Staying informed is always a challenge and definitely takes time, but what if we could automate our news consumption on a semi-regular basis? Before you say, "Get me out of here!" check out this awesome news-playing Raspberry Pi fridge magnet project created by Reddit user Frakman1.
Using a PIR motion sensor, the Pi automatically plays recent news clips when a person walks by. The best Raspberry Pi projects are the ones you can modify, and there's no reason you couldn't adjust this project to play any audio file you want! What's fun about this design is how accessible it is as a fridge magnet and its mobility.
Frakman1 chose to build the project with a Raspberry Pi Zero to keep the form factor small, and this model is also lighter on power consumption. A Speaker pHAT is used to play the audio and features an LED strip for real-time audio visualization. It's powered by a battery pack that, according to Frakman1, can last up to 12.5 hours.
The news clips are downloaded regularly using an app called Youtube-DL, an open-source download manager designed to extract both audio and video from streaming platforms like YouTube. When the PIR sensor detects a person, one of the recent news clips will play.
If you want to read more about this project and see it in action, visit the original project thread at Reddit.
