There’s only one way to get ready for the potential cyberpunk future that awaits us, and it’s clearly with this Raspberry Pi project from robotics developer and microelectronics expert Kevin McAleer. With a fancy neopixel ring and Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller, these 3D-printed cyber glasses talk the talk and walk the walk with cyberpunk style.
If the name Kevin McAleer sounds familiar, it should. We recently covered his Raspberry Pi robot bunny project, which hops and locomotes with the help of a few servos. We also had the honor of hosting him as a featured guest on our Raspberry Pi-themed podcast—The Pi Cast. He also hosts his own website, SMARS Fan, with tutorials and resources for new makers looking to get started in the world of robotics and microelectronics.
This particular project still involves servos and automatic moving parts but not so much for locomotion; that’s up to the wearer. The glasses were designed from scratch using Fusion 360 and 3D printed with mounting options for the electronics. On the side is room for the Pico module, which controls a neopixel ring that pops over the right eye lens using a servo.
The complete parts list isn’t very long but gets pricey if you factor in the cost of a 3D printer—you should definitely take a look at our best 3D printers list for 2022 to get an idea of what the market currently has to offer. In addition to the 3D printed frames, it uses a Pico, one 12 Neopixel ring module and an SG90 servo.
In the project video, McAleer digs deep into the code, showing us how it works and how to recreate the code ourselves. Everything comes together with the help of some custom Python scripts, which are then flashed to the Pico. That said, there are other options for programming the Pico, including C. But if you’re just getting started, it would be useful to follow along with McAleers Python tutorials.
If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project, check out the tutorial and demo video shared on YouTube by Kevin McAleer, and be sure to follow him for more cool robotics projects and Raspberry Pi-based designs.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
