The world of networking is really fascinating and extends way beyond just the Internet. You might not realize that you can build a network between devices that isn't connected to the world at large. Today we're sharing a project in which a maker, VeggieVampire, is using a Raspberry Pi as part of a Meshtastic network that connects using LoRa (Long Range) radios. Not only is the Pi integrated as a node on this network, VeggieVampire has created a way to play games on a custom bulletin board system (BBS) just like we did in the 1980s.
According to VeggieVampire, this setup makes it possible to connect with other nodes on the same Meshtatic network. Instead of relying on an Internet connection, you can play games like Tic-Tac-Toe and even a custom Escape Room they put together using the LoRa radio's connection.
It's important to touch on what Meshtastic is because odds are slim that you've connected to a network like this recently. Meshtastic is a Python-based network system that uses long range (LoRa) radios to connect nodes together. In this case, Raspberry Pis can be used as nodes to build a custom Meshtastic network.
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To interface with the Meshtastic network, you can use a smartphone or tablet to connect via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. This gives you the ability to do standard things like send messages to other nodes but also play around with the bulletin board system that VeggieVampire created with the aforementioned games.
Because Meshtastic is Python based, it only makes sense that MeshBoard, the BBS put together by VeggieVampire, is also Python-based. VeggieVampire was kind enough to make the project open source and shared all of the source code over at GitHub for anyone to download or just take a closer look at.
If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, head over to the official project thread shared to Reddit by Veggie Vampire. There you'll find more details about the projects creation and design process.
