Module 5 into a laptop chassis is a good idea, but what about the Raspberry Pi's killer feature, the GPIO? Originally we couldn't see any means to access the GPIO, but in the latest video we can see an add on unit which connects to two USB Type C ports. "Custom GPIO Module via a modified USB-C port" according to the Kickstarter preview page. Looking at the pinout, this does look like a Raspberry Pi 40-pin GPIO, and not a Raspberry Pi Pico, connected between the laptop and the user's project.

The Kickstarter is still "coming soon" so expect more information as we get nearer.

Original Article

Fresh from a post on the Argon40 forum which showed off the PCB for a new Argon40 Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 powered laptop, we've seen the Kickstarter page and accompanying YouTube video for the rest of the computer. The Upton One, which is seemingly named after Raspberry Pi co-founder and CEO Eben Upton, is a sleek laptop with the power of the Compute Module 5. Using the Compute Module 5 means that users should be able to configure their laptop RAM and eMMC by swapping out the CM5 module. If Raspberry Pi continues to use the same dual 100-pin high-density connectors (like it did moving from the Compute Module 4 to 5) then we could upgrade the Upton One when the Compute Module 6 arrives. For all of us who enjoy hacking around with the GPIO, I've reached out to Argon40 to confirm how the GPIO will be broken out of the laptop. Previous Argon cases have broken out the full GPIO via a hatch, could it be the same here?

So let's take a look around the Upton One and see what more information we can glean.

One second into the video and we can see the left hand side of the unit. Clearly visible is the stylized Upton One logo. There are three USB Type-C ports, a single HDMI port, and USB Type-A. So I was pretty close with my previous forensic analysis of the PCB. The case looks dark in color. In some shots, it appears grey, in others a dark navy blue. Case construction could either be aluminum or a form of heavy-duty plastic. Smart money is on aluminum as Argon40 has used it in its previous products.

Six seconds in and we see the laptop open, revealing an LCD display, highly likely to be around 14 inches in diameter. Just above the screen is a cut-out. Typically where a webcam would be, could there be a Raspberry Pi Camera Module v3 in there, or is it just a typical USB webcam? It also looks like there are microphones in the screen bezel.

Nine seconds, and we are on the right side of the keyboard, and going from left to right we can see an AV jack for audio and composite video output (I guess). Then we have a micro SD card slot, useful if you are using a CM5 without any eMMC or have chosen not to use NVMe storage. Two USB ports are present. They have dark-colored inserts, which could mean USB 2.0, but we hope that they are USB 3.0. Rounding off this side of the laptop is a Kensington lock point.

Now we get to the CM5 itself. Which is on the underside of the laptop with a long aluminum "heatpipe" that wicks away heat to the underside of the device. Looking at the CM5's position and the M.2 NVMe slot position on the PCB (the screw points are visible in the video), it seems that the NVMe storage also makes contact with the aluminum. We can't see any form of active cooling in the video, but there is what appears to be a fan intake next to the CM5, so there could be some active cooling. After all, the CM5 and Raspberry Pi 5 both run hot.

The keyboard looks like the usual laptop chiclet style keys, but the Windows key (sometimes called the Super key) has the Raspberry Pi logo printed upon it. Under the space bar is a large trackpad with no visible buttons.

The video doesn't tell us anything about the Upton One's power requirements. It'll likely use USB-C PD for power, charging a built-in battery via a controller and supplying power to the CM5, screen and other peripherals.

When will it arrive, how much will it cost? Those details are still to be announced but we will make every effort to secure a unit for a full review.

The Raspberry Pi is no stranger to the world of Minecraft. Whether you're using a Pi to operate a server or playing the Minecraft Pi Edition, the two have had a lovely friendship for many years. Today, however, we've got a project put together by maker and developer Efren Lopez that puts a spin on this classic relationship. Using our favorite SBC, Lopez has created a creeper robot that relies on a Raspberry Pi and even integrates AI.

Don't worry, this creeper doesn't actually explode. It does, however, explore the world around itself and is capable of locomotion as well as observation. Lopez recently released a couple of videos showcasing the creation in action and took the time to break down the very intricate assembly process.

The creeper consists of a 3D printed body and head that Lopez designed from scratch. The body can move around thanks to a set of motorized wheels on the bottom. The head can look around thanks to a servo in its neck as well as a camera module in its eye which lets it see. A speaker is included for audio output, as well.

The Raspberry Pi model chose to drive this creeper bot is a Raspberry Pi 5 which is a great choice given its performance and Lopez's decision to integrate AI into its design. The Pi is connected to a Pimoroni NVMe Base Duo, a Hailo-8 Raspberry Pi AI kit as well as a Pimoroni Yukon board. It's powered by a set of onboard batteries which makes the unit totally mobile.

There are actually two cameras used in this project including both a Pi Cam V3 wide camera and an Arducam ToF module. A Dayton audio transducer works alongside a speaker to get audio output. Unfortunately, we haven't had an opportunity yet to explore the software side of the creeper robot but there are a ton of cool options out there given the hardware setup Lopez has implemented.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the build videos shared to YouTube and be sure to follow Lopez for future updates on this awesome creeper robot.

Raspberry Pi accessory maker Argon40 has teased what looks like a laptop mainboard, with the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 at its heart. Details are light, and we've contacted Argon40 for more information. So let's see what we can glean from the single photo in the forum post.

In a forum post from Argon40 forum moderator lijoseph, we can see a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5) on a black PCB. The post identifies that this is a prototype of a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5-powered laptop, which is under development by Argon40.

The CM5, which shares the same connector as the older Compute Module 4, is on the right side of the board, in the center is an M.2 slot for PCIe storage (it looks like an Argon40 branded 2280 drive is in the slot) or for an AI accelerator card. On the top edge of the PCB I can see an LVDS connector (widest connector), used to connect the LCD screen commonly used in laptops. Next to that are some smaller FFC (flat flex connector) one of which will be for a keyboard. The other connector may be for a trackpad, if its not also broken out via the keyboard FFC.

Moving to the left of the PCB and we can see a USB Type C port, used to power the board. Next to that are two full size HDMI ports, not the smaller mini or micro HDMI. I love full size HDMI, but surely the smaller ports would make more sense here? After all, the next set of ports look like they are USB Type-C, meaning that there are no full-size USB-A ports on the laptop.

The laptop is also bereft of a case. All we have in the single photo is the bare PCB connected to an external monitor, showing Raspberry Pi OS' default wallpaper. There is no laptop chassis for us to pour over. But, given Argon40's previous products, like the EON or the recent Argon One V5 we are confident that Argon40 will produce something stylish, and probably sci-fi. We look forward to learning more and hopefully reviewing a unit

There has never been an official Raspberry Pi laptop, but we hope that there will be one day. The Raspberry Pi 500 and the new official Raspberry Pi monitor could be hacked into a viable product by a clever community member. But an official CM5 laptop, or even a custom PCB based on the Raspberry Pi 5 would offer a new means to have the power of a Raspberry Pi at your finger tips. Could 2025 be the year of the official Raspberry Pi laptop?

Unofficial Raspberry Pi laptops have come and gone. The first was Pi-Top's laptop, which started life as a crowdfunded campaign showcasing the project via a 3D-printed chassis. Retail units were injection molded plastic, with a questionably squishy keyboard and sluggish trackpad. The Raspberry Pi connected via a myriad of cables inside the chassis. An improved version was released just before the Raspberry Pi 4 was released, but it never really made an impact.

Recently the Elecrow CrowView Note entered the arena. It did a pretty decent job of being a Raspberry Pi laptop, but the Raspberry Pi was relegated to being a sidecar attachment, not very practical for train journeys and the port placement was a little off. But it does give us the chance to use a Raspberry Pi on the go.

Argon40's Raspberry Pi laptop currently has no price, release date or actual pictures of the laptop chassis. If we receive any information, we'll update this story.

One of the coolest aspects of the Raspberry Pi is its compatibility with a wide range of hardware. For example, makers use all kinds of screens ranging from super wide touch screens to eInk panels. However, VEEB Projects over at YouTube has put together a really cool transparent display using an optical illusion and a glass dome.

This isn't the first Raspberry Pi project we've covered that takes advantage of the Pepper's Ghost effect. One of our favorite examples is this cool ghostly betta fish project that uses a glass sphere to project a fish inside the bowl. Today's project works the same way but works as a general display instead of focusing on a single subject.

Inside the glass dome is a clear reflector that's positioned at a 45-degree angle. The Pi is actually outputting to a small round LCD panel housed in the base of the dome. According to VEEB Projects, it took a bit of algebra to get the distortion just right so the effect looks like an invisible or transparent screen. A privacy shield was also created so you can't easily see the source image from the LCD panel.

VEEB Projects opted to use a 16GB model Raspberry Pi 5 to power the project but you could recreate it with a lighter model like the Raspberry Pi Zero 2. The Pi is connected to a round display, that we mentioned before, which fits easily in the base of the dome. This base was created from scratch by VEEB Projects just for this project and was 3D printed to house all of the hardware inside.

VEEB Projects was kind enough to make the project open source, sharing all of the code you need to recreate the effect and even the 3D models used for the custom base. If you want to get a closer look at the source code, head over to this project page shared to GitHub. That said, it might be tricky find the exact dome you need to fit the design in this project.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, head over to the official VEEB Projects YouTube channel. Be sure to follow them for more cool creations as well as any future updates to this one.

When it comes to hacking on the go, makers are quick to use our favorite SBC—the Raspberry Pi — to make their ideal rig. Maker and developer Abe from the Abe's Projects channel over at YouTube is no stranger to Pi projects and decided to kick things up a notch with this cool, portable mini PC made from two Raspberry Pi Picos.

According to Abe, the idea was to make a useful mini PC that could be used for a variety of use cases — especially hacking. The end result is this awesome handheld unit that has a touchscreen interface, built in keyboard and an operating system that's capable of running custom apps and programs made using Python.

The main driver of this project is Pimoroni's PicoVision module — a handy board we had the opportunity to review back in 2023. In general, we loved our experience with the PicoVision, rating it at 4 out of 5 stars. This board features two Raspberry Pi Picos, one of which is used primarily as a GPU while the over serves as a processor. It has support for all sorts of expansions including Stemma QT and the ability to get HDMI output which is ideal for projects like this.

For input, the mini PC is reliant on a 5-inch touchscreen panel that has a resolution of 800 x 480px. This is necessary as there is no cursor. It's aided by a small keyboard module taken out of a wireless TV remote. To power the unit, it relies on a LiPo battery. All of the hardware is housed inside of a custom 3D printed shell that Abe designed just for this project.

Software-wise, the mini PC is relying on Slime OS—an open source operating system that has plenty of room for customization which Abe definitely took advantage of. He's created a few Python-based apps and fixed them up with custom icons that can be seen on the main desktop. In the demo video, we don't only get a look at the software-building process but also an in-depth breakdown of what the hardware assembly was like along the way.

To get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the full video shared to YouTube by Abe's Projects and be sure to follow him for more cool creations as well as any future updates to this one.